Anyone who has seen manga (漫画) and anime (アニメ) knows that these forms of storytelling do not leave a lot to the imagination. But there are layers of symbolism at work that can escape notice unless you know what to look for. Let’s take an easy one; hair color.
The hair color of a character signifies aspects of their nature and reflects their role in a story. This is anime, so we are definitely not confined to the natural spectrum of colors. Instead, we get into a lot of punk rock colors like pink, green, and blue. While we’re at it, let’s learn how to say each color in Japanese.
-Black (黒 kuro)
When most of the characters in a story have colorful hair, black hair usually suggests that a character is insignificant, ordinary, or traditional. This is not surprising considering every Japanese person, in the real world, is born with jet black hair.
-Brown (茶色 chairo)
Since many Japanese people nowadays dye their hair brown, brown is almost the default hair color for normal characters in manga and anime.
-Blonde (金髪 kinpatsu) / yellow（黄色 kiiro)
Blonde or yellow hair is used for a range of very specific character types. These include white Westerners, a prince or princess, a rich person, or a juvenile delinquent. I guess, for Japanese, being blonde means you’re either really good or really bad (but definitely different).
-White (白 shiro)
White hair is used for an old person, a mysterious person, or a character with special/magical abilities. That is kind of an easy one, right?
-Pink (ピンク pinku)
Pink hair is usually reserved for girls. These girls are either the main character of the story or the love interest of a main character. In either case, the color suggests a kind of innocence, or connotes a child-like personality.
-Blue (青 ao)
Characters with blue hair range from quiet and calm to cold and calculating. These correspond to still waters and freezing temperatures respectively.
-Red (赤 aka)
Red, a deep vivid red, signifies a character who plays a passionate or aggressive role in the story.
-Orange (オレンジ orenji)
Characters with orange hair are full of energy. They are often self-centered troublemakers. Orange might be read as an alloyed variation on the passions of a character with red hair.
-Green (緑 midori)
Green is often applied to so-called 萌えキャラ moe chara. This is a character created to seduce the reader. This one may require a little further explanation.
萌え moe is a slang word which refers to a deep attachment or attraction that a real person may develop for a fictional character in anime, manga, or video game.
The term 萌え moe can be grafted on to another word that describes a personality or a physical trait. For example, you combine めがねっ子 meganekko (eyeglass girl) and 萌え moe together, and you get a word, めがねっ子萌えmeganekko moe (eyeglass-girl moe). This word describes a person who is attracted to fictional characters wearing eyeglasses. Is it a little weird for readers and gamers to fall in love with characters who have specific traits? Maybe! For now, let’s just stick with colors!