Can anime and its art style warp one's perception of reality?

[CountVonNumenor]

There has been quite  dramatic shift in terms of my tastes for stuff I see in art, especially in the art style of manga/anime. I think in general, it seems like my interest has shifted from more moe-like towards more feminine. More...womanly designs if you catch my meaning. Like actually looking like a young adult (I mean 18-20 and beyond) woman, not just the little 14-16 yo moeblob anime seems to like so much depicting at times. Maybe it's also a weird change that happened with me recently. I started detesting more and more, or at least end up with a sour taste, whenever I see those anime child-like mor-blobs that look like a kindergartener. And for the opposite, I started enjoying more and more mature looking characters, young adults or full-fledged adults (even if I'm trying to keep a safe zone between the age span of 19-20 to 25-30). To put it weirdly, "I'm no longer looking for a cute small/young girl, I'm looking for a lady / a woman"

(This, and I think I might have also found a quirk that I seem to have become very attracted by. No matter the art style, this is awesome. I just very fond of young adult women with black, wavy, shoulder-leght haircuts. It is my weak point; also make the hair a bit fluffy, and I feel like in heaven. And now with this, you are also aware of my tastes, at least in terms of art (gonna be interesting to actually rest this in real life at some point...))
 

(Bonus section below, you can skip to the next bit of text if not interested in an image gallery)

Spoiler

(please excuse me for the use of fanart from gacha games or mainstream anime of the season, this is an excuse just to show some fanart that I like, and which relatively fits with what i was saying in the first part)

 

 

 

Oh, how the tables have turned... From me absolutely mocking these games to actually becoming curious, if not interested in at least the fanart made for them. There are actually quite a lot of good fan artists doing great stuff, and that is to be appreciated at least. Not sure of I will actually try out the games these fanart were made of, but I can at least stay on the side and enjoy the art. Some of those are actually very pretty, I will not lie

BUT...

There's a catch to it. Like all good things, it sometimes comes as a double-edged sword. A slightly distressful side effect developed after 2 years of intense exposure to anime-style Touhou fanart (and more recently a lot more other anime-style stuff). 

A have forgotten how a real young woman looks like (not a joke). I don't know why I feel even at the age of 20 or around they still look like at least a few years younger (not that I am good at guessing ages myself), as if they did not changed a single bit in physical features since I got into school. Or maybe I watched too much anime style art, got too used to that proportions (especially for anything using the "heroic" proportions), so I ended up forgetting what I real woman looks like. I find this thing very weird, and cannot understand why such a big perception change in such a short amount of time.

No, women do not have big eyes. No, their hair does not usually stay in strands of hair like in anime art (at least not that often). No, they are not so thin as anime style makes the average girl/young adult woman look like. No, they are not that tall/have long stick-like legs. On the same note, no, young women are that "T H I C C" or have huge boobs like in your average anime (they are not flat either). To me, it feels as if a young irl lady at around the age of 20 pretty much looks the same as few years prior, without too much development. Can anyone help me with some biology explanation (if there is anyone willing to)? I would definitely like to get a better understanding of the topic.

I am confused even about myself, a young man in his early 20s. Even I feel about myself that I look tooo young for my age, while I saw other guys around the age 16-17 looking much more mature than myself (which also led to me initially thinking they are like 23-25 years old). Genetics sure are weird. 

But anyway, the problem of warped perception when it comes to reality, how do you deal with it...? And in what other ways can the world created by the art style distort reality if one is to fall down the pitfall trap?

 

[Nekoko]

I’m just gonna make it short because I don’t have enough time (and motivation) to develop my point but it seems that in this era it’s not only anime which can "corrupt" the perception of reality. It can also be cartoons, movies and models : so in short, every visual content.

For example Jessica Rabbit, Kate (from Inner Workings), the Kardashians or Kate Upton

 

[nitorii]

interesting topic, not gonna lie.

although I for one haven't watched many anime or read that many manga in my life, I've never had this off-feeling you're describing. I may not have been "corrupted" as @Nekofiresaid above. still, cool topic.

also, I recognize that one telepurte art in the bonus section you bastard

incredibly cultured

 

[Isaac]

Even if you believe that you're forgetting what a real person looks like, at least you're starting to prefer characters that appear more mature and close to your age. Anime features are exaggerated like you said with having large eyes and being well endowed, so it's understandable why someone would get confused when people don't actually look like that. It helps keeping in contact with more people to not lose your sense of reality though. 

I guess another way anime can change our perception of reality is how some people view Japan itself. In most animes, characters have exaggerated personalities and voices, which isn't how ordinary Japanese people behavior at all. Japan is often portrayed as a magical place as well, where everything seems perfect. While there's plenty of interesting stuff to do and beautiful places to visit over there, Japan has it's own set of issues just like every other country in the world.

By the way, it's nice to see all the cute Azur Lane and Fire Emblem artwork you saved in your gallery : )

 

[_.Mevs]

That's a really interesting question actually

In my opinion, people that overconsume any media, like games, animes and movies/series can end up breaking the barrier between these 2 and end up thinking of the real world like if it was the media they like

A good example are the beauty patterns in general, people use really beautiful women and really muscular man with beautiful hairs and eyes to think of a model of a man or a woman, and the same way it can happen with stuff that aren't real, like anime

Actually, people get way too used to stuff they end up seeing on popular media and can end up adapting it to real life, i think there's a limit of where this confusion is safe or not, like, i personally don't see a problem if the person has a really specific taste for women and men, but i do see a problem when the person starts to get in bad situations and mood due to this confusion

I personally had the same situation during the quarantine, since all my contact with girls was with messages and most of them used anime or popular media characters profile pictures, but it changed as soon as i returned to my daily life of going out to work and study since i had to talk and deal with real women and etc, i think this kind of situation can happen due to 2 things:

Way too much media consume;

Way too little contact with real people.

I experienced both at the same time and tbh, it is a situation that you can get over easily if you talk more to real people and consume more media that has real people instead of too much fictional media, but it depends if you can deal with this situation without problems or not, but well, at least for me, having more contact with real people helped in only some days

I don't think is a problem if you can't describe how a real girl is since there's a lot of kinds and all them are different to each other in their ways, different to describing anime women since they usually has several similar features and details 

View attachment 2970

 

[CountVonNumenor]

Alright, time to (finally) answer the first set of replies to this thread:

I’m just gonna make it short because I don’t have enough time (and motivation) to develop my point but it seems that in this era it’s not only anime which can "corrupt" the perception of reality. It can also be cartoons, movies and models : so in short, every visual content.

For example Jessica Rabbit, Kate (from Inner Workings), the Kardashians or Kate Upton

Of course, there is so much more than just anime/ However, I have used the example of anime and manga (and fanart, but that one is already part of the style) just due to the fact it has been the most influential medium for me for the past over two years. It is the thing I was exposed to the most, and therefore has had a much greater impact than things like (western) cartoons, fashion models or TV shows. 

To put things in n contrast, I actually remember that I recently read a BBC article in regards to onsen baths and the idea of body positivity. There is one paragraph I would like to quote out of it: 

Spoiler

“Every body comes with its own imperfections and this is the only place I know where nobody cares,” said Stephanie Crohin, a French expat turned Tokyo-resident and now an ambassador for the Tokyo Sento Association.

Having fallen in love with sento while studying in Tokyo, Crohin now works in the capital and is always keen to extoll the benefits of public bathing to hesitant visitors. “Sento are not the Instagram world, but real life. [They’re] the reminder we all need when we’re constantly being crushed with the perfection of the SNS [social media] world,” she continued, highlighting the need for this reassurance for not only children, but adults too.

By offering a space for truly inclusive nudity, public baths are a unique chance to familiarise children with the natural form in a world where air-brushed, provocatively posed bodies are all too common. “Young girls learn early in life that not all women look like supermodels, and they don’t need to,” said my friend Tomomi Abiko, a Japanese native who has enjoyed onsen for as long as she can remember."

The article, published for BBC Travel by Lily Crossley-Baxter on 3rd February 2020 can be read here for anyone interested in the full story (it is actually extremely interesting, and found out some new things overall) - https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20200202-japans-naked-art-of-body-positivity 

although I for one haven't watched many anime or read that many manga in my life, I've never had this off-feeling you're describing. I may not have been "corrupted" as @Nekofiresaid above. still, cool topic.

Yeah, I will admit. I did get corrupted, as the exposure has been at a very high level (or better said, a great amont). Tens of thousands of Touhou images, more recently accompanied by other thousands of images first coming from original works, then other establishes franchises as well. 
 

also, I recognize that one Telepurte art in the bonus section you bastard
incredibly cultured

Guilty on that one

Even if you believe that you're forgetting what a real person looks like, at least you're starting to prefer characters that appear more mature and close to your age. Anime features are exaggerated like you said with having large eyes and being well endowed, so it's understandable why someone would get confused when people don't actually look like that. It helps keeping in contact with more people to not lose your sense of reality though.

Yeah, there really has been a rather great shift in recent times about tastes. I can't remember what triggered it, but I guess there we are now. As for keeping contact with other people, I do that when I can, and also see and meet them like almost daily in the classroom. The surprise still remains though, especially when you may not really associate them with adult, but still feel like they look just like the 14-15 year old teens you used to grow with, not some full-fledged adults. Therefore, why I have the feeling they still look like a bunch of children whose only trait that makes them adult is the age number in the ID card. 
 

I guess another way anime can change our perception of reality is how some people view Japan itself. In most animes, characters have exaggerated personalities and voices, which isn't how ordinary Japanese people behavior at all. Japan is often portrayed as a magical place as well, where everything seems perfect. While there's plenty of interesting stuff to do and beautiful places to visit over there, Japan has it's own set of issues just like every other country in the world.

Oh yeah, that one most definitely is a good point to tackle. Even I have a lot of misconceptions about Japan itself and the society it holds, as ti was seen in previous threads when I tried talking about them based on knowledge from media, online discussions and even pop culture/impact of pop culture and memes about Japan and Japanese.
 

By the way, it's nice to see all the cute Azur Lane and Fire Emblem artwork you saved in your gallery : )

Always gathering more. If I see something I like, I add it to the stash.  

A good example are the beauty patterns in general, people use really beautiful women and really muscular man with beautiful hairs and eyes to think of a model of a man or a woman, and the same way it can happen with stuff that aren't real, like anime

Actually, people get way too used to stuff they end up seeing on popular media and can end up adapting it to real life, i think there's a limit of where this confusion is safe or not, like, i personally don't see a problem if the person has a really specific taste for women and men, but i do see a problem when the person starts to get in bad situations and mood due to this confusion

Like I have said, I am not very sure where my beauty patterns have developed from. It felt as if one day I woke up liking something, and pretty much ended up confirming that taste. I think it might actually be the first time I am aware about something like that. However, I am a little concerned. I was wondering... isn't it rather superficial to say that "type" solely relies on a girl having black, shoulder-lenght wavy hair? Like that's not very hard to achieve - just dye your hair back if needed (bonus points if your hair color is naturally dark) and get a haircut. That's why I'm wondering if I'm being superficial. Even with that though, I still feel it waking up what some would call the "monke brain" feeling. And I'm still trying to figure out where I got that taste from. I may have seen tons of drawings in the past couple years with that features, but not so much in real life (maybe I haven't paid so much attention either). And even with these "types", how does it happen you may sometimes get the hots for someone who might be completely the contrary to your supposed tastes?
 

I don't think is a problem if you can't describe how a real girl is since there's a lot of kinds and all them are different to each other in their ways, different to describing anime women since they usually has several similar features and details 

Yeah, I guess you might be right about this one. 

 

[The_Trader]

What you are saying is exactly the post modernist concept of hyper realty; basically reality becoming slowly integrated and often indistinguishable from- lets call it - fake reality( social media, news etc)

And honestly, with social media becoming such a integrated part of ours lives, we do slowly slowly and subtly stop distinguishing the difference(especially the digital natives who are born with this technology) to the point we dont even think how it is impacting us, yet subconsciously it is

I will stop here as I dont like writing long long arguments

 

[CountVonNumenor]

What you are saying is exactly the post modernist concept of hyper realty; basically reality becoming slowly integrated and often indistinguishable from- lets call it - fake reality( social media, news etc)

And honestly, with social media becoming such a integrated part of ours lives, we do slowly slowly and subtly stop distinguishing the difference(especially the digital natives who are born with this technology) to the point we dont even think how it is impacting us, yet subconsciously it is

I will stop here as I dont like writing long long arguments

I actually got that book as a PDF as soon as you wrote the reply. Now I am quite curious to read it...

 

[The_Trader]

I actually got that book as a PDF as soon as you wrote the reply. Now I am quite curious to read it...

Do tell me how it is
 

 

[CountVonNumenor]

Damn it, I forgot about the book...

 

[CountVonNumenor]

I really wish to reactivate this thread. Unfortunately, I did not get the chance to read the recommended book, as I could not find it. Now though, I do not even remember its name...