Hair.

Yes, an article about manga hair, the bane of cosplayers and the adoration of designers alike. Why the hair on our favorite characters? Why could this possibly be a good discussion topic? Because if you look at the many different hairstyles presented through the medium of manga, you’ll notice something. It’s all very interesting because it’s all very different. Where would Sailor Moon be without her little blonde odangoes (dumpling buns)? Or Goku without his tell-tale spikes that go from midnight black to sunshiny blond when he has amassed enough power to go Super-Sayan? Despite it being a silly topic, manga hair is just as important as the characters which wear each coif.

The color of hair in manga is fantastic because it could be almost any color. Take Sailor Moon for instance. There is a series where characters have hair that is every color of the rainbow. Sailor Mercury is sporting blue, while Sailor Pluto has green. Sailor Chibimoon has adorable pink odangoes, and Sailor Neptune has sea-green curls. Manga takes us outside the norm for hair color, and sets it apart from the rest of the graphic novel world. Tira and Chocolat Misu are far more charming with pink locks in Bakuretsu Hunters than if they had the normal blonde, brunette, red, or black. And you can always tell Magic Knight Rayearth’s Umi’s lovely blue head from anyone else in a crowd. Granted, there are series like Inuyasha where the characters have normal hair unless they are demonic in nature, but isn’t it more fun to think that some day we too could sprout natural purple curls?

One cannot talk about manga character hair without talking about spikes. There are plenty of smooth-haired heroes out there, but there is always one with spikes lurking in the background. The entire cast of Dragonball Z is a good starting point, but let’s not forget Sora from the newer Kingdom Hearts manga series, or Inuyasha’s bangs. The spikes are fantastical, much like the colors of many characters hairstyles, but that is what makes it more fun. To think that it would take three bottles of industrial strength hair gel to make our hair look like that of Cloud from Final Fantasy is enough to make it just as fantastic as A Tiny Snow Fairy Sugar’s pretty pink locks.

There is also the intriguing way that manga characters tend to style their hair. Extreme lengths that would never remain smooth in the real world, combined with adorable buns, tiny jeweled hair clips that couldn’t possibly hold up that much hair, and numerous ponytails are all unique characteristics that one never expects to see in real life. The styles always seem to remain perfect, as well, unless there is a breeze blowing, in which demure and charming pieces seem to instantly appear around the face of any character, framing it perfectly. If only I could achieve such an affect without a personal hairstylist.

Manga character hair may not be the most interesting topic in the world, but once you take a good look at it, you will notice that the hair of a character is what can really distinguish him or her from anyone else. That hairstyle could even make him or her your favorite character, and perhaps even inspire you to do something unique with your hair in real life. This seems to be something that manga artists understand quite well.