Re: What common traits of 'contemporary' i.e. 2011 anime sty
Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2011 6:18 am
@LateWhiteRabbit: I like your examples, as they do pretty much reflect a lot of the changes over the decades. But, I don't think that being more stylized makes it easier to look dated as time passes on. Look at Dragon Ball; the style's ridiculously iconic and over-the-top. Large foreheads and hair, huge and overemphasized muscles, tiny noses and mouths, and angular everything. I'm not talking about the anime, but rather the style of Akira Toriyama in general. If you read Dragon Ball the manga, you'll see that the style's still very relevant today. I can't put my finger on why Toriyama's works are so timeless, but even reading the volumes of DB that I've got today, I think it's still a feast for the eyes. Same goes for Pokemon Adventure (I'd say the old artist's style is more classic than the new artist's, in fact), which is extremely simple, cutesy, and round.
As for my own two cents on the trends of 2011, I'd say:
- realistic anatomy: conservative with pretty much everything (small eyes, regular-sized noses and mouths)
- no more wacky hair, and reflects more on current trends of Japan
- relatively less saturated in colour in contrast to the '90s
- a lot less (if any) shine in hair
- digital backgrounds: fewer of them are painted now, though they still often try to retain the style of it; lighting effects are added to better reflect the overall lighting of the scene and blend better with the character lighting
see Guilty Crown, Fate/Zero, Bakuman, Gintama', Natsume's Book of Friends, Persona 4: The Animation, Sengoku Basara, Pixiv art
Basically, we're in a rather conservative period in terms of animation style, other than your usual moe-moe stuff.
As for my own two cents on the trends of 2011, I'd say:
- realistic anatomy: conservative with pretty much everything (small eyes, regular-sized noses and mouths)
- no more wacky hair, and reflects more on current trends of Japan
- relatively less saturated in colour in contrast to the '90s
- a lot less (if any) shine in hair
- digital backgrounds: fewer of them are painted now, though they still often try to retain the style of it; lighting effects are added to better reflect the overall lighting of the scene and blend better with the character lighting
see Guilty Crown, Fate/Zero, Bakuman, Gintama', Natsume's Book of Friends, Persona 4: The Animation, Sengoku Basara, Pixiv art
Basically, we're in a rather conservative period in terms of animation style, other than your usual moe-moe stuff.