![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
timepiececlockHere's some bits from a forum discussion on color use in anime as character symbols.
Original topic:
"...Why are all the cool protagonists in red?
I mean... there's Vash of Trigun... Edward Elric of FMA and Inuyasha. Also Mugen from Samurai Champloo, I have been informed. Same with Van Fanel of Escaflowne.
Am I just being ridiculous or is there symbolism somewhere in this?"
To this list was also added the Suzaku warriors of Fushigi Yuugi, who all are represented by the red color.
-------------------
My response, after about a page and a half of argument/discussion as to the meaning of red in Eastern cultures and literature:
Well, for Vash we know explicitly that Vash thinks red represents courage-- that's what Rem told him as a child. It may have other meanings on top of that, but for Vash it means primarily courage.
That isn't, however, the same thing as why the manga writer chose to make Vash where Red. He could just as easily have had Vash wear blue and called it the color of courage. Why the writer chose to have him wear red, and if that has anything to do with common color themes in Eastern culture, can only be guessed at unless the writer has mentioned it specifically in interviews.
When you have two opposing colors in anime, they're often blue vs. red. You can see this in Samurai Champloo in Mugen (red) always being opposed to Jin (blue). You can also see it in the Suzaku v. Seiryuu conflict of Fushigi Yuugi.
Sometimes the color analogy for main characters doesn't hold true, however. Look at the show Naruto:
Naruto, the lead, is most strongly associated with the colors yellow and orange. His eyes are blue and his chakra is blue. Red, in fact, is only associated with Naruto when he's empowered by the fox demon, a negative force with "threatening" red chakra. Naruto is one of the most passionate, dynamic, energetic, joyful characters I've seen in anime-- but he doesn't wear or embody red.
Sasuke, however, is strongly associated with the colors blue, black, and red. His red Sharingan eyes are ALSO associated with a negative force-- they are a symbol of his connection to Itachi, as well as the ruthless desire for power, as well as associations with blood (blood spilt and blood inherited). Sasuke wavers between being a supporting character and being a villain, though he's been on the road to villainhood since the first episodes.
Red and black are both colors of Itachi. Red is one of the two colors of the Atsuki, as seen in their rings and the pattern on their black clothing.
Red is also associated with Gaara, the ultimate unpredictable negative force in Naruto---well, after the fox demon.
In this show, red is the color of uncontrollable and usually negative forces. Even Kakashi, who is a "good" character, is feared by others because of his red eye and how dangerous it makes him in battle.
Ironically, Sakura is the only odd-ball thing in Naruto as regards to color. She is associated most strongly with pink, but red is her secondary color. Sakura, for the first half of the series (before the manga time jump) is associated with intelligence, sympathy, love, and weakness. She is neither unpredictable nor violent in terms of character motifs. I'd say she embodies the love/affection use of the color red. Interestingly, after the manga time jump, 15 year old Sakura doesn't wear red. At least-- I didn't think so. It's hard to tell with manga. This makes sense because she's moved from weakness to strength, yet her pink hair still links her to symbolizing love/affection.
Now, of course, that was a very long discussion for something that probably doesn't need that much analysis. But it was fun. And I wanted to point out that while a lot of main heros do wear wear red-- it's not a hard rule. Naruto is yellow and orange all the way, baby. :)
Original topic:
"...Why are all the cool protagonists in red?
I mean... there's Vash of Trigun... Edward Elric of FMA and Inuyasha. Also Mugen from Samurai Champloo, I have been informed. Same with Van Fanel of Escaflowne.
Am I just being ridiculous or is there symbolism somewhere in this?"
To this list was also added the Suzaku warriors of Fushigi Yuugi, who all are represented by the red color.
-------------------
My response, after about a page and a half of argument/discussion as to the meaning of red in Eastern cultures and literature:
Well, for Vash we know explicitly that Vash thinks red represents courage-- that's what Rem told him as a child. It may have other meanings on top of that, but for Vash it means primarily courage.
That isn't, however, the same thing as why the manga writer chose to make Vash where Red. He could just as easily have had Vash wear blue and called it the color of courage. Why the writer chose to have him wear red, and if that has anything to do with common color themes in Eastern culture, can only be guessed at unless the writer has mentioned it specifically in interviews.
When you have two opposing colors in anime, they're often blue vs. red. You can see this in Samurai Champloo in Mugen (red) always being opposed to Jin (blue). You can also see it in the Suzaku v. Seiryuu conflict of Fushigi Yuugi.
Sometimes the color analogy for main characters doesn't hold true, however. Look at the show Naruto:
Naruto, the lead, is most strongly associated with the colors yellow and orange. His eyes are blue and his chakra is blue. Red, in fact, is only associated with Naruto when he's empowered by the fox demon, a negative force with "threatening" red chakra. Naruto is one of the most passionate, dynamic, energetic, joyful characters I've seen in anime-- but he doesn't wear or embody red.
Sasuke, however, is strongly associated with the colors blue, black, and red. His red Sharingan eyes are ALSO associated with a negative force-- they are a symbol of his connection to Itachi, as well as the ruthless desire for power, as well as associations with blood (blood spilt and blood inherited). Sasuke wavers between being a supporting character and being a villain, though he's been on the road to villainhood since the first episodes.
Red and black are both colors of Itachi. Red is one of the two colors of the Atsuki, as seen in their rings and the pattern on their black clothing.
Red is also associated with Gaara, the ultimate unpredictable negative force in Naruto---well, after the fox demon.
In this show, red is the color of uncontrollable and usually negative forces. Even Kakashi, who is a "good" character, is feared by others because of his red eye and how dangerous it makes him in battle.
Ironically, Sakura is the only odd-ball thing in Naruto as regards to color. She is associated most strongly with pink, but red is her secondary color. Sakura, for the first half of the series (before the manga time jump) is associated with intelligence, sympathy, love, and weakness. She is neither unpredictable nor violent in terms of character motifs. I'd say she embodies the love/affection use of the color red. Interestingly, after the manga time jump, 15 year old Sakura doesn't wear red. At least-- I didn't think so. It's hard to tell with manga. This makes sense because she's moved from weakness to strength, yet her pink hair still links her to symbolizing love/affection.
Now, of course, that was a very long discussion for something that probably doesn't need that much analysis. But it was fun. And I wanted to point out that while a lot of main heros do wear wear red-- it's not a hard rule. Naruto is yellow and orange all the way, baby. :)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-03-31 09:48 pm (UTC)Blue mostly symbolizes good things. Truth, harmony, stability, trust, loyalty...stuff like that. None of which I can attribute to Sasuke in anyway at the moment (especially not loyalty. Heh). I could, however, see a lot of those things in Jin, who as you pointed out is strongly associated with the color blue. However, the one negative thing blue seems to symbolize is depression...which, yeah, I can associate with Sasuke, easily.
Orange, though? Orange means: "Energy, balance, warmth, enthusiasm, vibrant, expansive, flamboyant, demanding of attention." Totally, completely Naruto. ;)
None of those are culture specific meanings, though. When I looked for those (which can be found at the bottom of that same page), I got stuff like red is associated with marriage, celebration and luck (in China) and joy, when combined with white (in Eastern cultures in general). I looked through some other sites but didn't get much of anything else. So, I don't know much about what those colors mean in Japan, specifically.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-31 10:26 pm (UTC)Soemoen also pointed out that white is never paired with red at Chinese weddings, however, because white is a color of mourning and bad luck.
I'm tending to think that the color meanins are probably a mix of universal and cultural stuff. Green probably represents nature in any culture except a desert or snow culture... which means most cultures probably associate green with nature. The rest, however, I suspect to vary a lot between cultures.