Why Anime Hair Is Colorful

Unlike real life, anime characters have colorful hair and some with strange and unusual shapes. Have you ever wondered why anime characters have colorful hair? What are the meanings of hair colors in anime? In this article, we will see everything about the colors, hairstyles, and shapes of Japanese hair.

Why is anime hair colorful?

The reasons are obvious; colorful hair is much cooler than the common haircuts you see on real people. Another point is that the character definitely stands out in the crowd.

It is easier to remember characters from a show with many of them by their hair style and color. Especially useful for shows that likely do not maintain a consistent viewer base.

In some anime, one of the only ways to distinguish characters is by hair color and style, but sometimes even that is not enough! Some anime have simple traits and can only be differentiated by hair type.

Hair styles and colors distinguish the character; just by silhouette, you can tell which character belongs to which anime. Another basic reason is simple; if some did it, others copied. All of this ended up becoming a trend.

What Japanese hair looks like…

The origin of colorful hair came from black and white

The origin of this practice of crazy colored hair in anime came from the black and white drawings of manga. How so? Manga pages are printed in black and white because it was much cheaper than printing in color.

Only popular mangas get a precious colored distribution of 1, 2, or 3 pages occasionally, or get a colored magazine cover. Since mangakas had so few opportunities to draw their characters in color, they were “hungry” for colors.

In the 1970s, they experimented with using all possible colors in their rare colored illustrations. The same character ended up appearing on different covers and editions with different hair colors.

As mangaka Miuchi Suzue and others used so many different hair colors for the same characters over a period of 40 years, many readers were unsure of which hair colors were common. Even anime had versions with different hair colors.

Over the years, mangakas saw that it was more worthwhile to assign a specific color to their characters’ hair. So those mangas that had several volumes with the same character with different hair colors ceased to exist.

Meaning of Hair Colors in Anime

For some, colors have meanings and even represent the characteristics and subconscious of people. In anime, it is no different; we can find some patterns in characters with certain hair colors.

Hair colors can also be used in some way in the plot, for example, Ichigo being bullied because of his unusual hair color. Sometimes, the color is also used to indicate a bit of the character’s personality.

Expressing symbolism through hair colors is just an optional byproduct. Achieving symbolism through color does not need to make use of hair. For this reason, do not interpret the personality of certain characters solely by the color of their hair.

Let’s look in detail at the meaning of each color, but if we could summarize, we would do it as follows:

Black and brown – Natural color found in serious and realistic anime
Pink – Childishness, alienation, naivety;
Purple – May suggest a high social position;
Green – Funny characters, full of energy, active and with personality;
Yellow – Highlights rarity, superiority, a unique characteristic.
Red – Represents wildness, people who let themselves be carried away by emotion and passion.
Blue – Mysterious, mystical people who are distant from the real world;

Black-haired characters in anime

Black hair can refer to strong, honest, determined, independent, mysterious, powerful, practical, solid, solitary, and traditional people. We can see this in characters like Kirito from SAO and L from Death Note.

Besides the traditional, black hair can seem powerful, cruel, and macabre. Although black is a dark color, it is neutral and is also associated with positive personal characteristics. They can be deep thinkers who rarely need help.

Levi Ackerman – Attack on Titan;
Vegeta – Dragon Ball;
Akeno Himejima – High School DxD;

White or silver-haired characters

A strange and inhuman essence surrounds white-haired characters. They are so pure that it may seem unnatural. They are usually obstinate, skilled, serene, lucid, humble, and narcissistic.

If the character is a woman, there is a good chance she is magical. And if the character is a man, he may be the anti-hero. If the hair color is more gray/silver, then the character will likely be calm, balanced, logical, disguised, or irreverent.

Kaneki Ken – Tokyo Ghoul;
Shiro – Deadman Wonderland;
Ginko – Mushishi;
Killua – Hunter x Hunter;

Pink-haired characters in anime

In Japan, the color pink implies youth and innocence – the youngest, cutest, and most childish Idols are often portrayed with pink hair or pink accessories. It can indicate a kind, benevolent, delicate, spontaneous, feminine, childish, naive, and caring person.

Benevolent, young, cheerful, and innocent. However, organized, accomplished, and frustrated. Characters with pink hair can cause a positive change in others. Male characters with pink hair can be a bit perverse.

Sakura Haruno – Naruto;
Yuno Gasai – Mirai Nikki;
Mirai Kuriyama – Kyoukai no Kanata;

Purple-haired characters in anime

Purple-haired characters are powerful. Their goals may revolve around prestige and material possessions. Purple-haired characters are also privileged, noble, elegant, restless, intriguing, pompous, and selfish.

They can also be calm, conflicted, delicate, intelligent, intriguing, magical, and mysterious. Lighter shades tend to be more delicate, calm, and prefer not to get involved in conflicts. Darker shades are conflictual and even aggressive.

Yato – Noragami;
Saeko Busujima – Highschool of the Dead;
Yuri Nakamura – Angel Beats;
Yuki Nagato – Suzumiya Haruhi;
Rikka Takanashi – Chunibyo;

Red or auburn-haired characters

Characters with red hair can be described as: passionate, adventurous, aggressive, hot-headed, seductive, aggressive, and of course… enthusiastic! They are more likely to be tsundere because their emotions are super explosive!

But these characteristics are mainly for girls. For boys, it is a bit different. Male protagonists can be quite calm, humble, and disciplined. We can mention Erza Scarlet from Fairy Tail and Gaara from Naruto.

Gaara – Naruto;
Sora – No Game No Life;
Erza – Fairy Tail;
Shirayuki Hime;
Makise Kurisu – Steins;Gate;

Blonde or yellow-haired characters

The typical blonde is confident, happy, naive, and stubborn. Blonde characters are likely to be foreigners. (Europeans or Americans). Despite the cliché, anime also portrays blondes as dumb, childish, or selfish.

Blondes or yellow-haired characters in anime are also often major troublemakers. It seems that these characters have charms and attract chaos. Blonde men in anime are usually humble and pure princes.

Misa Amane – Death Note;
Usagi Tsukino – Sailor Moon;
Tsumugi Kotobuki – K-On!;
Usui Takumi – Maid Sama;
Kurapika – Hunter x Hunter;
Armin – Shingeki no Kyojin;

Green-haired characters in anime

Green-haired characters are laid-back, trustworthy, enlightened, and tolerant. On the other hand, they can be poisonous, jealous, and reckless. They can be sweet, fragile, reckless, envious, loyal, wicked, protective, sensitive, tolerant, and toxic.

They are like Mother Nature and can create a calm and healing atmosphere, but they can also do the opposite. Greens may give a bad first impression but will stand by the protagonist.

Shintarou Midorima – Kuroko no Basket;
Zoro Roronoa – One Piece;
C.C. – Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion;
Amaimon – Ao no Exorcist;
Envy – Fullmetal Alchemist;
Eto Yoshimura – Tokyo Ghoul;
Helbram (Nanatsu no Taizai;
Izuku Midoriya – Boku no Hero Academia;
Shintarou Midorima – Kuroko no Basket;
Tatsumaki – One Punch-Man;

Blue-haired characters in anime

Anime characters with blue hair are wise, talented, mature, intuitive, and introverted. They have many hidden talents that still need to be discovered. They are also aware of their own emotions and the emotions of others.

The darker the blue hair, the more responsible the character feels. It is very common for blue-haired characters to have special abilities. They are beautiful, calm, confident, delicate, balanced, cool, impartial, and rational characters.

Shino Asada – Sword Art Online;
Nagisa Shiota – Assassination Classroom;
Aoba – Dramatical Murder;
Rem – Re:Zero;
Rin Okumura – Ao no Exorcist;
Tenya Iida – Boku no Hero Academia;

Brown or chestnut-haired characters

Brown is a common color for protagonists. Some characters with brown hair may be far from normal. Brown-haired characters are approachable, comfortable, charming, consistent, sincere, and enduring.

It can refer to friendly, extreme, firm, honest, impulsive, moderate, neutral, practical, persistent, and predictable characters. Friendship is very present in these characters; they are usually protagonists of slice of life or school anime.

Light Yagami – Death Note;
Izumi Shinichi – Kiseijuu;
Kyon – Suzumiya Haruhi;
Asuna – Sword Art Online;
Taiga – Toradora;
Suzaku – Code Geass;

Types, Hairstyles, and Shapes of Hair in Anime

Normally, the most important characters in anime have different hairstyles and hair shapes, wild tips, or a cool hairstyle to stand out in the crowd or among other characters. The goal is simple, to differentiate from others, both within the work and from other works.

Some characters need to stand out in the crowd; both the color and the strange hair style is a very easy way to achieve this (strange clothes are also popular).

There are infinite types and shapes of hair in anime; some have become standards and can be found in different works. Others stand out and attract attention; how about we look at some of them?

The hime or ojousama hairstyle of long, straight hair with a set of strands or tufts in front of each ear is simply the standard hairstyle of the common Japanese woman in the Heian period.

The most common types of hairstyles are ponytails which represent something common. The pigtails and twintails styles represent childishness usually used by tsundere. Male ponytails have a historical background in the Samurai Era.

We recommend reading: Tsundere? Deredere? List of Japanese Personalities

Short Hair – Female characters with short hair are usually tomboys who often take on a male role involving action, fights, and even science.

Short afro hair – Often used to indicate characters who are gangsters or involved with the Yakuza mafia. It is not just a stereotype; Yakuza members often liked this style in the 80s.

Spiral Hair – Drill Hair

These characters have hair spirals that look like a partial or complete drill, or have side strands that resemble mini drill bits. These hair drills will pierce the skies! Some of these characters are:

Mami Tomoe – Puella Magi Madoka Magica;
Beatrice – Re:Zero;
Miharu Shimizu – Baka to Test;
Yamada Elf – Eromanga Sensei;

Anti-gravity Hair – Defying Gravity – Spiky

These characters exhibit an unusually vertical hairstyle that defies the laws of gravity and physics! They are quite common; they are not just simple spikes but works of art that make use of all the gel in the world.

Generally, these spiky hairs are used to show characters that need to look wild and cool. Some of these characters are:

Senku – Dr. Stone;
Yugi – Yugioh;
Kenpachi Zaraki – Bleach;
Goku Son – Dragon Ball;
All Might – Boku no Hero;

Hair with Antennas – Loose Strands – Ahoge

When one or two strands of hair reach the sky, it is considered a hair antenna. A single hair antenna is also known as Ahoge [アホ毛], which literally means “idiot hair,” referring to naive and funny characters.

Antennae – Similar to Ahoge, refers to a pair of antennas, two strands that come out from the character’s bangs. Do you remember some characters like this? Below are some characters with antennas on their heads:

Edward Elric – Fullmetal Alchemist;
Nagisa – Clannad;
Saber – Fate;
Konata Izumi – Luck Star;
Meliodas – Nanatsu no Taizai;

Bun Hair – Odango – With 2 Buns

These characters have one or more hair buns on their heads. In Japanese, it is called Odango, which literally means round like the Japanese sweet. The buns are placed approximately 45 degrees from the top of the head. It is usually associated with Chinese characters. Some characters are:

Tenten – Naruto;
Euphemia – Code Geass;
Usagi Tsukino – Sailor Moon;
Mei Chang – Fullmetal Alchemist;
Himiko Toga – Boku no Hero;

Hair with Ribbons and Bows

Generally, anime characters have one or more ribbons in their hair, whether as a headband or to tie a ponytail, form a bow, or hang them freely. Do you know some of these characters below? Some are:

Gasai Yuno – Mirai Nikki;
Suzumiya Haruhi;
Silica – Sword Art Online;
Kaguya;
Chitoge – Nisekoi;

Rapunzel Hair – Too Long

Like the famous fairy tale heroine Rapunzel, these characters have extremely long hair that grows far beyond what you would normally expect from a common person – to the knees, feet, or even dragging on the ground!

Long, loose hair for men was considered a symbol of freedom and nobility. The excessively long hair of many characters accentuates their character of freedom and strength, giving them an aura of movement, lightness, and mysticism.

Shiro – No Game no Life;
Chi – Chobits;
Hatsune Miku;
Mimi Usa – Kodomo no Jinkan;

Are Japanese Anime Hairs Unrealistic?

For some, the spiky hair of anime characters is unrealistic, but did you know there is a grain of truth in all of this? Yes, some Japanese have looked in the mirror and seen their hair defying gravity.

The Japanese mainly descend from the Yamato ethnicity, but many also include roots from other native ethnicities of Japan (such as Emishi, Hayato, Kumaso, Ainu, Ryukyuan, and others. Some even have English and Scottish roots.

When styled, Japanese hair is more likely to maintain its shape for longer periods than that of other ethnicities. This allows many Japanese to style their hair thanks to its texture.

We recommend reading: Japanese Hair – Unraveling Its Origin

Strands of hair that project horizontally in front of the ears and loose strands of hair that defy gravity by curving upwards from the top of the head are realistic natural formations for hair; some Japanese simply look in the mirror and encounter these features.

For this reason, anime styles are quite distinct in their hairstyles. Although Japanese people have to follow a standard, straight black hair because of schools, those who follow alternative fashions can easily style their hair.

Hair in Animes – Colors and Hairstyles and their meanings