[Split] Tessa's history and nationality

[Weltall Elite]

To us blue hair may be "unusual", but obviously not in a fictional anime world. So no one's going to comment about how "weird" her hair is. I just say it's "blue" in the anime because the insert to the DVD refers to her as having blue hair instead of black like the novel does. Almost like theirs a distinct difference between the two mediums.

Personally, in terms of the reality of the anime world, I think it goes both ways. They never refer to here as having blue OR black hair, but they've commented several times on her long hair. Like the issue is intentionally being avoided.

Um, so because the characters never mention the color of Kaname's hair, we can assume it's unusual since they aren't mentioning it? Perhaps they aren't mentioning it because it's actually a very common color, and it's the length of her hair that stands out.

As for blue hair possibly not being an unsuual color in FMP Japan, we don't see third tier or background people with unnatural colors. If Kaname's hair is blue to everybody in FMP, it would be unusual. She hasn't been identified within the anime as 'the japanese girl with long blue hair'.

As with the DVD insert, I don't think it's incorrect to say it's blue because that's how we see it. But I doubt that is the way the characters would 'see' it, if it mattered in the story.
edit, adding: Also, I don't think the mediums are very different. Kaname's hair is colored blue in art for every medium- including the novels where it's described as black.

Well... I won't argue that. Because there's really no right answer.

Um, so because the characters never mention the color of Kaname's hair, we can assume it's unusual since they aren't mentioning it? Perhaps they aren't mentioning it because it's actually a very common color, and it's the length of her hair that stands out.

I've seen Mao refered to as a brunette. I've seen Kyoko refered to as "blondie" in the manga. It struck me as odd that whenever someone would refer to her hair, they'd leave out the color.

But then, that's me speculating. Since the color of her hair is never mentioned in the anime, like it is in the novels, to debate it one way or the other would be speculation on both of our parts.

[KashimArbalestAS]

Sorry for going off the original topic.

Well, if the official site says that Tessa is "Italian-American, with strong Swiss/Austrian ties," then Tessa is all of those. The rest after that is just conjecture. I'm sure Gatoh wouldn't have bothered with what part of a country, except mentioning north eastern U.S. since that's where she grew up, or the people living in that part of the country look like in contrast to others who live in the same country or outside of the said country. I'm sure when it says "Italian-American, with strong Swiss/Austrian ties," it means that Tessa is all of those, as in deep down her genetics, having actually genes of people from those countries. I didn't think this was such a serious topic to have it's own thread. If the official source says this, than it's correct and we have to adhere to it, later there might be more elaboration on this topic.

[AEmer]

"
Well... I won't argue that. Because there's really no right answer.
"
Then my job is done

As for Kanames hair colour...that's another topic for another day heheh...

[Wild Goose]

I just find it kinda lol that Testarossa means "redhead", but she's got gray-silver hair.

[yogi]

Ahhh the hair colours ... When I started to get interested in anime a while ago I was curious about a few things. One of them was the hair colours, that have obviously nothing to do with natural hair colours and I found a nice explanation on a german website. Here is a translation. Please excuse my english.

Hair colours
The hair colour does not only indicate the appearance but also the character. Black, the natural hair colour of most japanese people, is regarded as normal, down-to-earth, traditional and reliable. Any other colour is a symbol for "being different".

blue: loyal, shy, reclusive, intelligent
red: bubbly, seductive, adventuresome, stubborn, fiery, active, aggressive
blonde: naive, innocent, helpless, bitchy
brunette: faithful
green: exotic, weird, reckless
purple: mysterious, sexy, well behaved, noble
pink: sweet, cute, childlike, pert, sloppy
white: powerful, demonic, sage, divine, supernatural.

I'm sure this doesn' t match 100% of all anime characters but its a good guideline. You should see it like a zodiac sign or the blood type.

[Tulip Baroo]

Well the description for purple certainly fits Ren. I wouldn't say Kaname is shy or reclusive (except about her feelings) but she is certainly loyal. Now does Tessa count as blonde or white? I know she is described as blonde but compared to other blonde characters I'd say its white... I'm just thinking of a powerful demonic Tessa

[Nekosan]

Well if all characters had hair colour matching the character, then Tessa should have pink hair.

[yogi]

Well I think its not the only purpose to indicate the character. When you look at the the main characters in an anime they always have different hair colours/styles. So its easier to tell them apart.

As a hint for the character its just the colour the creator thought suits best. Or maybe the creator wants to play with the stereotypes and chooses to confuse the audience

[AEmer]

It should be seen as a zodiaz thing people

Kurtz is rarely if ever helpless, doesn't bitch about stuff, and while he may be a bit dum at times, he's certainly not naive.

And then there's the notion that he should be innocent...I'm just gonna leave that hanging int he air for a bit ;-P

That said, I'd say a characters hair colour often complements their personality...it's like, in paintings, you can very rarely say a specific colour always has a specific meaning, but you can quite often say that it has a specific meaning within the context of the painting itself, by looking at how it relates to it's environment...

So, Tessas ashenblonde hair undoubtedly makes her seem special&different as she's visiting Kaname&Sousukes school....

[sj4iy]

There isn't any mention of which Portsmouth it is. I guess from what I read, talking about the cold North Atlantic wind, I just kind of assumed it was England, but I could be wrong. The Testarossas moved around a lot, so it's not clear where they are buried.

[Wild Goose]

Well, there's another reason why Tessa's hair is gray.

She's prematurely turning gray because of genetics and stress.

<_<
>_>

What? It happened to my mom, and I started getting white hair when I was 12.

[Kira85]

Well people I am Italian from Sicily however I am really pale! ^^'
People with pale skin, blonde hair and blue eyes are not so rare in Italy.

She's prematurely turning gray because of genetics and stress.

I don't think this is the case! ^^'
They made Tessa with silvery hair probably because it's a hair color much loved...

[KiLlEr]

Depending on how much QA they do on a series, what studio actually does the coloring, and how fast they end up running through color lots, the hair colors tend to shift. Sometimes a little sometimes..yikes..

[Weltall Elite]

I'm pretty sure she's American. There was one of the side stories where she visits some soldiers in California. She complains about their behavior and Sousuke or someone else comments on them being her people, and she says not to compare a high born East coaster to those West coasters. I can't remember exactly how she worded it, but it was pretty funny.

[KiLlEr]

(and here I thought she was from the small nation of Lesbia)

j/k

But seriously, I think it was said that she had European roots (Italian-American, with strong Swiss/Austrian ties), Born on the East Coast of USA, but lived most of her life in Okinawa where her pops was stationed.