Pigtails or "twintails" in manga and anime are certainly nothing new, but there may be more to this popular hairstyle than meets the eye.
The pigtail hairstyle, better known in Japan and some other countries as "twintails," is nothing new, especially in the anime and manga world. However, some fans may be surprised at just how prevalent it has become over the years in mainstream fictional media, as well as the fact that, unlike many other pop culture trends, it shows no signs of dying out.
This may spark a host of other questions, such as what the origins of the hairstyle are, how and why it became so widespread in both Japan and anime/manga specifically, and what it says, if anything, about the qualities and traits of the characters who are seen wearing it. After all, love it or hate it, there must be a reason why the twintail look has grown so popular as to warrant its own national holiday and even get entire anime series, such as Gonna be the Twin-Tail!! (Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu), based around it.
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The English term "pigtails" has been in use since at least the early 1600s, where in the American colonies, it referred to a twist of chewing tobacco that resembled a literal pig’s tail. The term was later used as the name for a type of hairstyle between the 17th and 19th centuries, especially among soldiers and sailors (although at that point, the word "pigtail" could be applied to almost any kind of hair braid, including what people now commonly think of as ponytails). Eventually though, this gave rise to the more distinctive "twin ponytail" that most people think of today when referring to pigtails, which became a hairstyle commonly worn by young girls, including in Japan.
In Japan specifically, this so-called twintail hairstyle is just as popular today, if not even more so, as it has been since it first began appearing in manga and anime in the 1960s. One of the earliest well-known examples of this can be seen with the character of Akko-chan in Himitsu no Akko-chan -- a magical-girl shojo manga that ran from 1962-95 and was adapted into an anime series by Toei Animation later on in the same decade. Of course, in the present day, twintails continue to be widely celebrated, both in manga and anime as well as in Japanese culture in more general terms.
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Traditionally in anime and manga, twintails have been used to denote characters who are young or child-like, either in appearance or behavior, if not both. This is evident even in older titles; for instance, the aforementioned Akko-chan is a fifth-grade elementary school student with an affinity for mirrors, and who is friendly and energetic but not necessarily mature. In the '90s, the twintail hairstyle received a major boost in popularity thanks to the legendary Sailor Moon franchise, whose main protagonist Usagi wears long pigtails both in her civilian and superpowered form. Usagi has a kind and generous heart but is notoriously clumsy and ditzy, as well as being something of a crybaby.
This idea that twintail-wearing characters are innocent or immature in some way, even if they’re not young children, has persisted across a wide variety of anime and manga. For example, pigtails are highly prevalent among tsundere-type characters -- even if these characters are young women rather than little girls, they have childish or immature reactions, blowing hot and cold toward their crushes and flaring up with aggressive jealousy whenever that person shows an interest in any other member of the opposite sex. Specific examples, particularly from shonen titles, are too numerous to name them all, but some of the most well-known include Noelle from Black Clover, Hiyori and Riruka from Bleach, Shana from Shakugan no Shana, and of course, Asuka (as well as Hikari) from Evangelion.
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Another well-known figure in Japanese pop culture that’s particularly famous for her twintails is the Vocaloid Hatsune Miku. First appearing in 2007, Hatsune Miku is a Vocaloid software voicebank -- a singing voice synthesizer software product -- developed by Crypton Future, whose anthropomorphic character is a girl who sports long, turquoise-colored pigtails. As a purely virtual idol, Miku has no officially-designated personality; however, she was designed to be a cute 16-year-old with a high-pitched voice, and tellingly, fans often think of her as being cheerful and earnest but also somewhat childish and stubborn. Although details of Miku’s appearance have evolved over the years, her iconic blue-green twintails have remained an absolute constant.
So popular has the hairstyle in Japan become that in 2011, Kan Furuya -- a Japanese photographer and fashion designer -- formed the Japan Twintail Association, which exists to promote and celebrate the look. The company then registered Twintail Day with the Japan Anniversary Association, aptly making February 2nd the hairstyle’s official commemorative holiday. Although few traditions are associated with Twintail Day, every year, people flood Twitter and other social media platforms with images of themselves sporting pigtails. Of the hairstyle itself, Furuya has said that it "offers the most accessible dream-come-true magic for change" and that "Japanese kawaii culture is strongly influenced by anime characters... I believe the twintail is an icon of Japanese anime and subculture."
Today, aside from the popularity of many of the anime characters themselves who wear pigtails, twintails have perhaps become so iconic because the hairstyle says a lot without the need for words; it is now an easy shorthand for a particular character archetype or personality, in much the same way that specific hair colors in anime can denote certain character traits. More cynically, it can also be noted that pigtailed anime characters, especially more contemporary ones, are frequently teenage girls that are designed by and for male fans, giving the hairstyle a potentially sexualized connotation. However, regardless of the varied reasons and fan responses, and for better or for worse, twintails in anime and manga are clearly here to stay.
Christy is a CBR Features Editor and anime aficionado with a penchant for slice-of-life stories and josei manga-based titles. Something of a nomad, she spent several years living and working in Japan, among other countries, where she has been writing about anime and Japanese culture more generally since the late 2000s. Some of her favorite anime series include Natsume Yuujinchou, Usagi Drop, Yuri on Ice, and Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun. Outside of work, she enjoys reading novels, podcasting, and both local and international travel.
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