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For this blessed mission to the nations of the world, which are shut out from the life-giving light of truth, has America been chosen; and her high example shall smite unto death the tyranny of kings, hierarchs, and oligarchs, and carry the glad tidings of peace and good will where myriads now endure an existence scarcely more enviable than that of beasts of the field. Who, then, can doubt that our country is destined to be the great nation of futurity?"
John O'Sullivan, 1839
This is the mentality I was speaking of and is to be found under different names and rallying cries throughout history. It is the thought that a certain race or creed is the sole heir to 'The Truth' and will impose their will to the betterment of others. This was the social glue that held that Japan was destined to control much of the Asiatic world and spurned the common people to fight and die for the Emperor and empire. Regardless of the economic reasons that stand behind the War in the Pacific, it was the belief in superiority that rallied the masses behind the war effort.
When the war was lost, Japan faced a crisis in identity since it seemed apparently obvious that they weren't destined to rule after all. It was in this era of cultural upheaval that anime and manga have their roots as Japan redefined itself and replaced the Shogun with the capitalist. It was this embrace and emulation of Western (i.e: American) values, in many areas, that the style we now see developed. Whether conscious or not, the early drawers of manga and anime adopted features in their characters that were far more Caucasian (regardless of hair colour) than Asian because they had developed a view that presented Westerners as winners.
Thankfully, Japan never lost its heritage and re-discovered the Shogun (he carries a briefcase now) but the anime/manga style became so much part of that culture that it remains even though the Japanese people have no need to look beyond themselves for their heroes now. Considering it position after WWII, Japan rebuilt itself and threatened it's conquerers on a new battlefields and won many of the new battles but once entrenched, cultural aspects remain despite the reasons they came to be in the first place.
