#irl we just refer to them as ‘mullets’ because most of them have mullets and almost all ppl with mullets at my school are like this

[driftwooddestiel]

i want to complain about the mullets in my classes but since im guessinf none of you know what i mean when i say mullet it wouold just sound like im complaining about hair

[touchoffleece]

G Witch hair cut choices and character design used as tools for storytelling; hypothesis

I answered the following to someone that pointed out the shaggy mullet like hair styles in the latest season of Gundam (Gundam the Witch from Mercury), and wanted to make my response it's own post.

I had spotted the mullets and shaggy hair in episode 1 and 2, and thought it was because gender neutral hair styles have been a rising trend, especially for the younger generation as we progress/evolve as a society. I have stated that this Gundam is pretty gay, and I didn’t just mean it because we are told Suletta and Miorine are fiances. (Think back to Miorine’s comment on gender not mattering much when Suletta mentions they both can’t be engaged because they are both women. In the story’s present ‘gender norms’ aren’t valued so much; implying their society being more fluid about such labels and concerns about what is proper or not based off of gender expectations.)

Maybe I’m noticing this because LGBTQI+ media consumers have learnt to analyze media for scraps of LGBTQI+ representation, and maybe it’s why I hardly don’t see anyone mention the gender neutral/gender fluid designs in all the characters. I do feel some others have noticed it, but the observations pointed out don’t get much notice or get ignored. We’ve seen how some people are trying their hardest to ignore the fact that Miorine and Suletta are the main couple of the show, thus the show being gay and focusing on Girl Love (GL). Backtracking to the gender fluid haircut choices: Geul for me is an easy example to refer to, but not my only example of the gender fluid designs in the anime, with long shaggy hair to the shoulders resembling the irl haircut known as a wolf cut. Wolf Cut: ’Popular across genders, the wolf cut is thought to have originated in the salons of South Korea, taking its name from the wild, untamed look the heavy layers create, resembling the fur of its namesake. To take things further, the style is often set in place on loosely permed hair, to ensure an expertly tousled look.’ A majority of the main cast have this type of hair. Suletta, Miorine, and Geul are the main three that instantly come to mind.

I can’t find a good refence but Geul’s the long shaggy hair can then get tied to a pony tail and BOOM easy to play with his image and make his design more of what we traditionally categorize for men.

Thinking about this, the anime most likely uses the gender fluid hairstyles a fair often to frame certain moments, because we (at least a majority of people) still rely and identify/categorize gender into 'boxes’. I doubt it’s a coincidence, because character design (a visual tool) does play a considerable role in story telling. Which can and probably is being used by G Witch to help emphasize points to their story. (Call back once again to Miorine’s quote about gender not mattering much in their society, and it’s considered conservative to do so.).

Even in that picture above it’s easy to have Miorine’s long hair blend into the background and thus give viewers an illusion of a cool shorthaired character announce a proposal to Suletta (who we see with her long ponytail). But this is why I think if there’s a reason for the mullets or wolf cuts (however you label the hairstyle designs of the 3 major characters), it’s done intentionally to emphasize the narrative (which helps world build) that things are less gender locked in the setting of this Gundam’s world.

I tried keeping 100% to the og post I made, but I did change a sentence at the end to better clarify that when I used "them" I was referring to a hairstyle. OG sentence: 'however you think of them designs in 3 major characters' Edit version sentence: 'however you label the hairstyle designs of the 3 major characters'