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I've found that whenever an evil rich character laughs in anime they raise
their hands to their mouth and let out a 'ohohoho' or similarly annoying
laugh.

![**enter image description here**](https://i.stack.imgur.com/IDwZ3.jpg)

Where does this mannerism come from? I can now tell someone is rich if they
have this style of laugh, but that's because of association rather than
understanding

There seems to be a YouTube user called ohohojuo-sama which posts lots of
these <http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MM_k1MZB4Ak>


CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-12T16:06:32.147
14405
2015-06-07T07:22:16.990
1530
question
tropes
Why do rich people laugh like they do in anime?


The hand raising part comes from old Japanese traditions where refined women
were not supposed to show their mouth when they laugh. The fact that a
character uses it can indicate that they place a high importance on manners
and such which is one of the traits of stereotypical posh characters.

![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/RjnI8l.jpg)

_Women covering their mouths as they laugh at the lady falling over after
pulling bamboo from ground (Scene of the Twelve Months - Fifth Month
(Toyoshiro and Teyokuni) ) 1801_

The _Ohoho!_ is intentionally high pitched and annoying - this is to make it
sound both artificial and bitchy (which is usually the character's
personality)

Kodachi from Ranma 1/2 was the first instance of this trope occurring in
anime, however this trait was already in use in film by this stage.

[TVTropes page](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NoblewomansLaugh)


CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-12T16:06:32.147
14406
2015-06-07T07:22:16.990
2015-06-07T07:22:16.990
1530
1530
14405
answer