Ask John: What’s Behind Giant Heads in Anime?

Question:
Is there any significance to the way some characters seem to get more superdeformed in high-stress situations- i.e. Vash in episode 8 of Trigun spends about the first 3 or 4 minutes onscreen really pissed off, and he blows up at this kid, and suddenly his head gets huge. What’s the deal? Japanese comedic device or something deeper?

Answer:
Actually, what you’re referring to is exactly the opposite of “super deformed.” SD is the phenomenon when anime characters suddenly shrink. I’ve never come across an analysis or explanation of either the SD phenomena or the reverse, “giant head” characteristic that appears often in Slayers, Trigun, Rurouni Kenshin and other comedic anime series. As an amateur guess, I’m inclined to say that the trait is used to lighten up and add comic relief to serious scenes, often to provide a foil to the darker, more serious tone these shows often take toward their conclusions. By literally “blowing up,” it’s easy to not take a furious scolding seriously while, especially later in shows like Slayers and Trigun, when the stories get serious, you don’t see the “giant head” as much because the show wants viewers to now consider the characters seriously. Because the characters, previously, have been so exaggerated, when they get furious without growing giant heads, it’s new to the viewer, and therefore has more impact.