Anime and manga

The looks from Japanese animation and comics, and the wording for each one.

These eight are the most asked for styles in this whole catalogue and the most often prompted badly. Asking a model for anime returns an average of forty years of output, which is why the same prompt gives a different picture every run. Naming what is actually on the page instead, the shadow cut into a hard shape, the tone sheet rather than a grey wash, the line that swells and tapers, returns the same picture every time. Each entry below is one of those decisions, told apart from the seven beside it.

Painted for the screen

2

Two looks made for animation, where colour is laid flat and light is cut rather than blended.

Anime Cel: Flat colour with the shadow cut into one hard graphic shape, under a thin even line.

Flat colour with the shadow cut into one hard graphic shape, under a thin even line.

Impact Frame: One high contrast frame at the moment of a hit, with the drawing reduced to two tones.

One high contrast frame at the moment of a hit, with the drawing reduced to two tones.

Inked for the page

3

Three looks from printed comics, where there is no colour and every tone has to be built from black marks.

Shonen Ink: Heavy black, a line that swells and tapers, and a body drawn at full stretch.

Heavy black, a line that swells and tapers, and a body drawn at full stretch.

Shojo Ink: A fine even line, huge eyes, and backgrounds made of flowers and light rather than places.

A fine even line, huge eyes, and backgrounds made of flowers and light rather than places.

Screentone: Grey built from printed dots and lines stuck to the page, never from a wash.

Grey built from printed dots and lines stuck to the page, never from a wash.

Shape and motion

3

Three conventions that are not about ink or paint at all, but about what shape a body takes and how speed is drawn.

Chibi: A character redrawn at two heads tall, with everything except the head made smaller.

A character redrawn at two heads tall, with everything except the head made smaller.

Speed Lines: Speed drawn as straight lines behind the subject, rather than blurred by a camera.

Speed drawn as straight lines behind the subject, rather than blurred by a camera.

Mecha Line: Hard surfaces divided into panels, with every edge, seam and vent drawn as a line.

Hard surfaces divided into panels, with every edge, seam and vent drawn as a line.

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Other style groups

Drawn traditionsHow a character is drawn by hand, and the wording that gets each tradition.9 drawn styles PaintedThe painting media, and the wording that gets each one out of a model.7 painting media Made by handStyles built from real material, and the wording that gets each one.10 handmade styles Rendered in 3DHow a computer model is made to look like something, and the wording.11 render styles Soft materialsThe surfaces that make a hard form soft, and the wording for each one.10 soft surfaces Gradient and noiseHow a colour transition is handled, and the wording for each one.5 gradient styles Applied overStyles that put one thing on top of another, and the wording for each.4 layered styles Character shapesHow a figure is built and finished, and the wording for each decision.12 character styles Studio looksThe looks asked for by studio name, described by what is on the screen.8 studio looks Technical drawingHow a thing is specified rather than depicted, and the wording for each.7 technical styles

Print stylesPrinting a sheet rather than drawing a character? The same reference, for ink on paper.

Anime is not a style, it is an industry spanning decades. Naming what is on the page instead, the shadow shape, the line weight, the tone sheet, returns the same picture every run.