AP 574 - Art Style

[VicMonado]

It's been a while and I hope you're all well but we're back again with another forum topic of the week.

So a common thing I hear from people is that anime 'all looks the same'. Contrary to that notion, me and I'm sure many of you have preferences in terms of art style and the way characters are drawn. So this week I want to ask regardless of how you feel about the show and just going of aesthetics, name some anime that you like the art style of and why.

I appreciate all responses as always. Cheers!

[MarinerBert]

First up, shows with character designs by Kouhaku Kuroboshi.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kouhaku_Kuroboshi
I'm not necessarily recommending these shows, but the art is cute and eye catching.

[MarinerBert]

Second, Range Murata. Probably most famous as character designer for the anime Last Exile. His art style is distinct with large rounded features. It's certainly eye catching.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_Murata
Anime
The Animatrix (The Second Renaissance)
Blue Submarine No. 6[1]
Last Exile
Mardock Scramble (OVA version, cancelled)
SoltyRei (Rose Anderson's bike design only)
Table and Fisherman
Shangri-La
Last Exile -Fam, The Silver Wing-
ID-0
This image is girls from ID-0 which I whole heatedly recommend. Get over the fact that it is a full CG anime. It's an original anime, fun story, great world building, several cool plot twists, and did not disappoint.

[xahldera]

Anything from late 90's to early 2000's, before the "moéblob" style seemed to dominate.

Neon Genesis Evangelion
Martian Successor Nadesico
Outlaw Star

The character and Mecha designs from series in that era seemed more varied and detailed. I don't know if the move to CGI from hand drawn had any direct impact on this, although anecdotally I would say "yes, it has".

Having said that, I do like the surrealism in SHAFT's series such as "Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei" and the "Monogatari" series such as "Bakemonogatari" and "Nisemonogatari", which seem to rely heavily on CGI. The pastel colour palate of "Lucky Star" was also appealing to my eyes.

[GhoulShinobi]

I'm not real knowledgeable when it comes to this topic but I do know that there are many different art syles and they're not all the same. But a couple of ones I really enjoy are Overlord and Tokyo Ghoul: re. P.S. I'm happy you have AP back!

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[Blackmagic4444]

I have will always be a fan of the 90's style of drawing on cells, there was always a harder feel to seeing it in motion.
As for favorite styles I like Yukito Kishiro for his facial expressions in Battle Angle Alita, Rei Hiroe for Black Lagoon, and I am a big fan of Clamp's style. They may look like noodle people but I feel that sells the uniqueness of it.

[rampant_a_i]

MainerBert already mentioned one of my all-time favs, Range Murata. So I was at a loss for adding to that one. I loved Blue Submarine 6 and the two Last Exile series.

I then recalled that I really like Ufotable’s take on the Fate series. They take the visuals and character designs from the iconic visual novel and the other Natsuverse productions and make it their own with very high-quality art and animation.

And the art style of Mamoru Hosoda‘s movies are distinct enough that I can always pick them out as well.

[YotaruVegeta]

(Andy, I will always hate your gifs!)

Being a damn old-ass man, I enjoy more realistically drawn characters. So studios like Madhouse, Bones and Gonzo. Basically, if you can put out an anime where the characters have fully detailed noses, I'll watch.