Member Colours and Character Archetypes

Warning: LONG POST

Defining or thematic colours are everywhere in Japanese pop-culture. Characters have 'image colours' and some groups have a 'group colour' and then even within groups the members have their own 'member colours'. The main reason for having these colours is for "identification purposes" e.g. how to identify with your group or your favourite member of the group.

Groups featured in this post in length are:
☆ WhiteA
☆ 9bic


The two main areas of identification are:
☆ Penlights
☆ Goods and Fan Fashion

Penlights are used to show support for a group or member. Of course there are 'uchiwa' (big paper/plastic fans that usually have a message on them, if they're handmade by fans, or the face(s) of your favourite(s), if they're part of the official merchandise) as well but especially in crammed live houses those are often banned from usage as they block the view of other people or get in the way otherwise. Most underground idol groups do not offer uchiwa as part of their goods lineups and even major groups have banned the use of uchiwa at some events. A penlight is both more space efficient and also easier to see for people, even from further away. And of course penlights, as opposed to uchiwa, can be the best seen in the dark.

Aside from penlights, fans of idol groups tend to dress in the colour of their favourite member to show support to the member they like (people might spot them from stage, or for the 'Tokutenkai') but also to identify themselves as fans of a certain member to other fans. Many idol groups sell merchandise in member colours, such as t-shirts but fans might also buy their own clothes and accessories to match on top of this. Or, they will display the merchandise of their idol on their accessories etc. by attaching them to their bags or using special bags with clear parts (not always but usually referred to as ‘ita-bags’) to display badges, pictures or acrylic keychains. 

Identifying oneself as a fan of a certain member is relevant for example to find (or keep away) like-minded fans or to signal to people which member's goods people might be trading for in the event that trade-able goods are available (e.g. a person wearing all blue might want the extra blue item you pulled and if you wear a red shirt, people might approach you with red items without you having to say so explicitly).

Some people even go as far as to say that member colours have now become an integral part of some of the lives of fans, to the point that they will choose other lifestyle goods in their favourite member’s colours as looking at the colour comes with the immediate association with their favourite member and thus a feeling of happiness. Many Japanese retail stores have jumped onto this opportunity and offer many of their goods in colour-coded sets or in numerous colours and 100yen store chain “CAN DO” has even released stickers targeted specifically at idol group fans, providing a combination of member colours and group ‘symbols’ in pre-made sets.

In more recent years the member colours have also been used to colour in subtitles in online streaming videos to help identify speakers.

 

9bic colour-coded subtitles

There might be conversation going on in the background or it might be hard to see at first glance who is speaking as in this screenshot because several members are facing the camera, so having colour-coded subtitles helps to identify speakers faster and more easily. As you will see later on, some groups do this more and others less consistently.

[1] I will talk about what is called "同担あり・なし" (roughly translated: becoming friends with fans of the same member yes/no) in a separate entry


"Member Colours" and their meanings and origins

The origin of 'member colours' is a bit of a complex question. There are two main factors that come into play here:

1.) the eve of colour television
2.) "Super Sentai" and kids television shows

Both male and female idols came into existence way before colour television became widely affordable in Japan and of course costumes were already colourful back then as well but not to the extent as they are now. In the black/white television days, costumes were made to look good to viewers even without their colours (e.g. shape, Onyanko Club used school uniforms for example) but also to look good to live audiences (more style than colour at this point but colour to a certain extent).

When colour television became more widespread in Japan, so did colourful costumes. The main purpose of the colours at that point was recognition. The human brain, psychologists found, recognizes colour before shape and colours will also stay in people's memories easier and longer than e.g. shapes or names (this is a "Stroop Effect"). It might be logical to think that the ability to remember names can be improved by associating a name with a certain colour, which might also be a function of the member colours.

"Image" or "Theme Colours" and the "Member Colours" we know today became more established when TOEI launched its first of many "Super Sentai" (that's Power Rangers in the 'West' btw) series, where the group of superheroes each had a very distinct colour assigned to them and that colour would also create an image for the character over the course of the series.

While the link between "Super Sentai" and idol group member colours is very strong for male groups, female groups have become connected to series targeted more towards girls such as Pretty Cure (also owned by TOEI).

For both Super Sentai the colour 'categories' are as follows:

Standard Colours	Semi-Standard Colours	Non-Standard Colours
Red Blue	Yellow Pink Green Black	Orange Purple White Silver Gold

In idol groups, the positions of purple and orange usually change with black, as black is arguably the hardest colour to produce a penlight of (same goes for gold and silver), although some actors in the Super Sentai franchise have joked about the ‘ease’ of it, telling people to simply turn their penlights off in order to support the ‘black’ character. 

In female groups the position of colours will also vary a little as pink and other more 'girly colours' such as orange will be more prominent than for example ‘boyish colours’ such as black or even blue and green, compared to male groups. Also the presence of pastel tones is associated with female groups more than male ones.

Nikkei Entertainment News published this chart with member colours and their meanings when talking about both Super Sentai and Idol Groups.

Entame - Style Nikkei Entertainment News: Colour Perception Chart

Red: vitality, activeness, energy, attack power, proactive, anger
Blue: intelligent, honest, calm, cautious, trustworthy
Yellow: cheerful, hopeful, healthy, optimistic, curiosity
Green: equality, safety, social, patient
Pink: amicable, harmonious, dependent, kind, spoiled
Purple: mysterious, unrealistic, graceful, "high class feel"
White: innocent, pure, ideal, happiness, truth
Black: solidity, unwavering, stubborn, strong, intimidating

Translated into characteristics and positions, the rough member colour lineup would look a bit like this:

Red: "Center", often leader
Blue: "Second in Command", Sub-Center or Double Center
Yellow: Sub-Center, sometimes in charge of comedy, sometimes "Ace"
Pink: Sub-Center, sometimes "Ace", sometimes Double Center
Green/Purple: "wing", special skills or special position, sometimes "Ace"


"Center" and "Ace"

In idol groups, people often talk about the positions of "Center" and "Ace". The "Center" of a group is the member who stands in the middle most of the time for dance formations and photo shoots (hence, ‘center’ for the central position). They are often in a 'leading position' but not necessarily the 'leader' of the group, although the colour red is most often associated with the leader.

The "Ace" has a leading position in a different sense. The title comes from gambling, as the ‘ace’ in a deck of cards is considered to be the strongest in a suit. The “Ace” is the member of the group who knows how to sell themselves the best and how to 'be an idol with their whole being', to put it very simply. They could be considered the 'face' or 'top seller' of the group and are often the ones who know how to sell themselves well and how to 'be an idol' the best, compared to others in the group. Simply put, the MVP of the group, who attracts fans. Sometimes the “Center” can be the “Ace” at the same time.

Of course not all groups adopt colours this way, some groups choose their colours themselves based on preferences but in cases where agencies assign colours and in terms of the images a lot of "normal people" see the colours, this is the most standard categorization.

For the most part, the positions of “Center” and “Ace” seem to be given more weight or attention in most female idol groups, compared to male idol groups unless there is a clear “imbalance” of skills (singing or dancing, sometimes even looks) or if certain members are getting pushed by the management or by popular demand (such as the popularity contests that the 48 groups have). Male idol groups do however refer to their ‘leaders’ or ‘centers’ or ‘aces’ sometimes, if such ranks are considered important or when asked for them during interviews.

Recently the established trope of “red is the leader” has weakened and while red might still be the ‘center’, the leader of the group can another colour. For example in 9bic, the leader (Keiichirou) is in charge of the colour blue.

Examples:

Groups that fit into the standard colour scheme well and yet fit the scheme in two very different ways are 9bic and WhiteA. While the latter does not utilize the colours anywhere outside of their YouTube video subtitles, the allocation of colours is still in accordance with the scheme:

Takuya: Red (leader, center)
Kosuke: Blue (dance leader)
Kouki: Green (dance leader after Kosuke left, youngest)
Junya: Purple [Pink](special skill: rap)
Dachi: Yellow [Orange](special skill: comedy)

WhiteA's member colours are not featured in their costumes usually, with the exception of the "Shine On" outfits, which do include member coloured parts (their jackets, although Kouki's colour is less noticeable as his jacket is really colourful, it does have green parts, though).

WhiteA - SHINE ON Artist Group Picture

WhiteA - YouTube Video member introduction sequence 1

WhiteA - YouTube Video member introduction sequence 2

Junya's colour is sometimes (often?) displayed as fuchsia but his member colour was confirmed to be purple rather than pink by the group during live events. Unlike a lot of idol groups, WhiteA tends to not be as consistent with their colours a lot of the time (e.g. Daichi is sometimes orange and sometimes yellow and he has identified both colours as his member colours etc.). Other reasons for these changes might be the ease of editing - fuchsia is more visible and easier to find in most templates than purple is - and simply visual balance. Orange is easier on the eyes and to read than yellow.

As WhiteA does not strongly identify with their member colours, the fans do not seem to be bothered by the inconsistencies. WhiteA also does not sell colour-coded merchandise, instead sticking to an overall group design for their goods.

In 9bic, member colours are emphasized very strongly as they are an idol group as opposed to WhiteA, as a Dance&Vocal group. 9bic also introduces the individual members as being "in charge of" certain colours (担当色), which is basically another form of saying "member colour" in "idol lingo".

9bic Official Group Picture (2019 Homepage Renewal Version)

Ryoga (Red): Center, passionate, draws attention

Keiichirou (Blue): Leader, Center, cool, oldest

Minato (Green): in charge of call&response, character stands out

Satsuki (Yellow): best singer

Kotaro (Pink): fan favourite, idol fan idol, youngest

Kiyoharu (Purple): the new one, mysterious, character stands out

Groups with an even number of members larger than 4 often have a so-called 'Double Center'. Of course this arises from the need to arrange a formation in a way that does not simply have a single person in the center (due to symmetry) but also from a certain 'ranking' within the group.

In 9bic it was interesting to see that a Red/Blue double center emerged after the addition of their 6th member Kiyoharu (Purple).

Hakoirimusuko: 9bic Official YouTube Channel - Cover Picture 'congruity'

Hakoirimusuko: 9bic Official YouTube Channel - Cover Picture 'Yumekui Vampire'

While initially in the center along with Ryoga (Red), Kiyoharu moved to the wings very soon after his introduction. This is an interesting development. In Super Sentai the "New Member" or "6th Ranger" will usually take up the position in the center along with the Red (leader) because of his status as someone wielding a different or larger power than the rest of the team.

Kiyoharu (Purple) qualifies as the "new and mysterious" additional member but has not established a place as anyone 'special' or 'more powerful' in the group. Some suspect that it was in a move to appease fans of the original 5 member 9bic to keep Keiichirou (Blue) in the double center as he is considered the 'Leader' of the group and people wanted him to keep a special position.

There are more theories circulating around colours and their meanings in Japan dating back to ancient times and royal courts but let's not go into too much detail. This post merely explains the origins of member colours in "popular culture", more specifically for the idol genre.



"Character Archetypes" and their relationship to "Member Colours"

Male idol groups function according to the 'something for everyone' principle that is one of the leading principles in what is called the 'reverse harem' genre in books/anime/manga/games. A reverse harem is a setting where a female protagonist is pursued romantically by a group of men, who all have distinctively different attributes (or all have a different character archetype). 

No two members cater to the same target group so as to avoid cannibalizing each other's profit or popularity and by doing so, they want to make sure that the group as a whole targets as large of an audience as possible. One of the key features in both ‘reverse harems’ and idol groups is that instead of fighting one another, the males acknowledge each other and work together.

Just like every member has their individual ‘type’ or ‘character’, each one of them has their individual colour. No two members can have the same colour. While easy to handle in smaller groups - and most standard groups do not have a member count that exceeds a certain number e.g. 10 - it becomes trickier in bigger groups (such as the infamous "48" groups) or even franchises such as the Touken Ranbu Musicals .

Large groups mean that more shades of colours need to be added (see the picture below). 

However, this is a pretty extreme example and more of a problem in the idol genre created in the anime/game industry recently. Most ‘real life’ idol groups active in the ‘Underground’ scene do not have that high of a member count. The golden number for a lot of groups seems to be 5-6 members. Understandable, as in the ‘Underground’ the stages aren’t as big and the more people need to fit onto it, the more difficult it gets. It is also easier to focus fan attention on a smaller number of members rather than a larger one. Although of course larger numbers also mean a broader spectrum and a larger market to target. It’s all a question of balancing it right.

Musical Touken Ranbu - Penlight colours and their associated characters (Shikenranbusai 2019 Version)

The inherent danger of having too many colours and having to use different shades of the same colour is to confuse people on both sides. While buying merchandise is still doable for fans of anime/game characters as they buy them by character, idol fans would have bigger problems when wanting to colour coordinate with their favourite member as they might not be able to choose the ‘right shade’ to match their favourite member. In the Touken Ranbu Musicals, there are so many similar shades present that even the actors themselves sometimes struggled to identify the correct ones at times. Also, penlight colours tend to blend into one another as the battery drains, some colours using up more energy than others. [I jokingly call it '500 shades of pink']

Back to characters, though.

Just like colours, certain character traits are always present in a group. They can often be associated with the colours but in recent years, the association of colour and character has become more fluid, both in idol culture but also in Super Sentai. Certain key points have stayed the same (e.g. red = center) but most character traits connected to colours have become more flexible (e.g. red can be a smart, cool leader type or a clumsy, cute type and blue can be the cool, second in command or the silly comic relief type).

As for the types of characters or 'archetypes' present in male idol groups, here are the most common or most popular ones. They were listed in pairs because those are either the ‘polar opposite’ types or types that very often go together and are present in the same character (e.g. a guy with glasses is a gentleman):

1. The Bad Boy/The Prince or King

2. The Hot One/The Playboy

3. The Girly One/The Nerdy One

4. The Mysterious One/The Crazy One

5. The Lone Wolf/The Cool One

6. The Cute One/The Funny One

7. The Older/Younger Brother

8. The Guy With Glasses/The Gentleman

Most, if not all groups, will have some of these or variations of them. As already mentioned, sometimes members might even embody two types at the same time. These types might go together in a logical manner, e.g. a cool guy being a lone wolf or a hot guy being a playboy but sometimes there are combinations that seem to clash. Those ‘mismatches’ aim to attract fans by having a so called 'gap' between the two (ギャップ萌え). Usually the two types will be very different from one another (even polar opposites). The attractiveness lies in people having an 'unexpected other side to them'. For example a bad boy might actually really like cute things or the youngest member in a group might actually be the most mature and reliable one.

WhiteA - Yukidokei Single Cover

Applying the characters to WhiteA, we get the following:
Takuya: The King - but with a surprisingly gentle and cute side
Kouki: The Bad Boy - but also the little brother
Kosuke: The Mysterious/Cool One - but in reality sensitive and silly
Daichi: The Funny One - but with a serious side, maybe also The Girly One
Junya: The Hot One - but also the older brother

Surprisingly, the colours WhiteA chose for themselves underline their characters very well. Their actual characters. Unlike some idol groups, Dance & Vocal groups usually tend to go with their 'real' characters and not just a persona they take on in front of the fans. The latter sometimes happens when member colours are assigned by managers or agencies instead of chosen by members (people have to fit in the mold). Although some people can grow into their roles.

This surprising fit could also be another proof for the deeply rooted 'image' that people in Japan connect to certain colours. Something that is similar to the association of certain colours to certain elements, such as water is blue, fire is red. Which again, some of the character traits can be derived from e.g. blue - water - cool, red - fire - passionate.

Deeply rooted images are certainly what prompted 9bic’s colour choices along with the underlying personalities or positions of the individual members. 9bic's character archetypes are so deeply ingrained in the group that their first set of T-Shirts even had them written on the back in the form of a "catchphrase". These catchphrases were made up by the pair of producers behind 9bic, Yonemura Kaito and Yapp!!, two famous YouTube stars in Japan as well as big fans of male idol groups themselves. 9bic as a group also has an overall concept catchphrase:

“6 Princes who came to us in the here and now”

Already giving the group as a whole the title of “princes”. Within that each individual member then has their own sub-type, which is sometimes obvious from the catchphrase and at other times a little bit more subtle.

9bic Keiichirou - 1st T-Shirt Design	9bic Ryoga - 1st T-Shirt Design
9bic Satsuki - 1st T-Shirt Design	9bic Minato - 1st T-Shirt Design

9bic Kotaro - 1st T-Shirt Design

Blue (Keiichirou): Tsundere Prince
Red (Ryoga): Without a doubt, the most beautiful face
Yellow (Satsuki): Miracle Voice
Green (Minato): Everyone's Little Brother
Pink (Kotaro): Idol Otaku

With the addition of Kiyoharu, the T-Shirts changed. The new shirts no longer sport the catchphrases but simply their names and group name. The colours are also darker and more vibrant now. Some people in Japan believe that vibrant colours represent energy and completeness. In 9bic’s case this could mean that the group is now more complete and received more energy by adding an 6th member.

9bic Group Photo - New T-Shirts

Their character archetypes have largely stayed the same.

Blue (Keiichirou): The Cool One/The Lone Wolf with a surprisingly gentle side
Red (Ryoga): The Hot but Stupid One with a surprsingly competent side
Green (Minato): The Little Brother but with a surprisingly dependable side
Yellow (Satsuki): The Funny One with a surprisingly smart side
Pink (Kotaro): The Cute One/The Otaku with a surprisingly mature side
Purple (Kiyoharu): The Mysterious One with a surprisingly 'normal/boring' side

If you want further proof (haha, sorry inside joke. One of 9bic's songs is called 'proof') of how well 9bic fits the reverse harem thing, you can watch them actually acting out a reverse harem drama.


Random...

Another popular analogy used to characterize groups is by assigning family roles to individual members. This is sometimes underlined by using a family theme for photo shoots (sometimes even videos). Idol groups from entertainment giant "Johnny's Entertainment" are particularly known for using this trope. Arashi for example used it as one of the themes for their yearly Calendar (2016).

In the Underground Idol world, 9bic has also given family positions to its members. The boys assigned these positions when their 6th member joined.

Hakoirimusuko - 9bic Official YouTube Channel: 9bic Family

Keiichirou: the dad
Kiyoharu: the oldest son
Satsuki: the second son
Ryoga/Minato: the mischievous twins
Kotaro: the (shitty) brat


Back to the colours...

It is difficult for fans to change favourites or change groups once they themselves have become associated with a certain member colour (and thus a specific member or group).

While changing favourites or groups is frowned upon in more established fandoms, such as Johnny’s Entertainment, it is not something unusual among fans in the Underground Idol circuit. The turnover in the Underground is a lot higher after all and one can never be sure whether groups or individual members will stick around for a long time or not. As fans you have to live in the moment then and if you are forced to move on, then you have to move on.

Having to change colours is not always necessary, though. Chances are that if you like a member with a certain colour assigned to them in group A, you might be attracted to the member with the same colour in group B as their type might be the one that attracts you. So if you’re lucky, you might not have to change.

It can be quite a feat to change, depending on just how involved in the fandom one was e.g. if a lot of items and clothing were bought for fandom purposes. Also, other people will associate a certain colour with you and getting people used to a change in that colour might take quite some time. It might also throw up questions such as ‘but I thought this was your favourite colour?’. 

Overall, it can be said that member colours are quite an essential part of the Japanese idol industry. The colours are often associated with traits or positions, which were established by the Super Sentai franchise. It is quite interesting, maybe even surprising, that ‘a kids show’ was what engrained the image that people in Japan have of certain colours.

Finally, a little experiment: which group in this entry do you remember better? WhiteA or 9bic? I would wager a guess that 9bic stuck to your memory more than WhiteA because their member colours are so prominent. You might not remember any of their names but you will definitely remember which 6 colours are assigned to the members in the group. Am I right?

This has been one hell of a long blog post. And to tell you the truth, it is actually only the short version. Since the post developed a life of its own, I decided to spin it into a full-blown academic paper which you can find in my Academia Portfolio. Please check it out if you're interested in knowing more. Or if you want to read a longer, clean, beta-read and revised version of this post.

Thank you for reading!