The Evolution of Anime Styles

 

For many modern day anime watchers the evolution of anime goes unnoticed; the animation styles of anime have changed greatly since the release of what was considered the first anime, Imokawa Mukuzo Genkanban no Maki, released in 1917, drawn by Ōten Shimokawa who is deemed as one of the ‘Fathers’ of anime. The film ran for 5 minutes compared to the average run time now, which can last from anywhere between 20-40 minutes. This is understandable as Ōten had to use chalk or white wax to draw characters on dark board backgrounds and then used ink to draw directly onto the film.

 

If you look at popular ongoing anime and compare the animations from then to now, the differences become highly noticeable.

For instance, let’s take the popular shonen, One Piece, written by the mangaka Eiichiro Oda – One Piece was adapted into animation in 1998 by Toei Animation. One Piece is an anime that I greatly enjoy and one that I have been watching every week since I started 3 years ago. In my opinion the main protagonist Monkey D Luffy hasn’t changed considerably in regards to appearance – except for the fact that his skin colour does appear lighter (this might be a popular trend plaguing the One Piece characters!). However, Roronoa Zoro, I believe has changed dramatically in appearances. Compared to his first appearance, his jawline has become well defined and his overall style has become sharper and fiercer! This is probably due to better resources and animation tools – of course everything is done digitally now so the colours would appear more vibrant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the most enjoyable anime I watched as I grew up had to be Dragon Ball, but looking back at the episodes now makes me realise how much the trend in what anime characters should look like has evolved. If you watch anime now you will realise that the style in which they are drawn are very similar or almost near identical. Female characters all tend to be drawn the exact same way; The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, K-On, Hyou-Ka: You Can’t Escape.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                             

                                   

 

 

 

 

                            Male characters seem to have more diversity in how they are presented: Free!, Kuroko no Basket, Karneval.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, some mangakas and animation production studios do tend to not follow the trend and produce what is seen as something completely new. Ones that have caught my eye are Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin), Beelzebub, Soul Eater, Danganronpa and Another.

I do believe that the evolution of anime styles has not come to a halt and new type of styles will evolve over time as a few are starting a new trend.Written by Figen Gungor