Art style and theme dissonance

[LunarScyphozoa]

I admit, I’m a bit biased since there’s almost nothing I love more than a story with a sweet soft art style and a pretty not sweet plot, and sometimes even a creepier art style and a more soft plot, but that’s a lot less common. In general this trope seems to be really hit or miss in a way, it seems that people who like this disagreement between the story and the art style really love it but the people who dislike it tend to dislike it a lot. It appears that something that can to one person be a charming and sweet art style in something with a more serious plot can be nice since it gives your eyes something nice to look at, or feel like the stark contrast helps to serve the plot (particularly if it only becomes clear how the story really is later); in contrast, some people tend to think that the art style detracts from the seriousness, and let’s not even get started on the people who hand these stories to small kids just based on the art and then only think to see why it was in the horror genre too late because that’s a whole separate thing. So.. that was my feelings on this, I’d love to hear y’all’s opinions on these kinds of stories however.

[JaveCraze]

i can't think of a lot of em, but one that I feel does it really well is smiling friends.
it's these goofy wacky cartoon characters just doing... normal things, most of the time.
in the most recent episode where they go to brazil, the 11 minutes was spent of them talking and arguing in the airport because of a mishap with booking their hotel, and at the end they just decided to get a flight back home. love that. the contrast of these brightly cartoon characters that have a chance of dying of a heart condition if you scared em too hard. anyways, it's all up to how skillful the authors are at using it, so I think this trope's fine. ...except when kids accidentally read your stuff and find out it's horror, or something.

[Enthriex]

Hm, I'm actually doing a story like this so I've run into the problem of knowing it will attract younger people or people wanting romance from it because 1. The fandom 2. Art style. (Mine is a fancomic that's why I mention the fandom)

My story is pretty heavy on mature subjects (as in for adult subjects, not necessarily sexual elements) but since my artworks are 'cute', it can give off the wrong impression, thus, I make sure to warn people in the first chapter about it.

I'm currently remaking it with better art but I remember in my old version, I deliberately started really crude just to scare off people who expected it to be all happy and innocent... Though, this time around, since the prologue is mostly on the 'wholesome' side, I first added the warning pages and then started with a mildly serious thing happening.

I'm personally not fond of realistic art styles (it's cool and all but it doesn't appeal to me when reading. Individual artworks I can ofc appreciate ), so it's not like I draw the way I do deliberately wanting to create the contrast, though in my opinion, the cute art does help for example emphasize the innocence of some of the characters. But I do try to make it creepy when it needs to be

I'm one of those that like stories that appear cute but are serious and not the other way around (though I guess it would depend on the art style, however, it's rare that I'm looking for stories that are calm for me to run into something creepy but calm)

I've read many things and watched from many genres, so, it may not appear to be but I'm quite flexible as long as the story is good. I just can't put up with mangas that look too much like real humans (kinda like western comic style) or when there's too many details in the panels that I have a hard time distinguishing what's going on. Like for example 'Berserk', I know it's a pretty good manga and all, but the amount of detail on everything isn't my cup of tea (even if I can appreciate the talent and the awesome art it has)

Soo, back to what you stated, I think my major concern is the story being recommended to children when it's not supposed to be read by sensitive audiences xD So I believe the best thing to do as courtesy is to warn them at least at the beginning even if you don't want to warn every chapter.

Oh though, I want to point out too that I can't stand exaggeratedly cute mixed with violence like for example 'Happy tree friends' I could never stomach that one. It ends being too creepy for me (ironic but yeah xD)

Guess balance is everything even if its dissonant haha. (Though well, there will always be people that like stuff like Happy tree friends)

But yeaaah that's what I think XD I love psychological, dramatic, thriller stories with art styles that are on the cute side and are 'something nice to look at'.

[DokiDokiTsuna]

in contrast, some people tend to think that the art style detracts from the seriousness

Oddly enough, I've never seen anyone make that argument before. ^^;
Although if they did, I would probably have to assume it was a bad-faith argument (i.e. "I personally don't like cute art styles, but framing it as if it's a failing of the art direction and actively hurts the story makes me sound more justified").

I can understand it if the artist is a novice and doesn't even realize that their art is "cute", or if they don't know how to draw serious things (like if their idea of 'gore' looks more like someone spilled some strawberry jello).
But if it's a professional artist working on a professional project, and they use all the correct visuals and cinematography, the voice acting and music all works to support the serious tone...and despite all of that, you can't bring yourself to care about what's going on just because the characters happen to have big eyes, I think that's a 'you' problem. =/

Personally, I like a bit of tonal dissonance in a work. ^^ And most of my own work tends to have cute art, no matter how dark and gritty it is...simply because I like to draw cute people. =D I like bright colors, and I like fun hairstyles, and I like * BIG ANIME EYES * , and I see no reason to stop drawing them just because the stories I like to write don't always "match".
Sometimes I try to do more serious-looking art, but it always ends up looking better when I come back to my roots. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

let’s not even get started on the people who hand these stories to small kids just based on the art and then only think to see why it was in the horror genre too late because that’s a whole separate thing.

Okay, I just wanted to point out that I've always thought these incidents were a little silly. ^^; Understandable, but silly...like, why would you hand someone a book without even knowing what it's about? People really just walking around buying actual stories -- like, a thing that has content and a message-- and giving them to children based on the cover art alone?? 'Don't judge a book by its cover' isn't a saying for no reason; damn...

Besides, you might be surprised how many kids like violence and horror (I was one). ^^ If the kid in question is at least 9, they could easily appreciate the story all the more for it.

[RedLenai]

I really like stories that takes advantage of the "Judging a book by it's cover", and most importantly, when there is a purpose as to why the author choses a specific style or structure for the story.

I remember experiencing this with OddTaxi, while the style was adorable and simplistic, the story was something that I didn't expect at all and it really took into shape within the biggest plot of the story. I really can't talk much about it since it would be a spoiler. And yes, a lot of people are missing onto this great Drama series just because they see "Furries" and won't explore further.

Another one that really does it for me is Made in Abyss, now, the style is quite cute too, something that you'll expect from a Pixiv artist but the gruesome reality of the characters and it's worldbuilding, is so strong that the art style doesn't feel distracting at all, but that it provides, especially to empathize with the characters or certain situations.

I really would try to pay attention to a story and read a small summary about it before giving it to a child, but these things will happen especially if we adults aren't patient enough to control the access our children have to certain content. Like, adorable art like in Happy Tree Friends then being one of the most violent shows out there, or attractive male leads but end up being a spicy 18+ story, same with girls.

Sometimes it's easy to balance an art style with it's content, sometimes it doesn't work. But with experience a better job can be done, and is not like some people won't jump into a reboot to make their stories better.

[DokiDokiTsuna]

I remember experiencing this with OddTaxi, while the style was adorable and simplistic, the story was something that I didn't expect at all and it really took into shape within the biggest plot of the story. I really can't talk much about it since it would be a spoiler. And yes, a lot of people are missing onto this great Drama series just because they see "Furries" and won't explore further.

Oh my gosh, OddTaxi is on my list of things to watch and I just keep forgetting about it for some reason...is it as good as people say, like would you REALLY recommend it?? I've been burned by a lot of anime in recent years, so I'm always cautious about new things...but the characters in this one look so cute, I can't help being curious. ^^

[RedLenai]

Yep, I would definetly recommend it. I'm also waiting for the movie, and there are a few audio-dramas that also provide to the story, still gotta listen to those.

[ar-ninetysix]

just gonna chime in here, don't mind me

I've seen it described as a neo-noir crime drama.. and that's honestly closer to what I'd consider it being. The mature characterization in it is very reminiscent of two other shows that drive people away for their furry-ness, Aggretsuko and Beastars. The thing is, ODDTAXI tends to showcase multiple events from different perspectives to show you how everything overlaps in the narrative. It's honestly pretty rad!

So.. not to pretend that I know your interests, but I'd definitely recommend it to you specifically

[GumshoeComix]

yea i write a story thats fairly serious but has a cartoony style and I've been told I should be using a more realistic art style to match several times and like
I don't want to haha

I actually think having a lighter more cartoony art style can help with more serious stories, cause it looks like the horror is happening to cartoons and not real people so the story is easier to disgust. like how having comedic bits in there helps so it's not a complete downer.
I could've made my story look more realistic, but it's purposefuly cartoonish!

[TheLemmaLlama]

Tbh I don't even feel like it's a contrast when you have soft, cute art with a serious or disturbing story. For me, 'soft and cute' doesn't read as 'not serious'; in fact, it tends to amp up the feels for me (the 'moe' effect). Some cute artstyles like Girls' Last Tour or Made in Abyss read as pretty serious (and I think it's all in the colours and rendering):

It's more cartoony styles that tend make me feel like it detracts from the seriousness, and tbh I don't even see them used for serious stories that often (but they can totally still work; The Order of the Stick literally made me cry at some point :') )

And yeah, creepier art styles with a more soft plot I don't think I've seen any examples of, so I can't say if I'll like it or not (though I do enjoy wholesome Darkest Dungeon fanart :P)

[system]

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