So my friend was telling me that there are stereotyped characters...
Like:

Characters with glasses that you cannot see through are sexually deprived. (Melvin from Sailor Moon, Carly from Yu-Gi-Oh 5d's, Tira Misu from Sorcerer Hunters)

Females with blue hair that reaches to the chest or above are smart. (Bulma from DBZ, Levy from Fairy Tail, Sailor Mercury/Ami/Amy from Sailor Moon)
^I dont see this one as much...


So do you recognize any?

[ Edited Aug 7, 2012 ]

Well I would have to say that the most widespread one is guy with glasses

Well, in my opinion, the strength of Anime and Manga is the possibility to create remarkable, prominent, outstanding characters, thanks to their physical properties, their abilities, their mood, etc. and to articulate the stories around these particular characters, or even depending on them.

So it logically involves the problem of stereotypes; in that extent that the characters in Manga are not just memorable, but they also become archetypical in their category. For example, who says "nekketsu" will probably answer Naruto or Goku, and then, we see that other nekketsu characters like Toriko get some of the same characteristics.

It's even more important for sub characters. While main characters have sometimes to be created as "different" in order to be distinguished from other manga heroes, sub characters are too often picked in a preexisting category, such as the characters with glasses (the poor Ogawa from Viper GTS is an example pushed in the extreme limits of this logic). Not meaning that exceptions don't exist, but that it is recurring, indeed.

And there you recognize the true artists, who don't need to pick only in these stereotypes for their charas, but who keep creating something new with building uncommon, complex characters, or inversely, characters from everyday life.

(I hope my English is correct with the grammar and with my thoughts.)

Lol, I thought I was the only one who wrote long comments.

Nicely done, kind of jealous.

And I could add that, at first, manga itself is at first caricatural… (the word "manga" originally meaning "random drawings"…) that could also explain why there are so few manga characters with ordinary people's heads. ^w^

@Vin_Howard: Youuu are nooot aloooone, Iiii am heeere with youuuu, thouuuugh we're far apart, we booooth wriite loong poooosts…
*Neko slaps himself*

I was under the impression manga translated into "whimsical drawing," but I bet both translations are sound.

Also, I normally do write long posts! I was just in the writting slump at that time and too pressed for time now.

But when I get back from work!