Same Face Syndrome?

[imiogri]

I noticed there was a thread about this in 2016 but I want to hear what others think of this now.
From past experiences this can be a bit of a controversial topic but I aim for this to all be in a good tone and I must stress no style is inferior to others and everyone are allowed to do what they want!

Buut truth be told I get very turned off from stories where characters have so called “same face syndrome”. When the only thing that defines a character is their hairstyle and clothing, I end up getting very confused. I’m sure the creators of the characters know who’s who, but from a strangers perspective it’s often incredibly hard to know when they lack any unique shapes and silhouettes. I simply can’t read it because I get so distracted trying to remind myself who’s who… Am I alone with this?

Is it trying to reach a beauty ideal? Is it because it’s not taught properly? Are people blind to how unique and special every human individual actually is? The closer you pay attention and look at people, especially if you know someone really well, they all obviously have very special features.

Trying to explain it as how anime/manga differs from western cartoons just makes me think of the cases anime work wonders, I’ve only watched very few of them but the ones I can say for sure is Fullmetal Alchemist, One Piece, and creators like Satoshi Kon (my favorite) that are able to create characters that are all unique and stand out.

All in all I guess I don’t find an excuse to same face. I personally find it incredibly fun to create unique faces and body shapes, it’s just a lot more entertaining to look at and draw! Anyone who thinks differently? Am I just very bad at telling characters apart?
I’ve rambled for way too long, give me your thoughts!

[MK_Wizard]

I used to get this problem a lot with women characters until I realized that simple things like giving them distinct noses and such made a difference. Plus, not all of them have to look like models. Some can look average and that's ok.

[keii4ii]

A lot of the artists who have this issue aren't even aware their characters look the same. I know I was like that.

Maybe my case isn't common because I actually have face blindness (this is part of the reason why I've been drawn to anime/cartoons as opposed to live action, from early age. I could actually tell different characters and expressions apart with ease!). But I've seen other artists who are like "my characters are very distinct even without hair/clothes!!" and I'm like... no, they look suuuuper similar... maybe with slightly different eyebrows...?

I wouldn't use FMA as an example of good facial diversity, though. FMA has a few different face types, and the types are very distinct from each other. But within each type it's very samey. Winry, Hawkeye, Trisha and others share a face type, and they look the same to me.

[joannekwan]

The more I watch and read and the more characters that show up, the more I notice SFS and the more intensely I don't like it. xD

It's like damn, I don't got time to try and pick up context clues about who this person was again, I want a clear distinct look.
And now it's extending to the character's personal style, because SFS is made much worse when the characters have similar haircuts and wear similar clothes and accessories, particularly when it's a series where characters change clothes on the regular.

[imiogri]

Yeahh unawareness is often a fact, and I wish it could be taught without unmotivating people. It's not like the style of art is bad, it just needs to be switched up a little...

I used FMA as an example because it's the only anime I've watched in full and I know there are a few characters that look the same, but I can really appreciate the characters that do stand out and that's what people should aim for (I don't really have any better examples lmao?? pls give some more if you do). It's sadly often the women who end up the most samey because of the beauty standard. One Piece also has a problem with that but I know people like to use it as an example of diversity sooo...

[Samuraiflame]

I honestly don't care about SFS since I've pretty much accepted it as artistic stylistic choice. You can tell when it's an intentional choice when the artist is able to diversify characters from different age groups or ethnicity (ex. Disney and Ghibli characters can all look very similar depending on their age group)

The thing is... it's not that weird for people to look alike IRL either? So why is it such a big deal in art? People mix up Jpop/Kpop idols, American models and actors all the time, and it's usually only the fans who remember who's who in a group of people who are all conventionally pretty/same ageish. If you're making a series to appeal to that kind of demographic, you're gonna go with what face types people enjoy looking at.

I'm not defending lack of diversity or any of that, I just think people overlook that SFS is very often a valid stylistic choice and not just laziness (depending on the artist in question, anyways).

[imiogri]

Valid opinion! I'm not too bothered if a few characters look a bit alike (because you will run out of features at some point, I've been there), the problem becomes when the entire cast does. Like parents looking the exact same age as their children, lovers that you can't tell apart, which for me becomes a bit unsettling...

When it comes to (old) Disney and Ghibli they tend to exaggerate villains. Big crooked noses, ugly features and whatnot. I don't necessarily like it, but it still adds an interesting flare and you know who's bad and good because of it. Modern day disney is trying to mix things up more though.

[frgmnt]

I don't actually mind sameface that much.
I do like and appreciate art styles that give characters unique features (and I am aiming to develop a style like that myself), but it's not an absolute requirement for me. IMO it's one of the less important problems an artist can have in their work.

Having multiple characters in a work that share similar hairstyles, body type and clothes is a problem. But this can happen even if their faces aren't identical. On the other hand, I do not mind characters having the same face/eye shape/body type as long as they have enough other differing characteristics, and hair and clothes are included in that - in most anime, comics, or other media, you're not really going to see the character bald and naked a lot, right?

I think many people, when they say "same face syndrome" they actually mean something more like "same expression syndrome". If you can only draw like 5 expressions and put exactly the same expressions on every character, that is lazy.

[Samuraiflame]

Hahaha yeeah, reminds me of a lot of 2000s shoujo and BLs I read back in the day.

I think it's fair to be critical of professional published works, and you can usually tell who's using SFS as their style and who's doing it because that's the only thing they can do.

One other point I wanted to add is how 'SFS' can also be a somewhat positive factor in defining an artist's trademark style from the rest of their peers. When Hiromu Arakawa went from working on FMA to Arslan, I couldn't stop thinking how Arslan just looked like a white-haired Edward Elric. But if nothing else, it makes her style instantly recognizable, and that can also work in an artist's favour.

[AmysGames]

For me personally, it's always been a struggle trying to find facial/body/etc. differences that look okay in my style while also still looking like a human being. I've also found it's a lot harder than I think it is actually conveying those differences in a way that's noticeable to other people, lol. I like to think I'm getting better at it, but it's definitely tricky!

That said, I'm not really bothered by same face syndrome as long as I can easily tell which character is which. If the characters also happen to have similar hairstyles or clothes, then yeah, it can get really distracting trying to remember who is who, lol.

[vothnthorvaldson]

It may be harsh, but if I mix up characters more than once or twice, I stop reading (that's for main characters obviously, not secondary characters we have not seen in a while).
I think it's one of the most essential things, to make characters distinctive enough. But I don't mind so much if it's only the faces that are very similar, as long as the difference can be made another way (by hairdo, clothes, etc...).

As for me, I have the opposite problem, I have a hard time making characters who are supposed to be of the same ethnicity look similar enough.

[UrMom]

It depends on what media I'm getting into, and how intense it is. There are some comics (web and print) where the characters have the same face and nearly the same hairstyles, and man! It bugs me! Although I'm more forgiving of Eastern stuff, and amateur creators than Western professionals. Probably because I expect them to know better, (From what I've heard Japanese comic/animation artists tend to parrot other anime/manga styles rather than learning to draw from seeing actual people, but this could be a misconception given how long ago I heard it) a good case of me being irked by SFS in something is Frozen. Anna, Edna...or whatever her name was, and their mom all shared literally the same face, no visual difference in age or anything! The people working on them even stated that they kept them like that because "animating women is hard because you need to keep them looking pretty."
Disney being a giant, monstrous, world ruling corporation. I felt the people they hired should have known better.

The lenience I have with Eastern stuff also comes from the fact that I'm a tad bias, being someone who used to be a total weeb, and who drew animu SFS bullshit. Really, what is considered SFS could also depend on the person. Some people think you have it if you don't diversify your character designs to the point of almost being different styles, other's genuinely have trouble distinguishing faces.

Even now I still get some people having trouble distinguishing my characters apart. The last person who had trouble saying the couldn't tell my characters Brandon and Daniel apart.

Which I can see how some people would be confused. Most of my characters are cis-male crackerjacks with dark hair.

Overall if I have a really hard time telling characters apart, and/or I feel the creators should know better from a professional standpoint, the SFS bothers me. Other than that I don't care too much.

[indagold]

I think its a problem with anime because everyone looks the same style wise. You got generic anime girl with long blue hair #3125, you got generic anime dude with brown hair #577574545. An anime with a unique art style and interesting characters makes its less jarring than something generic.

A for me I personally don't care, it only becomes a problem when its clear the artist has no concept of anatomy. Like those artists who want to draw elderly characters that end up looking like a teenage meth user lol

[charliesackett]

In a lot of cases I think it's because the creator wants people to like their characters, so they might be scared that if their characters are 'ugly' the audience won't connect with them. I used to see it a lot in my peer group when I was younger. I used to do it too, but then I realized 'likeable' and 'perfect' never go together

[Kura]

My opinion on the mater is still pretty much the same.

I REALLY liked it as a kid. For me it was just.... really great that side characters like 'the nerd', 'the Asian™', 'the dumb guy' were all allowed to look just as normal or gasp, pretty as the main character. I absolutely hated series where only the lead looked 'ideal' and everyone else didn't, sometime they didn't even even have normal human like proportions (fat characters with impossibly small legs for example) more often then not the character designs VERY often fell into both stereotypical and racist character designs =/

I hated it... I just... hated it so much.

SFS as a problem when it IS ACTUALLY a problem, I don't like when I run into it and it makes reading or watching a series confusing (HONESTLY THOUGH, I run into this issue a LOT more often watching American Live Action shows, NOT comics and animation), but I don't seem to run into it as often (in animation) as other people do, and honestly I often find that it is very over-diagnosed, especially in smaller creators, and especially for Asian media. Which can be... kinda maybe a little bit racist... I mean I still have to deal with white people telling me they can't tell me apart from the other Asians in work/meeting/gatherings because we all look the same... even though we very clearly do not (it's sometimes suggested that 'the Asians' should wear name tags)

Like if you're posting a bunch of FF characters and claiming SFS in SquareEnix game BUT you got Kairi from KH1 next to Lightening from FF13 on that list then you can fk right off.

[dawgofdawgness]

I think the only thing that concerns me when it comes to SFS is if it takes me out of the experience. I want to enjoy the story, get involved with the plot, characters, etc. but if I can’t tell anyone apart - that’s a problem. I don’t think I should have to spend a long time trying to flip back and forth a book (or rewinding the film) trying to figure out “wait is that character A or B? They look like twins.” Because if making the story hard to understand/get into isn’t the author’s intention, it’s a mistake. If all your characters have the same facial structure and you can only distinguish them by their hair color, dialogue, and clothes, I couldn’t care less. In fact, good on you for being able to distinguish your characters in a non-superficial way!

[Wumbl]

I think it's definitely a problem, or more a symptom of a problem. The mindset that causes it is pretty bad for you, if you're trying to get better. Mixing up the facial features like the jaw shape, nose shape and even the way the eyes are drawn can help immediately. Even the shape of the eyebrows should be considered when you're drawing a character's face.

Same face syndrome happens when as artist gets stuck in a rut of "this is what a face looks like" while drawing. If you try drawing real people from life you'll actually start picking up new features and details as you do so and you'll find your characters start to vary as well. The bigger issue of not studying from life can lead to all kinds of other art problems like whitewashing, boring character design and creative fatigue. You can't expect to find much inspiration if you're not looking at or referencing anything while you work.

You can argue that it's an "art style choice" but it's not a smart art style choice. It's a choice that limits your learning and growth. You can argue that you want your characters to be "attractive" but there are so many ways to be attractive that this isn't even a valid defence.

There's no shame in being at an early stage in learning to draw faces, but thinking it's alright to draw faces to be the same all the time is a trap. You'll end up drawing yourself into a corner.

[Mr_estella]

actually, the SFS is a serious issue because the face is an important part of the character design. it is the main part of the body one remembers and gets more information from.
i think it is caused when one just has learned how to draw a face but hasn't learned how faces are constructed and/or they go with the mentality of "this is my style and i won't change it".
The solution for this can be, drawing people from the real life, or from mangas or comic you like, and see how their faces differs from others, like faces more circular, others more sharp, the shape of the eyes, and what kind of characters have what kind of face

[qwerty]

Something that comes to mind is that the more realistic the style, the more opportunity there is to differentiate faces, and vice versa - the more simple a style is, the more everything will tend to look the same out of necessity since a lot of the small details that could make different faces unique get omitted.

One way to avoid SFS with simple styles is to base the faces off of different shapes (e.g. circle for one person, square for another, triangle for another - like Phineas and Ferb). But manga-style artists generally base their design off of a foundation of real anatomy rather than a foundation of abstract shapes (you could say that is a defining trait of manga styles), which eliminates this option.

Therefore I think SFS is almost unavoidable for simple manga/anime styles and not necessarily a problem if you can still easily tell the characters apart via their other features.

If I saw a really detailed style that still had SFS though I'd probably think it was pretty off-putting, even if the characters are recognizable in other ways.

Personally I kinda try to avoid it, not because I think it's bad, but because I feel like including different face types is an opportunity to make my art stand out and come across as less manga-ey.

[lynestjules]

I used to have that issue when I first started the original version of my comic, which never saw the light of day. But, even as the artist, I couldn't tell them apart. That's how bad it was.
I know that my faces for the main characters, have the same face syndrome, except the boys who have their own face syndrome going on there. It wasn't on purpose.
But, I can honestly say that you can identify each character with other characteristics.