(no subject)

[telophase]

Is there a list somewhere of characters of color in anime and manga/manhwa? Excluding Japanese in manga and Korean in manhwa, of course, as they default to those ethnicities unless otherwise marked. :)

(If not, feel free to start listing - it's mostly for my own reference for potential fanart - fanart is a good way for me to practice new techniques and stuff, as I don't have to go to the trouble of creating a character and I have less emotional investment in the picture, so if I screw it up, then I don't feel as bad as if I screwed up an original. And I'm still attempting to paint more non-white people, since my gallery is pretty damn white. :))

I could search for myself, but I think if I do I'll end up hyper-focusing on that and right now I need to finish the Matsumoto picture, not start thinking of future pictures.

Comments

[fmanalyst.livejournal.com]

Cowboy Bebop has the most that I can think of. There are the three old Mexican guys who keep showing up, as well as several African American characters throughout the series, esp. Mushroom Samba and the Space Shuttle episode. I think the main couple in the first episode were also Latino. There are some minor characters in Fullmetal Alchemist. It seems to me that there was an African-American woman character in Macross Plus (I found her - name was Kate Masseau).

[fmanalyst.livejournal.com]

Oh, I just thought of Black Lagoon, which has an African American man named Dutch as well as some Latino characters in minor roles.

[sutlers.livejournal.com]

I don't know if you're familiar with the anime Michiko e Hatchin, but I've just seen the first episode and am searching around for the rest because I'm a kind of in love with Michiko. It's set in a fictional Latin American country that mostly resembles Brazil and it's a little bit awesome.

In my other fandoms, I can't think of anyone off the top of my head, except Bobby from Macross Frontier. Who is also gayer than [obligatory Good Omens reference]. HE'S AWESOME ALSO. AND HE DIDN'T DIE, SO A+, always a fear in the Macross franchise.

[sutlers.livejournal.com]

Ah! and Soma and Agni from Kuroshitsuji, both Indian.

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

I do not know of a list.

Amusing/frightening appearances of Barack Obama in manga. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-03-12/obama-appears-in-tonari-no-taro-kun-erotic-manga)

Akio and Anthy in Utena, Chad and Kaname Tosen in Bleach, Bob in Tenjho Tenge, Setsuna F. Seiei, Marina Ismail, Shirin, and various minor specifically Middle Eastern characters in Gundam 00, various people I don't remember very clearly in Banana Fish, and I think some of the people in Turn A Gundam are meant to be. Also lots and lots of things have characters who are ethnically Chinese. That's all I can think of off the top of my head, but I'm sure there are more.

[elfiepike.livejournal.com]

seconding banana fish--there are many black, chinese, japanese and (i think?) latino characters.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Bleach: Touzen, Yoruichi, and Chad.

Moonchild: Appallingly stereotyped mermaid Granny; several non-stereotyped minor characters. (For reference, I know you're not planning to paint her.)

King of Thorn: A black guy is a major or major supporting character.

Emma: Hakim and a troupe of dancing girls.

Saiyuki Reload: Gat/Gato.

Utena: Anthy and Akio are Indian.

Gundam Wing: A troupe of Middle Eastern characters headed by Rashid, who looks just like Wolverine; Quatre is supposedly also Middle Eastern but is blonde and blue-eyed. Wu Fei and his colony are Chinese.

Gundam SEED: Some Middle Eastern characters. Dearka has brown skin but I'm not sure of his canon ethnicity.

Gundam 00: Ali al-Sarshes (sp?) and Setsuna F. Seiei are both Middle-Eastern, and I think Marina Ismael is as well. Note that only the villain has tinted skin!

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

Is Kou supposed to be Indian/Himalayan? Are youkai a race unto themselves?

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Fullmetal Alchemist: Scar, Rose, and all the other Ishbalans; also some Chinese characters from the manga and a minor character, the girl with prosthetic legs, from the anime.

[chibicharibdys.livejournal.com]

I think the girl with prosthetic legs is in the manga, too, although I don't think her actions are the same.

[wintersweet.livejournal.com]

There might be a list if you go looking under the mantle of cosplay, since fans often go looking for characters to cosplay. Once I wanted to write a paper on the marked othering of Chinese characters in manga, but it was too depressing.

[wintersweet.livejournal.com]

Dur, sorry, completely missed the part where you're working on other stuff, sorry.

Here's a thread on dark-skinned male characters (of various and debatable ethnicities, several female characters get mentioned too):
http://www.cosplay.com/showthread.php?t=5571

Let me think/poke some more.

[mscongeniality.livejournal.com]

I was going to mention the Bleach and Emma characters, but folks beat me to it. The only others I can think of are Me and the Devil Blues (pretty much everybody in it) and the character Fee from Planetes.

[matildarose.livejournal.com]

Black Lagoon: A number of minorities. Two I can think of off the top of my head are Dutch, a prominent character who leads the Black Lagoon squad, and Greenback Jane, who is an Indian counterfeiter. There's a number of Columbian gangsters in there, as well as the infamous maid Roberta, but they don't really look all that ethnic.

Planetes: Planetes has an assortment of minority characters. Fee is an American with darkish skin, and Robbie is Indian. Claire is from a fictional South American country.

I'm sure I'll think of more as time passes.

[octopedingenue]

In Samurai Champloo, Mugen may count; there's also the possibly-Ainu?guy whose village was exterminated. There's an African-American major supporting character in King of Thorn and minor supporting character in Alice 19th. One of the reincarnates in Please Save My Earth is half-South Asian. The manhwa Very Very Sweet is about a Korean-Japanese returning to Korea.

In Nodame Cantabile, Rui the violin prodigy is Chinese-American and Yunglong is Korean. Red River is rife with Egyptians, Assyrians, ancient Middle Asians...In Pet Shop of Horrors, Count D is presented as Chinese (in San Francisco and then Tokyo), and some of his monster-of-the-week customers have been POCs. The first volume of The Young Magician focuses on a Filipina woman in Tokyo and the unstable status of immigrants in Japan. Hakim and his dancing girls in Emma are Indian, and Kaoru Mori's new series Otoyomegatari is about a nomadic Eurasian tribe.

Ethnic warfare between fictional Eurasian countries forms the conflict of Blank Slate. The winged tribespeople at the center of Song of the Hanging Sky are heavily based on Native Americans. Do the Kougaijitachi (sans Doku) in Saiyuki count as Indian?

And now I'm off to the library, but I'll be back!

[kerbox.livejournal.com]

Buccha in Air Gear! And "John Omaha" in Air Gear recently, who is clearly Obama, as the above linked article mentioned. There are usually a few black characters in Oh!Great works here and there - someone mentioned Bob in Tenjou Tenge already.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Posting to remind myself: Barrett in FFVII

[arinye.livejournal.com]

and Rude! Tseng also qualifies, although what as I'm not sure (aside from hottie, but that's not an ethnicity >3 )

[sub-divided.livejournal.com]

Shaman King: of the main group, only Yoh and Ryo are Japanese. Cocolove is African American, Ren is Chinese, Horohoro is Ainu, Faust is German and Lyserg is British. The group overseeing the Shaman Fight are Native American. SK is explicitly about shamans from different parts of the world all coming together, so.

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Based on various American pulp comics (horror, kung fu, Western, 40s superhero, etc) so full of stereotyped representations. Mohammed Abdul in Part III is Egyptian; Hermes Costello in Part VI is African American; Pocoloco and Wekapin in Part VII are African American and Native American, respectively.

Tenjo Tenge: Bob Makihara is black but grew up in Japan. He's the protagonist's best friend and was the co-protagonist in the beginning, before he was sidelined on account of not having special demon blood. I think Bob was the first major black character I'd ever seen in a manga.

Eyeshild 21: Football manga. Panther is the only black characters on the American team, also the most naturally talented, but he's not allowed to play on account of the coach being a horrible racist. This arc is painful...and I'm speaking as someone who doesn't normally apply US standards of race to Japanese comics. Just awful.

[aquatic-party.livejournal.com]

Moonbei/Moonbay and her family in the manga ZOIDS: Chaotic Century, which is arguably both African and Native American in ethnicity (since they're originally from Earth, like all the other races). Of course, it's never out-right stated, but they are definitely PoC.

Me and the Devil Blues: The Unreal Life of Robert Johnson, self-explanatory, and hey! Brother's the main character.

Also, a minor character in the original Dragonball manga/anime--I forget his name, but he's Native American/based off Native American customs and ethnicity. He makes an appearance with his tribe and children again in Dragonball Z (the Buu arc, I think?).

[aquatic-party.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah! And Naruto's recent arc with several dark-skinned characters from the Village Hidden in the... Clouds? Was it? Honorable mention goes to the rapper ninja Killerbee/Kirabi, the eight tails host. Fights against Sasuke and (gasp!) lives.
Other than that, they're throw-away characters, just like everyone else who is not Sasuke or Naruto.
_{This series is chock-full of minor character abuse and abandonment...}

[http://users.livejournal.com/_neith_/]

Gunsmith Cats by Sonoda Kenichi: The main character, Rally, is half Indian.

Kaguya Hime by Shimizu Reiko: http://www.hakusensha.co.jp/comicate/comi_no53/shimizu/img/illust2.gif
It's been several years since I read it, but I think the guy on the right was one of the main characters.

Kuroshitsuji by Toboso Yana: Soma and Agni are Indian.

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

Beck has Leon Sykes, who is African-American/Asian, as the main antagonist for most of the series. There's also his uncle and bodyguards who are fairly frequently recurring characters.

D.Gray-man is set in Europe, but has many Asian characters in the main and supporting cast (Kanda is Japanese, and Komui, Linali, Bak Chan, etc. are Chinese).

IIRC Gorgeous Carat had an Indian girl as one of the main characters.

Hikaru no Go had Chinese and Korean supporting characters as opponents.

Ranma 1/2 had Shampoo and Mousse, who were Chinese.

[moodywho.livejournal.com]

Hotel Africa has a multi-racial (half African-American half white) main character, and a Native American main character.

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

Wolf's Rain has a community of generically Great-Plains-styled Indians appearing in a couple of episodes.

One of the recurring minor characters in Inubaka is Korean.

One of the leads in Fumi Yoshinaga's Lovers In The Night is of mixed Chinese and French descent.

Kambei in Samurai 7 is never identified with a specific ethnic group that I can recall, but he's darker-skinned than many of the other characters and his clothes seem like they might have been inspired by Middle Eastern styles.

Black and biracial characters I haven't seen listed yet, off the top of my head -- Bikky Goldman in FAKE (which also has numerous supporting black characters, and a couple of Chinese characters who apparently are a crossover from one of Matoh's other titles, RA-I); Claudia in Macross/Robotech; King in Kazuo Koike's interesting but problematic Colour of Rage; Afro in Afro Samurai; Swordfish in the unlicensed (and smuttastic) hard yaoi Under Grand Hotel (which also features numerous black supporting characters; there are mentions of Latino and Chinese prison gangs as well, but they never really make an appearance in the story.)

Sword might be a particularly promising fanart subject -- he's extremely decorative (http://hotfictionalguys.blogspot.com/2009/01/under-grand-hotel.html), prone to Gojyo-level allergies towards wearing shirts, provides a fine excuse to practice drawing long flowing dreadlocks, and the series seems to be very popular among rabid yaoi fangirls... ;)

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

Thought of some more! Blood + has some characters of Vietnamese ethnicity, and Saya herself may be Vietnamese-- I could never quite figure that out.

Kyou Kara Maoh has one of my favorite characters of color in manga-- can't believe I forgot him-- José Rodriguez, who's a pediatrician with, as far as I can tell, dreadlocks. He's kind of a goofball.

And since we're adding games, Diego Armando from Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations, the third game. Never seen without his coffee. (http://www.court-records.net/arts/artbook/artofgs-124.jpg) There are some other non-Japanese/non-white characters in PW, but he's very popular with fans. However, he may not be Hispanic in his original conception, court-records isn't clear.

[snarp]

Unless there's something in the actual dialog of the game to bely this, I don't think Diego was intended to be Hispanic in the original Japanese.

[matildarose.livejournal.com]

Since you're allowing video games... If you want obscure, Romancing Saga 3 has Harid, one of a myriad of characters that can be in your party. ( http://www.fantasyanime.com/saga/images/rs3charart2_08.jpg )

Saga Frontier has Princess Lion ( http://www.angelfire.com/ab4/200/SAGA/SF/SFlion.jpg ) and Mesarthim (not technically a minority; she just has grey skin: http://www.fantasyanime.com/saga/saga_art16.gif)

Suikoden 3 has Hugo as one of the main characters, and he and his tribe seems heavily based on African Serengeti culture. There's probably a number of other minority characters throughout the series that could fit, but that's a looottaaa characters to go through. D:

The third Shadow Hearts game has Native American characters in it. Haven't played it, so I can't really say much more.

Hm. Xenosaga? That high-ranking guy who I only remember because he'd overemphasize UUUUUU-DOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

There's a black character that'll be in the upcoming Final Fantasy game, too.

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

Since games are OK -- the Dynasty Warriors series! A cast of thousands, all or almost all Chinese, including many famous characters borrowed from The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

[chibicharibdys.livejournal.com]

Appleseed (the manga, not the movies). Both leads are of African descent, and the author made a concerted effort to show background characters of several ethnicities.

They were all lightened up for the anime. Boo.

[snarp]

Excel Saga - Pedro and his family (Hispanic).

Battle Angel Alita/GUNNM, by Yukito Kishiro - Jasmine (vaguely South Asian?); Vector, Zafal Takie, Aga Mbadi/Trinidad, Zazie, the population of Ketheres (black); Wu Ping (Chinese).

Aqua Knight, by Yukito Kishiro - Ashika and Arrabarus (vaguely South Asian?); tall guy whose name I've totally forgotten, missionary couple (black).

Earthbound/Mother 2 - Poo (I guess Tibetan?). Also, there are some more Vaguely South Asian guys in there, and one of the Random Villager sprites appears to be designed to resemble Mr. T.

I remember there being at least one black character in Yoshihiro Togashi's Hunter x Hunter, but not his name. And I think he died after about fifteen seconds.

[umadoshi.livejournal.com]

The long-suffering Pedro and his family in Excel Saga (anime only?). [Oops, already mentioned.]

All the other CoC I can think of have already been mentioned, but I'll come back if I think of anyone else...

Wait, the "rings" (tribes/groups) in Jyu-Oh-Sei are divided by skin color, although I don't remember them representing specific ethnic groups...?

[kurobahikaru.livejournal.com]

There's a lot of characters in Yu-Gi-Oh that aren't Japanese. Marik/Malik, his sister, their bodyguard, and a few other characters are Egyptian/Arabian, and of course Yami and Bakura are ancient Egyptian.