So, basically, hair?: Hime Cut

What I gather from the description is that this trope refers to long hair with shortish bangs, usually with shorter side locks, common to Japanese Women. I've been reading some of the examples in the page that I recognize and I've encountered three basic types of examples:

• Actual Hime Cut
• Blunt fringe that otherwise doesn't qualify (i.e. Bob Haircut, frequent)
• Long hair without bangs (less frequent, but there)

• Actual Hime Cut: Hinata Hyuuga post-timeskip (Naruto), Coco (Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch )
• Does it fit?: Konata Izumi (Lucky Star), Misa Amane (Death Note)
• Not quite examples: Hinata Hyuuga pre-timeskip (Naruto, blunt fringe with short hair), Tsuyuri (Doujin Work, blunt fringe), Sai no Fujiwara (Hikaru No Go, no indication that he has bangs), Japan (Axis Powers Hetalia, this one made me laugh because I can't find any relation between his hairstyle and a Hime Cut other than his side locks are cut bluntly)

I'm not sure whether I'm just not getting the point of the trope or this is a legitimate issue, but right now it seems to me that people think blunt fringe = Hime Cut , so I'm just leaving this discussion page here so that you can enlighten me as to if I'm right or wrong about all this.

edited 20th Aug '11 4:13:49 PM by Chiletard

Shoehorning of favorite characters/works into tropes they don't fit in is an ongoing problem.

The first defintion of Hime Cut is correct: Long straight hair with blunt-cut bangs (fringe) and short blunt-cut side-locks. If the character's hairstyle doesn't match those criteria it's not a Hime Cut and the example should be deleted with an edit reason along the lines of "not an example, Hime Cut requires long hair" or "Not an example; a Hime Cut is more specific than just "blunt cut fringe."" Or whatever.

edited 20th Aug '11 4:47:22 PM by Madrugada

Reading the article, the Hime Cut is more than just a haircut, it's a visual trope used to suggest royalty (or that's what I got on a very cursory skim). Any examples that don't fit the definition of the meaning of this trope should be purged with extreme prejudice, because "just has a particular haircut" is People Sitting On Chairs.

It's ridden with X Just X, can I cut them please?

It's also ridden with hair styles that vaguely resemble the style but for instance omit the bangs, have anything but straight-cut side bangs, etc.

It's also ridden with People Sit On Chairs examples that don't take into account the trope, just the hairstyle.

I'm not sure if I spotted any good example out there, most of them were just "this character has this hair" without any explanation whether they follow, avert, invert, subvert, or do anything with the associations.

Not just Royalty... Tradition, Yamato Nadeshiko, Miko, Samurai Girl / Swordsman, The Ojou, Tall, Dark and Bishōjo, Statuesque Stunner, Huge School Girl types

Go Nagai Sideburns are not required.

edited 21st Aug '11 3:15:48 AM by Raso

This is very straightforward, either the character has a Hime Cut or they don't. If they don't, cut the example.

The only possible confusion could be a character who normally has their hair up, but when let down, its a Hime Cut. I ran into one of these recently, who was that...hmm...

Anyway, I'd say just axe any example that doesn't clearly fit, and if some legit ones get lost in the process, well, tough cookies, they can be added back properly later.

Akira from Negima wears a Ponytail◊ normally◊ but when she hops in a Kimono she wears her hair down into this [1]◊ Motoko (the page image image) also wears her hair in a ponytail more than once. (Ken Akamatsu loves this and has stated he does I think 10 characters in Negima have this...)

The most required piece though is the hair going down the sideburns area down the chest IIRC Sometimes around the ears but still down the chest, Bangs vary a bit. Very distinctive visual style. (guys get it◊ even when they dont have long hair in the back... (not an example of the trope but still.))

edited 21st Aug '11 5:03:13 AM by Raso

I would say catching the long back hair into a ponytail wouldn't automatically disqualify a character.

And it's not just royalty; royalty, dignity, traditionalism, elegance, demureness or modesty...

edited 21st Aug '11 10:21:47 AM by Madrugada

Those are the criteria, often with heavy overlap between them.

Yeah, characters with Hime Cut are very rarely, well, "perky". The few exceptions I can think of (say Konoka from Mahou Sensei Negima) are almost universally ACTUALLY princesses, or the next best thing (Konoka's essentially low-end Japanese royalty)

So, Misa Amane counts then? Normally her hair is in short pigtails, but when she lets it down it's shoulder length, with fringe and side bangs.

Having them in a ponytail is different then in a twintail, for the purpose of this trope. Amane's hair don't show any of the elegance/dignify/royalty necessary for the trope. Also, her bangs don't have the right shape.

Her hair isn't blunt cut. It's feathered.

Characters who fit the personality, but normally keep it up, probably should count. Akira from Negima definitely fits the personality, and the person I was trying to think of earlier, Yoshino from Maria Sama Ga Miteru also does, though its a bit of a bait-and-switch in her case. But her hair, when unbound from the braids, is definitely a Hime Cut.

Traditional ponytails are not Hime Cut.

However, there is a common variation of the Hime cut where the hair is tied at the end of the length of hair.

Hard to describe... here's a picture of Kaname◊ Chidori.

Chidori isn't really a Hime Cut because she lacks the correct bangs, but sometimes a person with a Hime Cut will have their hair tied back in that way. Not sure what the name for it is.

^^^ Ah, okay, I think I get it.

How about Mariko from Elfen Lied?

edited 21st Aug '11 7:02:01 PM by OmegaKross

If this trope is about the traits and personality that usually come with a character with a hime cut then the trope description should emphasize that more, instead of just the hair cut.

Of course, I'm just noting that there are a few characters who normally have their hair tied up in some way, but when they let it down, its a Hime Cut. Its a fairly unusual situation, honestly.

Its going to be very unusual to find a character who has a Hime Cut but doesn't fit either the background (princess, royalty, The Ojou, generally upper class) or the personality (calm, reserved, generally elegant)

Many characters will be both, but either the background or personality is enough to qualify.

The trope is about using the haircut to indicate, emphasize, or accentuate those traits.

edited 21st Aug '11 7:26:10 PM by Madrugada

So it isn't just 'character has this hair', it's 'character has this hair and these personality traits'.

But the overlap is very, very pronounced.

Characters don't end up with a Hime Cut by accident, after all. If a character has a Hime Cut, and doesn't fit the background or personality requirements, then its almost certainly a deliberate subversion on the part of the author/creator.

...You sure? Some OC's of mine have this haircut, as Madrugada defined it, and I had no idea about the personality traits associated with it. It's possible to get characters who have it by coincidence is what I'm saying.

So, could I get a picture of a confirmed example of the hairstyle? Then I can set about killing any examples which aren't.

Are you Japanese? If not, I'm not really interested in what your OCs have.

I mentioned that to illustrate my point. Don't get snarky with me.