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Frames of Reference

 Frames of Reference
type
FeatureClass
 Frames of Reference
label
Frames of Reference
 Frames of Reference
page
FramesOfReference
 Frames of Reference
comment
Glasses are universally seen as a sign of intelligence, but in anime it's the shape of the frames that's telling of the personality. Generally speaking, characters with rectangular or square frames tend to have "harsher" personalities that range from emotionally distant to downright evil. Characters with the circular frames (they can be ovals or perfect circles, depending on how serious the work is) have more "soft" personalities that range from comically nerdy to shy and sweet.
Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_1'); })This trope could possibly be an extension of Tsurime Eyes and Tareme Eyes, as characters with Tsurime Eyes eyes will generally wear square frames while someone with Tareme Eyes will usually opt for round frames.
Related tropes:
Bespectacled Cutie
Cool Shades
Eye Glasses
Four Eyes, Zero Soul
Glasses Are Sexy
Hot Librarian
Kichiku Megane
Mad Scientist: Depending on whether he's a lovable cloudcuckoolander or a villain.
Making a Spectacle of Yourself
Nerd Glasses
Opaque Lenses
Purely Aesthetic Glasses
Scary Shiny Glasses
The Short Guy with Glasses
Sinister Shades
Stoic Spectacles
 Frames of Reference
fetched
2022-03-15T06:40:42Z
 Frames of Reference
parsed
2022-03-15T06:40:42Z
 Frames of Reference
processingComment
Dropped link to BigBad: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Frames of Reference
processingComment
Dropped link to MadScientist: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Frames of Reference
processingComment
Dropped link to NiceGuy: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Frames of Reference
processingComment
Dropped link to OpaqueLenses: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Frames of Reference
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Dropped link to SternTeacher: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Frames of Reference
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Dropped link to SugarAndIcePersonality: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Frames of Reference
processingComment
Dropped link to stoicspectacles: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Frames of Reference
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Frames of Reference / int_1cc09117
type
Frames of Reference
 Frames of Reference / int_1cc09117
comment
Bleach seems to love this trope. You can pretty much tell a character's alliance or personality based on the shape of their glasses:
Uryuu Ishida, while not a villain, is the hero's former rival and antagonist. Is very reserved, and depending on the person, rather cold.
Ishida's father wears almost rectangular glasses, but is even more emotionally distant than his son.
Tessai Tsukabishi is rather stoic and intimidating, so his rectangular glasses suit him perfectly.
Ironically, in Aizen's case, the rectangular glasses were part of his "nice guy" facade and he ditches them once he outs himself as the story's Big Bad. Perhaps he couldn't quite hide his evilness as well as he thought...
Szayel Aporro Granz is a sadistic Mad Scientist who wears hipster glasses.
For round glasses we have Nanaos Ise, a comically uptight Sugar-and-Ice Personality who is staunchly good.
Nanao's predecessor Risa Yadomaru also sports round glasses, perhaps to purposely invoke the meganekko look since she also wears a school uniform.
Then we have Chizuru, who has triangle shaped glasses, probably to reflect her rather...eccentric personality.
 Frames of Reference / int_1cc09117
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1.0
 Frames of Reference / int_1cc09117
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 Bleach (Manga)
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Frames of Reference / int_1cc09117
 Frames of Reference / int_2ba1d958
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Frames of Reference
 Frames of Reference / int_2ba1d958
comment
The Matrix. Inside the simulation, the humans wear oval shades, while the Agents wear rectangular ones. In the sequels, as Neo and Smith become more similar, Neo's shades become more angular and Smith's become more rounded.
 Frames of Reference / int_2ba1d958
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1.0
 Frames of Reference / int_2ba1d958
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 The Matrix
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Frames of Reference / int_2ba1d958
 Frames of Reference / int_35e05f2a
type
Frames of Reference
 Frames of Reference / int_35e05f2a
comment
RWBY: Terra has a stern, no-nonsense personality than Saphron and has corresponding rectangular frames. She questions the legality of Qrow travelling with a bunch of unliscenced students, which he brushes off as "an extended training mission". While on the phone to work, she overhears Saphron telling the heroes about her work troubles, which she confirms with a very frustrated whispered hiss. Upon seeing Qrow lying drunk outside the house, she mutters about how it'll look to the neighbours, earning her a dig in the ribs from Saphron. When helping Blake sabotage the relay tower, she is extremely unamused by how relaxed Blake is and twice emphasises "It never happened" as part of her instructions.
 Frames of Reference / int_35e05f2a
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 Frames of Reference / int_35e05f2a
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 RWBY (Web Animation)
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Frames of Reference / int_35e05f2a
 Frames of Reference / int_44fe781e
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Frames of Reference
 Frames of Reference / int_44fe781e
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Gendo Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion has somewhat rectangular frames but they are rounded at the ends. Sometimes, the light reflects off them enough to hide his eyes, cluing the audience in to his inhumane nature.
 Frames of Reference / int_44fe781e
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 Frames of Reference / int_44fe781e
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 Neon Genesis Evangelion
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Frames of Reference / int_44fe781e
 Frames of Reference / int_4f091b42
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Frames of Reference
 Frames of Reference / int_4f091b42
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Barnaby from Tiger & Bunny wears hexagonal glasses (which can be seen as something of a cross between rectangular and circular lenses) and starts the series as both a Stoic Spectacles with Tsurime and a Sugar-and-Ice Personality who sometimes treads into Tsundere territory. He does, however, change quite a bit as the series progresses.
 Frames of Reference / int_4f091b42
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1.0
 Frames of Reference / int_4f091b42
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 Tiger & Bunny
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Frames of Reference / int_4f091b42
 Frames of Reference / int_6348f5cf
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Frames of Reference
 Frames of Reference / int_6348f5cf
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Els Tasmin of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid has horizontal, oval frames. While she tries her hardest to be the stern and serious type of character, her personality is closer to comical Butt-Monkey.
 Frames of Reference / int_6348f5cf
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1.0
 Frames of Reference / int_6348f5cf
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 Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid (Manga)
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Frames of Reference / int_6348f5cf
 Frames of Reference / int_7ba9ab8c
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Frames of Reference
 Frames of Reference / int_7ba9ab8c
comment
Simple Samosa, though Indian rather than Japanese, seems to have borrowed this idea, as Samosa's nosy rival Cham Cham wears glasses with square lenses and acts as an antagonist who wants to make Samosa miserable.
 Frames of Reference / int_7ba9ab8c
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 Frames of Reference / int_7ba9ab8c
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 Simple Samosa (Animation)
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Frames of Reference / int_7ba9ab8c
 Frames of Reference / int_8349fc53
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Frames of Reference
 Frames of Reference / int_8349fc53
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In Kingdom Come, Edward Nigma (aka the Riddler) wears round bifocals that scarecly resemble question marks which fit his nerdy personality and alludes to his former life of crime.
 Frames of Reference / int_8349fc53
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1.0
 Frames of Reference / int_8349fc53
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 Kingdom Come (Comic Book)
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Frames of Reference / int_8349fc53
 Frames of Reference / int_8b2d4580
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Frames of Reference
 Frames of Reference / int_8b2d4580
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The Prince of Tennis has the following:
Tezuka has oval frames, denoting his Sugar-and-Ice Personality.
Inui has rectangular Opaque Lenses because he is a Badass Bookworm, and they turn into Scary Shiny Glasses whenever his Inui Juices make an appearance.
Oshitari has round glasses and a fondness for the romance genre.
Konjiki Koharu also has oval glasses; while he's usually fun-loving and goofy, he's also a super genius data tennis player who managed to analyse Momo's and Kaidoh's play styles right away.
Kite Eishirou has rectangular glasses and is known as the Hitman because of his tendency to cheat and use violence.
Yagyuu Hiroshi has oval lenses. While ruthless on the court (even against his own partner when they were forced to play against each other), he's pretty nice when not playing tennis.
 Frames of Reference / int_8b2d4580
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1.0
 Frames of Reference / int_8b2d4580
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 The Prince of Tennis (Manga)
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Frames of Reference / int_8b2d4580
 Frames of Reference / int_a54eef52
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Frames of Reference
 Frames of Reference / int_a54eef52
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Hetalia: Axis Powers:
The countries, America and Canada, have this as one of their differentiating features (not that anyone notices). Canada is shy and nice so he wears circular frames while America is abrasive and somewhat arrogant so he wears square frames.
Austria's frames are square with rounded edges since he's a Sugar-and-Ice Personality.
Estonia's are square with rounded edges since he's generally a Nice Guy / Only Sane Man.
Cameroon and Sweden's glasses are square framed since they're both Stoic Spectacles.
Thailand has circular frames since he's cheerful and fun loving.
 Frames of Reference / int_a54eef52
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1.0
 Frames of Reference / int_a54eef52
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 Hetalia: Axis Powers (Webcomic)
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Frames of Reference / int_a54eef52
 Frames of Reference / int_a6bbf758
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Frames of Reference
 Frames of Reference / int_a6bbf758
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Father Alexander Anderson from Hellsing wears perfectly round glasses and is shown to be a gentle and rather amiable man. But in battle, his glasses immediately turn an opaque blue and he sports a seemingly constant Slasher Smile. Alucard himself sports a Slasher Smile and round glasses, but is an amoral vampire willing to take out an army of Mooks without hesitation.
 Frames of Reference / int_a6bbf758
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1.0
 Frames of Reference / int_a6bbf758
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 Hellsing
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Frames of Reference / int_a6bbf758
 Frames of Reference / int_cb6abea3
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Frames of Reference
 Frames of Reference / int_cb6abea3
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Weevil Underwood/Insector Haga of Yu-Gi-Oh! is a bit of an interesting case. Despite having very narrow, creepy-looking, Tsurime eyes and having a pretty Jerkass Smug Snake personality, both sets of glasses he wears are very rounded. This may have been intentionally done to make him look more insect-like.
 Frames of Reference / int_cb6abea3
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 Frames of Reference / int_cb6abea3
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 Yu-Gi-Oh!
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Frames of Reference / int_cb6abea3
 Frames of Reference / int_ce9c80bf
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Frames of Reference
 Frames of Reference / int_ce9c80bf
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Lampshaded in Slam Dunk, Kogure wears circular glasses while Hanagata wears square ones.
 Frames of Reference / int_ce9c80bf
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1.0
 Frames of Reference / int_ce9c80bf
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 Slam Dunk (Manga)
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Frames of Reference / int_ce9c80bf
 Frames of Reference / int_ec19bd89
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Frames of Reference
 Frames of Reference / int_ec19bd89
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Saiyuki has an interesting example, in that Cho Gonou is shown with square glasses, while Cho Hakkai has a single round monocle instead.
 Frames of Reference / int_ec19bd89
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1.0
 Frames of Reference / int_ec19bd89
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 Saiyuki (Manga)
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Frames of Reference / int_ec19bd89
 Frames of Reference / int_f554e011
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Frames of Reference
 Frames of Reference / int_f554e011
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In the visual novel Katawa Shoujo, the intelligent, aggressive Student Council President wears rectangle frames. In contrast, the shy librarian Yuuko had oval shaped lenses (until her recent, more realistic re-design).
 Frames of Reference / int_f554e011
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1.0
 Frames of Reference / int_f554e011
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 Katawa Shoujo (Visual Novel)
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Frames of Reference / int_f554e011

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Frames of Reference
processingCategory2
Glasses Tropes
 Airlocked Round One (Roleplay) / int_c90b6769
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Frames of Reference
 Trustfell 2 Trust Harder (Roleplay) / int_c90b6769
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Frames of Reference
 Little Britain / int_c90b6769
type
Frames of Reference
 Crossing Souls (Video Game) / int_c90b6769
type
Frames of Reference
 Legend of Mana (Video Game) / int_c90b6769
type
Frames of Reference
 Where's Waldo? (2019) / int_c90b6769
type
Frames of Reference