Drawing a deliberately beautiful character in anime style

[Coren]

Let's say in this story, there's this character who's supposed to be overwhelmingly beautiful . Thing is, everyone is drawn in anime style, meaning cookie cutter generic cuties. So how do you make this character noticeably more beautiful than the generic cuties without relying on cheap effects like longer hair and long eyelashes, or making the other characters plainer looking?

[Victoria Jennings]

Don't restrict it to "anime style". Use whatever style suits your purposes in that moment.

[ShippoK]

1: Draw very pointy chins that can saw through paper. The chin has- Oh wait.

If everyone looks like a cookie-cutter in Anime Style you're doing it wrong.

Make everyone look natural without the extra Bishoujo-Bishounen look but at the same time do not make them ugly or monstrous.
Give some different Eye shape or body length&Width or Flat&Round chins instead of changing the color of their Iris and Hair.

If it helps;Think like the Background Characters in Anime. They don't stick out but they don't look ugly either.

Even Anime can make a decent ordinary looking person and still make them interesting.

[SundownKid]

I was going to say longer hair, but you beat me to it. Unfortunately, there is just no way to do such a thing without changing your art style to allow for "uglier" people. Such a thing is still possible in anime, though.

[Victoria Jennings]

If everyone looks like a cookie-cutter in Anime Style you're doing it wrong.

That too.

[Endorphin]

cookie cutter generic cuties

Please don't. Nothing scares me faster away then not being able to recognise a character when I can't see their hair.

making the other characters plainer looking

I would say that this isn't worth it, but that's for you to decide.

However, back to topic.

1. Beauty is relative to it's surroundings
When seeing characters in a story, I sometimes think "wow, this one is really beautiful!" while I would call them uninteresting without context. The characters give a certain standard, and once somebody breaks out of it, they seem pretty--or ugly. (There were also cases where a character actually looks cute without context, but really plain compared to the others.)
When drawing/designing, comparing her to the rest of the staff would probably be a good idea, so that you could check if she has something the others don't etc.

2. Style doesn't matter
And no, I'm not saying you should throw together multiple styles in a VN as this would look extremely unrefined and would also be a huge turn-off for some people.
But "anime" is a style like every other style to - not only has it incredible many variations (some are rather semi-realistic), but they are an interpretation of reality.
So the best way would be to look at photographs, other artists (sakimichan on deviantArt has beautiful girls, in my opinion) and mangas (did they use more delicate lines for them or other tricks? I've seen so many beautiful, short haired girls there, long hair is not the only option).
Once you gather photos of people you think are truly beautiful, analyse them.
What do they have in common? Is there a person you'd say is really similar to your character? Why?
Once you got the features, push them enough to fit into your style. Make some design sketches -loads of them, trying to mix different features together.
Not only will this help you with this character, but it will expand your repertoire and you can create different characters more easily.

3. It's not only the looks
It's also body language.
I remember playing Dragon Age, and while my female character had a really pretty face, the way she was standing would restrict me from calling her beautiful whenever I say her in fullview.
Body language really changes the feel of a person. I once made my boyfriend sit in the >parallel legs way< and was disturbed by the feminine feel he gave off, even though he was unmistakable male.
Keep this in mind, it can help you greatly. Also, decide beforehand whether you want her to the the confident kind of beauty or a rather fragile (?) one--testing out different poses would help. However, one gesture can look really differently depending on the rest of the body language and the facial expression--having your hand in your face normally looks shy and cute, but playing with your lips can look provocative and sexy.
Another important thing is presentation.
There are some mangas in which all the characters loo so similar and cute, I really have a hard time understanding why the main character is "ugly and plain" and the rival is "unbelievingly beautiful". I wouldn't get it if they wouldn't mention it all the time, but the screentone helps even more.
You can also play with effects to show that this girl is something, emitting some kind of nice aura. (How exactly depends on your style.) Just don't overdo it, or the readers not gonna take it seriously.
A simple way would be to make an strong first impression--show a CG before showing the sprite, or a few panels overlapping the screen, showing her turning around or first rather unimportant details (earrings, neck, hair, whatever). This way, you'll slow down the reading tempo for a moment as the reader will concentrate on the new character, while making him excited to see her face. It will also differentiate her from the other characters, as she's not just "another character on the screen", but made an string first impression, was introduced not by words but with images.

Well, that's all I got to say--I wish you success when working on her, I'm sure you can do it!
- En.

[Hazel-Bun]

I think this really depends on what features you think are beautiful and then by gender which aspects you want to bring out. "Anime Style" encompasses a huge amount genres, styles, etc. so it all depends on what you're going for. I'm assuming you're not going for the shoujo/josei look (tall pretty boys and ultra cute chicks)? Then it would be best to research up on other genres and determine what you find aesthetically pleasing then try to add those into a chosen "Anime Style".

[dramspringfeald]

Well look over the characters you enjoy and ask yourself, "Why do I like this character?" "What is different about this character then the rest of the show?" "How does this character stand out among other characters in different shows?"

You'll find that it's less how they look and more how they are written.

[redeyesblackpanda]

This actually seems to come up a lot, and there's a trope for it called Informed Attractiveness.
(Warning, the tvtrope link, although I did just say "trope", so it should be obvious.)

If you want to do what a lot of other people seem to do, that article does mention things such as "bisihie sparkles".

[LVUER]

Add sparkles. Sparkles is exclusively belong to extremely handsome/beautiful person. And roses that always mysteriously appears behind that person.

If everyone in your game truly believes that character is stunningly beautiful, most likely the audience will believe it, like it or not.

[mugenjohncel]

Add sparkles. Sparkles is exclusively belong to extremely handsome/beautiful person. And roses that always mysteriously appears behind that person.

"POOF" (Disappears)

[nyaatrap]

Draw abstract construction lines, then add anatomies and designs on them. When people sense mathematics in nature, they feel beautiful.
edit: Sorry. It's not "deliberately". it's "fundamentally"

[15385bic]

sparkles + roses + elegance = beauty~


ok...so maybe it doesnt always work out

[MaiMai]

The art of having a luminous body has been a technique passed down by the Armstrongs for generations.

[Coren]

I think that's true, actually. Movies tend to employ a more subtle version of that - to make the light fall more softly on "beautiful" characters, gaussian blur them a little, etc.

I'm not sure if you can do them with VN sprites though. But CGs maybe...