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[Amiga]

For the last couple of decades Anime art has been industrialized and rounded up to similar style with a few rare standouts like Mob Psycho. Originally the styles use to be very distinctive and diverse. Akira Toriyama is one of the last few who still remain active mainly because of the popularity and persistence of Dragon Ball and Dragon Quest.

I want to showcase some of the legacy artists who had an in instantly recognizable style.

Osamu Tezuka, the most senior

Leiji Matsumoto, broody space fairy tails

Go Nagai, IMOO he paved the way for many of the dark Anime of today.

Hayao Miyazaki needs no introduction

 

[ParaSeoul]

If you hate modern anime (like me),watch Ousama Ranking.

 

[Nobody_Important]

I am not really sure what you're even talking about. Anime has certainly only gotten better as time passes.


There is more fan service than ever and the frequency and quality of Anime Tiddies has only gone up as the years have gone by.

 

[ParaSeoul]

I am not really sure what you're even talking about. Anime has certainly only gotten better as time passes.


There is more fan service than ever and the frequency and quality of Anime Tiddies has only gone up as the years have gone by.

 

[Porcile]

Manga is still pretty good though and that is ultimately what matters.

 

[Sakura]

I disagree OP, there are still many different styles, and the art overall has gotten better as time has gone on.
Also remember that people's preferences change over time.

 

[Scotty W]

Purity of essence

 

[strange headache]

Jojo

Redline

Kaiji

Afro Samurai

Odd Taxi

PingPong the Animation

Paprika

 

[jufonuk]

I don’t rate dragon ball z it’s just some spikey haired dude and some androgynous lizard in armour or some pink pervert facing of against each other while screaming and narrating their experience. They survive insane attacks Then suddenly keep transforming and survive more powerful attacks. Then it’s the next episode and repeat. It’s like when you used to play fight with you little brother or cousin and they would go. Well yeah your attack doesn’t harm me I got super ultra shield then you have to counter it by saying I have this. Then they continue. … childhood eh ?

I’m not saying DBZ is crap just I personally don’t rate it.

 

[PumpkinPie]

I don’t rate dragon ball z it’s just some spikey haired dude and some androgynous lizard in armour or some pink pervert facing of against each other while screaming and narrating their experience. They survive insane attacks Then suddenly keep transforming and survive more powerful attacks. Then it’s the next episode and repeat. It’s like when you used to play fight with you little brother or cousin and they would go. Well yeah your attack doesn’t harm me I got super ultra shield then you have to counter it by saying I have this. Then they continue. … childhood eh ?

I’m not saying DBZ is crap just I personally don’t rate it.

I think you missed the point, OP was talking about it having an instantly recognisable art style.

 

[jufonuk]

I think you missed the point, OP was talking about it having an instantly recognisable art style.

Oh I recognise DBZ. It’s style is unique and copied.

I do really love the Studio Ghibli style . Also who ever did cowboy bebop, Akira, Golgo 13 , one punch man attack on titan.
My hero academia
Yea haven’t watched too much anime that is modern. But I noticed that the style was kind of odd and lacked a distinct style. Everyone had a weird skinny look. I can’t remember what it was but I do remember a lot of other animes looked the same. They were around the same time.

I’m not sure who it was animated by. But I didn’t really like it.

It just lacked style and looked too cookie cutter. Like almost a parody of anime if that makes sense. Where as older anime has there own distinct styles I feel to save money a few series just use the same style. So all look the same. I guess like some grime dark AAA games.

So I see the OP’s point. Sorry was ranting about DBZ. My bad.

Ah wait maybe it’s that a lot of anime nowadays looks like it is cell shaded and almost similar to video games it kind of on some level doesn’t distinguish itself so does all look the same in some way.

There is a lot to be said about hand drawn as it is unique to the artist

 

[Werewolf Jones]

Are we talking anime or manga here? lol.

Anime has been very visually watered down I suppose for what exists in 2022 but manga there's a lot of visual styles that persist.

If you mean the OGs from the source then yeah their time has come and gone for the most part. After Toriyama there will be Eiichiro Oda.

No mention of Junji Ito either despite being normiecore these days.

 

[Rickyiez]

But those retro art style are mostly ugly anyway. The only style I adore back then is Vampire Hunter D’s

 

[The Cockatrice]

Have yet to watch it but have it on my list and looks unique:

 

[RoboFu]

Like anything really there is a period of creativity and exploration at the beginning because there is nothing really to go by but in time innovation fades as the newcomers are influenced by the originals and then you have money and corporations coming in an homogenizing everything.

 

[Wildebeest]

A lot of those artists worked very hard to get the results they wanted to see. It is really not shocking that newer generations might try to get "good enough" results using modern technology, art styles that are known to be popular and less hard work. You see the same thing in western pop music, but perhaps it is even much worse there.

 

[Doom85]

Meh, a distinct visual style is nice, but that can just as easily be a crutch for weaker storytelling. I don’t think anime’s quality of story and characters has decreased. Older anime fans either conveniently forget or never saw the mountain of shit that also plaqued the older days. Hell, a Youtuber called Bennett the Sage made a whole series that has lasted for years covering all the shitty OVAs and films that came out in the 80’s and 90’s, and oh boy there were a lot of them. For every Ghost in the Shell or Ninja Scroll, there was some shit to balance it out, trust me.

Also, many of these artists will always have the same style so I guess I just don’t see what’s so great about that either. It’s not a bad thing either but for example if Rumiko Takahashi has a new series coming out you know it’s going to look like Inuyasha, Ranma, etc. Again, not a bad thing, but I’m not praising it for that aspect either nor am I going to act like that automatically elevates it above other recent series that might have less distinct designs but focused on a solid story and cast.

Hell, Code Geass was one of the most iconic anime of the 2000’s decade, but I guarantee you the fact they got the legendary manga group CLAMP to design the characters had little to do with it. Not saying it was completely irrelevant, but I’m sure most fans remember it for the story, characters, music, etc. and not because, “OMG, I can tell which artist(s) designed this cast!”

 

[AJUMP23]

If you hate modern anime (like me),watch Ousama Ranking.

I made a thread about Ranking of Kings the other day. Pretty fun show in a classic style.

 

[Lord Panda]

Have yet to watch it but have it on my list and looks unique:

Pray tell, what is the name of this anime?

 

[Doom85]

less hard work.

Bruh, a problem in the anime industry is that the animators work TOO hard to the detriment of their health. A preference of certain visual styles, you do you, but never claim these people don’t work their asses off to an extent most of us don’t. Claiming otherwise is legit disrespectful.

And for TV animation, shit has never looked better in animation detail. Older TV anime could only dream of the shit UFOTable, Studio Wit, Kyoto Animation, etc. pull off week by week. I guarantee you if plopped someone time-ripped directly from the 80’s or 90’s and showed them a clip of an episode from last year of Attack on Titan, Demon Slayer, or Vivy, they would assume it had to be from a movie but nope, that’s how good TV anime can look these days.

 

[Doom85]

Pray tell, what is the name of this anime?

Dorohedoro. Should you watch it?

 

[Werewolf Jones]

Have yet to watch it but have it on my list and looks unique:

It's 3D centric as fuck. Just read the manga.

 

[STARSBarry]

Have yet to watch it but have it on my list and looks unique:

The manga was great, the anime... well its full CGI, so everything looks more robotic than an actual Gundam anime. Sadly becoming more and more common, the argument is CGI allows for more dynamic action scenes, which is true... However bottom of the barrel attempts like this use it purely for cost cutting purposes and it really shows.

For example...



Mixing CGI and Animation can really help due to the way you can adjust the angle and perspective real time with the overlapping hand drawn aspect to make the fight sequence really dynamic. This works especially well in space, however once you have CGI characters on CGI backgrounds simply emulating regular animation as a cut cost... sadly you get the modern day "Netflix" anime. I find those specifically painful to watch these days.

 

[levyjl1988]

I miss the style and ideology of old anime.
Example: Golden Boy


Shows like this would be canceled by our current culture
This is why I hate woke and victim culture.

 

[Zippitydodaday]

The lack of more amazing drawn art style in anime/disney/cartoons in general is due to costs. It’s easier to CG the animation instead of people drawing it.

Look at Berserk animation, the style they went with when bringing it back was god awful but was cheaper.

I really miss old art styles of the past. Hardly anything is fully drawn these days. Bring back old animation styles in 4k lol

 

[DGrayson]

I don’t rate dragon ball z it’s just some spikey haired dude and some androgynous lizard in armour or some pink pervert facing of against each other while screaming and narrating their experience. They survive insane attacks Then suddenly keep transforming and survive more powerful attacks. Then it’s the next episode and repeat. It’s like when you used to play fight with you little brother or cousin and they would go. Well yeah your attack doesn’t harm me I got super ultra shield then you have to counter it by saying I have this. Then they continue. … childhood eh ?

I’m not saying DBZ is crap just I personally don’t rate it.

I can see your point but OG Dragonball is excellent and doesnst have a lot of the things you dislike about DBZ. I like it much more than DBZ now.

 

[Amiga]

The lack of more amazing drawn art style in anime/disney/cartoons in general is due to costs. It’s easier to CG the animation instead of people drawing it.

Look at Berserk animation, the style they went with when bringing it back was god awful but was cheaper.

I really miss old art styles of the past. Hardly anything is fully drawn these days. Bring back old animation styles in 4k lol

A controversial opinion. CGI can help because they would just need to draw the model once. Leiji Matsumoto and Osamu Tezuka styles would translate perfectly into a Pixar like production..
JOJO here has great 3D models true to the original manga art. Would be almost prefect If they can increase the detail a bit.



In Naruto games the 3D Jitsu animation looks better than anything in the TV Anime.



The problem with CGI Anime is the in the application that results in stiff automated motion animation. In Dorohedoro a still frame looks amazing until you press play. As software and motion capture hardware become cheaper you can expect small studios to do close to Pixar quality.

Are we talking anime or manga here? lol.

Manga has the same issue but not as much. Especially as they are drawn directly by the artists.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

Is it second hand racism if I say "they all look the same to me," in regards to anime? I mean, other than those Eugenia Cooney body horror Gumby motherfuckers in Code Geass. Exception to prove the rule, I say.

 

[Doom85]

Q


”Man, this shit’s ugly, where’s the real good looking shit at?”

“There we go!”

Okay, obviously that’s generalizing, but I mean some here are generalizing against modern anime so just evening it out. Yeah, hundreds of anime are coming out each year, yet some people here on Gaf are just trying to act like they’re all Berserk 2016 and Ex Arm. Like, come on.

Don’t get me wrong, I can enjoy older anime, but not for the visuals save for a few stand outs like Ghost in the Shell. And mind you, something like GitS stood out the year it originally came out which shows just how behind virtually all of their TV anime we’re back then visual wise. Even my 2nd favorite anime ever, Evangelion, suffered in this department. Mind you, the elevator scene worked for the uncomfortable vibe it was going for, but the climax of episode 24? That should have been focused on Shinji’s face to show his emotional breaking point as he’s forced to do something he desperately doesn’t want to do, but instead we get a freeze frame.

 

[Wildebeest]

Bruh, a problem in the anime industry is that the animators work TOO hard to the detriment of their health. A preference of certain visual styles, you do you, but never claim these people don’t work their asses off to an extent most of us don’t. Claiming otherwise is legit disrespectful.

And for TV animation, shit has never looked better in animation detail. Older TV anime could only dream of the shit UFOTable, Studio Wit, Kyoto Animation, etc. pull off week by week. I guarantee you if plopped someone time-ripped directly from the 80’s or 90’s and showed them a clip of an episode from last year of Attack on Titan, Demon Slayer, or Vivy, they would assume it had to be from a movie but nope, that’s how good TV anime can look these days.

Yes, animation is a ton of work. Especially if you want to make something for a small market, on a budget, and you have extremely high standards. Whatever, life sucks, people make art because they feel they have to, not because it is easy. All I know is I don't ever want to watch anything like the FLCL sequel series again.

 

[John Bilbo]

Osamu Tezuka is great. One day I'll buy the complete Buddha series to myself.

 

[The Cockatrice]

The manga was great, the anime... well its full CGI, so everything looks more robotic than an actual Gundam anime. Sadly becoming more and more common, the argument is CGI allows for more dynamic action scenes, which is true... However bottom of the barrel attempts like this use it purely for cost cutting purposes and it really shows.

For example...



Mixing CGI and Animation can really help due to the way you can adjust the angle and perspective real time with the overlapping hand drawn aspect to make the fight sequence really dynamic. This works especially well in space, however once you have CGI characters on CGI backgrounds simply emulating regular animation as a cut cost... sadly you get the modern day "Netflix" anime. I find those specifically painful to watch these days.

I dont like cgi anime either but for some reason this looks a tad better than most 3d stuff which is why it piqued my interest. Still my anime backlog is so huge i doubt ill ever get to see it but who knows.

 

[Amiga]

Q


”Man, this shit’s ugly, where’s the real good looking shit at?”

“There we go!”

Okay, obviously that’s generalizing, but I mean some here are generalizing against modern anime so just evening it out. Yeah, hundreds of anime are coming out each year, yet some people here on Gaf are just trying to act like they’re all Berserk 2016 and Ex Arm. Like, come on.

Don’t get me wrong, I can enjoy older anime, but not for the visuals save for a few stand outs like Ghost in the Shell. And mind you, something like GitS stood out the year it originally came out which shows just how behind virtually all of their TV anime we’re back then visual wise. Even my 2nd favorite anime ever, Evangelion, suffered in this department. Mind you, the elevator scene worked for the uncomfortable vibe it was going for, but the climax of episode 24? That should have been focused on Shinji’s face to show his emotional breaking point as he’s forced to do something he desperately doesn’t want to do, but instead we get a freeze frame.

I'm talking about the art style signature. animation production quality is a whole different issue, it has obviously advanced. if this is combined with art styles the result would be amazing.
The modern Harlock and MazingerZ remakes make the old originals hard to watch. Dragon Ball Brolly movie vs the original Dragon Ball decades ago shows the difference the production results in.
Many old shows would become instant classics if they were remade today. for example JOJO is a remake and based on a very old manga.

 

[Doom85]

I dont like cgi anime either but for some reason this looks a tad better than most 3d stuff which is why it piqued my interest. Still my anime backlog is so huge i doubt ill ever get to see it but who knows.

For CGI animation I personally felt Dorohedoro handled it pretty well, especially compared to other series like the 2016 Berserk. I wouldn’t put it on Studio Orange’s level (Land of the Lustrous, Beastars) who put all other CGI anime to shame IMHO but it worked.

 

[March Climber]

“There we go!”

Okay, obviously that’s generalizing, but I mean some here are generalizing against modern anime so just evening it out. Yeah, hundreds of anime are coming out each year, yet some people here on Gaf are just trying to act like they’re all Berserk 2016 and Ex Arm. Like, come on.

Don’t get me wrong, I can enjoy older anime, but not for the visuals save for a few stand outs like Ghost in the Shell. And mind you, something like GitS stood out the year it originally came out which shows just how behind virtually all of their TV anime we’re back then visual wise. Even my 2nd favorite anime ever, Evangelion, suffered in this department. Mind you, the elevator scene worked for the uncomfortable vibe it was going for, but the climax of episode 24? That should have been focused on Shinji’s face to show his emotional breaking point as he’s forced to do something he desperately doesn’t want to do, but instead we get a freeze frame.

There's a misunderstanding happening here and it's partially due to how the OP worded things. This is the true intent of the thread, as stated by the OP:

I want to showcase some of the legacy artists who had an in instantly recognizable style.

The problem is that with the part he typed before this sentence, he approached the topic from an angle of comparison and decided to put something else down in order to prop up another thing(maybe for clicks) which was unnecessary. It's done a lot on the gaming section too.

My pick:

I've always liked the use of heavy shadows and the comic book ink-like tyle of Ninja Scroll

 

[LaughingStock]

Eh, I think Dorohedoro did CGI right. Loved that anime. Will we ever see a season two?

 

[Rat Rage]

Jojo

Redline

Kaiji

Afro Samurai

Odd Taxi

PingPong the Animation

Paprika

I just checked out Odd Taxi (first episode) and... it was awesome? (I usually don't like most "modern" anime).

Still first page, but this thread's been great already!

 

[YCoCg]

Odd Taxi

For anyone who hasn't seen this, give it a go, it's seriously one of the best one shot modern animes, don't let the use of animals put you off because the direction the story goes in is a real mind fuck.

 

[Synless]

Q


”Man, this shit’s ugly, where’s the real good looking shit at?”

“There we go!”

Okay, obviously that’s generalizing, but I mean some here are generalizing against modern anime so just evening it out. Yeah, hundreds of anime are coming out each year, yet some people here on Gaf are just trying to act like they’re all Berserk 2016 and Ex Arm. Like, come on.

Don’t get me wrong, I can enjoy older anime, but not for the visuals save for a few stand outs like Ghost in the Shell. And mind you, something like GitS stood out the year it originally came out which shows just how behind virtually all of their TV anime we’re back then visual wise. Even my 2nd favorite anime ever, Evangelion, suffered in this department. Mind you, the elevator scene worked for the uncomfortable vibe it was going for, but the climax of episode 24? That should have been focused on Shinji’s face to show his emotional breaking point as he’s forced to do something he desperately doesn’t want to do, but instead we get a freeze frame.

I recognized Demon Slayer and Attack on Titan, what are the rest (Newer stuff not Speed and Lupin)?

 

[Doom85]

I recognized Demon Slayer and Attack on Titan, what are the rest (Newer stuff not Speed and Lupin)?

Demon Slayer
Attack on Titan
Demon Slayer
A Silent Voice
Your Lie in April
Violet Evergarden
One Punch Man
The Ancient Magus’ Bride
Mob Psycho 100
Bloom Into You

 

[Robot Carnival]

Demon Slayer
Attack on Titan
Demon Slayer
A Silent Voice
Your Lie in April
Violet Evergarden
One Punch Man
The Ancient Magus’ Bride
Mob Psycho 100
Bloom Into You

just a word of advice thou. a few of those would cause your eyes to sweat profusely, so have some tissue ready.


as for the OP's point, it's not without merit. however, the really standouts like the ones in the OP are merely a few in a sea of thousands. the same goes for the current stuff. there are plenty of mangaka (since the examples in OP are all manga that got adapted into anime, we'll talk about mangaka for the moment) in the current times that has very unique styles. just because their work is not well known, doesn't mean they don't exist.

 

[Neolombax]

If you are talking about art style, I would politely disagree. I personally feel that even though we do see that certain art styles from different mangakas overlap with one another, some eventually branch out and become their own thing. Hiro Mashima (Fairy Tail) from his early works I think looks very similar to Eiichiro Oda's (One Piece) art style but over the years you can see his style developing into its own. Demon Slayer's manga also has a distinct style of its own, I can't say I like it though. Another example is Atsushi Okubo (Soul Eater, Fire Force), which I feel is very distinctive and different from anyone else out there. Mind you, I refer to mainly the art style of the manga, not the anime as the anime and manga versions can vary too.

 

[LordCBH]

I am not really sure what you're even talking about. Anime has certainly only gotten better as time passes.


There is more fan service than ever and the frequency and quality of Anime Tiddies has only gone up as the years have gone by.

 

[O-N-E]

Generic shit will always be the norm. There's only ever a couple of standouts every season at max. Some seasons are barren of quality.

It's the normal anime cycle. We just have the privilege of being able to pick and choose anything from the past while in the present, you've got what you've got.

 

[Amiga]

just a word of advice thou. a few of those would cause your eyes to sweat profusely, so have some tissue ready.


as for the OP's point, it's not without merit. however, the really standouts like the ones in the OP are merely a few in a sea of thousands. the same goes for the current stuff. there are plenty of mangaka (since the examples in OP are all manga that got adapted into anime, we'll talk about mangaka for the moment) in the current times that has very unique styles. just because their work is not well known, doesn't mean they don't exist.

Manga is OK and retains the artists aesthetics. IMOO the problem is with the Anime production itself. For example, check the modern remake of Dorodo vs the original, the animation is beautiful but the style of Tezuka has been wiped out ..

 

[Robot Carnival]

Manga is OK and retains the artists aesthetics. IMOO the problem is with the Anime production itself. For example, check the modern remake of Dorodo vs the original, the animation is beautiful but the style of Tezuka has been wiped out ..

I think that example can be put into the "they had already done that so we just want to use the story but with a different art style" kinda deal.

as for manga turn anime art style, I think a lot of the the modern ones are still relatively faithful. Kobayashi's Dragon Maid, for example, while has a somewhat different art style than the manga, had kept the essence of the series yet still able to do it's own thing. Demon Slayer, Mob Psycho 100 and Attack On Titan are other great examples. the manga of those titles are definitely not what I would call great art, but the anime made some changes and improved upon them while giving them the style that's more popular. so if we're talking modern anime, I feel there are still plenty of good artwork being done there with unique style. you also need to keep in mind that the output of the anime industry had increased by a lot when compare to the old days. there are bound to be studios cutting corners and maybe even mimicking other's work in order to get their stuff out ASAP. and there's probably only so many good studios that can put out consistent quality work, so even the somewhat half decent work become faded in our mind very quickly.

 

[DragoonWalker]

Jojo

Redline

Kaiji

Afro Samurai

Odd Taxi

PingPong the Animation

Paprika

Nearly all of these are over 10 years old. And Jojo is adapted from a manga decades old. Outside of Odd Taxi, at least use something that's more current, where I feel the problem OP stated is prevalent than ever.

Q


”Man, this shit’s ugly, where’s the real good looking shit at?”

“There we go!”

Okay, obviously that’s generalizing, but I mean some here are generalizing against modern anime so just evening it out. Yeah, hundreds of anime are coming out each year, yet some people here on Gaf are just trying to act like they’re all Berserk 2016 and Ex Arm. Like, come on.

Don’t get me wrong, I can enjoy older anime, but not for the visuals save for a few stand outs like Ghost in the Shell. And mind you, something like GitS stood out the year it originally came out which shows just how behind virtually all of their TV anime we’re back then visual wise. Even my 2nd favorite anime ever, Evangelion, suffered in this department. Mind you, the elevator scene worked for the uncomfortable vibe it was going for, but the climax of episode 24? That should have been focused on Shinji’s face to show his emotional breaking point as he’s forced to do something he desperately doesn’t want to do, but instead we get a freeze frame.

How many minutes per episode per show season per anime season in each of those shows have that animation quality level? Be honest. It's almost like they insert these amazing moments so you can gif them on twitter and forget that 95% of the show doesn't hit that bar. That's my problem with modern anime. The highs sure are high! But when they're low, oh boy! When they're outsourced, when they're not the height of the climax or some random moment done by a talented animator they paid big bucks for, damn do they SUCK. Off model, shitty backgrounds, barely moving, plain bad drawings abound. To be fair a decent amount of shows look good consistently, but unsurprisingly they tend not to be the action shows.

Say what you will about old anime, but older anime, especially what I consider to be the peak in the 90s when a lot of animators working in the field had been at it for decades, was a lot more consistent across the board, at least in terms of drawing and animation. They may not have hit the highs that modern anime does, because their access to less advanced tools (nearly everything was on paper), but you could more often find a show that was well drawn in every episode and adhered to its style consistently for each entire episode. There was way less "oh look this whole episode had no budget" followed by "yay here comes the sakuga". The skill of the average animator was just a lot higher. You have to recognize this: thanks to the bubble economy, there were far fewer shows coming out per season, less artists who were more matured at their craft, vs the money machine the industry has become today, with demand of animators oustripping supply and skill, and a bajillion shows per season. Quality of storytelling, of course, is a whole different matter, 80s and 90s OVAs were the epitome of good looking trash. Stories in anime are as good AND as shit as its ever been, depending on where you look.

 

[HarryKS]

Too many weaboos and weird semi-pedo Loli lovers in this business.

 

[The_hunter]

Haven't seen it, but this is reminiscent of Tezuka's style.

 

[Sub_Level]

Bleach is coming back in October. Anime was confirmed saved a while back.



The world is healing.