5 August 2008 - long blue hair

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Japanese Culture Class for Otaku Wannabes

sensei - Suppose that you, an ordinary student, are on your way to school and you meet a girl with long blue hair. What should you do?
boy 1 - Get to know her. She must be a magical girl.
boy 2 - Baka! Run away, there’s going to be a fight!
sensei - It doesn’t matter what you do, she’ll push her way into your life anyway. Long blue hair indicates a rival to the main female character. She won’t let herself be ignored.
class - Ah....
sensei - You can expect her to be wealthy, hard-working, and capable through her own efforts, but she’s missing some special quality of the female lead. She may be spiteful, but that is because she is always coming second. In other ways, she is usually a nicer and better person.
boy 1 - Forget the standard story. That’s who I want.
sensei - You may learn better. But just in case, her favorite foods probably include....

clue:

otaku - nerd
sensei - teacher
baka - idiot

Anime character archetypes can be this detailed and specific—the long blue hair example is real (but be careful of the difference between light blue and dark blue). Hollywood has nothing on Japan when it comes to abusing cliches.

take oh take this clue away

the Daily Whale || copyright 2008, 2024 Jay J.P. Scott <jay@satirist.org>