7

In many anime, the girls there have fangs.

  • Kiriha from Tsugumomo enter image description here
  • Rika from Kanojo mo Kanojo enter image description here
  • Senko and Shiro from The Helpful Fox Senko-san List item

Why are fangs of girls so common in anime?

Michael
  • 1,668
  • 2
  • 15
  • 3
    I feel like there's a fair number of boys with fangs as well. Generally seems to be a thing with younger characters, regardless of gender. – Darrel Hoffman Oct 21 '22 at 14:21
  • 1
    @DarrelHoffman well yeah maybe but wikipedia says 'In Japan it is perceived as a sign of youthfulness and natural beauty.[1][2] In 2013 it had become a trend where teenage girls would undergo dental procedures to cap the upper canines.[3]' – BCLC Oct 21 '22 at 16:45
  • 1
    Because it is cute. – Ocean Oct 23 '22 at 21:20

2 Answers2

13

They're called Yaeba. Wikipedia says:

In Japan, yaeba (八重歯, "double tooth") are human teeth, especially upper canines, with an uncommonly fang-like appearance. Yaeba most often refers to a tooth overlapping another tooth or protruding from higher in the gum. In Japan it is perceived as a sign of youthfulness and natural beauty. In 2013 it had become a trend where teenage girls would undergo dental procedures to cap the upper canines.

Aki Tanaka
  • 12,592
  • 8
  • 51
  • 107
BCLC
  • 1,823
  • 1
  • 15
  • 48
  • 4
    What does it mean to 'cap the upper canines'? To make them more apparent? – Michael Oct 21 '22 at 12:44
  • @Michael good question but no idea. i think biology or medical/health stackexchange for this. – BCLC Oct 21 '22 at 16:47
  • 4
    @Michael: A [dental cap or crown](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_(dental_restoration)) involves essentially putting a false tooth on top of the existing tooth. In this case, they are essentially increasing the size of the canines. I personally know someone who has a cap to cover a twisted tooth and one to cover broken "dead" teeth. You can see before and after pictures [here](https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/02/01/yaeba-japanese-double-tooth-trend-expensive-crooked-smile_n_2596720.html) for this particular operation. – Sean Duggan Oct 21 '22 at 17:05
9

In addition to BCLC's answer, the girls in the The Helpful Fox Senko-san are kitsune, aka fox spirits.

Foxes have fangs. They, along with many of the other fox/wolf/cat/dog-human hybrids that show up in anime, have fangs as part of their "not-fully-human" character design.

mbrig
  • 191
  • 2