Find the Anime Challenge

[Lonely Tylenol]

Well, I'm reading anime as including manga. Now I'm not an expert, and honestly, I don't care about art direction in 3E or 4E for that matter as long as I enjoy it and I have pretty broad tastes. My observation on the first three images isn't that western superhero comics haven't done similar images, but that the origins of some of those tropes are manga specifically the first image with the overwhelmingly large and spiky energy attack. That strikes me as more manga than western superhero.

If I recall correctly, Spawn was pretty fond of spiky things.

As for why we should believe this or that or why this even matters, I'm not sure I can give a satisfying answer. Art has become so cross pollenated with influences particularly in the west, that artists rarely fall into one neat category anymore. I believe that those pieces have been clearly influenced through manga from panel breaks to layouts to figure work and poses, but they don't rise above influence. In every case the artist has his own style at work. So I guess the question is what constitutes "anime art"? Is influence enough or does it have to be done by an artist who has actually worked in anime or manga?

You know, I'd really love it if D&D art looked more like the work of Shinichiro Watanabe, Hayao Miyazaki, or a few other anime and manga artists and directors. But it doesn't. And because it doesn't, it bothers me to hear people saying that it looks like anime. If it looked like anime, that would be a pretty good thing. Of course, I also like the art from Eberron that looks like the work of Mike Mignola, which is a Western comic book style unlike the typical superhero style. I'd love to see more in that vein as well.

But all I ever see is the same weirdo dungeonpunk thing that looks nothing like anime and only passingly like American comic book art. And every time it starts to look even vaguely like either, people cry bloody murder and they claw back the art style to toe the line.

FWIW, the series called Avatar that runs on Nickelodeon is anime. It is made by Americans. So, no, you don't have to be Japanese or have worked in the Japanese film or comic book industry to produce anime-style art. You just have to produce anime-style art, and WotC doesn't produce anime-style art.

 

[HeinorNY]

In case some of you are confused, this is anime (well, most of it):

MY EYES!!!! THEY ARE MELTING!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHSSSSHHHHHHHNNNNSHHHHHHHHBBBBBLLUURRRGGCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHH......................

 

[Rechan]

FWIW, the series called Avatar that runs on Nickelodeon is anime. It is made by Americans. So, no, you don't have to be Japanese or have worked in the Japanese film or comic book industry to produce anime-style art. You just have to produce anime-style art, and WotC doesn't produce anime-style art.

As was Samurai Jack, which was produced by Americans.

 

[Mad Mac]

The collage posted earlier is a good start. It would probably help to post fantasy anime pics though, just so we're roughly matching genres. Let me see if I can dig anything up...

Lodoss War (old but classic)

http://the.animearchive.org/lodoss/1/deidlet.jpg
http://the.animearchive.org/lodoss/5/lodoss10b.jpg
http://the.animearchive.org/lodoss/5/lodoss09b.jpg
http://the.animearchive.org/lodoss/1/av0292a.jpg

Rune Soldier (same world as Lodoss, but newer and more comedic)
http://animepa.csusm.edu/galleries/K-L/Louie/lg/louieall.jpg
http://animepa.csusm.edu/galleries/K-L/Louie/lg/battle300.jpg
http://animepa.csusm.edu/galleries/K-L/Louie/lg/louieheal300.jpg

Slayers
http://slayers.vstars.net/images3/lina018.jpg
http://slayers.vstars.net/images3/lina019.jpg
http://slayers.vstars.net/images3/gourry012.jpg
http://slayers.vstars.net/images3/amelia018.jpg
http://slayers.vstars.net/images3/zelgadis036.jpg

Scrapped Princess
http://www.myrrhlynn.net/raquel/scan1.jpg
http://www.myrrhlynn.net/raquel/screen4.jpg
http://www.myrrhlynn.net/raquel/screen6.jpg

Not the best pics, but I wasn't being picky. Hopefully it's enough to get a good idea of what actual anime fantasy art looks like though, as opposed to American Comic book art.

 

[Xyl]

MY EYES!!!! THEY ARE MELTING!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHSSSSHHHHHHHNNNNSHHHHHHHHBBBBBLLUURRRGGCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHH......................

My job here is done.

 

[Hussar]

As was Samurai Jack, which was produced by Americans.

Hey, Genndy Tartarofski (or however you spell his name) is a god. I love his stuff. The Clone Wars bit he did was fan-bloody-tastic.

Then again, he did Powerpuff Girls as well.

 

[Matthan]

If I recall correctly, Spawn was pretty fond of spiky things.

And just to be difficult, manga and anime were around before Spawn and in sufficient quantity to inspire his work. I don't know if McFarlane or Capullo ever admitted to anime/manga influence. I know Erik Larsen has talked about it before.

On reflection though, I think that I'm the only one considering manga in the equation here. There are many manga which have very detailed linework and character designs. Anime (and animation) by its nature and budget has to simplify designs to work within its medium. Static images can have more detail because you don't have to redraw the same thing hundreds of times to provide movement.

Abandoning that line of thought though, I think I have a way to solve the debate. Someone should track down the artist's who made the work and ask them to describe it. They'll probably wisely avoid it, but if anyone knows their influences, it's the artists right?

 

[Hussar]

If I was a smartass, I'd post a picture of Warforged, and then a picture of the character from Full Metal Alchemist.

What's a "face fault"?

This question got lost in the scrum.

A face fault is when you draw a face with very large eyes and almost no mouth or nose. Very prominent in many anime or manga pictures. In other words, its that "anime face" that you see in shows like Sailor Moon or Dragon Ball Z. Or many (but not all) anime.

 

[Kunimatyu]

Then again, he did Powerpuff Girls as well.

I *hope* you won't sully this thread by dissing on the Powerpuff Girls. Damn fine show.

 

[Woas]

Thats all I got. Not that I really even believe in the anime-influence hype. I just wanna win the prize!