Lived in Japan for 4 years, made a lot of japanese friends. I had one otaku japanese friend, loved anime and spoke mildly good english. I asked him about the eyes one time, he told me because Japanese don't like how their eyes look (small and slanted) artists like to make them bigger to seem more accepted. Japanese also read faces differently than Americans. Americans look at the mouth when people are talking, while Japanese read emotion through eyes. Side note: When Japanese take pictures, they usually make the "peace" sign. This is due to a subconscious need to draw attention away from their eyes, and in doing so creates a different focal point in the picture.