It's just something I recently noticed. Look at the whole lot of love triangles, harems or even good guy vs villain in love combos.
Typical situation:
1) a dark-haired guy who is either loud & hot-headed or the strong-and-silent type
2) a blond or silver-haired guy who is either super sweet or the mysterious-and-aristocratic type (the second one often has long hair and wears formal clothes of some kind)
3) the dark guy gets the girl
4) the blond guy either becomes evil and obsessive, or he's been a villain from the start, or he gets desperate and has to be saved by our kind girl before he says goodbye to her. As a twist, the blond villain in this situation can suddenly experience a change of heart and redeem himself through sacrifice.

I wonder what lies in the basis of this trend. ^__^ Especially considering the funny fact that despite the cultural differences, the same can be noticed in a lot of Western romantic stories.
I think is the single exception from the rule. He's also a mix of types, he's aristocratic but super sweet.
Other examples of not breaking the rule: . Even seinen manga has some of this, anyone?
Ah, and Furuba, so obvious.

I don't think I've read enough shoujo to notice a hairy pattern such as this, but I think it might have to do with the weird fact that pairings tend to have different hair colors.
No idea why they do it, but they just don't like to pair up same hair couples.
Most girls end up having the lighter color (feminine?) and the guys, the darker (masculine?).
You can see it with your Ouran example, as well.

What about Berserk, btw? Who's the couple?

Last edited by NightSwan at 2:55 pm, Oct 3 2011

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My guess is that blonde hair builds upon the characterization of an angelic nature. But to create conflict, the gentler-looking character turns out to be not so gentle, and the darker-haired character gains a layer of depth and characterization in comparison.

Speaking of hairy patterns, it also seems to me that they like the contrast of length, i.e. if the guy is long haired, the girl will have shorter hair (or at least medium, unless the manga is historical), and a long haired girl is more likely to get a short haired guy.

Also, there is the bishounen thing. In shoujo, at least, quite often there is this incredibly beautiful and reserved boy who never gets the girl but becomes either the villain (again) or her best friend and supporter. Like in harem shoujo, the one who gets the girl is usually bratty but honest, temperamental, a bit arrogant and energetic, and his looks are hot and cute but not exotic.

As for Berserk,

Three words: Tall, dark, and handsome.

But I'm not sure it's so skewed so as to be a pattern.

Here are just a few series off the top of my head where the male lead had light hair:

Aishiteruze Baby
Annarasumanara
Dengeki Daisy
Film Girl
Gokusen
Kamisama Hajimemashita
Kodomo no Omocha
Otomen
Paradise Kiss
Red River
Scarlet Palace

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I read enough shoujo where the protagonist of each would end up with guys of different hair colors and styles. I'm not sure if that's more than enough or too little to see the pattern that this thread is talking about, lol.

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I don't have any examples supporting this phenomena or disproving it, since I don't read much shoujo, but I can add to the above idea. While it certainly is just as likely as any other reason, we also have to consider the fact that Japan is Japan, and the Western "White = Good, Black = Evil" thing isn't so ingrained in their culture. I mean yeah, they've adopted a lot, but traditionally over there it was "White = Death". I can't think of anything related to the color black, except that black hair is (obviously) more traditional than other colors.

I'm no expert on this, if you want good solid information you'd have to ask a specialist/native/read a book. But it's interesting to think about.

I think you've got it. The dark-haired guy is just sexier. Few more examples where the male lead doesn't have dark hair:
Stroke Material
Fruits Basket
Hot Gimmick

Also I would say that since most Japanese are born with dark hair, to have light hair marks you as either foreign or being intentionally showy, for good or bad.

The Japanese ideal for beauty is ultra white skin and ultra black (crow's feather black) hair. So probably the reason why shoujo bishounen have dark hair is because it's supposed to mean they are just that much more attractive than the average (lighter haired) guy.

so i wasnt the only one who noticed that!! xD but ive also notice that the girl falls for the blond guy first and then he becomes the bad guy or leaves her for a stupid reason ect. and then she goes to the dark haired guy, but there are cases where this isnt true like in Watashi Ni XX Shinasai, Yukina doesnt falll for akira first she is "learning about love" from shigure first. but yes tall dark and handsome still is the explination i like <3

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That's a good idea. Though I think the Western mind tends to perceive as non-average both very dark and very light type. I.e. average = brown hair. (And the Tall, Dark, and Handsome guy in Western entertainment is almost always tanned. Though personally I prefer the Japanese version ^__^).

In the light of this, it becomes interesting that a lot of shoujo heroines have lighter hair. So it's supposed to make them look less pretty and more ordinary, heh.

Another semi-observation: genderbenders tend to feature more extravagant, artistic, temperamental boys (as opposed to the so called nonemotional masculine type)--and a lot of them are blond. Danshi Kinshitsu!! Shouri no Akuma. Ningyou Kyuutei Gakudan

There is also a special spot for Supernatural guys with long white hair. InuYasha, of course, and tons of oneshots about deities and spirits and yokai. Actually, long white hair often means a character has supernatural powers.

LOL. I notice that, too. XD
Since the dark haired guy is always the "bad boy type" or the enigmatic type, he always gets the girl who finds the kindness in him. I even notice that, it's always the nice guy or the best friend's heart who gets broken...Though I think that almost all of the light haired guys are nice and "the-crush-who-doesn't-like-her-back-until-she-likes-s omeone-else-already" type.

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I don't really agree, I mean I can list a few manga where the light haired guy wins
Last Game
Kaichou wa Maid-sama
Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun
Momo
It's really just a matter of which characters get the most development. The only time I was really surprised about the choice of love interest was with Momo.

List of blonde or light haired male leads/winners


Its usually the guy w/ the most page-time, focus, moments w/ the heroine, and the one who shows up on the most covers. Sometimes the characters will say things that practically slaps you in the face w/ the answer. The most obvious examples would be Ouran and Fruits Basket. I knew from the start who Tohru was going to end up w/ because she basically spoiled the readers. Ditto for Ouran. Tamaki says at the start whose love story it is. People thought it didnt count but then just look how they both ended.