Why Are There Fewer Numbers Of Bearded Japanese Anime Characters?

Last Updated on September 26, 2023 by Chase Reiner

There are fewer Japanese Anime characters with beards because it takes a lot of time to draw every frame. Each frame of the Anime is drawn by hand, and after drawing, it is photoshopped and then gets colored with the suitable or required colors. 

Why Are There Fewer Numbers Of Bearded Japanese Anime Characters?

Japanese anime has a significant influence on global popular culture with its unique art style, compelling storytelling, and diverse character portrayals. However, you may notice a peculiar trend – a low percentage of bearded characters. Here, we dig into the reasons behind this intriguing observation.

1. Youth-Centric Storylines:

Japanese animation often focuses on telling stories about young protagonists. Adolescents and teenagers, who mostly do not sport beards, are the preferred focus.

2. Simplified Art Style:

Anime’s distinctive art style, known for its clean lines and straightforward, simplified nature, may contribute to the dearth of bearded characters. Drawing a beard adds complexity to the character design and the animation process, which may be avoided in favor of maintaining anime’s signature look.

3. Cultural Differences:

In Japanese society, sporting a beard is less common than in Western cultures. The Eastern male aesthetic tends towards a smoother, cleaner-face look. This preference may translate into the characters designed for anime.

4. Connotations of Age and Authority:

In anime, beards are frequently used to denote a character’s age or authority. The lack of bearded characters might stem from wanting to marginalize these implications and center the story on younger characters.

5. Appeal to Wider Audience:

Anime studios aim to attract both female and male audiences. Less bearded male characters are thought to appeal more to the female demographic, ensuring wider audience engagement.

6. The Shaving Trend:

There has been a noticeable trend towards shaving in the past few decades in Japan. This cultural shift may be reflected in the portrayal of anime characters.

7. Emphasizing Facial Expressions:

Expression in anime gets a lot of focus. A bare face allows for greater expression visibility, aiding the animation process.

8. Symbolism:

In anime, beards often symbolize wisdom or villainy. As most anime features youthful and heroic protagonists, fewer bearded characters arise.

It is worth noting that while these trends do exist, bearded characters are not entirely absent from anime. They might be rare, but they are memorable and tend to occupy significant roles in the narrative when they are present.

Anime Characters And The Beard.

Characters in One Piece, ninja geezers from Naruto, masters from Dragon Ball, Hunter x Hunter, and Bleach, who had beards, are liked most by them. One piece is related to pirates, and most of the pirates do not shave. Their nicknames are white beard, brown beard, black beard, and many more names with beards.

In Dragon Ball Z, besides Master Roshi, King Yamma, the underworld king, and Vegeta’s father also had a beard. At the beginning of the Majin boo saga, Dabura also had a beard. Moreover, many small characters also had a beard.

There are many more from the mainstream Shonen manga. Besides, it is rare to have a beard in the world of anime. The character has to be a chad man, which most of the characters are not. Hence, the beard is rare and lacking in the anime characters.

It does not need to look real because some of the anime characters have unique and coolest beards, which cannot be seen anywhere else.

Many of the tough anime characters who have beards are usually old. These characters have scruff, which symbolizes their toughened attitude in a profoundly wise manner, from heroes like Cowboy Bebop’s Jet Black to villains, such as GendoIkari.

Anime Characters With Amazing Beards.

From North American frontiersmen to the present era, the beard has always been a status symbol in many cultures across the world, and that goes with Anime characters as well. The best anime characters that sport a fantastic beard picked up one character per series are the following:

1. Isaac Netero: With a positive attitude and wisdom, their appearance can be traced to Hunter x Hunter. He is top on the list due to his signature beard as an older man.

2. Iskandar: This character was a well-known servant in the series of Fate. He also appeared in Fate with the beard like a topping of the cake.

3. Joseph Joestar: This hot-headed character appeared in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. His mishandling of the situations is present with beardy-aged itself.

4. Jigen Daisuke: The awesomeness is reflected in the character Jigen’s guns and beards. He appeared in LupinIII.

5. Genryuusai Shigekuni Yamamoto: With a beard that looks Chinese rather than Japanese, this character appeared in Bleach.

6. Juuzou Okita: The bearded geezer appeared in the Space Battleship Yamato as the iconic captain.

7. Van Hohenheim: This curious and furious character with an attractive beard appeared in Fullmetal Alchemist.

8. Marshal D. Teach/ Blackbeard: This uncompromising black-bearded character appeared in One Piece. 

9. Jet Black: With a fascinating beard, he appeared in Cowboy Bebop as a former police officer.

10. Master Roshi: He was the most prominent character of the Dragon Ball Series. He was This old, and fabulous bearded character was famous as being the character who taught Kamehameha.

11. Asuma Sarutobi: With his appearance in Naruto, Asumawas is known for cigarettes and his facial features, of course, the amazing beard.

12. Gendou Ikari: Gendou appeared in the Neon Genesis Evangelion. His alignment in the organization was of deserving praise, and the beard was attractive.

13. Charles Britannia: With immense influence, this character appeared in Code Geass. With his impressive beard, his reputation may be of a villain or a hero.

14. Precht Gaebold/ Hades: This character has the Greek underworld God’s code name, and appeared in Fairy Tail. This older man’s beard looked like that of some deity of top Norse.

15. Yuugo Tennouji: This rough bearded character appeared in Steins and Gate. He was insecure and would do anything for a sense of approval.

16. Takeda Shingen: A man with a beard and imposing figure, made an appearance in the Sengoku Basara Series. He was an excellent strategist, in spite of being portrayed as a warrior of berserker-kind.

17. Zouroku Kashimura: A typical old and grumpy man appeared in Alice and Zouroku. With his fantastic beard, he gained the utmost respect, and being unfriendly became impressive to the fans.

18. Yupa Miralda: Yupa appeared in Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and was an average mentor. His level of skill immediately became apparent after the first conversation with his student.  

The table mentioned below contains the list of the ten best anime characters who have beards: 

Table 1: Top 10 Anime Characters With Beard

S. No.	Anime Characters With Beard	Appearance
1	Azumane Asahi	Haikyuu
2	Lordgenome	Tengen Toppa GurrenLagann
3	Master Roshi	Dragon Ball Z
4	Juzo Okita	Space Battleship Yamato
5	Rider/ Alexander	FateZero
6	Kenshiro	Fist of the North Star
7	Joseph Joestar	Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure
8	Jet Black	Cowboy Bebop
9	Meme Oshino	Bakemonogatari
10	Gendo Ikari	Neon Genesis Evangelion

There are other Anime characters with beards that are liked by youngsters and kids worldwide. However, they like the characters who shave off their facial hair. Most of the characters with beards are older than the ones. Some of them include the following:

1. Akatsuchi – Naruto, Shipuden, Boruto

2. Azuma – Violent Cop, Fairy Tail

3. Banjou – Tokyo Ghoul

4. Ben Jackson – Tiger and Bunny

5. BiyonHaruken – Mrs. Pepper Pot

6. Britanny – Eureka Seven

7. Captain – Heavy Object

8. Captain – Pokemon

9. Chaa – Angel Beats

10. Chad – Bleach

11.  Charles Goodshow – Pokemon: Indigo League

12. Chef Hayashi – Mind Puppet – FamiresuTenchou no Abunai

13. Count – Vermillion – Bind of Blood

14. Croix Blort – Galaxy Angel

15. Crumb – TankenDriland

16. Daisuke Aramaki – Ghost in the Shell

17. Daisuke Jigen – Lupin III Part II, Lupin III, Lupin III Part III, Lupin The Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, Green Vs. Red

18. Dalmatian – One Piece

19. Daniel Safety – Rance VI – ZethHoukai

20. Darbura- Dragon Ball, Z, Super

21. Dornie – Atelier Lie – The Alchemist of Saiburg 3 

22. Dwun – Hunter x Hunter

23. Edmond Dantes – The Count of Monte Cristo

24. Edward Hamilton – Chrono Crusade

25. Elder D – Munto

26. Fourth Raikage – Naruto, Shipuden, Boruto

27. Fukasaku – Naruto, Shipuden, Boruto

28. GaleinMusica – Rave Master

 29. Garterblt – Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt

30. GanJin Yin – Avatar: The Last Airbender

31. Gatol – Birdy DECODE: 02

32. Gejutel K. Landegre – Noblesse

33. GengaiHiraga – Gintama

34. Giffca – Fire emblem: Path of Radiance

35. Gildarts Clive – Fairy Tail

36. Gin – Tokyo Godfathers

37. Ginj – Hunter x Hunter

38. Grand Kai – Dragon Ball, Z, Super

39. Gran Torino – My Hero Academia

40. Gulf Zoneboyle – Comet Lucifer

41. Hagoromo – Naruto, Shipuden, Boruto

 42. Harima Kenji – School Rumble

 43. Heizou Tachibana – TsuyokissCoolxSweet

44. Hermann Liebert – Vanitas no Hitsuji

45. HiruzenSarutobi a.k.a. – The Third Hokage a.k.a. The God of all Shinobi a.k.a. The Professor – Naruto

46. HayatoFuurinji – Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple

47. HristoCruyff – Kyou Kara Maoh

48. IkkiKamishiro – OyakoRankan

49. Iru – Turn A Gundam

50.  Isshin Kurosaki – Bleach, Bleach: The Diamond Dust Rebellion, Bleach: Memories of Nobody

 Ivan Dreyar – Fairy Tail

 Joel Woods – BEM

The table below consists of some of the bearded Anime characters with their power and abilities:

Table 2: Anime Characters With Their Power And Abilities

S. No.	Anime	Power & Abilities
1	AsumaSarutobi	PyrokinesisAerokinesis
2	Asura	Naruto,Shipuden,Boruto
3	ShunsuiKyoraku	Kido, Zanjutsu, Hoho
4	Master Roshi	Telepathy
5	ShigekuniYamamoto Genryusai	Kido, Hoho

Conclusion.

The leading characters in the anime world are teenagers. Viewers prefer to watch the main characters without beards. Therefore, there are a few anime characters with beards, and most of them are the older characters.  

The fewer anime characters with beards prove how the Japanese people and society feel about having a beard and the fashion trending in Japan. Most Japanese celebrities do not have a beard or facial hair.

FAQs.

References:

https://www.quora.com/Why-are-there-less-people-with-beards-in-the-Japanese-anime
https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/answerman/2015-12-28/.96983