In anime, sometimes characters' "eyes become 3's," me ga san ni naru 目が3になる. As in, they become drawn as the number 3, the Arabic numeral.
Not to be confused with having three eyes, or a cat mouth (・ω・)
Anime: Doraemon ドラえもん (2005) (Episode 149, ねむりの天才のび太)
Examples
In general, these 3-shaped eyes are used in anime when a character that wears glasses takes off their glasses. Why are they used? Because they're supposed to represent squinting eyes. The upper part of the 3 numeral is the upper eyelid, while the lower part is the lower eyelid.
Anime: Joshiraku じょしらく (Episode 4)
By the way, sometimes the mouth is drawn as a 3, too, but that represents something like pouting.
Glasses characters constantly and semi-permanently wear glasses. A common time they take off their glasses, and consequently may get 3-shaped eyes, is when they go to sleep.
Anime: Handa-kun はんだくん (Episode 8)
Anime: Go! Princess Precure (Episode 3)
Another case is if they lose they glasses.
- megane megane
メガネメガネ
Glasses, glasses. (as in: where are my glasses?)
Note that even characters that don't wear glasses can be drawn like this.
Right: Mile マイル
Anime: Watashi, Nouryoku wa Heikinchi de tte Itta yo ne! 私、能力は平均値でって言ったよね! (Episode 10)
- A snot bubble is another symbol used when characters are sleeping.
4 Eyes
Since drawing eyes like 3's is alright, why we stop there? Here, have some number 4 eyes:
- Context: Saiki borrows his father's glasses without permission.
- oi~~ megane kaeshite yo~~
オイ~~眼鏡返してよ~
Heey, give [my] glasses back~~ - gaman shite kure chotto me ga "san" ni naru dake daro
我慢してくれちょっと目が「3」になるだけだろ
Please endure [it], [all that will happen is that] [your] eyes will become "threes." - megane ga nai to hotondo mienai-n-da yo~~
眼鏡がないとほとんど見えないんだよ~
Without [my] glasses [I] almost can't see. - yon!?
4!?
Fours!?
Again, not to be confused with having four eyes.
heh you should add that one gag from Saiki Kusuo no Psi Nan where Saiki borrows his dad's glasses and comments that his eyes will look like the number 3 but then looks at his dad and instead of 3, his eyes are literally the number 4 LOL. good stuff.
ReplyDeleteAdded. Thanks.
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