Ask John: Where Did the Cheek Cut Originate?
Question:
I have noticed recently a trend that has been showing up in DC and Marvel animated films. It is the cut to the cheek during a fight, usually to someone who thinks they are untouchable. I recall the “cut on the cheek” cliche as something I remember being in anime for several decades at this point. An example can be found in, well, nearly every action based anime in the last 20 years at least and some non-action-centric anime. Does this cliche have some significance or history to it? Is anime or manga really where it started, or is it something anime adopted from something else?
Answer:
Honestly, I don’t know exactly where, when, or even why the eponymous cut on the cheek frequently spotted in anime actually came from, although I have a suspicion. The characteristic image of a hero narrowly avoiding a serious blow yet still receiving a thin scratch or cut on the cheek seems as if it’s always been present in anime; however, the instances that anime fans are most familiar with hail from relatively recent anime. My memory may be slipping, but I can’t seem to recall an instance of a character receiving a narrow slice on the cheek prior to the third episode of 1984’s Hokuto no Ken television series, when Kenshiro receives three light cuts during his duel against Diamond. While I don’t know how much Hokuto no Ken influenced the anime that followed it, I do wonder if it contributed to the popularization of the imagery of the nearly invulnerable warrior that shrugs off minor injuries. Kenshiro was obviously partially modeled on Bruce Lee. I think it’s interesting to notice that Kenshiro’s cuts on his cheek and chest seem to pay homage to similar cuts Bruce Lee sustained during the climactic duel of the 1973 film Enter the Dragon. I’m not aware of any historical or Japanese literary origin for the cut on the cheek image. I’m also not aware of the image appearing in anime prior to Hokuto no Ken’s homage to Bruce Lee in general and possibly Enter the Dragon specifically. So I do think that the possibility exists that this modern anime cliche may actually have started out as an homage to Bruce Lee before its origins became overlooked or forgotten and the image became an amorphous anime trope.
I do want to re-emphasize that this is merely a speculation on my part. I’m absolutely not certain that I’m correct.
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“Kenshiro was obviously partially modeled on Bruce Lee.”
Buronson said as such @ AX ’04.
“I think it’s interesting to notice that Kenshiro’s cuts on his cheek and chest seem to pay homage to similar cuts Bruce Lee sustained during the climactic duel of the 1973 film Enter the Dragon.”
Could be from a yakuza movie, too.
I have been thinking about this. While I can’t add more to the discussion at this time as the origin of the anime trope, I can point one several very famous uses and 1 odd trend.
First, the trend: 99 out of a 100 times, the cut will be to the left cheek. And while reasons for show a warrior ignore a blow can vary from displaying mental focus on the task at hand, to just showing how strong the character can be. Why the left cheek? It is even on Ken’s left cheek in the picture provided by John.
Second, famous cheek wounds:
* Scarface from Shadow Skills. As his name implies, Scarface took a rather nasty cut to his LEFT cheek in a dual with his empire’s king. After winning and being declared both king and the strong warrior in the history of their empire, his cut became his trademark. To honor their new king, every warrior in the Karuda clan will cut their thumb on their teeth, and mark their face with blood to match this cut. The image of a cheek cut literally became one of the most recognized symbols of Karuda in their world, and for Shadow Skills in the real world.
* Hamura, Kenshin the Hitokiri Batt?sai….I don’t really need to say more except once again LEFT CHEEK.
I would love for people to post any other cuts that would fit the trope, even if it was not to the cheek that just stick in your memory because the sceen draws so much attention to it. It is always a cut, always focused on by the sceen, and always ignored by the person wounded.
I remember in Project A-ko, A-ko herself gets her cheek cut during her fight with “D” and comments on it.
Since Project A-ko is nothing but a big spoof on other animes and “D” him…excuse me, herself is a rip on Kenshiro, it stands to reason this is indeed where the cheek cut thing started.