I’ve recently begun watching Gundam Unicorn, an entry in the Universal Century timeline, and have been finding it to be an incredible experience. However, something that caught my attention was when one of the characters, not wishing to use their real name, identified themselves under the alias “Audrey Burne”. “Surely this is a reference to Audrey Hepburn” I can remember thinking to myself but it also made me wonder how popular and well-known she was in Japan.
First, it might be worth explaining who Audrey Hepburn is for those who are unfamiliar with her. Originally born in Belgium before moving to Britain and performing at the West End, she eventually made her way to Hollywood and ended up becoming an exceptionally popular actress, being recognised by the American Film Institute as the 3rd greatest female star of the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Audrey Hepburn’s first major Hollywood film would also be the film that she’s most strongly associated with in Japan. The 1953 film “Roman Holiday” is a romantic comedy film about a princess, played by Audrey Hepburn, who becomes frustrated by how restricted her life is. She sneaks out of her country’s embassy in Rome and is found by a reporter, played by Gregory Peck. The film is quite charming but underperformed at the US box office. However, it proved to be an international hit and did very well in Europe, Russia and, the basis of this article, Japan.
While there are many theories on why Roman Holiday proved to be such a success in Japan, one popular theory is that the slim Audrey Hepburn was more appealing to Japanese women than other Hollywood actresses of the time. A particularly interesting effect of the popularity of Audrey Hepburn in Japan was the mass adoption of her hairstyle from the film by Japanese women. The scene below was viewed as an act of rebellion against the life that’s been forced upon her and this message resonated strongly with Japanese females at the time.
Since then, both Audrey Hepburn and Roman Holiday have continued to be referenced in Japanese popular culture and serving as an inspiration for various media. As a fan of the Slayers franchise, I was quite surprised to learn that the visual design of Lina Inverse was inspired by Audrey Hepburn when the artist, Rui Araizumi, saw Hepburn on television. Admittedly, I struggle a little to see the comparison but I suppose the body type and independent personality were the main factors.
Beyond that, another notable example would be the manga Rec, by Q-Tarō Hanamizawa, where the lead female character is a voice actress who idolises Audrey Hepburn and reads along with the subtitles while she watches Roman Holiday. Amongst others, it’s worth noting the appearance of Roman Holiday in the anime film “Paprika”, near the end of Gundam Wing Relena’s dress is nearly identical to Audrey Hepburn’s dress from Roman Holiday and in Princess Tutu one of the ballerinas sports a similar outfit and hairstyle to Audrey Hepburn who trained as a ballerina.
I’m always fascinated when I see how anime, manga etc. is influenced not only by their own culture but also by others as well. The impact of both Audrey Hepburn and Roman Holiday on Japanese popular culture is quite surprising but incredibly interesting. Let me know your thoughts on Audrey Hepburn being so popular in Japan, your personal thoughts on why Audrey Hepburn resonated so strongly with Japanese women, your thoughts on Audrey Hepburn in general and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs!