Why are anime characters so fucking ugly nowadays? - They look like they were Made in China.

[Alex Hogendorp]

What made me love anime was basically because of it's history of beautiful artworks, hand drawn techniques and wide variety of character designs. Ever since it went digital I began to notice a decrease in the detail and the increase in vulgarity. It was really disappointing as I've really been looking forward to creative innovations with the aesthetic but it all seems to be forsaken. I'm just gonna provide you some pictures of anime to give you a refreshment on how far it has fallen and became a cesspool of autistic weeb trash,

Spoiler: Anime in 1998

Spoiler: Anime in 2018

A normal Anime from 2018.

Spoiler: Gonna get a lot of "Islamic Content"

 

[Nynn]

They're not hand drawn anymore.
There's plenty of software that is used to make the drawing easier and it makes the art lose personality as a result.
There are very few anime studios that have their own recognizable style, everybody learns from the same sources and uses the same software in the same way.
They do it because hand drawn art takes more time and you need to crank out content all the time.
It's not art anymore, it's "content".

Technically, the 2018 looks more "human-like" but most studios do that kind of thing so I honestly can't tell characters apart just by looking at them, it's much easier with older characters.
I'm willing to bet that there are short cuts that the artist used for that "drawing" that shaped her face/body without him having to actually draw the shapes.
That sucks.

Sure, you still have good creative artists today but the majority of the ones making anime are craftsmen.

How do you know this?

 

[Neurotypical Mantis]

are you completely sure?

 

[Retired Junta Member]

They’ve always looked ugly to me but there was a diversity in style. Now every character looks they’re made of like melted, glittery rubber.

 

[McAfee'sCorpse]

Their really isn't a huge difference from what I'm seeing.

 

[Idiotron]

How do you know this?

Because everyone I know who takes drawing even remotely seriously, especially those who are pursuing a career in stuff like graphic design, draws on a tablet with the help of software.
Hand drawing is a dying art these days.

 

[Nynn]

Because everyone I know who takes drawing even remotely seriously, especially those who are pursuing a career in stuff like graphic design, draws on a tablet with the help of software.
Hand drawing is a dying art these days.

I'm talking about the effect that software assisted animation has on the finished product i'd argue that the stylization of the anime is mostly based on the source material (most mangaka's use software to create their works these days) rather than "studio style".
Newer software assisted page of Berserk (Still traditional) vs old unassisted page

Tsugumomo (Entirely Digital) vs Berserk Traditional

How manga influences anime.

A studio's style doesn't really impact how the characters look at least to the degree you're talking about but the actual animation how they determine what goes on frame by frame think about it like how they convey motion.
Samurai Champloo (Studio Manglobe) vs Kill la Kill (Studio Trigger)

The exception would be when a studio will pick and choose when to stray from the manga's to better suit the medium a good example would be like season 1 of JoJo were they took some artistic freedoms that paid off imo.

What I do believe is to blame for the homogenization of anime characters is the homogenization of manga mostly due to how the medium is evolving and what consumers want to read. In addition to that Mangakas also just evolve and get better (or worse) you can see this very clearly in extremely long running manga.

Also mainly western cartoons use shortcuts like you describe something like teen titans go episodes are more so products of a mouse than a pen. Really only the shittiest of studios would shortcut their way through a production like that (unless its something like popteam epic or panty and stocking which have such simple art styles it wouldn't be hard to do and they are both still great) because anime is know for how dynamic it can be and if you use building blocks instead of a pencil it shows.

 

[Dom Cruise]

myes, old animu looks so much better
View attachment 2367148

One thing that I will say is that you did used to see a greater variety of styles, you never see oddball styles like that anymore.

I think it looks better now. Fucking sue me.

The argument could absolutely be made that anime designs only get better as time goes on, there's loads of charm to older designs but at the same time it really does seem like it only gets better as time goes on.

 

[Pissmaster]

OP you’re just nostalgic for the past. I kinda agree, new styles are boring and soft but I doubt I’d feel like that if I were born 10 years later

View attachment 2367155

I like the melting face style though

 

[stares at error messages]

What made me love anime was basically because of it's history of beautiful artworks, hand drawn techniques and wide variety of character designs. Ever since it went digital I began to notice a decrease in the detail and the increase in vulgarity. It was really disappointing as I've really been looking forward to creative innovations with the aesthetic but it all seems to be forsaken. I'm just gonna provide you some pictures of anime to give you a refreshment on how far it has fallen and became a cesspool of autistic weeb trash,

Spoiler: Anime in 1998

View attachment 2366851

Spoiler: Anime in 2018

A normal Anime from 2018.
View attachment 2366854

Spoiler: Gonna get a lot of "Islamic Content"

View attachment 2366855

Miscegenation with Americans.

 

[McAfee'sCorpse]

Screenshot from City Hunter. This is supposed to be a schoolgirl too.

 

[José Mourinho]

Just don't watch these niche shitty anime or mainstream diarrhea bullshit made for faggots such as JoJo

Go watch superior actual good anime made for real actual anime fans such as Sword Art Online, Pop Team Epic, Darling in the Franxx, Boruto, Boku no Pico and Pupa.

 

[Alex Hogendorp]

Go watch superior actual good anime made for real actual anime fans such as Sword Art Online, Pop Team Epic, Darling in the Franxx, Boruto, Boku no Pico and Pupa.

Those are usually what most American anime fans only know about.

 

[Blamo]

OP is a 2d guy who got cucked by a 3d guy. Sour grapes fam. Shameful display. But you still can be the ugly bastard without a face. Good luck.

 

[MarvinTheParanoidAndroid]

I was expecting "Fist of the North Star vs. some generic moe" and the alleged comparison I see is "moe vs moe."

I'm looking at both of these & hardly notice a difference, except that the digital one to the left is overall cleaner looking than the one to the right.

Kentaro Miura's art is good regardless of which one he's using because he's Kentaro Miura.

 

[José Mourinho]

Those are usually what most American anime fans only know about.

You have a problem with America?

 

[Alex Hogendorp]

OP is a 2d guy who got cucked by a 3d guy. Sour grapes fam. Shameful display. But you still can be the ugly bastard without a face. Good luck.

I'm just gonna be painfully honest and say that this thread I made deserves all the negative response coming to it. It's so painfully one-sided and poorly interpreted.

 

[Alex Hogendorp]

You have a problem with America?

The last thing I want is America to fall. I see so much potential in that country, a lot of it which has succeeded.

 

[pengo]

They're literally all ugly, wtf

 

[ToroidalBoat]

I think anime can look good or bad whether it's older or newer.

Although it sucks traditional media is dying off.

 

[Ramborambo]

View attachment 2372825
Screenshot from City Hunter. This is supposed to be a schoolgirl too.

By today's standards, it could be. Don't be a bigot.