History UsefulNotes / HairColorInJapan

Don't confuse exotic hair colors with lighting and shading effects, though. It's common in commercial four-color art and in animation to use dark blue as a highlight color for black hair; just look at any Franchise/{{Superman}} comic. However, this practice has many fans who insist that black-haired Akane Tendo from ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' has blue-black or even blue hair. Similarly, the purple shades in the hair of Faye Valentine (''Anime/CowboyBebop''), Rei Hino (''Franchise/SailorMoon'') or Misato Katsuragi (''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'') may be an artistic license for simple highlights, especially given that in their respective manga, both have jet-black hair.

Don't confuse exotic hair colors with lighting and shading effects, though. It's common in commercial four-color art and in animation to use dark blue as a highlight color for black hair; just look at any Franchise/{{Superman}} comic. However, this practice has many fans who insist that black-haired Akane Tendo from ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' has blue-black or even blue hair. Similarly, the purple shades in the hair of Faye Valentine (''Anime/CowboyBebop'') or Misato Katsuragi (''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'') may be an artistic license for simple highlights, especially given that in their respective manga, both have jet-black hair.

Blue hair on a woman tends to indicate shyness or introversion, a correspondence which seems to have originated with Ami "Sailor Mercury" Mizuno from ''Franchise/SailorMoon''. It also seems to connote extraordinary intelligence in both genders -- Ami Mizuno, again, but also Miki Kaoru from ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'' and Touma Hashiba from ''Anime/RoninWarriors''.

Most of the time, however, if hair color is an issue, it's to indicate that somebody is actively fighting convention and thus, a [[JapaneseDelinquents delinquent]]. In some cases, this causes a bizarre cross-talk, such as in ''Manga/ExcelSaga'', where characters with blue, purple, and pink hair pass without comment, but bleached-blond gang members are immediately recognized for what they are. Another example of this can be seen in ''Anime/ThisUglyYetBeautifulWorld,'' where one of the ginger-haired alien girls (whilst standing next to her ''green''-haired co-star) is rebuked by a teacher for having a ''"non-natural"'' hair color.

Unusual hair colors are usually ignored unless the hair color is intended to be seen as strange and set the character apart from their peers. For example, ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'''s main character, Ichigo, has naturally light hair, which many people incorrectly presume to be the result of bleach and a sign of delinquency. (Ironically not the reason for the series name, according to an interview with the mangaka in an issue of Shounen Jump.) In the same series, Orihime recalls having been picked on by older girls for having similar natural orange hair. Rangiku's blonde hair, Renji's red hair, and Hitsugaya's silver hair have also drawn comments. The heroine of ''LightNovel/TheTwelveKingdoms'' has distinct, naturally red hair that sets her up for ridicule by her peers, who think she dyed it, and her parents, who demand that she dye her hair a normal color.

A blonde woman is often either TheDitz or a callous, selfish manipulator. (Female blonde Japanese characters, particularly very tan ones, also evoke the [[GyaruGirl "kogal" and "yamanba" youth subcultures]], which while more or less harmless are considered extreme almost to the point of delinquency.) There are frequent exceptions, though, such as Kaolla Suu from ''Manga/LoveHina''. Often, blondes also have some kind of [[{{Mukokuseki}} foreign ancestry]], typically [[ButNotTooForeign American or European]]. (For instance, Rebecca Miyamoto from ''Anime/PaniPoniDash'', and Kaolla Suu, who is herself from a fictional island nation.)

->''"And for some reason, I got blue hair. YouGottaHaveBlueHair."''
-->-- '''Strong Bad''', describing his {{anime}} counterpart Stinkoman, ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'', [[https://homestarrunner.com/sbemail57.html "Japanese cartoon"]].

[[caption-width-right:279:In {{real life}}, Japanese people usually have black hair. However, as people like Kohaku here show us, [[{{animeland}} this isn't the case]] in most anime, manga, and Japanese video games.]]

Such changes don't always have an implied meaning, as they might for a character created for an anime. Allegedly this makes characters more easily identifiable from each other when you have a large cast outside of black and white art. (The huge cast of ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' is a notable victim of this, although to be fair many of their hair colors were established by the creator in the color covers for the tankoubon releases of the manga.)

[[quoteright:250:[[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Kohaku_4005.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:250:In {{real life}}, Japanese people usually have black hair. However, as people like Kohaku here show us, [[{{animeland}} this isn't the case]] in most anime, manga, and Japanese video games.]]

-->-- '''Strong Bad''', describing his {{Anime}} counterpart Stinkoman, ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'', [[http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail57.html "Japanese cartoon"]].

In general, though, brown, black, or (rarely) naturalistic auburn hair tends to indicate an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent or some other "grounded", "normal" (Japanese) person. Brown hair, in particular, tend to be the most widely used color for ordinary Japanese characters, including the main characters, because a black-haired female can indicate [[AloofDarkHairedGirl other]] [[{{Ojou}} qualities]]. Black hair (or dark blue and purple) can be more common among male protagonists, to make them more relatable to the audience. In some anime, green hair can serve as an additional "standard" hair color (for instance, Midori in ''Manga/MidoriDays'' or the ever-popular Manga/MyHeroAcademia protagonist Izuku "Deku" Midoriya).

A blond woman is often either TheDitz or a callous, selfish manipulator. (Female blonde Japanese characters, particularly very tan ones, also evoke the [[GyaruGirl "kogal" and "yamanba" youth subcultures]], which while more or less harmless are considered extreme almost to the point of delinquency.) There are frequent exceptions, though, such as Kaolla Suu from ''Manga/LoveHina''. Often, blondes also have some kind of [[{{Mukokuseki}} foreign ancestry]], typically [[ButNotTooForeign American or European]]. (For instance, Rebecca Miyamoto from ''Anime/PaniPoniDash'', and Kaolla Suu, who is herself from a fictional island nation.)

Blonde hair on a male character may imply that he is TheTrickster. Alternately, it may symbolize that this character is a focus of chaos, and trouble follows him wherever he goes, such as Vash the Stampede from ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', or Soichiro Nagi from ''Manga/TenjhoTenge''; a live-action example is the movie version of ''Film/BattleRoyale'''s Kazuo Kiriyama. It is also not uncommon for anime males with ''long'' blonde hair to be portrayed as [[TheCasanova Casanova-types]]. (Examples: Kurz from ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'', Allen Schezar from ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne'', Kyle from ''VideoGame/SuikodenV'' among others...)

Beginning in 2000 or so, {{Magical Girl}}s' transformed alter egos tend to have different shades of their hair colours. ''Manga/TokyoMewMew'' is one of the most notable examples but not the earliest, although originally in the manga, the characters kept their hair colors; only once the anime began and gave them different shades did they manga follow suit. (The mangaka also did this with the transformation phrases, previously not present, as well as the altered weapons.) One of, if not the earliest hair color changes was actually ''Manga/KamikazeKaitouJeanne''. ''Franchise/SailorMoon'', on the other hand, played it backwards. Covers and colored pages of [[Manga/SailorMoon the manga]] often showed the Senshi with hair that matched their transformations, but TheNineties [[Anime/SailorMoon anime]] gave them more natural hair, Usagi and Minako's blondness notwithstanding.

White hair tends to indicate dignity and skill (or simply obvious age), unless the character in question is a {{bishonen}}, in which case he is [[WhiteHairBlackHeart almost always a villain]]. If the character is a white-haired, dark-skinned woman, then dignity, skill, or power is often implied, but the character is often also emotionally driven and portrayed as a "force of nature". Urd from ''Manga/AhMyGoddess'', Sanae from ''Anime/HanaukyoMaidTai'', and Sara from ''Anime/HandMaidMay'' are good examples. Storm of the ''Comicbook/XMen'' is a good Western example.

In general, though, brown, black or (rarely) naturalistic auburn hair tends to indicate an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent or some other "grounded", "normal" (Japanese) person. Brown hair, in particular, tend to be the most widely used color for ordinary Japanese characters, including the main characters, because a black haired female can indicate [[AloofDarkHairedGirl other]] [[{{Ojou}} qualities]]. Black hair (or dark blue and purple) can be more common among male protagonists, to make them more relatable to the audience. In some anime, green hair can serve as an additional "standard" hair color (for instance, Midori in ''Manga/MidoriDays'' or the ever popular Manga/MyHeroAcademia protagonist Izuku "Deku" Midoriya).

White hair tends to indicate dignity and skill (or simply obvious age), unless the character in question is a {{bishonen}}, in which case he is [[WhiteHairBlackHeart almost always a villain]]. If the character is a white-haired, dark-skinned woman, then dignity, skill or power is often implied, but the character is often also emotionally driven and portrayed as a "force of nature". Urd from ''Manga/AhMyGoddess'', Sanae from ''Anime/HanaukyoMaidTai'', and Sara from ''Anime/HandMaidMay'' are good examples. Storm of the ''Comicbook/XMen'' is a good Western example.

In [[RolePlayingGame console RPGs]], blue, aqua or green hair on either gender is a common indicator that the character is a spellcaster or has magical powers, often for hereditary reasons. See Rydia from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', Terra from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' (at least in the sprite art), any Ryu from any ''VideoGame/BreathOfFire'' game, Rena and Leon from ''VideoGame/StarOceanTheSecondStory'', and many others.

Don't confuse exotic hair colors with lighting and shading effects, though. It's common in commercial four-color art and in animation to use dark blue as a highlight color for black hair; just look at any Franchise/{{Superman}} comic. However, this practice has many fans who insist that black-haired Akane Tendo from ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' has blue-black or even blue hair. Similarly, the purple shades in the hair of Faye Valentine (''Anime/CowboyBebop''), or Misato Katsuragi (''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'') may be artistic license for simple highlights, especially given that in their respective manga, both have jet-black hair.

Similarly, it's not uncommon to find hair, eye and skin colors all shifted when the characters are under special lighting conditions, such as red/golden sunrises and sunsets. The resulting colors are just what happens when hair color and tinted light mix.

As a side note, be aware that a character's hair color sometimes changes radically during the transition from manga to anime. While the anime version of Ranma's girl-form is a redhead, the manga version has black hair and is able to masquerade as a regular Japanese girl without a wig or hair dye (though Takahashi played with this and drew her with different-colored hair on the times when it was colored, but used red more frequently later on). Similarly, Shampoo from the same series has bright purple hair in the anime, whereas in the manga, it was limited to subtle purple highlights (see the above discussion about those). Utena Tenjou (from ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'') was originally a blonde, but in the leap to anime her hair acquired the pink color of her uniform (which itself changed color to a deep blue).

Unusual hair colors are usually ignored, unless the hair color is intended to be seen as strange and set the character apart from their peers. For example, ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'''s main character, Ichigo, has naturally light hair, which many people incorrectly presume to be the result of bleach and a sign of delinquency. (Ironically not the reason for the series name, according to an interview with the mangaka in an issue of Shounen Jump.) In the same series, Orihime recalls having been picked on by older girls for having similar natural orange hair. Rangiku's blonde hair, Renji's red hair, and Hitsugaya's silver hair have also drawn comments. The heroine of ''LightNovel/TheTwelveKingdoms'' has distinct, naturally red hair that sets her up for ridicule by her peers, who think she dyed it, and her parents, who demand that she dye her hair a normal color.

Most of the time, however, if hair color is an issue, it's to indicate that somebody is actively fighting convention and thus, a [[JapaneseDelinquents delinquent]]. In some cases, this causes a bizarre cross-talk, such as in ''Manga/ExcelSaga'', where characters with blue, purple and pink hair pass without comment, but bleached-blond gang members are immediately recognized for what they are. Another example of this can be seen in ''Anime/ThisUglyYetBeautifulWorld,'' where one of the ginger-haired alien girls (whilst standing next to her ''green''-haired co-star) is rebuked by a teacher for having a ''"non-natural"'' hair colour.

(In a case of TruthInTelevision, recent news reports from Japan have cited cases of school administrators who have insisted that ''all'' their students have ''only'' black hair, and enforce mandatory dyeing on those without it, using draconian regulations and punishments.)

Beginning in 2000 or so, {{Magical Girl}}s' transformed alter egos tend to have different shades of their hair colours. ''Manga/TokyoMewMew'' is one of the most notable examples but not the earliest, although originally in the manga, the characters kept their hair colours; only once the anime began and gave them different shades did they manga follow suit. (The mangaka also did this with the transformation phrases, previously not present, as well as the altered weapons.) One of, if not the earliest hair color changes was actually ''Manga/KamikazeKaitouJeanne''. ''Franchise/SailorMoon'', on the other hand, played it backwards. Covers and colored pages of [[Manga/SailorMoon the manga]] often showed the Senshi with hair that matched their transformations, but TheNineties [[Anime/SailorMoon anime]] gave them more natural hair, Usagi and Minako's blondness notwithstanding.

The bizarre hair colors seen in modern anime have their origins in the black-and-white manga source material. In a nation where virtually everyone has black hair, characters in manga (who often had [[OnlySixFaces very similar facial features]] as well) could be difficult to distinguish from one another. One solution was to give them different hair styles, or to use variant shading (or no shading at all) on their hair. When the mangas were translated to color animation, the odd shadings were sometimes translated as bright colors. This trope/concept ''particularly'' exploded, however, with the advent of computer video games in the 1980s - due to palette restrictions, giving characters "natural" hair colors, black especially, that read well on-screen was often enormously difficult. Bright hair colors in the red, blue, purple and green ranges, however, often translated very well to the screen and often made it easier to track characters visually on screen. And given the cross-promotion and cross-inspiration between anime and video games, even in the 80s, the concept transferred very quickly.

Can also be used to indicate which are the "important" characters in a cast. For instance, in ''Manga/VampireKnight'' the anime, all of the vampires have unusual hair colors--at least three blonds and four with white hair, and ironically the main father figure-like vampire has black hair, while EVERY HUMAN GIRL HAS BROWN HAIR. Apparently turning into a bloodsucker merits a major trip to the salon?

In general, though, brown, black or (rarely) naturalistic auburn hair tends to indicate an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent or some other "grounded", "normal" (Japanese) person. Brown hair, in particular, tend to be the most widely used color for ordinary Japanese characters, including the main characters, because a black haired female can indicate [[AloofDarkHairedGirl other]] [[{{Ojou}} qualities]]. Black hair (or dark blue and purple) can be more common among male protagonists, to make them more relatable to the audience. In some anime, green hair can serve as an additional "standard" hair color (for instance, Midori in ''Manga/MidoriDays'') or the ever popular Manga/MyHeroAcademia protagonist Izuku "Deku" Midoriya.

In general, though, brown, black or (rarely) naturalistic auburn hair tends to indicate an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent or some other "grounded", "normal" (Japanese) person. Brown hair, in particular, tend to be the most widely used color for ordinary Japanese characters, including the main characters, because a black haired female can indicate [[AloofDarkHairedGirl other]] [[{{Ojou}} qualities]]. Black hair (or dark blue and purple) can be more common among male protagonists, to make them more relatable to the audience. In some anime, green hair can serve as an additional "standard" hair color (for instance, Midori in ''Manga/MidoriDays'') or the ever popular manga/MyHeroAcademia protagonist Izuku "Deku" Midoriya.

In general, though, brown, black or (rarely) naturalistic auburn hair tends to indicate an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent or some other "grounded", "normal" (Japanese) person. Brown hair, in particular, tend to be the most widely used color for ordinary Japanese characters, including the main characters, because a black haired female can indicate [[AloofDarkHairedGirl other]] [[{{Ojou}} qualities]]. Black hair (or dark blue and purple) can be more common among male protagonists, to make them more relatable to the audience. In some anime, green hair can serve as an additional "standard" hair color (for instance, Midori in ''Manga/MidoriDays'') or the ever popular manga/MyHeroACademia protagonist Izuku "Deku" Midoriya.

In general, though, brown, black or (rarely) naturalistic auburn hair tends to indicate an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent or some other "grounded", "normal" (Japanese) person. Brown hair, in particular, tend to be the most widely used color for ordinary Japanese characters, including the main characters, because a black haired female can indicate [[AloofDarkHairedGirl other]] [[{{Ojou}} qualities]]. Black hair (or dark blue and purple) can be more common among male protagonists, to make them more relatable to the audience. In some anime, green hair can serve as an additional "standard" hair color (for instance, Midori in ''Manga/MidoriDays'').

** PaintItBlack

Don't confuse exotic hair colors with lighting and shading effects, though. It's common in commercial four-color art and in animation to use dark blue as a highlight color for black hair; just look at any {{Superman}} comic. However, this practice has many fans who insist that black-haired Akane Tendo from ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' has blue-black or even blue hair. Similarly, the purple shades in the hair of Faye Valentine (''Anime/CowboyBebop''), or Misato Katsuragi (''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'') may be artistic license for simple highlights, especially given that in their respective manga, both have jet-black hair.

[[caption-width-right:250:In {{real life}}, Japanese people usually have black hair. However, as people like Kohaku here show us, this isn't the case in most anime, manga, and Japanese video games.]]

Blonde hair on a male character may imply that he is a {{trickster}}. Alternately, it may symbolize that this character is a focus of chaos, and trouble follows him wherever he goes, such as Vash the Stampede from ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', or Soichiro Nagi from ''Manga/TenjhoTenge''; a live-action example is the movie version of ''Film/BattleRoyale'''s Kazuo Kiriyama. It is also not uncommon for anime males with ''long'' blonde hair to be portrayed as [[TheCasanova Casanova-types]]. (Examples: Kurz from ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'', Allen Schezar from ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne'', Kyle from ''VideoGame/SuikodenV'' among others...)

Blonde hair on a male character may imply that he is a {{trickster}}. Alternately, it may symbolize that this character is a focus of chaos, and trouble follows him wherever he goes, such as Vash the Stampede from ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', or Soichiro Nagi from ''Manga/TenjhoTenge''; a live-action example is the movie version of ''Film/BattleRoyale'''s Kazuo Kiriyama. It is also not uncommon for anime males with ''long'' blonde hair to be portrayed as Casanova-types. (Examples: Kurz from ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'', Allen Schezar from ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne'', Kyle from ''VideoGame/SuikodenV'' among others...)

Red hair often corresponds either to spirit possession and/or enchantment (as in Manga/{{Ranma|OneHalf}}'s red-headed "curse form"), or to the more Western "hot head" stereotype (such as Asuka from ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' or Lina Inverse from ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'').

[[caption-width-right:250:In {{real life}}, Japanese people usually have black hair. However, as people like Kohaku here show us, this isn't the case in most anime, manga, and video games.]]

A blond woman is often either TheDitz or a callous, selfish manipulator. (Female blonde Japanese characters, particularly very tan ones, also evoke the [[GyaruGirl "kogal" and "yamamba" youth subcultures]], which while more or less harmless are considered extreme almost to the point of delinquency.) There are frequent exceptions, though, such as Kaolla Suu from ''Manga/LoveHina''. Often, blondes also have some kind of [[{{Mukokuseki}} foreign ancestry]], typically [[ButNotTooForeign American or European]]. (For instance, Rebecca Miyamoto from ''Anime/PaniPoniDash'', and Kaolla Suu, who is herself from a fictional island nation.)

A blond woman is often either TheDitz or a callous, selfish manipulator. (Female blonde Japanese characters, particularly very tan ones, also evoke the "kogal" and "yamamba" youth subcultures, which while more or less harmless are considered extreme almost to the point of delinquency.) There are frequent exceptions, though, such as Kaolla Suu from ''Manga/LoveHina''. Often, blondes also have some kind of [[{{Mukokuseki}} foreign ancestry]], typically [[ButNotTooForeign American or European]]. (For instance, Rebecca Miyamoto from ''Anime/PaniPoniDash'', and Kaolla Suu, who is herself from a fictional island nation.)

** RedHeadedHero

White hair tends to indicate dignity and skill (or simply obvious age), unless the character in question is a {{bishonen}}, in which case he is [[WhiteHairBlackHeart almost always a villain]]. If the character is a white-haired, dark-skinned woman, then dignity, skill or power is often implied, but the character is often also emotionally driven and portrayed as a "force of nature". Urd from ''Manga/AhMyGoddess'', Sanae from ''Anime/HanaukyoMaidTai'', and Sara from ''Anime/HandMaidMay'' are good examples. Storm of the ''Comicbook/{{X-Men}}'' is a good Western example.

** BlondesAreEvil
** BlondGuysAreEvil

Blonde hair on a male character may imply that he is a {{trickster}}. Alternately, it may symbolize that this character is a focus of chaos, and trouble follows him wherever he goes, such as Vash the Stampede from ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', or Soichiro Nagi from ''Manga/TenjouTenge''; a live-action example is the movie version of ''Film/BattleRoyale'''s Kazuo Kiriyama. It is also not uncommon for anime males with ''long'' blonde hair to be portrayed as Casanova-types. (Examples: Kurz from ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'', Allen Schezar from ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne'', Kyle from ''VideoGame/SuikodenV'' among others...)