One of the fangirls’ favorite things about historical dramas is the long hair on the men, known as a mane of glory. Ever Night has a lot of good looking men with great hair. But, whose is the best?

To begin with, let’s just observe that combing your hair away from your face doesn’t do much for most people, even with skinny braids. A little softness around the face is usually flattering. Tang Academy’s Eleventh Brother, above, illustrates this idea for us. He’s the one we see on the swing.

If you are good-looking enough, you can get away with it, however, like Ninth and Tenth Brothers. One has his hair down and the other has it up. They are the musicians and not in the story much, but when they are there, they are pretty.

Ning Che’s childhood friend Zhou Er pulls his hair straight back, but you’ll notice that’s only the top hair, and it’s puffed up as well. The hair on the sides hangs down and shows from the front. It’s a deceptively simple look, and he probably has a little pad of lamb’s wool in there. You try to puff up your front hair!

The Ichthyosaur leader Chao Xiao Shu, who has somewhat shorter hair, pulls his front hair back leaving tendrils to frame his face at the sides, like a manga character. His hair always looks slightly messy, although it seems to me like it would take a lot of gel. This fuller look is what I usually associate with the Mane of Glory.

First Brother has similar length hair but messier, which is a little surprising in someone so calm and collected. He sometimes has a ponytail but it usually looks like it is coming apart. One side of his hair will be pulled back and the other will have fallen down. That’s what happens when you don’t have elastics.

He Mingchi, student of the State Preceptor and tutor of the annoying Third Prince of Tang, has a much sleeker look. He has longer straight hair with long bangs hanging down one side of his face, and a topknot with a leather headdress wrapped around it. He looks very restrained and we are not surprised to find out that he is a spy for Xiling.

Second Brother also has very long hair; it looks at first glance to be swept straight back, but then you notice it is parted and fluffed up, with shorter loose pieces at the sides. He has a topknot too, which is held in place by a very tall headdress. Or the topknot keeps the headdress in place.

Let’s take a look at Ning Que; he has more variety in his hair styles. His shoulder-length hair is usually in a ponytail with side-swept bangs. It’s often a little bit messy, which in fact is his best look, which you will realize if you see it more combed down.

Notice that the messier he is, the wilder and tougher he looks. This rule holds generally true for all of these guys.

Sometimes he wears a topknot with a narrow braid around it, and lets the rest of his hair hang down. This seems to be for more formal occasions, and is still good with the side-swept bangs.

I have left Long Qing for last because he has the most happening with his hair, and it really reflects what is going on in his life. In the beginning of the drama he is very formal and precise, with very smooth, neat hair and sometimes even a little coronet, which makes him look extremely like an elf-prince.

When he journeys out into the wilderness things start to change. He still has his top hair pulled back in a braid but it looks a little rougher.

Then his life takes a bad turn and he…Neglects. His. Hair. He is dejected and gives up for a while. You can’t really blame him while he is still in the wilderness mucking about in the snow.

Even when he starts picking himself up and staying at the monastery, his depression shows through in his hair. Look at that! It’s a mane alright, but badly in need of a good conditioner!

Then when he finally feels like he is getting somewhere, something happens. You can see his arms his hair is full and healthy. If you look closely you can see his arms he has also reacquired the braid. This picture is from Episode 55; I haven’t finished the show yet so I don’t know where he goes from here. You’ll have to watch…or tune in to the podcast.

Addendum

In the podcast they were lamenting that General Xia didn’t make it into the Mane of Glory post, so here he is. He did have great hair when it wasn’t all braided up; it’s just that I was concentrating on the younger guys.

Conclusion

There you have it; ten beautiful men heads of hair. Plus a bonus: you can see by this picture of the Emperor’s youngest child, Little Sixer, that they start young. My husband thinks Second Brother is the best looking and I choose Chao Xiao Shu. Which is your favorite? Tell us in the comments!

Telzeytalks

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