How understandable is anime iconography?


The immortal sweat drop

We all know that anime utilizes a lot of unique animation techniques, stylized facial expressions, and iconography to emphasize certain character emotions and story points. These elements make anime stand out among Western animation, but I was wondering, just how universal is our beloved anime iconography? Could the techniques actually work against them as far as acquiring a wider range of appeal?

To anime fans, the significance of familiar animation elements such as the sweat-drop, cat-mouth, cruciform popping vein, chibi and super deformed, face faulting, etc., are easily recognized. But what about someone unfamiliar with anime or manga?

To give a couple of personal examples, during the anime enrichment classes I was teaching at local elementary schools, I showed the kids episodes of Chi’s Sweet Home. One question that came up a few times was why the characters had big “tear drops” on their heads.

I tried to explain that it was a symbol for stress or confusion. I don’t think it hampered the kids’ enjoyment of the show at all, but it got me thinking about how prominent the sweat drop is in all genres of anime and how strange it must look to those unfamiliar with it.

Another common inquiry the kids made during Chi’s Sweet Home was how the characters don’t have any noses.

The “no nose” look isn’t as common as the simple “small nose” look comprised of just a tiny L-shape. Many anime characters, especially so-called “moe” characters, have noses that are nothing more than a dot above their mouth.


Looks like they don’t have any noses in this picture

Of course, there are plenty of anime where the characters have more normal sized noses. But usually the nose is the least prominent feature on a character’s face, and it seems like the larger the eyes, the smaller the nose. In comparison to most American cartoon characters I’ve seen, where the nose is often quite prominent, the tiny or even non-existent nose in anime can be puzzling to those used to Western animation.

Another example is when I watched the first episode of Magic Knight Rayearth with my mom. At one part early on, the girls temporarily turned chibi.


I couldn’t find a screencap but they looked something like this

She asked “Why did they turn into little kids all of a sudden?” I don’t remember exactly what I said, but it was something along the lines that it’s just an animation technique to convey humor. I don’t think the chibi/super deformed look is too offsetting in promotional art, but when it’s randomly inserted within anime episodes like this, it can definitely be confusing to those who don’t know what it means.

Although some of it is quite foreign, thankfully there’s a lot of anime iconography that’s not hard to understand. The “waterfalls of tears” for example, is easily recognized as exaggerated crying even if one is unfamiliar with anime.

Here’s a quick list of common anime iconography and how understandable I feel they are to someone unfamiliar with anime or manga, or even animation in general.

Easily understandable:
Speed lines
Flashbacks
Abstract background patterns
Spirals or Xs on eyes
Waterfalls of tears
Eyes as two half-circle lines to show happiness
Glaring sparks between eyes to show rivalry

Not easily understandable:
Chibi/super deformed
Cruciform popping vein
Large sweat drop on head
Eyes enlarge while pupils shrink to show excitement/anger
Eyes disappear or hide under bangs when depressed or upset
Cat mouth and/or fang to show mischievousness
Falling flat on the floor at something ironic
Wavy ghost coming out of mouth to show horror/shock

Unsure/it depends:
Bloody nose
Massive blushing
Blackened eyes to show vengeful feelings
Balloon dangling from nose to show sleep
Exhaled white mushroom shape to show awkward relief

Since I haven’t watched anime with very many non-fans, my list could be all wrong. It’s just based on my own thoughts and the experiences I have had.

I’ve often wondered if there’s a connection between how popular certain anime become in mainstream America and how much of this iconography they use. Light, comedic, slice-of-life anime such as Azumanga Daioh, Fruits Basket, and Hayate no Gotoku! tend to use quite a lot of it. In fact, most of the humor in these shows is derived from understanding the significance of the stylized animation. On the other hand, dark, serious, or “mature” anime such as Death Note, Blood+, and Spice and Wolf, use very little stylized animation, if at all. There are exceptions of course, as is the case with comedies like K-ON! and Haruhi using very little of the above mentioned iconography, while darker series like Fullmetal Alchemist and Bleach use them to some extent. But anime slice-of-life shows and comedies are rarely popular in mainstream America compared to the many action and fantasy shows that achieve some popularity, such as Cowboy Bebop, the Gundams, shonen series, and Ghibli movies. I think the lack of anime iconography in these titles has something to do with their mainstream popularity, though it’s definitely not the main factor.

If anime iconography is significant in conveying certain things in a series, such as humor or emotions, I’ll usually enjoy it. The only time I don’t like seeing it is when it interrupts an otherwise serious show with obtrusive humor. Some serious shows can use it well, others cannot. But I feel it can be a hamper when you’re tying to introduce someone to anime by showing them an otherwise serious series that has hard-to-understand iconography inserted within.

Do you believe too much anime iconography in a series plays a part in hurting its universal appeal? Or am I making a big deal out of nothing, and just about all of the iconography I’ve mentioned is easily understandable to everyone?

No Comments… read them or add your own.

  1. Mystlord says:

    I believe that such iconography definitely doesn’t hurt an anime’s reception to many fans. I think it’s really easy for most iconography to get deciphered by non-anime fans because taken in context, it’s hard to mistake what they’re exaggerating. There are several that might confuse people, such as turning chibi as you pointed out, but the majority are relatively easy to understand.

    On the other hand, such iconography can turn some people off of anime, as it doesn’t help their impressions of the medium as being childish or just strange. I don’t think slapstick comedies are how most people get introduced into anime though.

  2. Yumeka says:

    @ Mystlord

    You’re right, too much use of iconography emphasizes anime as a fictional cartoon, which could turn off those who are looking for something more “mature.” Action/fantasy shows have proven to be more popular in mainstream America than sitcoms, which is why they’re the ones that tend to be people’s first anime.

  3. Canne says:

    These iconography are one of anime’s many unique qualities and charm. I think they can be puzzling to newbies but can’t possibly be disturbing. After a few shows, new viewers will probably get familiar by themselves.(but I am not a good judge of that since I’m asian so that could make me got to these things easily)

  4. Yumeka says:

    @ Canne

    Yes, those familiar with Asian cultures (don’t necessarily have to be Japanese themselves) are much more likely to embrace these kinds of iconography since they’re more immersed in Asian society. Hello Kitty and similar cartoon mascots flourish in Asian cultures as more than just stuff for kids, so it’s natural for Asians to be more accustomed to it.

  5. 2DT says:

    Cruciform popping vein. God, I could say that all day. Or say it once in a hospital and really wig people out.

  6. Yumeka says:

    @ 2DT

    LOL, that’s what the Wikipedia article called it so the name just stuck XD It does sound like some wacky ailment a person might have though.

  7. Very interesting.

    Back when I was a child watching super robot shows at the beginning of ’80s ^_^; yeah I’m old, I don’t remember seeing as much elements from the not easily understandable list.

    It’s either they weren’t as prevalent, or I really couldn’t make anything of them so I just forgot they existed.

    I started taking note of them while watching shows like Akazuchin Cha-Cha, Dragonball Z, and Ranma 1/2 in the early ’90s.

  8. Yumeka says:

    @ ghostlightning

    I haven’t seen many 80s/early 90s anime so I couldn’t say. But from what I have seen, I agree that much of the iconography on my list wasn’t as prevalent back then. I’ll venture some guesses as to why it became more prevalent – anime animation techniques became more advanced and refined, and anime became more internationalized, so emphasizing its unique iconography made it stand out.

  9. Prooof says:

    A friend (non-anime fan) was looking at me when I was watching some anime episodes and I’ll say your list is spot on. Those were exactly the ones he asked about (“what does that thing mean?”).
    It helps to explain it with the chat emoticon since they are sometimes the same expression.
    -_-” for example
    it only takes a few shows to get used to these stylistic elements though
    I do agree with a commenter above that slapstick comedy is NOT the way to introduce someone to anime.
    Something like Death Note to start is better.

  10. Yumeka says:

    @ Prooof

    Glad to hear that my list was applicable to someone =)

    Yes, if the person is familiar with emoticons, relating anime iconography to that would be a good way to explain it. But if they’re not familiar with either…I don’t know =P

    Japan’s idea of comedy is already vastly different from America, so seeing it in anime is even more foreign. I agree that less “cartoony” and more dark/mature shows like Death Note, Mushishi, Ghibli movies, etc., are better ways of introducing people to anime before you show them the more niche stuff.

  11. kadian1364 says:

    I still don’t see how the bloody nose convention came about or the sneeze when someone else it talking about you. Shit just doesn’t make sense sometimes.

  12. Yumeka says:

    @ kadian1364

    Canne wrote an excellent post all about nose bleeds, so you might want to take a look here

    And as Sunao below says, the sneezing thing is just a Japanese superstition, just like in America where it’s said that someone must be talking about you if your ears burn. Every country has their little beliefs like this.

  13. Sunao says:

    kadian1364: Japanese old wives’ tales. Those superstitions are unheard of outside of Japanese culture, so we’re left scratching our heads…

  14. Odin Force says:

    I didn’t get the nose bleed part the first time I watched anime. It took me 10 years after my first time reading Manga to fully comprehend all of the iconography details. And in the first 8 years I enjoyed Manga better than Anime, simply because I can go back and forth to comprehend Manga storyline easily. Little by little, I learned the iconography that way.

    I’ve seen in some official releases Anime, the bleeding scenes are replaced with no blood at all. So we can say that the producers actually think about adoption rate before distributing their Anime outside Japan.

    However, as Anime should be considered as cultural products, wouldn’t it be nicer to have cut scenes in the first episode and pop-ups in the others that have the main characters explaining the meaning of those icons (either orally or using text)? That way, the audience may understand better Japanese culture, and the editors don’t have to hide all the iconography appearing in the whole series.

  15. Yumeka says:

    @ Odin

    “wouldn’t it be nicer to have cut scenes in the first episode and pop-ups in the others that have the main characters explaining the meaning of those icons”

    That’s a good idea. Maybe the American companies should include extras on their DVDs that explain the various anime iconography XD And for streaming anime, the pop-ups would be useful.

  16. Nyororo-n says:

    Children perhaps find iconography harder to instinctively understand than adults so. As a relative newcomer to watching anime, I find that I can work out most of them once I’ve seen them a few times.

    Although, can anyone tell me what it means when a character’s nose elongates?

  17. Yumeka says:

    @ Nyororo-n

    From my experience, at least nowadays, I think it’s adults who have a harder time figuring out anime iconography than children. Except for really young children (likes the ones I was teaching), teenagers and young adults seem better at it than older adults. Perhaps because they’re more savvy thanks to the Internet or because they’ve had more exposure to animation.

    The elongated nose means a character is fibbing, or at least bragging (makes them look like Pinocchio telling a lie I guess).

  18. Jan Suzukawa says:

    “Eyes disappear or hide under bangs when depressed or upset”

    I’ve always taken the “eyes disappear under shadow” thing to mean that the character is thinking something dire, almost like he doesn’t want anyone else in the scene to know what he’s thinking. Because usually the next thing that happens is, the character does something rash or angry or out of character…

    The funniest one is still the character on the floor, on hands and knees, in a spotlight with the rest of the background in darkness – meaning he’s just been completely devastated by something. ;)

  19. Yumeka says:

    @ Jan

    Yes, there are two types to that – the one for serious situations, which is the one I mentioned, and the one for humorous situations, like you mentioned =)

    I forgot that on the floor one since it’s not quite as prevalent, but I think it’s pretty easy to understand.

  20. Linnie says:

    As someone who watches anime a lot and enjoys all the chibies/mushrooms when depressed/waterfalls of tears/blue faces and the like, when I saw shows I know dubbed, suddenly all these felt “out of place” somehow. Like these forms of expression and English exclude the other, like they can’t exist together… Not saying I wouldn’t get used to them had I watched dubbed anime more. It’s not that I don’t understand, it just feels weird.

    I did some experimenting on my dad and he doesn’t seem to have any problems with it, though FMA is probably the only show using anime iconography from what he’s watched thus far (can’t imagine exposing him to Azumanga Daioh or Haruhi).

  21. Yumeka says:

    @ Linnie

    I don’t watch much dubbed anime, but yeah, English does seem out of place with the “Japanese-ness” of the animation. I’m just so used to hearing Japanese voices with the iconography, hearing English with it takes some getting used to, especially in anime sitcoms were a lot of the humor doesn’t translate well as it is.

  22. Reason says:

    usually the nose is the least prominent feature on a character’s face
    Luckily there are shows like Akagi and Kaiji that try compensate for this flaw in anatomy.

    Either way I suppose the whole boody nose thing is the most obscure one of all.
    Most other icons are just stylized versions of stuff that’s actually possible and the sneezing thing is pretty obvious since it clearly sterns from some sort of local expression which every society has got tons of.

  23. con says:

    I didn’t have any trouble finding them out. You just have to look at there face and what there saying.

  24. Gareth Hawkes says:

    It is very entertaining, trying to figure out what certain manga iconography means. I’m creating a game which uses the iconography in skits or sketch comedies and talking cutscenes, you know, like in the Tales franchise. I’m still unsure on certain symbols, but most of them I understand. One such icon, is the lifhtbulb. I know it means a good idea, but in some anime, most commonly the ones with romance involved, they seem to always appear before a fantasy. Am I correct or not? I can’t remember. The only other one I’m unsure on, is the trapeze shapes above the head like a corona or halo. I have no idea what that is called, but I know its to do with joy. The other is the music note.

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