Basics

• A common game of some writers and artists of Japanese animation is to create characters to surprise the audience by making them think they are one thing and then revealing them to be another. One of the most popular methods is to create a character that looks like an attractive female. They often do this by giving them characteristics like big, sparkling eyes and long hair in a slightly feminine style. They may even dress them in girls' clothing. Then, at some point during the series -- not necessarily the first episode -- the writers create a plot element that reveals the character to be male.
  
  

Culture

• Japanese anime can be much more open and liberal minded in expressing gender issues than what is normally seen in Western entertainment, especially cartoons. Cross-gender and cross-dressing characters are more common, and both writers and animators are more willing to feature same-sex couples. This can be very shocking for some American audiences. One of the more infamous examples is the later seasons of "Sailor Moon, which originally featured a lesbian couple one of whom was the female equivalent of a trap character -- a girl mistaken for a guy.
  
  

Explanation

• One of the biggest challenges is explaining why a trap character has to look female and why it makes sense within the context of the story. The most common is a story where a male character must go undercover at a girls' school. Or they may go for a more simple example -- the character was just a boy who looked like a girl. As long as the character dresses in unisex clothing, there's a good chance the viewers may not catch on.
  
  

Examples

• Trap characters have been increasingly more common since 2006. One of the more well-known examples by anime fans is Mizuho Miyanokouji from "Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru," a character with back-length hair who must wear a girl's uniform. Hayate Ayasaki in "Hayate no Gotoku" is often seen dressing as a schoolgirl or catgirl. Shima in "Clannad" has been shown in flashback scenes dressed in a wig and schoolgirl uniform.