Ask John: Does Unnatural Hair Color in Anime Serve a Purpose?

Question:
What is your take on colored hairstyles? Un-natural colors like blue or green. During a previous character design class at the Art Institute, it was been mentioned that American animators are trying to stay away from colored hair and stick to natural colors to avoid mimicing anime. Also that colored hairstyles are best used for anime geared towards younger viewers.

I personally think that last statement is false because in Ghost in the Shell the major’s hair is purple, and it’s far from something that young viewers would be interested in. I do notice that un-natural colors are used more on females than males. Do you think a character with an un-natural colored hair loses potential to it’s overall design?

Answer:
Exactly why anime characters have such a variety of hair colors has been a topic of debate for a long time. One plausible argument is that un-natural hair color is just an artistic device employed to allow for easier immediate, visual recognition of characters. Often, within the world of an anime, characters either don’t see un-natural hair colors, or hair colors that are uncommon or not natural in reality are naturally occurring within the world of the anime.

I’m not familiar enough with the American animation industry to know if American animators are intentionally avoiding the use of odd colored hair so as to avoid comparison with Japanese animation. In one respect, I hope that’s not the case because I wouldn’t want any artist’s creativity to be stifled by anxiety over being misinterpreted. On the other hand, I think American animation has always primarily used natural, realistic hair colors, so I don’t think that a reliance on a limited color palate necessarily limits or hinders American animation.

To a certain degree, I agree with the principle of brightly colored hair being optimum for animation intended for young viewers. Children are more apt to recognize and distinguish between colors than between more subtle distinctions. Japanese entertainment seems to recognize this fact. Magical girls including the casts of Ojamajo Doremi, Sailor Moon, Tokyo Mew Mew, and Pretty Cure are color coordinated. Live action sentai hero teams are also often clad in brightly colored outfits. But the carefully considered use of color in anime isn’t limited to just children’s anime. Hair color enhances character and makes an almost subliminal impact on mature viewers. Characters that have very light blue or grey color hair, like Evangelion’s Rei Ayanami, Oyuki from Urusei Yatsura, Nadesico’s Ruri Hoshino, Tessa from Full Metal Panic, and Guu from Hare Nochi Guu, have cool and aloof personalities. In turn, I think that viewers expect characters with that hair color to have a calm and dignified personality. Lum’s bright green hair suggests a vibrant energy, and something un-natural or alien. Mahromatic’s Mahoro Ando, Yuri from the Dirty Pair, and Ghost in the Shell’s Motoko Kusanagi all have a deep, rich purple hair- a color that suggests depth and richness. It’s probably not a coincidence that Mahoro, Motoko, and Yuri are characters whose overt femininity cloaks their potential for outbursts of aggressive violence. Bright colors may be effective in capturing the attention of children, but that doesn’t mean that effective use of color doesn’t also have an effect on older viewers.

Given that many of the people that watch anime are male, it makes some sense that male anime characters often have neutral or natural hair colors. A conventional looking male character can serve as an everyman for male viewers to relate to and vicariously imagine themselves as. Male characters with realistic hair colors may also be more appealing to female viewers. Male viewers may see a fantasy ideal girl in a primary colored, fictional idol.

I don’t believe at all that the use of un-natural hair colors compromises the effectiveness of a character design. On the contrary, I think that the careful, considerate selection of a hair color can immeasurably enhance an anime character’s visual design and the impact that character makes on viewers. I don’t think that Ayanami Rei would have become such an iconic character if her hair was black instead of light blue. Lum wouldn’t be the same character if her hair wasn’t green. In the original Gall Force trilogy, Lufy’s blond hair with green highlight is one of her most memorable characteristics. Animation that faithfully emulates reality can be very effective. See Perfect Blue and Zipang for examples. But anime is fantasy, so it shouldn’t be limited to mimicking reality. Unrealistic hair colors in anime are only an impediment for viewers whose minds are too rigid to accept concepts of fantasy.