Why can't Asian characters look Asian?

[IvyFanboy]

It's kind of a cultural thing that Caucasion features are deemed attractive over there sort of how we obsess over asians beauty in the States. It's sort of a niche fetish/attraction. It's not uncommon for procedures to be done that open the eye or etc to attain that middle point of European/Asian marker.

 

[AnitaLife]

THE HORRIBLE TRUTH

 

[Bailster]

(I haver redirected my below coments from the Natsu discussion thread)
I like Natsu far better than I initially did, having seen her in action......however, I still think that it's very jarring that she looks so completely non-Japanese, with her blonde hair and whatnot, when we now know from her bio that she was actually born in Izumo. With Setsuka, Namco took pains to explain her caucasian features/colouring by her being a non-native of Japan - so that's fair enough. But with Natsu, she has inexplicably blonde hair and in no way looks Japanese, which I find completely incongruent with her background. With Zasalamel, Namco designed him with the appropriate features and colouring of a black male and it's obvious he was created as such, so I don't see why Natsu has been designed as a blonde european looking girl....? They could at least have given her an appropriate shade of dark brown hair.
In SC 4, Raphael and Amy could certainly be French, Ivy/Rock/Arthur could be definitely be English, Zasalamel looks typically African etc, but when it comes to the asian characters, their appearances have become more and more ambiguously european since SC2, to the point where Taki in SC4 looks way more French or Spanish than asian in any way, shape or form! The incongruence is compounded by the fact that SC is not a cartoon - it uses semi-realistic character models, so there really is no excuse!
I'd also like to point out that I'm from London and walk to work past big groups of Japanese tourists at Buckingham Palace everyday, so I'm familiar with what Japanese people look like and they certainly don't look like Natsu!!​

 

[Bailster]

Frankly, Natsu looks way more like this:

Than this:

Both are attractive, pretty women, but there are obvious differences in appearance that Namco appears to ignore.....it's sad that they have deemed it appropriate that a character representing their own nation should look more like the lady above.

 

[MONEYMUFFINS]

I like Natsu far better than I initially did, having seen her in action......however, I still think that it's very jarring that she looks so completely non-Japanese, with her blonde hair and whatnot, when we now know from her bio that she was actually born in Izumo. With Setsuka, Namco took pains to explain her caucasian features/colouring by her being a non-native of Japan - so that's fair enough. But with Natsu, she has inexplicably blonde hair and in no way looks Japanese, which I find completely incongruent with her background. With Zasalamel, Namco designed him with the appropriate features and colouring of a black male and it's obvious he was created as such, so I don't see why Natsu has been designed as a blonde european looking girl....? They could at least have given her an appropriate shade of dark brown hair.
In SC 4, Raphael and Amy could certainly be French, Ivy/Rock/Arthur could be definitely be English, Zasalamel looks typically African etc, but when it comes to the asian characters, their appearances have become more and more ambiguously european since SC2, to the point where Taki in SC4 looks way more French or Spanish than asian in any way, shape or form! The incongruence is compounded by the fact that SC is not a cartoon - it uses semi-realistic character models, so there really is no excuse!
I'd also like to point out that I'm from London and walk to work past big groups of Japanese tourists at Buckingham Palace everyday, so I'm familiar with what Japanese people look like and they certainly don't look like Natsu!!​

[Space it out like this instead:]

I like Natsu far better than I initially did, having seen her in action......however, I still think that it's very jarring that she looks so completely non-Japanese, with her blonde hair and whatnot, when we now know from her bio that she was actually born in Izumo. With Setsuka, Namco took pains to explain her caucasian features/colouring by her being a non-native of Japan - so that's fair enough. But with Natsu, she has inexplicably blonde hair and in no way looks Japanese, which I find completely incongruent with her background. With Zasalamel, Namco designed him with the appropriate features and colouring of a black male and it's obvious he was created as such, so I don't see why Natsu has been designed as a blonde european looking girl....? They could at least have given her an appropriate shade of dark brown hair.

In SC 4, Raphael and Amy could certainly be French, Ivy/Rock/Arthur could be definitely be English, Zasalamel looks typically African etc, but when it comes to the asian characters, their appearances have become more and more ambiguously european since SC2, to the point where Taki in SC4 looks way more French or Spanish than asian in any way, shape or form! The incongruence is compounded by the fact that SC is not a cartoon - it uses semi-realistic character models, so there really is no excuse!

I'd also like to point out that I'm from London and walk to work past big groups of Japanese tourists at Buckingham Palace everyday, so I'm familiar with what Japanese people look like and they certainly don't look like Natsu!!