[C.A.]

Originally Posted by erneiz_hyde

Are these flaws really limited to anime and manga or are they widespread problem that exist in every visual or animation genre out there? If exist something that doesn't have any of these flaws you mention, are they the norm or the exception in their respective genres? As in, do they make the bulk of the creations in that particular genre?

Anime's popularity comes from carving a niche in the animation industry with its pretty art. How do we know an art style is Japanese? By the sparkly big eyes and slender frames, anime and manga sells because this particular narrow band of style appeals to their target audience. This target audience which has been further narrowed down today to mostly otakus, who are the ones buying most DVDs and merchandise, resulting in even more similar designs.

It is not common in other parts of the world to have art styles of different studios that are similar to each other. Disney, Looney Tunes, Simpsons, Southpark, Powerpuff Girls, Sponge Bob, Flintstones, immediately one can see how different all these are, they all have different proportions, different eyes, different facial structures and all the way down to different drawing and colouring style.

But, a lot of people can tell the difference between different artists' artwork. Shouldn't that be impossible if they suffer a lack of detail and variety?

Mainly my gripe with the lack of detail and variety in anime and manga is a technical one, we definitely can tell the differences between different artists' styles. Our eyes are so sensitive, we can tell the difference between a line that is perfectly straight or curved, 90 degrees or 85 degrees. But most of the anime styles now have smoothed out alot of the detail lines on the face and body, especially on females, not just the lack of noses, but also other parts like the cheek, chin and forehead. A female face is literally a U with a sharp chin with 2 big eyes, 2 strokes for eyebrows, a dot for nose and a line for a mouth. It is that simple to draw an anime female.

There are alot of people out there who can draw anime or manga style art, but how many can actually draw the anatomically complex styles of Marvel, DC, Neil Gaiman's Sandman or Chinese manhua?

Of course there are simple art styles that are also not anatomically correct like Powerpuff Girls, Simpsons and many more, but at least they are completely unique and varied, compared to anime and manga.

Also, I think anime design is alright for what it is. I think there is no need to force an established style to go into different direction. There is no need to bring realist art virtues into caricatures or vice versa. Comparing between styles can work if we're weighing pros and cons of its application, but there is no inherently "superior" styles.

Definitely there is nothing wrong for a style to be what it is or superior in a greater sense than technicalities, but if the entire industry were to draw a similar style, there is a lack of creativity and boldness to explore and experiment.

Are pretty looking or anatomically correct characters the only way to attract audience? Definitely not, otherwise Simpsons, Southpark and tons of other cartoons would have failed long ago and not have such a huge cult following that overshadows even anime.

Does the lack of distinction really mean bad body proportion? If anything, I think it shows that it is what is generally viewed as the perfect body proportion so it gets overused.

Btw, I'm curious. In the above proposed scenario of yours, would there be any other way you can distinguish the body proportions of real people in real life, aside from what you already mentioned?

From what you've quoted me for this question, I don't mean that the body proportion is bad, I mean that the lack of variety of body proportion is bad. I'll use one of my favourite anime, Haruhi, to describe and to cast away biasness.

If you were to take away the heads of Haruhi, Yuki, Mikuru, Tsuruya, Ryoko, Kimidori and place them side by side all wearing the school uniform. The only things that are different between them is the height, by a tiny difference and only Mikuru and Yuki would have a obvious difference in bust size. Put headless Kyon, Itsuki and Taniguchi side by side, we can't tell anything different besides Itsuki being the taller one, there is no difference in shape at all.

In real life there are so many variations in body shape besides the 3 sizes and height. Broadness of chest, shoulders, muscular structures, body fat, thickness of limbs and neck. Angles of shoulders, nape, collar bone, waist, back etc. So many things to consider, to change, to exaggerate or experiment with to create infinite variations, which anime and manga really aren't trying to play around with.