How long would the art style change?

[Fireminer]

So, like the question said: How long would it take for the general art style of Anime to change?

For example, 80s anime style of course is different to 2000s style.

[iSuckAtWriting]

You just answered your own question. 20 years of gradual change, but this is assuming anime has an all-encompassing style when it doesn't. Even then, the question would be at what point did anime start to resemble its current appearance? which is a silly line to draw.

[Triple_R]

The biggest thing I could see changing anime art style in the future is CGI.

Arpeggio of Blue Steel could end up paving the way here, given that it sold pretty well. All-CGI looks pretty different from traditional 2D-anime, so that would constitute a pretty big change if it happens.

If it does happen, it'll probably be within the next 5-to-10 years, maybe sooner, but given the typical anime project turnaround time, I doubt it.


Looking over the past 20 years, the main predominant changes that I can see are:

1. Mullets are gone. Big bangs/big hair in general has declined for the most part.

2. That big, burly muscle-man style is almost entirely gone. Jojo's is about the only place it still exists as far as I can tell.

3. Noses are almost entirely gone, at least on female characters. This is off of the Triple_H nose peak reached in the 90s by Escaflowne.

4. Faces have been streamlined somewhat. Just look at the gradual art style change in P.A. Works from True Tears to HSI to Tari Tari to Nagi no Asukara. I know that is one of the banes of Pocari_Sweat's existence.

5. Visuals are a bit cleaner, crisper, distinctive, in my view. Older anime shows sometimes have a certain muted or washed-out look to them.

[Archon_Wing]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

3. Noses are almost entirely gone, at least on female characters. This is off of the Triple_H nose peak reached in the 90s by Escaflowne.

Petition for the conservation of anime noses-- an endangered species! Though Akagi and Kaiji can make up for some of the losses.

[Fireminer]

Well, can't blame it. Streamlining is getting the better of us, that is a fact.

But also, do you think that the different in element of the story between era also make change of the art style? For example, if you look at something like the original Dragon Ball, then compare it to your typical shounen anime nowday (Fate, Campione,...), the art style in battle is truly different. But the nature of battle in shounen now has also changed: It's not just coming up with an even stronger attack, but much more complex.

One thing for sure: if School Days was made in the 80s, it would rather be a Seinen or so.

[LKK]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

3. Noses are almost entirely gone, at least on female characters. This is off of the Triple_H nose peak reached in the 90s by Escaflowne.

I attended a lecture by Charles Dunbar (the "anime anthropologist") this winter where he discussed how anime character designs evolved over the last 40 or so years. Each decade grouping had about a dozen representative characters. When noses disappeared, they disappeared very quickly. They were there in 1 decade. (I wanna say the 80s.) Then they were virtually non-existent in the next. It would be an interesting study to trace back to what show had the first incidence of missing noses. Then trace forward to see how quickly anime characters lost their ability to smell due to lack of noses.

[Fireminer]

Pah! It's a sad truth for none in Vietnam could be an anime anthropologist.

Anyway, if you've read a bit about science of the face, the shape of the nose directly connected to the eyes - for example, a long nose would require your pupils to come close to the nose.

And since anime's eyes nowday are big, teary orb, so...

[Tempester]

Finally I have an excuse to post this picture:

Images

art style comparison between 90's and 10's

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Remember that these are just quintessential examples. I prefer the right art style any day (possibly due to me being part of the "new generation"), and I'm generally very supportive of modern art styles, but there are 80's and 90's anime that still look nice and attractive to me. Hell, I think Escaflowne, which people criticize for its long noses, looks great, and not just on a technical level.

If you asked me to give an example of a recent anime that utilizes a very "10's" art style, I think Mikakunin de Shinkoukei fits the glove quite well. I love how that show looks.

Originally Posted by Triple_R

5. Visuals are a bit cleaner, crisper, distinctive, in my view. Older anime shows sometimes have a certain muted or washed-out look to them.

These older anime shows with this color scheme you refer to seem to be very common in the late 90's to mid-00's. Some examples include Haibane Renmei and Figure 17. I'm not sure if the fact that this era was coupled with the early uses of digital animation in anime has anything to do with it. Many purely hand-drawn anime from the 90's were vivid and colorful as hell.

[Utsuro no Hako]

Noses haven't disappeared. They've turned into these weird snouts:

[RichardFromMarple]

There's been a steady evolution, but the speed seems to vary according to studio, artist etc.

Certainly this is some post 2000 anime wouldn't look too out of place in the 1980s, or even late 1970s.

[GreyZone]

I think you can get a good comparison from the last monogatari: second season Opening.

[aohige]

To be quite honest, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s had a very distinct look native to each decade.
But post 2000, changes in style has been very gradual, if at all.
There are plenty of shows in the early 00s that looks completely in-style today.

I've pondered about this before, I think it may be due to the industry's finally reaching a maturity where trendy looks are no longer a strong driving force, and art styles in general has been polished
Similar thing can be said about the manga industry as well.

[Fireminer]

Maybe that is because artists nowdays refrain themself from adding too much persona - to keep a consistance style in an anime.

Lucky, there are still some mangaka with distingtive drawing, like Kazue Kato and Ao no Exorcist.

[sunchips18]

I think that there has been a minor change in art-style in the past 10 years. While anime from the early 2000s doesn't look as vastly different from anime today as anime from the 90s does, there certainly are some differences.

I think the most recent change occurred sometime during the late 2000s (i.e 2008 or so) when HD became more of a normality than a formality. Because of HD, companies aren't able to get away with as many imperfections as they were just 10 years ago. Anime today has a very polished and clean look to it.

Also, is it just me or are unnatural hair colors slowly dying out in anime. You'll occasionally see the pink/green haired character in modern anime, but I don't think that its as common as it was during the 80s/90s.

[Shyni]

You sure about that? Looking at Anichart for this season, I see like 20 pictures depicting characters with non-existent hair colors. like blue, pink or purple. And that's only in the TV series section.

[Solace]

Originally Posted by Tempester

Hell, I think Escaflowne, which people criticize for its long noses, looks great, and not just on a technical level.

Escaflowne, in addition to being a goddamn fantastic anime that everyone should watch, still looks amazing for something that came out almost twenty years ago. And those soundtracks! Easily some of the best work Yoko Konno has ever done.

It's such a different industry today.

[Shyni]

I'm guessing the two Yozalura Quartet TV series aren't really a good example of art style changing "with the times" so much as just desginers' preferences.

[ninryu]

The best way to review the change in style is to compare older animes with their remakes.

Like Hunter X Hunter:

Images

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[Shyni]

What about Fate/stay Night?

[Jan-Poo]

Originally Posted by Fireminer

So, like the question said: How long would it take for the general art style of Anime to change?

For example, 80s anime style of course is different to 2000s style.

Who knows? It is certain and inevitable that the mainstream style to draw characters in anime will change, depending on what, how and what reason nobody can say for sure.

But that goes for many other things. For example why are people from 2014 dressing differently from those that lived in 1914? And how long will it take before that will change again?

Is there even anyone that can tell that for sure?