Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-103.4.85.51-20131122005829/@comment-165.234.189.61-20140411173812

Reading this discussion just tells me nobody has any clue of the history of animation. Notably the disney affect. Japanese animation from its outset has emulated Walt Disney's style. The current 'trend' that pervails in anime today has its roots set in emulating Disney's movies which has since evolved into its own thing, So in a way you can say that America emulated Japan who in fact originally emulated America.

Skin tone or a lack there of is not a marker of ethnicity. Japanese people do not see Caucasians as an ideal, their white multicolored hair people are representations of themselves, they have a clear understanding of features they care to emphasize. It becomes even clearer when you take note of someone who's supposed to be blatantly american or european compared to the japanese standard. There's emphasis on certain character traits which don't stand out for them and likewise for other asian people.

Ultimately, it's an appeal of aesthetic and nothing more, in fact there are many artists who essentially draw people of different races similarly, with skin tone being the only defining marker.

tl;dr: They're that shade because that's what the animators like.