What Are Twin Drills?

Since the art style of anime demands simplified faces, it can be difficult to tell characters in a series apart based on faces alone. The sometimes outlandish hairstyles and hair colours that anime characters have let viewers tell the characters apart at a glance. One such anime hairstyle is the "twin drills" style, which you may find difficult to emulate in real life.

Anime characters with pigtails, called "twin tails" in Japanese, are usually a little childish and cute, although the stereotype associated with the hairstyle has evolved somewhat. Twin drills are a subset of the twin tails hairstyle. A female character with twin drills has pigtails, with each pigtail curled tightly into a drill-like formation. The top of each drill is wide and flat and the drill gets subsequently smaller as it progresses downward.

Characters with twin drills tend to have drills that range from shoulder-length to floor-length. In general, the shorter the twin drills, the more outgoing, hyperactive and bossy the character is. Hikaru Sakuraba, a ditsy teacher from "Lucky Star," is one such character. The longer the twin drills, the more refined and elegant the character is. Selnia Iori Flameheart, a half-Japanese aristocrat from "Ladies Versus Butlers," is one example of this type. In either case, the characters possess some level of immaturity, whether it be a childish temperament or an innocent naiveties.

Twin drills in anime can range from thin, delicate curls to outrageously thick curls impossible to recreate in real life. The thinner drills tend to indicate a more realistic setting, while the thicker drills are part of fantastical stories. In "Full Moon wo Sagashite," Mitsuki Kouyama has thinner drills. Momozono Love, a magical girl from the series "Fresh Precure," has large, thick twin drills when she transforms. However, there are slice-of-life shows with highly stylised character designs that can feature characters with thick twin drills; Selnia Iori Flameheart is one example.

Whether you dress up for an anime convention or event or you want to wear twin drills for an everyday occasion, you have a couple of options. You can purchase a wig preset in the twin drill style; shop from a Japanese cosplay store and you have a wide range of bold anime colours from which to choose. Otherwise, you can put your hair into pigtails and use a wide-barrel curling iron to curl the tails.