What's considered "anime" style, and why do people dislike it?

[musicalseason]

Hello! Ive noticed around the art community that people have a problem with the "anime" style, but what type are people referring to?? Theres many different types of anime styles. I just dont see how people say the whole thing is unoriginal? Id say my style is more anime, but its different from the rest. (heres my comic so you can see the style)

What are your thoughts on the anime style, and what kind of style from anime is the one that really urks people?

[VikiKuli]

I'm not really sure myself, but I've had the same comments about my style. I think it has to do a lot about the eyes and anatomical structure of the face. Also, in your case, you are working in gray scale, which also I think contributes to it :).

[joannekwan]

I dunno, there are many different styles in Japanese anime itself, but I guess when people refer to "that" style they mean the blandest of the bland where everyone has the same face (maybe one of three kinds of eyes) and you see the same hairstyles reused over and over from other series. like dis

This is the kind that irks me.
Or a style that's more prevalent in webcomics where they go after the Korean look and all the guys have this same hair.

[VermillionWorks]

I never really got the impression the majority of artists hate all anime styles as I'm sure many (though not all) were influenced by it at one time or another. Depends on the community? XD

There are certain styles I don't like as much as others (see @joannekwan's post >.<), but with me I usually have more issue with anime/manga tropes being used as a crutch or people setting a story in Japan for no particular reason, or a comic that's made right to left for no reason ect. than with the actual look. Perhaps it's because those things often go hand in hand with pure manga-ish comics?

[Heck]

I'm just assuming people mean "not western"? It's what I hear a lot. "Anime" style is usually very angular, with triangle chins and noses, and more "realistic" proportion ratios than western style, which is more cartoony and exaggerated. A lot of artists tend to have traits from both drawing styles. I also assume people say this because this style is done to death, though quite a few people western-style artists will hate japanese styles and vice versa. I've seen some people talk about this and they all have different reasons. Personally I think the art community is kind of dumb about this topic because both art styles are visually pleasing. There's nothing wrong with the way they look. It really is just people being biased because they think one style type is better than the other.

Your style in particular has a pretty neat melding of the two. It still is very prominently "anime". It doesn't look bad, it's just that people see a certain style and think "I expect to read this type of story", and those who dislike anime will be less opportunistic about what kind of story you have to tell. Something similar correlates with artists who draw with a similar style to Adventure Time. Luckily, you don't have to change anything! You just have to find your people :>

[NickRowler]

My issues with "the anime style" has more to do with me finding it bland and not very applying to the eyes.

I don't hate anime or anime inspired stuff. I grew up on DBZ, Naruto and I really like the art style in Soul Eater and Danganronpa. However, it's the overly cute moe school girl stuff I can't stand. Their eyes are way too stylized (plus the tiny nose and mouth) that they sort of lose a human aspect to them. I don't feel like I am looking at a human, I feel like I am looking some alien creature. Add that a lot of people use it as the go to cute/sexy girl style and it becomes a little cringy IMO.

Your style doesn't really fall into that realm, so you are OK. However some art teachers may say they are against the style because students who use the style can sometimes be stubborn and unwilling to learn anything else. Like when a teacher says "make the nose bigger", a student might get upset because it goes against what they believe is standard for anime.

[sparky1505]

I think the dislike for anime styles comes from the association of it with those how to draw manga books. I cant explain why, since Ive only really participated in the online art community for not that much time, but more kids, or teens, would pick up those books instead of like western cartoons, since the anime style can seem more "grown up" or anatomically correct than cartoons, where at least their bodies and faces arent like simplified into different shapes like western cartoons do, not that theres anything wrong with that, its fun! its just not something most kids would rather learn if they wanted to like draw realistically. Anyways all those kids are now learning from the manga books and trying out that manga/anime style. The thing about that way of learning, is you dont quite get to learn the basic building blocks of anatomy, youre still kinda drawing like not whats really realistic, which is what most people advise you start with. Learn how to draw realistically first, then go and simply stuff and make it stylized, learn the rules before you break them kinda stuff. and since so many kids went through that (i know i did for a bit, as well as some other people i used to know back then) it must have generated a lot of that anime style stuff that people began to get sick of seeing so much, and began to associate the anime style with a level of unprofessionalism (these arent like my thoughts, this is just how i feel like perhaps some might view it, im not trying to offend you or anything). The anime style they mean is like the triangle chin ones, the large parenthesis eyes with many highlights (flashbacks to me in 6th grade), and contrary to the western cartoons where peoples faces are like different shapes and look all diverse (tho i kinda do not like that pixar style stuff at ALL), many people will point out how a lot of animes have everyone with the same face since the face shape stays the same and noses arent quite prominent, and mouths are usually lines, so like you cant really change the faces much. so yeah thats what ive observed and concluded with my art experience.

[punkarsenic]

idk, it all gets to me. the characteristic eyes and noses, and it usually diffuses into the comics pacing, tone, and general getup.

i dont like it bc it reminds me of my embarrassing middle school days, honestly. and something irks me about westerners trying to make manga in the west - i cant really put into words why, but it seems a little futile, and awkward, because it leads to half-absorbing quirks and traits of manga that are there bc of japanese culture, and mistranslating it for a western pov.

its prolly not that deep though. generally, people are just snobby about anime.

[isabelleArne]

people are just snobby about anime.

Story time : Before I was 15 yo I had never drew a human character in my life, and at that age I discovered manga with titles likes chobits, love hina, naruto, dn angel ( to just talk about the first books I read ) and naturally my style got ver very inspired by this styles as I learned to do characters, mostly naruto and love hina.
When I arrived in Art school at 18, I still was deep into my manga phase and though I had many other influence into my art like genius Tite Kubo, Kamijio Akimine and Hiromu Arakawa (that are true god(ess)s to me in terms of art ) I was looked down by some of my teachers. Old school teachers that didn't like the anime/manga style, I learned that people can't go past that and often made remarks on my characters style. Even from some of my classmates.

I never fully understood the hate, was it because I wasn't original enough ?
Some of my classmates had learned characters with disney and had a real disney feel in their art, how was it better inspiration than the oh so diverse manga world ? There is as many manga styles as there is styles in the western comic world.
All in all I think there will always be haters.

Right now who would actually recognise that I used to draw characters like those of love hina 12 years ago ? exemple

[hushicho]

Frankly, ever since the big "anime boom" in the late 90s/early 2000s, people -- usually ones who don't know what they're talking about -- have whined about the "anime style". Anime is not a style. Anime is a medium. "Anime" means "animation" or "cartoons", which is something that usually these same people are insistent isn't true. But it is. I will be honest: generally I don't value the opinion of someone who is derisive towards a person's style by calling it "anime style", because to me that more often communicates a message of "I don't care enough not to sound ignorant, and my opinion isn't truly my own".

Some use it to refer specifically to Japanese animation, which is especially silly given that even at the time, Japan contracted a lot of animation out to Korea. There's a lot of uncomfortably kind of racist attitudes -- which are blithely glossed over, more times than not -- in labelling something "anime style", too. But I won't dwell on that; moving on, it's kind of like saying "comic style" and expecting someone to know exactly what you're talking about, when it could be anything from Moebius to Nick Cardy and beyond. Even using it as something specifically plucked from the Japanese language (which seems ironic, given the usual contempt for Japanese anything by most people who employ the term in this way), "manga" is at least a closer term, even if it again is a medium and not a style and just means "comics" anyway.

It's been said that some use it as shorthand to refer to "art styles with identifiable predominant Japanese influences", which certainly is a mouthful. I find it's more frequent that people just use it as a convenient way to put down someone else's work without actually having to think of a real critique or know anything at all about art styles or influences in and of Japanese animation techniques and comic creation. To many, it's as simple as wanting an excuse to be negative without feeling obligated to back it up with any substance, and most don't realize that it's not only an inane statement that reflects more poorly on them, but also has really unacceptable implications they almost never consider.

Whether your largest influence is Disney as a company or whether it's Alphonse Mucha, there will be things you incorporate in your style and convey to the world with your art. There's nothing wrong with taking elements that work for you and making them a part of how you do what you do. As some have pointed out, it is necessary for any artist to develop an individual style, but part of the process is trying what has worked for other artists and seeing what elements work for you, and how you can realize them in your own creative process. If you end up incorporating many elements from Japanese culture and aesthetic and it suits you, then no one criticizing you for "anime style" matters. If they even mattered before.

[Herofeeder]

i dont like the anime style from certain shows but i love Great Teacher Onizuka style and i loveeeee Tough style . if you can draw a really good manga/anime style keep doing it bcs thats what a lot people wish to master

[AliceHoffmannArt]

I love "typical" anime/ manga styles (big eyes, pointy chins, what have you...) and for most part draw in a style influenced by Japanese art due to that myself.

I don't care what others may think of that as I am used to being "odd" and will happily continue walking that path. It feels true to me. So, while some might say adapting a more Western style for my personal purposes would be more appropriate, for me it would be a lie.

All in all, isn't it just a style choice, lines on a drawing?
Unfortunately it comes with its load of associated baggage.

As far as I understand it, that's due to the visual tropes mentioned in other comments here but imho probably at least as much due to the (in)famous plot tropes like dense characters, fanservice, huge info-dumps, more telling than showing...

I see it as a huge opportunity for so-called "anime styles" that westerners use them with their own approach, mind you of course, using them purposefully without just copying Japanese tropes but bringing in an individual new perspective. That's why Avatar - The Last Airbender feels excellent to me. It's authentic in using diverse influences the authors experienced and all in all is it's own thing.

Manga/ Anime is inspired by Western art styles itself, you can see it in early developments most clearly but as time went on, mangaka again and again got inspired by Western imagery. (e.g. Mucha's art style seems to have oftentimes been used as an inspiration and Sailor Moon's author (heavily) referenced haute couture.)

Thus, I am sure that indie culture can bring some fresh air into the manga/ anime scene and widen the medium's definition. At the moment, it seems to be widely regarded as having limited possibilities due to the surrounding industry's state.

To be honest, I'd really like that to change.

[Mari]

Anything that's not traditional western cartoon or hyperrealism is considered "anime" to the plebs.
the dislike for animu style has its roots in like early 2000's when the western world had a huge animu craze and the bookstores were filled with shitty "how to draw manga" - tutorial books and scanlation companies popped here and there. It was such a mainstream thing and the weeaboos were everywhere and making an ass out of themselves (myself included) on national television in every country that the 'normal' part of the population went hipster and collectively started to dislike it.

Some of my artworks have been referred to as 'anime' which is a little confusing to me (I don't mean I dislike it, I just don't get it)

for example this one got critism that "it'd be better if you let go of that anime style".

[AffectedMind]

I prefer more realistic style of anime. For example: Clannad style is turning me away. The eyes are huge and their noses are non existing. Many people see anime style as that and apparently this style doesn't appeal to many people here.

[Emma]

A lot of it has to do with the "How to Draw Manga"-books, I'm sure. A lot of them were REALLY bad.

Also, I don't get the distaste for right to left? But maybe that has something to do with me being Japanese and growing up with reading manga...

[indagold]

Yeah a lot is pretty unoriginal. Most anime is indistinguishable from each other in the industry and outside of it. It all looks the same, it either falls under some moe cute or shonen/serious style. No real variation, no real uniqueness. You can't label which artist did it because it's all one and the same. Same with 3D, everything is either hyperrealistic or pixar/disney style and has no variety to it.

I've found the more stylized pieces work.


And I've always been drawn to trigger/gainax given their visual uniqueness and are an example that anime can be a versatile medium without getting stale.

[spadesart]

personally i find it pretty bland at it's base but i really love stylized anime? when i watched kill la kill it was provably the unique animation and art style that i loved the most. something about it was so snappy.

[Knight_Wolf]

to me main "problem" whit anime style his that everbody his doing it and sadly based on does how to draw books and many use it to hide there lack study im not saying lack of talent just lack of study on there out hand i get why they go anime stlye or cartoon or even disney style it easier to not get hammer for "bad" art work since whit more stylezed drawings small mistake get hidden more easy i wrk on 3d models on the past i made aircraft for games one of the thing that made quite was the constant you need to add more details that his 2% off from the realy thing etc that discourges any one a lot after some time so back to drawing more stylezed drawing lets be whit out many of critics that make feel donw and many got that and i understand
but on the outer hand a bit more of realistic or comic book style artist would be great benifit to the web comic comunity.
my take on this matter hope i dint offende anyone and sorry for the bad english

Cocas
Daniel