What is your snap judgement on a comic that features an animal as the main character?

[orbitkatart]

Genuinely curious because my guess is that people are going to fall under a few categories with this:
1. You assume it's furry stuff
2. You assume it's cute and heartwarming
3. You assume it's for children

I could be wrong but I think these are the main reactions.

What's your reaction?

Try not to think to hard, don't over analyze it, just say the first thing that comes to your mind because that will be how you genuinely feel.

[joannekwan]

I'd be open-minded.
It really depends on the rest of the series premise and the first few pages.

Like FalseKnees features only animals and its far from any of your list.

FalseKnees | Tapas

EDIT: So I guess my snap thought would be "Okay, and…?"

[migxmeg]

If someone about to tell me about a comic says "x features a ____" then none of the above, thanks to sarcastic/social commentary/other type comics with animal mcs I've read that are certainly not for children/not furry/not heartwarming. If I see cover/thumbnail art with said mc, I will probably make a judgment based on the style, which might include one of your options, depending.

[HippieGhost]

I swap between the 3 depending on the art style. Furry art is pretty obvious, whereas wholesome and children's art is going to focus more on the cuteness factor. There's also the gross parodies like happy tree friends, but those usually also have a very specific style.

[elyss]

Fury stuff. I also view furry stuff as just anthro stuff though, so I'm not sure I'm completely aware of what the term furry actually means. To me, it's just animals as people for the story.

I'm currently obsessed with Blades of Furry on webtoons.

[BreakingChalk]

Depends a lot on how it's drawn.

1. Some styles look furry in some way (I think mostly when they have anime-like eyes and accentuated human proportions)

2. Others look funny (Maybe with human features like standing on two feet, but still having animalesque proportions) and could look for children when they have more curved lines and soft colors; whereas if they have more edges, or show more expressions of rage/sadness/worry they could feel like something from a teen/adult show

3. Or if they are shown with a realistic art-style, whether completely like animals or somewhat anthropomorphic, for something with a serious tone.

Personally, I'm more likely to keep reading it when they look like the in second option; the third one I think is more kin to a horror/thriller story, and though I know and respect great furry artists a lot, it isn't my cup of tea really.

[orbitkatart]

I'm definitely interested in hearing other opinions outside of the ones I mention!
Yeah I love false knees. Though I personally fall under "cute wholesome" when look at FalseKnees which is absolutely not a problem at all by the way. FalseKnees does vignettes which solidify the cute/wholesome thing for me simply because there is no overarching story/character development.

[orbitkatart]

Interesting you say that because I almost feel the same why. I generally categorize furry stuff as anthro only and if it's just talking animals I usually don't see it as furry but then I see some furries calling a cat that just talks a furry or they have a sur-sona that's just a regular animal but talks so I'm honestly confused as to what constitutes as furry stuff.

[Phantomlight]

I have always been curious about this. I had a commenter mention something to the effect that they had their judgements about furry/anthro/animal stuff, so I am glad you made this topic.

I love furry/anthro/animal stuff. I had my judgements before which were the first 2 on your list you have above but I wasn't opposed to most animal stuff. I really got into furry/anthro stuff last year and my best pal @BrambleberrySquirrel has really helped me accept my love for it. It's something that makes me very happy ^^ I've met a lot of awesome people, not all of which are probably furry/anthro/animal lovers to the extent I am or at all, but they enjoy the chibi(?) furry/anthro comic I had decided to publish last year.

Also, @elyss, I am currently loving Blades of Furry too uwu

[orbitkatart]

The furry label seems so complicated. It's strange but I think I only think of furries when it's an antho animal in the style of the big anime/lion king eyes and hair and/or when they're sexualized.
But humanized animals that more closely resemble the animal and simple have a human like body, I don't really see it as furry.
But hey everyone is entitled to what they enjoy! I'm curious what the average consensus is!

[Inspector_Spinda]

it's impossible to know just hearing the words animal comic. id need to see the art style first. typically furry stuff is very noticeable from just a character design. i like animal comics as long as they dont get weird and sexual.

[orbitkatart]

I do think an exception for your Number 3 would be FalseKnees comics. I honestly consider those whole some/cute.

I agree with you there, I'm more apt to read with your second option description

[SleepingPoppy]

1. You assume it's furry stuff
2. You assume it's cute and heartwarming
3. You assume it's for children

I need more contextual clues beyond "animals" to come to a conclusion. There's just too many creators that like to feature anthropamorphic animals as the leads without being furry for me to make a snap judgement.

Like, you might as well ask me what my snap judgement of a comic featuring a human woman. I need to know the style of the art, cues from her clothing, etc etc etc to make any inferences.

Now my over thinking answer would be: Best guess, furry stuff would maybe be more mature/adult looking anthro animals (in a style sense, not a nsfw sense specifically). The heart warming stuff tends to have rounded edges in the character design. Kid stuff is less likely on tapas, so wouldn't be a first guess.

[orbitkatart]

Same here. It's so interesting because I too consider something to be "furry" when it's in that particular art style but apparently some people think something is "furry" even if it's just a talking animal.

Which is kinda why I started this topic because I wanted to see what people's gut reaction is without knowing much

[orbitkatart]

Well my whole point is to opinions like your here. There are people who - without seeing the art style or knowing what the story is about - see an animal is the main character and then make these assumptions that I've listed. So of course I would hope that people have differing opinions other than the ones I listed.
I'm trying to see if people are more open like you or simply fall into a snap judgement category.

[joannekwan]

There are also works like Warriors (the cat one) and Watership Down that are pretty brutal. While they're literary examples, I'm sure some people aspire to make comic equivalents.

[CytricAcid]

i'm a furry, so i just see it as something i might enjoy. i don't really think it begs a genre of any kind, really.

[BreakingChalk]

Oh, I've seen some when I had facebook, haha.

Yeah, they could be an exception.

[Jenny-Toons]

Hmm, for me, when someone says "animal protagonist", this comes to mind:

Something fantastical, specifically within a fable/Grimm's Fairytale setting. Though, this is definitely based on the art styles I've associated with animal protagonists, the stories I've read, and the stories I want to create. I grew up reading Frog & Toad Are Friends, Richard Scarry's Busytown, and many of the Grimm Brother stories, and the art style was often hatch-shading, loose sketches, and flowing in a way. They were also fantastical, a bit on the darker side, or very slice of life (but less modern).

So whenever I hear "animal protagonist", I think that. Granted, this is really based on what I would like to see more of. I have enjoyed stories like Beastars that took anthropomorphic animals in modern settings. But I also would like to see more of that hatch-shaded, "delicate pen" art-styled fantastical stories like Totsukuni no Shoujo.

[SleepingPoppy]

The black sheep is so cute, whose art is that? It feels vaguely familiar, but I don't know if I've actually seen it before, but totally in love with it right now.