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I specifically want to know which manga or anime started the trend, so I can reason from there to the how question, in order to not make general assumptions.

There was a time in manga/anime where blue hair was abnormal. For example, from the short clips I've seen of the anime "アタックNo.1", it contains mostly black-haired girls, a couple of brunettes and a sparse blonde. No one there is pink/red/blue-haired. Same with Princess Knight.

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    I don't think it's that unusual that you'd want to see colorful hair styles in a country where most people have black hair. Also, manga is monochrome, so only cover page, a rare colored page, or textual description can be used to convey color. Also this post.
    – Hakase
    Jan 18, 2016 at 22:06
  • I like a more "This or that anime/manga was the first one to draw anime characters blonde/blue, so drawing a path from here we can start eliminating these assumptions" answer.
    – Folaht
    Jan 18, 2016 at 22:44
  • @Hakase All the answers on the question you linked are trying to explain why the characters have unnatural hair colors. This question seems to be asking "Can we identify when this became part of the anime art style?"
    – Torisuda
    Jan 19, 2016 at 4:37
  • Just a guess. Maybe from Wild Arms (PSX game). The main hero of WA 1 and WA 2 was blue haired.
    – 絢瀬絵里
    Jul 12, 2016 at 15:09

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Urusei Yatsura had characters with weird hair colors as far back as 1981 and is generally the originator of a lot of things that make anime anime.

But then three years earlier Uchuu Kaizoku Captain Harlock (1978) already featured someone with a blue hair color.

That character was an alien, though.

Uchuu Kaizoku Captain Harlock

Truth be told,... the characters with weird hair colors in Urusei Yatsura were also all aliens.

Similarly, Kidou Senshi Gundam 0079 (1979) had characters with blue hair:

M'Quve Lalah Sune

Even earlier, Majokko Meg-chan (1974):

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And I guess the following could also be interesting in general:

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