These are Japanese terms for two distinct face-types, and I think it's a really fun concept. Let's give this a try. These interpretations of the concepts are not copy/pasted from anywhere, but they are my own interpretations and up for correction. Kitsune gao: means roughly "fox-faced." This type of face is one that looks mysterious, quick-witted by appearance, angular, mischievous, and perhaps beautiful in a sinister, eerie sort of way. Such individuals may find it difficult to gain sufficient trust to secure a long-term partner, but it's ridiculously easy for them to find a date because, let's face it, they're hot. Tanuki gao: I like to use my own translation, "puppy-faced," although a tanuki is just a native variant of the "raccoon-dog." A person with this face-type, with softer and more rounded features, tends to come across as sweet, trusting, innocent (perhaps deceptively), perhaps even gullible. Such a person might have trouble being taken seriously and is readily underestimated, but that person also easily obtains trust. Now, which are you, and do you think that your personality matches your face-type? I'm a tanuki gao myself, and I have to admit that I am far too trusting and almost shockingly open with people. Beware the wrath of the tanuki, though...we are more powerful than we seem.
Probably tanuki gao. Puberty hasn't been exceptionally kind to me, and I've still got a fair bit of baby fat on my face, despite having a very square jaw. I'm not sure which personality fits me best.
To me, I find that there are advantages and disadvantages to being what some people call "baby-faced." For the advantages, I find that people tend to be very warm and helpful toward me, and they see me as a "good person" almost as a reflex. Wow, it's intimidating to think about living up to that! It sets a standard for me, though, and I do try to live up to it. On the other hand, that facile air of "innocence" means that I get short shrift from potential employers, and I can end up being seen as more air-headed than I actually am, viz over-shooting one turn in the road, on a trip, means I'm too "directionally challenged" to be allowed to drive. Huh? Basically, the slightest mistake by me, rather than being something that I can play off like "I really meant to do that," turns into a non-existent litany of incompetence. It is nice to have all the love, but I think most of us take trade-offs in how others perceive us.
I'd heard of kitsune-gao before, I didn't know there was a tanuki-gao equivalent. By your description I am in appearance more tanuki-gao. Which saddens me a bit, as I find kitsune fascinating, and have off and on been working on a story about one. It doesn't hurt, though, to have my age misjudged to be 5-10 years younger due to my "puppy" features, I suppose.
