Contact lenses for "anime eyes"

The tinted outer ring on these contact lenses create an "anime eye" look. Double-wide anime look for your eyeballs (News on Japan)

[#1 posted by zuzu , August 11, 2008 12:32 PM]

I was totally looking at these a few weeks ago (after examining the makeup detail used in Farscape). I'm a huge fan of the "more human than human" cosmetic tweaks / body modifications: everything from simply dying red hair so that's a little too red (or blonde like Xeni's "bleach blonde"), to surgical removal of floating ribs for a more severe hour-glass figure.

Personally I'm saving for future prosthetic eyes like Batou's in Ghost in the Shell, though.

[#2 posted by thievedrelic , August 11, 2008 12:36 PM]

it makes me wonder....if you saw an anime character in real life, would the looks and the proportions still retain the appeal that they capture in that fantasy realm? there is a good chance it would be highly disturbing to witness.
i guess we will know in a year or two, at this rate. there is probably about to be a cornerable market on sailor moon plastic surgery in japan~ le sigh.

[#3 posted by LogrusZed , August 11, 2008 12:39 PM]

God damned Weaboos are almost as bad as furries, and by "almost" I mean I would probably sleep with a weaboo.

[#4 posted by Lobster , August 11, 2008 12:42 PM]

I dunno, they just look totally high to me.

#2, if a human actually looked like an anime character then yeah, they'd look like a freaky Grey alien with giant boobs, but it's supposed to be a stylization of the human form. It's no more intended to be taken as a direct representation of human anatomy as a line drawing on a cave wall.

[#5 posted by Clayton Hove , August 11, 2008 12:46 PM]

Hooray! This anime approach appears to be an agreeable alternative to putting bella donna in my eyes for that otherwise-drug-free dilated pupil look. Now if they could just do something about these pesky tentacles!

[#6 posted by Takuan , August 11, 2008 12:50 PM]

want a sandwich lens with radio sensitive pigment so I can carry a controller and make them oscillate, do spirals and generally carry on.

[#7 posted by eti , August 11, 2008 12:51 PM]

Gotta love these articles that link to a blog that link to another blog that link to another blog.

I followed the trail to this on
http://shop-crazy.blogspot.com/2007/12/preorder-g-coloured-cosmetic-contact.html

[#8 posted by Antinous , August 11, 2008 12:56 PM]

It's no more intended to be taken as a direct representation of human anatomy as a line drawing on a cave wall.

I used to think that about Giovanni Arnolfini until Vladimir Putin showed up and proved that someone really could look that medieval.

[#9 posted by Jeff , August 11, 2008 1:08 PM]

I've seen the clear ones that have a glitter field. They add sparkle to your eyes. Like fairy dust.

[#10 posted by jtf , August 11, 2008 1:15 PM]

AFAICT, people could buy highly specialized effects contacts for some time now. I first remember seeing them around 2000 or so, here:

http://www.9mmsfx.com/lenses.html

These look like the professional movie suppliers, but if I remember correctly the prices have dropped somewhat since I first looked and they included a "sharingan" design as soon as the Naruto anime became popular.

[#11 posted by crashgrab , August 11, 2008 1:19 PM]

I'm kind of confused of what makes these contacts anime. My eyes are already like this. I have light green/blue eyes with a dark circle of green lining the outer rim. Does that make me an anime character or something?

[#12 posted by zuzu , August 11, 2008 1:30 PM]

The irises are exaggerated in size. It's that kind of subtlety that I find intriguing; more so than, say, the industrial / "cyber" fashion. More like the uncanny valley (but from reverse), I suppose.

[#13 posted by Arcadian , August 11, 2008 1:30 PM]

I think they're simply wider than usual, Crashgrab.

[#14 posted by echolocate chocolate , August 11, 2008 1:31 PM]

#11 I think it's just that these ones exaggerate the effect. Clearly not enough!

[#15 posted by MarlboroTestMonkey7 , August 11, 2008 1:45 PM]

No words on slimy appendages yet? Just askin'

[#16 posted by Takuan , August 11, 2008 1:51 PM]

Antinous, not:
http://time-blog.com/nerd_world/putin&dobby.jpg
?

[#17 posted by frankiez , August 11, 2008 1:52 PM]

I love these lenses.
My girlfriend is using these for cosplay since spring and they look more "hyperreal" than "manga"...

[#18 posted by Lilorfnannie , August 11, 2008 2:03 PM]

I never quite understand why Japanese culture seems to insist on their women being as childlike as possible. Now it's literal "wide-eyed" ("innocent") eyes. I don't get it. I'm quite happy to be a grown woman, thank-you-very-much. You wouldn't catch me dead in anything that would be infantalizing; it is demeaning.

[#19 posted by Takuan , August 11, 2008 2:12 PM]

wait til they marry

[#20 posted by benvenuta , August 11, 2008 2:22 PM]

Antinous,
man, that`s 100% renaissance. With added eyelashes and eyebrows, 3D Arnolfini probably wouldn`t look that odd. (his wife would!)
*This* is medieval: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Cath%C3%A9drale_de_Cahors_159714.jpg
Or the countless illuminations in manuscripts, Byzantine mosaics etc. Those would be almost as weird as anime in 3D. /medieval art fan

Anyway, those contact lenses are ridiculous.

[#21 posted by zuzu , August 11, 2008 2:23 PM]

I never quite understand why Japanese culture seems to insist on their women being as childlike as possible. Now it's literal "wide-eyed" ("innocent") eyes. I don't get it. I'm quite happy to be a grown woman, thank-you-very-much. You wouldn't catch me dead in anything that would be infantalizing; it is demeaning.

There's a German word for it that I've been trying to remember since years ago when the "science of beauty" was all the rage in popular culture. "Kinder-something" -- basically "child-like"; wide-eyes, large forehead, small chin... the same reasons puppies and babies are cute and endearing. It's an evolutionary psychology thing.

And it's more universal to humans than confined to Japanese culture. (Although Japanese culture does, generally, also tend to emphasize infantilization socially.)

However, the "I'm a grown woman" argument to cosmetic / aesthetic preferences such as this or the Brazillian wax is quite tired, and unsubstantiated as a social criticism.

[#22 posted by asuffield , August 11, 2008 2:23 PM]

I never quite understand why Japanese culture seems to insist on their women being as childlike as possible.

It's exactly the same as American culture insisting on their women being as anorexic as possible. There's no particular reason for it.

[#23 posted by jennybean42 , August 11, 2008 2:24 PM]

@5, @15,
You mean like this?
http://www.play-gadgets.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/tentacle_01.jpg

[#24 posted by nprnncbl , August 11, 2008 2:25 PM]

You wouldn't catch me dead in anything that would be infantalizing, said Lilorfnannie.

[#25 posted by snagglepuss , August 11, 2008 2:42 PM]

............Wouldn't those pics be more effective with some "Before" and "After" shots? Seems to me.....

[#26 posted by arkizzle , August 11, 2008 2:58 PM]

nprnncbl, nice :)

[#27 posted by alphagirl , August 11, 2008 3:14 PM]

zuzu: I don't know a German word for it, but the word I know is paedomorphic- having the form of a child. Definitely not limited to Japanese culture, remember Twiggy? http://fashionation.files.wordpress.com/2006/10/twiggy02.jpg

Anyway, I don't see how the "grown woman" argument can be invalid as a personal preference, i.e. I don't like to have a Brazilian look, since it makes me feel like a child, not a sexually adult woman. Are you also saying that it's not valid to use this to say our society is sexualizing children?

[#28 posted by Antinous , August 11, 2008 3:19 PM]

Antinous, man, that`s 100% renaissance.

I'd be hard put to describe a 1434 Netherlandish painting as pure renaissance. Maybe if it had been painted in Italy, but the renaissance in the Low Countries took place primarily in the 16th century. To me, the Arnolfini portrait exemplifies the transition from medieval to renaissance. The technique is renaissance, but the subjects and symbolism are quite medieval.

Because Early Netherlandish painters embody both the culmination of Mediaeval artistic heritage in northern Europe and respond to Renaissance ideals, their art is categorized as belonging to both the Early Renaissance and the Late Gothic.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Netherlandish_painting

[#29 posted by Lilorfnannie , August 11, 2008 3:22 PM]

@#21 Zuzu- "However, the "I'm a grown woman" argument to cosmetic / aesthetic preferences such as this or the Brazillian wax is quite tired, and unsubstantiated as a social criticism." Sorry, I didn't take a college degree in that social criticism or feminism or whatever. I haven't the slightest clue why you would call it "tired and unsubstantiated." What I said was all just my opinion. I simply don't see how a grown woman dressing like a child is anything other than demeaning and embarrassing, and, well, *childish.*

@#22 Asuffield- Yes, I suppose it is just differences in culture. I don't go for the anorexic look either- yuk- But I have my own culture I'm a part of, and I'm happy to let others have theirs. Doesn't mean I have to like all other cultures, that's all.

@#24 Nprnncbl- Haha, somehow I never thought of it that way- but read the old Depression-Era strips, and she is the least "child-like" child you ever saw. She took care of herself, that's for sure. And she could give a mean left hook, too- nobody on the street would dare bother Annie.

[#30 posted by zuzu , August 11, 2008 3:28 PM]

Anyway, I don't see how the "grown woman" argument can be invalid as a personal preference, i.e. I don't like to have a Brazilian look, since it makes me feel like a child, not a sexually adult woman.

Oh, of course not. Clearly personal preferences are, well, personal. I meant the social criticism that the popularity of the hairless look in women encourages pedophilia in aggregate. (I've heard this strain of argument quite frequently in the past several years as second-wave feminism has seen something of a resurgence -- at least in academia -- in the same time period. It was even in the premiere episode of season 6 of Penn and Teller: Bullshit!)

Are you also saying that it's not valid to use this to say our society is sexualizing children?

Um... I suppose. As in, I hadn't even thought of relating the popularity of waxing to the trend of "sexualized children" -- which I think is more a matter of a combination of the breakdown of parents choosing to prolong their children's naivete for parental "entertainment", and that there's a positive feedback cycle of marketing catering to that market (e.g. most "children's clothes" today are now merely smaller versions of adults' clothes).

[#31 posted by BWG , August 11, 2008 3:29 PM]

Reminds me of Manga Manifestation, which I put up back in June 2007.

Still creepy (click the thumb to view full sized image).

[#32 posted by zuzu , August 11, 2008 3:34 PM]

I haven't the slightest clue why you would call it "tired and unsubstantiated." What I said was all just my opinion. I simply don't see how a grown woman dressing like a child is anything other than demeaning and embarrassing, and, well, *childish.*

Some people make alot of rhetoric about this thing as a kind of moral panic. I fully support your personal preferences though, even when I don't agree with them. But women dressing like children... eh, yeah, I don't see the appeal there either.

Doesn't mean I have to like all other cultures, that's all.

Fuck yeah, value pluralism FTW.

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." -- Evelyn Beatrice Hall

[#33 posted by Anonymous , August 11, 2008 3:52 PM]

This looks like a Korean product aimed at Chinese consumers (there is Chinese -- not Japanese -- writing on both this screenshot and the original website). I'm not quite sure where all the allusions to Japanese culture are coming from.

[#34 posted by Lobster , August 11, 2008 3:58 PM]

I find it kind of interesting how easily people can call infantilization demeaning as they demean another culture.

[#35 posted by zuzu , August 11, 2008 4:11 PM]

I find it kind of interesting how easily people can call infantilization demeaning as they demean another culture.

First of all, I think the context was clear that we're talking about contemporary Japanese culture. Secondly, that's like saying that criticizing the racial strife in the United States somehow "demeans" the culture there. Finally, maybe read Dogs and Demons by Alex Kerr?

[#36 posted by arkizzle , August 11, 2008 4:23 PM]

ZuZu, I was gonna give you some back-up on the rampant non-connection between pubic waxing and "our society is sexualizing children"..

..but you don't seem to need it.

Carry on.

[#37 posted by Torley , August 11, 2008 4:54 PM]

I've got the perfect hair dye to go with that!

>> http://www.flickr.com/photos/torley/2750885917/

[#38 posted by Trent Hawkins , August 11, 2008 6:22 PM]

God I hope the Japanese never get their hands on genetic engineering technology...

[#39 posted by Ugly Canuck , August 11, 2008 6:43 PM]

Well, the Surrealists wanted the world to be more dreamlike, and it seems that they are getting their wish in so many ways.
As to the physique people are free to be whatever they can.
Like Robert Mitchum said, "Nobody's got a right to tell me what to do." Only switch "you" for "me", that's my point.
All you really need is style.

[#40 posted by gladeye , August 11, 2008 7:08 PM]

I've always thought anime was kinda hack, with a lot of indistiguishable sameness to it, but I'm further turned off by the Japanese tendancy to infantilize women with things like big wide eyes and pop stars dressed like little girls. Maybe it helps make the men feel less insecure?

At least in America we devalue our women by sexualizing and objectifying them. They enjoy innocent little girls, we enjoy sexpots.

[#41 posted by OM , August 11, 2008 7:58 PM]

...To hell with the Anime look, what I've been waiting for since I had my first pair in 1977 were *chrome* ones. No, really - mirror shade lenses would be great for use with contacts, and would especially freak out anyone not in on the gag. Why we haven't seen these *still* totally escapes me.

[#42 posted by retchdog , August 11, 2008 8:18 PM]

Om @41: Follow the link @10 and search for "mirrored".

[#43 posted by Not a Doktor , August 11, 2008 8:27 PM]

how the hell do you buy these? I got to that link of the "sellers" blog that's all-pinku but I can't find a damn link.

[#44 posted by buddy66 , August 11, 2008 9:00 PM]

#40 gladeye:

I'm...turned off by the...tendancy to infantilize women with things like big wide eyes and pop stars dressed like little girls. Maybe it helps make the men feel less insecure?

''From a man's perspective, as nature is narrowing his sexual potential, an eager and experienced woman of his own age knows too much, expects too much. The most obvious defense is to find a way to miniaturize.''

--Gail Sheehy

[#45 posted by Bobdotcom , August 11, 2008 9:19 PM]

I was totally expecting something to make my eyes as big as tennis balls.

[#46 posted by dancentury , August 11, 2008 9:39 PM]

One eye RED, one eye GREEN. DESU!

[#47 posted by eustace , August 11, 2008 9:50 PM]

I would rather have VR goggles. Then I could hack what other people look like.

[#48 posted by help i cant comfirm my username themelonbread , August 11, 2008 10:41 PM]

I clicked all the way back to the original site, and they seem to be safe and available in prescriptions for near-sightedness. And they're imported straight from Korea too. W00t!

[#49 posted by raya , August 12, 2008 12:50 AM]

I'm further turned off by the Japanese tendancy to infantilize women with things like big wide eyes and pop stars dressed like little girls. Maybe it helps make the men feel less insecure?

You're gonna dismiss an entire nation of people just like that? Please tell me you've been to Japan, or at least studied the culture extensively, and are not basing your assessments on American anime culture or "hey, check out this weird Japanese thing" posts on English-language blogs.

[#50 posted by Secret_Life_of_Plants , August 12, 2008 1:03 AM]

Whereas Atropa belladonna is sooo Steampunk...

[#51 posted by Anonymous , August 12, 2008 3:53 AM]

#21 zuzu There's a German word for it - "Kindchenschema"

[#52 posted by Egypt Urnash , August 12, 2008 6:23 AM]

Those look awesome. If I hadn't given up on contacts years ago I'd be tempted to see if I could get a pair of these for daily wear.

This is, of course, coming from a woman who has screaming red or pink hair more often than not. YMMV.

[#53 posted by dhuff , August 12, 2008 7:26 AM]

"...an eager and experienced woman of his own age [who]knows too much" ?

Woo hoo! Bring her on! ;->

(From someone who, I'm sure, would count to Sheehy as "middle-aged")

[#54 posted by frankiez , August 12, 2008 2:38 PM]

"'m frthr trnd ff by th Jpns tndncy t nfntlz wmn wth thngs lk bg wd ys nd pp strs drssd lk lttl grls. Myb t hlps mk th mn fl lss nscr?"

Frst, lvng n Jpn 'm rlly crs hw mrcn fmnsts wh cn fnd nms whtvr thy rd:

Knyr**!! Krw znzn knkn!!!!

Ths r jst cply lnss...

fl mrcn fmnsts r s ngry wth thmslf tht thy try t bsh vrythng nd vryn wh lks ct...

Thy smply ht Jpns grls bcs thy lk yng vn n thr 30s...

nywy, hvng sx wth ld lds s pthlgy (srry dn't knw th xct wrd n nglsh).

Myb hvng sx wth grls wh lks lk yr mthr mks th mn fl lss nscr?

[#55 posted by frankiez , August 12, 2008 2:53 PM]

whats this! A new boing boing comments feature?!

[#56 posted by Antinous , August 12, 2008 3:13 PM]

Your first comment didn't quite fall into the category of civil discourse.

[#57 posted by ReallyVirtual , August 14, 2008 4:28 PM]

Reminds me of the Uglies novels
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uglies

[#58 posted by Right_Arm_Vivi , October 16, 2008 7:12 AM]

I think the anime eyes are hot (and my non-japanese boyfriend of 5 years does too).... Im 22 years old and i think the childish look is what most cultures look for in women...these girls on here saying they dont want to look like children but everything in most cultures(including ours in the U.S. aim to make women look that way - makeup, plastic surgery, fashionable clothes, etc.... i prefer to go brazilian and stuff like that because it IS sexy...not childish.

[#59 posted by Right_Arm_Vivi , October 23, 2008 7:10 AM]

And even if it is childish...oh well...thats what men subconsciouslly look for in women...youth

[#60 posted by soriya , March 5, 2009 6:27 PM]

does anyone know where i can buy a pair of those contacts? i figure it out :) thanks