The model aside, it says in the novels themselves that she has brown hair. Chestnut brown, I think it says in some places. The first place I was able to find mention of it was in chapter 2 of the first novel. (It probably comes up in chapter 1, but skimming this is the first instance I found.) Anyway, it talks about her brown locks, so she definitely isn't a blonde.
The model aside, it says in the novels themselves that she has brown hair. Chestnut brown, I think it says in some places. The first place I was able to find mention of it was in chapter 2 of the first novel. (It probably comes up in chapter 1, but skimming this is the first instance I found.) Anyway, it talks about her brown locks, so she definitely isn't a blonde.
It also said in volume 4 that she has flaxen hair - which is another word for blond hair.
Yet, volume 5 does start out with chestnut-brown and so my guess is that someone mistranslated, or she does have golden-brown? I'm not sure, but either way, the change in hair color description is annoying to me.
Now - why does Kraft have silver hair at his age?-----There are people that just have a gene that makes them go gray early. Actor Steve Martin went gray really early, and a few years back the guy that won American Idol was also gray and in his twenties.
That is indeed true - BUT I think it's more likely a visual metaphor -
(note the "colors of the soul" and "side colors", indicating the authors' interest in this. )
I had posed that as a psychological question, and my answer to it is -
...he is "a ghost". A merchant, thus a traveler, an outsider wherever he goes, from a home we know less about than Yoitz itself! ( and next novel? I hear... )
Spoiler: Highlight to view
there's another young, yet grey haired traveler going to show up!
He can't decide to commit to Holo, and so keeps her near but not too near.
Also, though still young, he is road wise, at times even "world weary" -
strife ( such as wolf attacks ) can make a persons hair white also
(note Diana shares most of these traits, and is also quite pale. She's something of a Goth beauty! )
Holo's intensity of life is shown by her RED hair and eyes!
And they're surrounded by blondes! Stereotypicially used as symbols of innocence, youth, or virtue?
Though increasingly, it may be an ironic usage! As their virtue is hypocritical - Eve, Amarti.
or ambivalent - Nora - perhaps the most innocent character? But she acts as a third wheel, setting up a minor love triangle with Lawrence
Rigolo - who is a "good guy"? to our heroes but posesses powers that could easily be used for evil.
etc.
The hair color symbolism is pretty interesting. I never thought about things that way.
However, I would have to argue that Holo's hair color isn't red if it's never mentioned in the novels that she has red hair. Red hair makes sense in the anime because her hair color matches her fur color when she changes forms. Yet, we can't really say what Holo's fur color is if it's not mentioned in the novels.
I haven't read all of them, so I don't know if they ever mention it, but it seems that her fur color is left up to the imaginations of the readers.
It also said in volume 4 that she has flaxen hair - which is another word for blond hair. Yet, volume 5 does start out with chestnut-brown and so my guess is that someone mistranslated, or she does have golden-brown? I'm not sure, but either way, the change in hair color description is annoying to me.
I've noticed more references to her having brownish hair than blonde. My guess is there was a mistranslation like you said or a minor mistake on Hasekura's part. I think he even commented in one of the afterwords that he forgot the characters' personalities once when writing one of the early volumes, so slipping up on hair color, a rather unimportant and minor detail, might not be a stretch. I might be remembering that comment wrong (it's been a while), so I'll double check when I get the chance in a couple of days. I think it was in novel 2 or 3's afterword.
I don't put much weight on the model covers since they were made by Yen with the hopes of attracting a wider audience, and I don't know how much input Hasekura had with them.
It also said in volume 4 that she has flaxen hair - which is another word for blond hair. Yet, volume 5 does start out with chestnut-brown and so my guess is that someone mistranslated, or she does have golden-brown? I'm not sure, but either way, the change in hair color description is annoying to me.
I've noticed more references to her having brownish hair than blonde. My guess is there was a mistranslation like you said or a minor mistake on Hasekura's part. I think he even commented in one of the afterwords that he forgot the characters' personalities once when writing one of the early volumes, so slipping up on hair color, a rather unimportant and minor detail, might not be a stretch. I might be remembering that comment wrong (it's been a while), so I'll double check when I get the chance in a couple of days. I think it was in novel 2 or 3's afterword.
I don't put much weight on the model covers since they were made by Yen with the hopes of attracting a wider audience, and I don't know how much input Hasekura had with them.
If we knew what Hasekura actually wrote in Japanese, then we could know for sure. But, I was thinking about what another poster said on a different forum about Holo's hair color.
He said that Holo's hair color could change. Then he went on a rant about Japanese women's hair color changing, and I stopped listening after that. But, looking back, changing hair color does sort of make sense, because Holo is called, "Holo of the wheaten tail" after all!
I think that Hasekura likely did compare her hair color to different grain, and that was what the translators attempted to do with using words like "flaxen" or "chestnut brown". I think that Holo's hair color is supposed to be wheat-color. Or, else, why would she be called "Holo of the wheaten tail"?
Wheat's normal color is that of a yellowish-brown - sort of resembling khaki. And, wheat does change color depending on what time of the year it is. Her hair color could change to match the color of wheat during that time of the year.
In volume 4, it wasn't Winter yet. So, Holo's hair color had a yellowish color to it. But, by volume 5, you see that there is snow everywhere and it is very cold. Her hair color might have turned brown to match the dead wheat of winter.
Also, to comment on Holo having red hair in the anime. It's interesting that they would choose a red wolf, considering they only live in North America. Wolves in Europe and Asia or either the forest wolf (aka the European wolf), or the gray wolf.
And, red wolves don't actually look anything like Holo. See this red wolf from the Alligator River wildlife refuge in North Carolina below:
Really, its fur is mostly gray and white. A woman whose hair color actually matched a wolf's fur color would have some pretty strange-looking hair.
But, this French wolf actually has a redder color to its fur than the North American red wolf.
You'd think that the North American red wolf would actually be redder than the regular gray wolves, but that French forest wolf definitely has a redder hair color.
I kind of feel sorry for red wolves, because alot of people will mistake them for coyotes. They mostly are just smaller wolves than the typical forest wolf.
If we knew what Hasekura actually wrote in Japanese, then we could know for sure. But, I was thinking about what another poster said on a different forum about Holo's hair color. He said that Holo's hair color could change. Then he went on a rant about Japanese women's hair color changing, and I stopped listening after that. But, looking back, changing hair color does sort of make sense, because Holo is called, "Holo of the wheaten tail" after all! I think that Hasekura likely did compare her hair color to different grain, and that was what the translators attempted to do with using words like "flaxen" or "chestnut brown". I think that Holo's hair color is supposed to be wheat-color. Or, else, why would she be called "Holo of the wheaten tail"? Wheat's normal color is that of a yellowish-brown - sort of resembling khaki. And, wheat does change color depending on what time of the year it is. Her hair color could change to match the color of wheat during that time of the year. In volume 4, it wasn't Winter yet. So, Holo's hair color had a yellowish color to it. But, by volume 5, you see that there is snow everywhere and it is very cold. Her hair color might have turned brown to match the dead wheat of winter.
True, knowing what he actually wrote would be very helpful.
The wheat theory is very plausible. I have blondish hair and my hair is lighter in the summer and gets darker in winter. Tying this change for Holo to the wheat makes a lot of sense and would definitely explain what appears to be an inconsistency. I like this idea. Good find.
EDIT: compressed the quote to make it easier to distinguish between my words and liars_paradox's. The quote system needs a few more tweaks it seems.
When the wheat is mature and ready for harvest, it's more on the brown side of golden brown. I think that's what he was going for. Most of the time that he references wheat (the first couple volumes, and especially volume four), he always mentions that it's when the wheat is ready for harvest. I don't think it's Hasekura-sensei's fault, since colors can be some of the hardest words to translate between languages, and comparisons even more so.
People have mentioned that Holo is probably a red wolf, at least as she's portrayed in the anime. I'll have to check when she transforms in the novels to see if it says. The only real incidents are volumes 1, 2, and 4. And maybe volume 7 whenever it gets here
When the wheat is mature and ready for harvest, it's more on the brown side of golden brown. I think that's what he was going for. Most of the time that he references wheat (the first couple volumes, and especially volume four), he always mentions that it's when the wheat is ready for harvest. I don't think it's Hasekura-sensei's fault, since colors can be some of the hardest words to translate between languages, and comparisons even more so.
People have mentioned that Holo is probably a red wolf, at least as she's portrayed in the anime. I'll have to check when she transforms in the novels to see if it says. The only real incidents are volumes 1, 2, and 4. And maybe volume 7 whenever it gets here
I didn't read volumes 1 & 2, but I did read 4, and I don't recall it mentioning fur color anywhere.
Yes, colors can especially be hard to translate, especially when using imagery in your writing. I mean, if he outright used the words "brown" or "yellow" then they're going to translate into English pretty easily. However, Hasekura probably did use imagery in his writing, like most professional writers do.
I can imagine that Hasekura might use chestnuts to compare hair color to. But, I don't know how likely he is to use flax as a comparison. And, if so, then what did he mean by it.
I've rarely heard the word flaxen used to describe color, and outside of Hasekura's volume 4, I only heard it used in Richard Stoltzman's song "Maid with Flaxen Hair" which comes with Windows, and in the dictionary definition for the color context.
EDIT: compressed the quote to make it easier to distinguish between my words and liars_paradox's. The quote system needs a few more tweaks it seems.
The reason for that is when you leave a blank line in your quote, what ends up happening on the web page is that the ending blockquote tag gets placed at the end of the paragraph.
The forum uses software that reads our forum text tags. What it should do is place the </blockquote> ending tag wherever [/ quote] is placed in our text.
But, instead, the web designer(s) that they had write this forum's software, made a mistake somewhere and it writes the ending blockquote tag right before your first blank line. Like, he assumed that was a sign that our quote had ended? Like, maybe to cut off extra white space?
Anyways, because Funi probably doesn't care about this forum, so they never get the problem fixed. I'm pretty sure that they have the money to pay some random guy to go in and fix it, but I don't know if anyone there is even aware of the broken forum problem. And, if they are, then they might not even care because they probably don't see that this forum does alot to help them make money.
After all, this website's primary purpose is to sell DVD's and maybe to market to prospective partners. It isn't primarily a forum website like Anime Suki.
The model aside, it says in the novels themselves that she has brown hair. Chestnut brown, I think it says in some places. The first place I was able to find mention of it was in chapter 2 of the first novel. (It probably comes up in chapter 1, but skimming this is the first instance I found.) Anyway, it talks about her brown locks, so she definitely isn't a blonde.
It also said in volume 4 that she has flaxen hair - which is another word for blond hair.
Yet, volume 5 does start out with chestnut-brown and so my guess is that someone mistranslated, or she does have golden-brown? I'm not sure, but either way, the change in hair color description is annoying to me.
The hair color symbolism is pretty interesting. I never thought about things that way.
However, I would have to argue that Holo's hair color isn't red if it's never mentioned in the novels that she has red hair. Red hair makes sense in the anime because her hair color matches her fur color when she changes forms. Yet, we can't really say what Holo's fur color is if it's not mentioned in the novels.
I haven't read all of them, so I don't know if they ever mention it, but it seems that her fur color is left up to the imaginations of the readers.
I've noticed more references to her having brownish hair than blonde. My guess is there was a mistranslation like you said or a minor mistake on Hasekura's part. I think he even commented in one of the afterwords that he forgot the characters' personalities once when writing one of the early volumes, so slipping up on hair color, a rather unimportant and minor detail, might not be a stretch. I might be remembering that comment wrong (it's been a while), so I'll double check when I get the chance in a couple of days. I think it was in novel 2 or 3's afterword.
I don't put much weight on the model covers since they were made by Yen with the hopes of attracting a wider audience, and I don't know how much input Hasekura had with them.
MyAnimeList
"May those who accept their fate be granted happiness. May those who defy it be granted glory."
-Princess Tutu
If we knew what Hasekura actually wrote in Japanese, then we could know for sure. But, I was thinking about what another poster said on a different forum about Holo's hair color.
He said that Holo's hair color could change. Then he went on a rant about Japanese women's hair color changing, and I stopped listening after that. But, looking back, changing hair color does sort of make sense, because Holo is called, "Holo of the wheaten tail" after all!
I think that Hasekura likely did compare her hair color to different grain, and that was what the translators attempted to do with using words like "flaxen" or "chestnut brown". I think that Holo's hair color is supposed to be wheat-color. Or, else, why would she be called "Holo of the wheaten tail"?
Wheat's normal color is that of a yellowish-brown - sort of resembling khaki. And, wheat does change color depending on what time of the year it is. Her hair color could change to match the color of wheat during that time of the year.
In volume 4, it wasn't Winter yet. So, Holo's hair color had a yellowish color to it. But, by volume 5, you see that there is snow everywhere and it is very cold. Her hair color might have turned brown to match the dead wheat of winter.
Also, to comment on Holo having red hair in the anime. It's interesting that they would choose a red wolf, considering they only live in North America. Wolves in Europe and Asia or either the forest wolf (aka the European wolf), or the gray wolf.
And, red wolves don't actually look anything like Holo. See this red wolf from the Alligator River wildlife refuge in North Carolina below:
Really, its fur is mostly gray and white. A woman whose hair color actually matched a wolf's fur color would have some pretty strange-looking hair.
But, this French wolf actually has a redder color to its fur than the North American red wolf.
You'd think that the North American red wolf would actually be redder than the regular gray wolves, but that French forest wolf definitely has a redder hair color.
I kind of feel sorry for red wolves, because alot of people will mistake them for coyotes. They mostly are just smaller wolves than the typical forest wolf.
True, knowing what he actually wrote would be very helpful.
The wheat theory is very plausible. I have blondish hair and my hair is lighter in the summer and gets darker in winter. Tying this change for Holo to the wheat makes a lot of sense and would definitely explain what appears to be an inconsistency. I like this idea. Good find.
EDIT: compressed the quote to make it easier to distinguish between my words and liars_paradox's. The quote system needs a few more tweaks it seems.
MyAnimeList
"May those who accept their fate be granted happiness. May those who defy it be granted glory."
-Princess Tutu
When the wheat is mature and ready for harvest, it's more on the brown side of golden brown. I think that's what he was going for. Most of the time that he references wheat (the first couple volumes, and especially volume four), he always mentions that it's when the wheat is ready for harvest. I don't think it's Hasekura-sensei's fault, since colors can be some of the hardest words to translate between languages, and comparisons even more so.
People have mentioned that Holo is probably a red wolf, at least as she's portrayed in the anime. I'll have to check when she transforms in the novels to see if it says. The only real incidents are volumes 1, 2, and 4. And maybe volume 7 whenever it gets here
I didn't read volumes 1 & 2, but I did read 4, and I don't recall it mentioning fur color anywhere.
Yes, colors can especially be hard to translate, especially when using imagery in your writing. I mean, if he outright used the words "brown" or "yellow" then they're going to translate into English pretty easily. However, Hasekura probably did use imagery in his writing, like most professional writers do.
I can imagine that Hasekura might use chestnuts to compare hair color to. But, I don't know how likely he is to use flax as a comparison. And, if so, then what did he mean by it.
I've rarely heard the word flaxen used to describe color, and outside of Hasekura's volume 4, I only heard it used in Richard Stoltzman's song "Maid with Flaxen Hair" which comes with Windows, and in the dictionary definition for the color context.
========================================================
The reason for that is when you leave a blank line in your quote, what ends up happening on the web page is that the ending
blockquotetag gets placed at the end of the paragraph.The forum uses software that reads our forum text tags. What it should do is place the
</blockquote>ending tag wherever[/ quote]is placed in our text.But, instead, the web designer(s) that they had write this forum's software, made a mistake somewhere and it writes the ending blockquote tag right before your first blank line. Like, he assumed that was a sign that our quote had ended? Like, maybe to cut off extra white space?
Anyways, because Funi probably doesn't care about this forum, so they never get the problem fixed. I'm pretty sure that they have the money to pay some random guy to go in and fix it, but I don't know if anyone there is even aware of the broken forum problem. And, if they are, then they might not even care because they probably don't see that this forum does alot to help them make money.
After all, this website's primary purpose is to sell DVD's and maybe to market to prospective partners. It isn't primarily a forum website like Anime Suki.