> In reply to the comment about stereotypical Chinese characters. . .
> 
> I wonder why they use the clothing/hairstyle like that.  Most people 
> in China wear European style clothes, and most girls actually have 
short hair, [...]
> Is it just so they can ID the character as Chinese?

Well, my off-hand guess is they are playing first to what their
audience would know from (1) "Chinese" restaurants and (2) martial
arts movies.

On one hand, Japan isn't so self-conscious about ethnic stereotyping
in the way the US tends to be today. On the other hand, Takahashi
plays with and makes fun of stereotypes of practically everything
Japanese, too.

This isn't fine art: the TV and manga are mass-market items for
youth, and a lot of it is "cartoons" in the sense of characature, even if
one may admire the craft that has gone into them.

--
    Albert Lunde          Albert-Lunde@northwestern.edu (new address)
                          Albert-Lunde@nwu.edu (old address)