Find the Anime Challenge

Lonely Tylenol · Oct 10, 2007

Maggan said:
Had to look that word up. Another useless thing to know ...

/M

Internet English is often good for lulz.

Maggan · Oct 10, 2007

Dr. Awkward said:
Internet English is often good for lulz.

I'm not falling for that one!

/M

Anti-Sean · Oct 10, 2007

Hussar said:
BTW, where is that Valenor elf pic from?

It's the illustration for the Revenant Blade PrC from the Player's Guide to Eberron, by the same artist(s) whose comic-book style illustrations were accused of having 'teh animu' eariler in the thread. Like someone else stated earlier, the Mike Mignola-inspired illustrations in the ECS were far, far superior.

WizarDru · Oct 10, 2007

darkseraphim said:
But a very good post and I’m appreciative that even if you didn’t follow my intent, you knew what I was referring to.

That's a very polite way of saying we're OLD, isn't it?

I certainly understand your views on the core game...my point was just that I don't think anime had so much to do with it. My point of mentioning Hero and GURPS and their various predecessors was simply that there was definitely a market for those changes well in advance of anime catching fire as a cultural standpoint in the US. In the early 1980s, I remember going to conventions when anime was an obscure sideline for the occasional comic dealer and imports were rare and wondrous things. But the ebb and flow of game systems for stuff like D&D was very much the talk of the day and many of those changes were pre-saged by other systems. Now whether or not those changes are good or not is a completely different topic. As I said, I'm just trying to point out that many of them were on the table as alternate D&D systems back when people looked at me cross-eyed for watching a show in a language I didn't understand, often without subtitles.

Puggins · Oct 10, 2007

I humbly submit an example of westerrn-style "anime" that has nothing to do with 3e.

http://studiofoglio.com/Merchant2/m...Product_Code=STF204&Category_Code=Girl_Genius

Hmm, that does seem familiar, though doesn't it? Let's seeee.....

http://studiofoglio.com/Merchant2/m...&Product_Code=STF030&Category_Code=Phil_Dixie

Oh wait, you said 3e, not 1e, right?

Never mind then.

Scribble · Oct 10, 2007

Hussar said:
On the eyes of our Valenor, well, considering he's not human, that pretty much chucks out most of the proportions bits.

Not really. Even if you're not human, proportions are still important. If you don't get the proportions right, things start to look "wrong."

That said, like all "rules" in art, they can be broken. You just need to know how and why you're breaking it. If you do know why and how, you can really use it to great effect. Anime/Manga seems to use this idea a lot.

Eyes that are too large, legs that are slightly long, bodies that are on the thin side, poses that are almost impossible (if not impractical) muscles that are more angular then curved... Again, I'm no expert in Manga art, but these are all things Manga artists tend to use to make their images "pop."

As someone pointed out, those eyes proportioned to the head, should be bending around the side, but they aren't. As an effect they sort of stand out more, and cause you to focus on them a bit. (linger might be a better word...) Like meeting the eyes of the enemy.

How tall are Valenor elves though? I have no idea. Standard elf height? I'm going to call that one questionable since there seems to be some disagreement.

It doesn't matter how tall the elves are supposed to be. You have the take the image and proportions as a whole. It's not just heads tall, but also how many heads down the shoulders fall, the stomach, how many wide the shoulders are, the fingers... everything basically. If you mess with it, you've either just effed up, or you're going for a certain effect.

Western art uses the techniques as well, but Anime/Manga tends to lean towards the use more often then not, and in effect drawling attention to it. It's a highly stylized art form.

That's where I see the influence in the D&D stuff. Again, I'm not saying that any one of the artists purposefully set out to draw an Anime picture. Art is just incestuous. It feeds off of itself. No artist says "This will be my style." They just grow into it. They unconsciously merge different styles and ideas into one that is their own.

DonTadow · Oct 10, 2007

I don't think you're going to find any. The question is akin to saying find me a piece of art in a wotc book that is inspired by Leonardo Divinci or Salvador Dali. I've seen a billion different art styles in anime films. I've seen many that look very western in nature. However, despite all the examples of art, none of them is "anime".

TwinBahamut · Oct 10, 2007

FireLance said:
So, you're one of those people who believe that there are only three Star Wars movies, right?

Heh, I totally forgot about Darth Maul. It has been forever since I saw that movie (I saw it once on its opening weekend, and havn't seen it since), so I guess I just failed to recall that one. I'm not a huge Star Wars fan (though I do like the original trilogy).

Also, thanks for correcting me on the LotR opening sequence thing. They do look like double-blades if you arn't paying careful attention...

So I guess in total I lose one example and gain one? I'm fine with that.

Numion · Oct 10, 2007

TwinBahamut said:
So I guess in total I lose one example and gain one? I'm fine with that.

You're Even Steven

Klaus · Oct 10, 2007

Scribble said:
Not really. Even if you're not human, proportions are still important. If you don't get the proportions right, things start to look "wrong."

That said, like all "rules" in art, they can be broken. You just need to know how and why you're breaking it. If you do know why and how, you can really use it to great effect. Anime/Manga seems to use this idea a lot.

Eyes that are too large, legs that are slightly long, bodies that are on the thin side, poses that are almost impossible (if not impractical) muscles that are more angular then curved... Again, I'm no expert in Manga art, but these are all things Manga artists tend to use to make their images "pop."

As someone pointed out, those eyes proportioned to the head, should be bending around the side, but they aren't. As an effect they sort of stand out more, and cause you to focus on them a bit. (linger might be a better word...) Like meeting the eyes of the enemy.

It doesn't matter how tall the elves are supposed to be. You have the take the image and proportions as a whole. It's not just heads tall, but also how many heads down the shoulders fall, the stomach, how many wide the shoulders are, the fingers... everything basically. If you mess with it, you've either just effed up, or you're going for a certain effect.

Western art uses the techniques as well, but Anime/Manga tends to lean towards the use more often then not, and in effect drawling attention to it. It's a highly stylized art form.

That's where I see the influence in the D&D stuff. Again, I'm not saying that any one of the artists purposefully set out to draw an Anime picture. Art is just incestuous. It feeds off of itself. No artist says "This will be my style." They just grow into it. They unconsciously merge different styles and ideas into one that is their own.

Well said!