Ask John: Why Do Anime Characters Have Such Unrealistic Hair Styles?

Question:
Can you tell me what’s up with the unrealistic hair styles of anime characters, especially among female characters? Dita of Vandread, Solty from Solty Rei, multiple characters of Pokemon series, and Nanoha in the Nanoha series have unusual hair styles that simply don’t look possible in the real world. And I shouldn’t have to point out the male cases from Yu-Gi-Oh!, Mizuki’s (from Comic Party) at least looks doable, but it doesn’t look like anyone would want a similar style. Why feature such hair style designs?

Answer:
I think there are two primary reasons for the abundance of unusual and unrealistic hair styles in anime. First, distinctive hair styles distinguish characters. Sailor Moon’s unique hairstyle earned her the nickname “dango” (meatball). Robin Sena of Witch Hunter Robin has a distinctive hairstyle that makes even her silhouette instantly recognizable. If there are a theoretically limited number of ways to draw a two dimensional anime character’s face, than hair color and style become important for distinguishing one character from another. The second possible reason behind the wild hairstyles common to anime is their contribution to setting. Fantastic hair styles subtly reinforce fantasy settings. When unrealistic hair styles are accepted without question, they help establish and clarify the standards and rules of the world that the anime occurs in.