As a person with a PHD in Kabutology, I have analyzed various aspects of him a lot, including his appearance. To be more specific, his hairstyle.
You can start with his childhood.
The neat square, coupled with the uniform of the orphanage, create the image of an innocent and good child, which he actually is. His image is immaculate, unblemished by blood, and therefore this hairstyle fits well into this image without causing dissonance.
But that changes after Kabuto is recruited by the root. He still has his old hairstyle, which now does not fit with his childish face and shinobi form, which always implies the opposite of innocence. Now his clothes are soaked in blood and tears, and not always his, and therefore this square ceases to fit into his image, causing ambivalent feelings.
Under Orochimaru's lead, he builds his new identity of the perfect prize possession. He's smart, collected, he always has everything under control and everything goes according to plan, and in addition to everything, his hairstyle matches. A neat, styled ponytail and bangs, as a small detail, making his image more friendly to others. It's his stability and his routine.
Which collapses after death of the main pillar of his life, on which all his self-awareness was based. During this crisis, he completely rejected his former human form.
Perhaps this is quite stupid and stereotypical, but a radical change in appearance, including hairstyle, is an important stage for a person with depersonalization, for a complete personality change and escape from his past and previous self (I speak as a person with depersonalization). Accordingly, for this reason, Kabuto cuts his long hair back into a square. But why is there no feeling of returning to the roots, to the original "self"? Because, unlike before, this square is uneven, with locks of different lengths, and overall looks messy, which indicates Kabuto's troubled state of mind. His mental state is worse than ever, always being a few steps away from the abyss.
I can also talk about chikara ark, even though it is a filler. In general, the degree of crazy has been increased for the entire ark. The main villain who's losing his mind, Hidan, who's lost his mind a long time ago, Kabuto is losing his mind bc of his allies, and the viewer is losing his mind bc of the whole arc SO! Personally, I have a direct association with madness - this is the shape of a spiral, which can be visually found in the curls of hair.
As for Boruto, I already have my own theories about the intermediate hairstyle between fourth shinobi war and Boruto.
The Kabuto in the middle is caught between that terrible state of the war period and healing in a new generation. He lets his hair grow carelessly, the locks are still of different lengths, the hair itself is loose, which gives the image the feeling that Kabuto has "let go" of the situation around him. The image is also complemented by long bangs that cover most of the face, which shows his closeness from the outside world or attempts to hide his own emotions and state of mind.
Later in Boruto, when he finally reaches peace of mind and balance, he puts his hair back in a ponytail, which symbolizes that he has finally taken control of his life and let go of the past.
origamiaround
romaincrisis
baratheonpilled
kaledo-art
gummygunk
pixelskylines
ellievsbear
