Anime with the worst art styles

[Chiibi]

Originally Posted by C.A.

Its really sad that there are people who don't get One Piece's style and even sadder for those who didn't want to watch the show because of it.

If you're talking about artistry, One Piece character designs has more artistic creativity than most anime and manga out there. This is from my view as an artist.

It has such an enormous cast and yet it each character looks and feels completely unique. Besides a handful of characters that look a little like each other, every other character has a face and build that's different. Each design carefully brings out the culture and behavioral context of each character. You can feel a strong sense of character identity and personality just by the design.

While One Piece started out with relatively bad art, the mangaka, Eiichiro Oda, has gained so much experience and skill over the years that his character design is at master level. His characters made the series the most popular, best selling manga and anime in history.

This all may be true........but I still find the style unappealing. I am an artist too but......it's just......uh I don't like how the mangaka draws the faces. It's too odd for me. Like Picasso: it cannot be argued that he was an amazing artist......but that doesn't mean everyone will like the odd style he used.

So it's rather harsh to say it's "sad" people don't "get" One Piece's art. Getting it, doesn't necessarily mean "liking" it. :/

[Dextro]

Originally Posted by C.A.

You really have to blame the mangaka of Initial D for such bad character designs.

He obviously can draw very well, not just with cars and tracks, he drew the characters really well for covers. But for some reason he just prefers to not give the characters attention in the pages itself, their expressions are really bad, especially the 'duck mouth'.

True true but that doesn't mean they couldn't have fixed it in the anime. I mean like you said (and I agree) the covers have a better style and aren't cringe-worthy like the rest.

One example of the anime fixing the designs is Clannad for example. In the game the shins are enormous!

[momobunny]

Originally Posted by Chiibi

This all may be true........but I still find the style unappealing. I am an artist too but......it's just......uh I don't like how the mangaka draws the faces. It's too odd for me. Like Picasso: it cannot be argued that he was an amazing artist......but that doesn't mean everyone will like the odd style he used.

So it's rather harsh to say it's "sad" people don't "get" One Piece's art. Getting it, doesn't necessarily mean "liking" it. :/

Agreed.
I don't like the artstyle for One Piece either, and it's not because I don't "get" it, I just simply don't like it.

[Kotohono]

Originally Posted by Maho Momo

Agreed.
I don't like the artstyle for One Piece either, and it's not because I don't "get" it, I just simply don't like it.

I agree while I have watched a lot of the show thanks to a friend of mine, I still don't really like the art style for it, I mean I can stand it since it does have good action, and comedy at times, but the art still sometimes bothers me.

[musume_no_hoshi]

Originally Posted by Chiibi

This all may be true........but I still find the style unappealing. I am an artist too but......it's just......uh I don't like how the mangaka draws the faces. It's too odd for me. Like Picasso: it cannot be argued that he was an amazing artist......but that doesn't mean everyone will like the odd style he used.

So it's rather harsh to say it's "sad" people don't "get" One Piece's art. Getting it, doesn't necessarily mean "liking" it. :/

I find myself having very similar 'tastes' to you, and I agree with what you said.

One Piece art style is unique, and the mangaka knows what he is drawing (unlike certain shoujo mangakas who still sucks at proportions). Having a unique style meaning some people may not like it, while some may adore it. I understand the point of a more simple and cartoony artstyle for One Piece, but I don't really like it. Opera singers are amazing, but it doesn't mean I enjoy listening to opera.

Anyway. I don't really like Hetalia's anime style. The style works decently in a sketchy webcomic, but it really doesn't work as an anime. The style makes the characters look stiff and when ever there's a serious scene the style just clashes horribly. Yes, there are a few serious melodrama parts in Hetalia.

[Chiibi]

I find myself having very similar 'tastes' to you, and I agree with what you said.

Spiffy.

Anyway. I don't really like Hetalia's anime style. The style works decently in a sketchy webcomic, but it really doesn't work as an anime. The style makes the characters look stiff and when ever there's a serious scene the style just clashes horribly. Yes, there are a few serious melodrama parts in Hetalia.

There's a serious scene in it!?

Hetalia's art is just kinda "meh" to me. It's not the worst I've seen but it feels kinda....I dunno...."lazy". Works for comedy though.^^

[musume_no_hoshi]

Originally Posted by Chiibi

Spiffy.

There's a serious scene in it!?

Hetalia's art is just kinda "meh" to me. It's not the worst I've seen but it feels kinda....I dunno...."lazy". Works for comedy though.^^

I don't know...I just keep seeing you in threads that I lurk in... I'm not stalking your or anything! (acts tsundere)

The most popular strip is a serious strip, as voted by fans (America's storage cleaning). When they animated it, it just didn't work. Hetalia art style is really lazy, I think Studio DEEN did not expect it to be popular from the start anyway. Unfortunately, I've seen a Hare Hare Yukai MAD of Hetalia that looks better then the official animation. I really doubt Studio DEEN is going to change the art style, since they're making so much from it already.

Ah that reminds me what art style I hate, and hate I mean hate . Crap 3D animation. Kirarin Revolution and Gokujō!! Mecha Mote Iinchō 3D animation looks absolutely horrid. Iincho was even worse, it switches between bad 2D and bad 3D animation.

[mg1942]

this should be easy because it stands out...

Crayon shin chan

[Triple_R]

Watching a little bit of Fairy Tale has made me realize something.


There's just two things about One Piece's art style that turns me off...

1) Ginormous teeth!

2) How... messy, shall we say... characters look when they cry. I mean... there's a lot of running noses, lol


Fairy Tale's art style is very similar to One Piece, but it seems to lack these two elements... and hence, I like it well enough.

[C.A.]

I like Fairy Tail's art because it looks similar to One Piece. But I like One Piece's more because Fairy Tail's characters are not as expressive, it has alot less impact.

Just look at Brook, a featureless skeleton, yet you can feel powerful emotions coming from him.

One Piece characters has proportions and aesthetics that may make Da Vinci cringe, but even the great master himself would be moved to tears or laugh from the hilarious moments if he read the manga/watched the anime.

[GreatTeacherKen]

I was initially put off by One Piece's style, but I've grown to like it to the point where I can't imagine what the anime/manga would be like without it. I think the exaggerated style works because the anime/manga itself is very over the top and larger than life; a more realistic style just wouldn't work.

[Ichihara Asako]

Originally Posted by C.A.

Its really sad that there are people who don't get One Piece's style and even sadder for those who didn't want to watch the show because of it.

I dropped the show after some 35 odd episodes because it was still completely boring and totally failed to capture my interest after forcing myself that far (prompted by people saying it gets better). The art style didn't play a part in that choice, however I still think it's a terrible style and find all of the characters highly unattractive.

Somebody else mentioned Fairy Tail being One Piece-ish... and I'd agree, it's sort of somewhere between Gintama and One Piece, as far as style goes. Each char is unique and interesting, but a bit cleaner and prettier (ala Gintama). Also it's a far more compelling story that is vastly more entertaining even from the very beginning. But that's neither here nor there.

[synaesthetic]

Not fond of One-Piece's art style, nor am I fond of any art styles similar to it. Most shonen doesn't look good to me.

When it comes to art styles, I prefer leaning heavily to the side of realism; i.e. Kara no Kyoukai, Canaan, Black Lagoon.

Or surrealism. I thought Bakemonogatari had wonderful art (the live-action cuts and segments were kind of annoying, I do admit).

When it comes to Puni Plush, it's hit or miss. K-On! and Hidamari Sketch I liked, but Lucky Star is a bit mehhh.

Edit: I was also annoyed at Studio DEEN's poor handling of Shion no Ou. =| Off-Model is the rule, not the exception with DEEN. ><

[C.A.]

Originally Posted by Ichihara Asako

I dropped the show after some 35 odd episodes because it was still completely boring and totally failed to capture my interest after forcing myself that far (prompted by people saying it gets better). The art style didn't play a part in that choice, however I still think it's a terrible style and find all of the characters highly unattractive.

I do agree that One Piece started out average. You have to wonder how can something so average become the highest selling manga of all time.

You've only watched 35 out of currently 400+ episodes, is it far? Also what you've watched is a portion from 10 years ago. One Piece today is exponentially better in everything than how it started.

And yes One Piece's style will stick onto one firmly when they get used to it.

[cheesie]

I noticed quite a few comments about One Piece designs, and I just have to throw in my experience with this particular show.

Yes, OP is popular in Japan, in fact, it's the most popular shounen title in decades. (The current volume sat at #1 spot and sold more figures than #2 (Bleach), #3(Nodame), and #4 (Reborn) combined.) Last month, One Piece slaughtered the Top 200 Oricon manga charts when it ranked with every 56 volumes. Anyway...

Like almost all, I was a bit intrigued about One Piece when I first heard of it (pirates) but one look at the character designs was enough to scare me away for two years. Other fighting anime such as Naruto looked vastly more appealing at the time (this is during the very early arcs when Naruto was still pretty fresh and exciting), and I made a point to ignore One Piece as much as I could and forgot about it.

Later on, a fellow friend highly recommended One Piece to a few of us, and this was epic; this coming from someone who prefer to stay away from anything remotely anime-like was pretty much the highlight of the day (it was the character designs that hooked him in; he thought the designs were so ugly it made him curious lol). On that recommendation, I was all 'okay, so you suckered in my friend, let's see what you got' and started up a One Piece marathon, and at that point, my social life was non-existent.

Nothing could've prepared me for the journey that One Piece took me through; it was a little slow in the beginning as the series was still fleshing out their characters and preparing the set-up, but once the story kicks off, there was something I instantly saw in OP that set it apart from its popular shounen cousins such as Bleach and Baruto. I lost count the number of times I laughed and cried with the series, how obvious the care and attention invested in the characters' development were, and how simply real their friendship bonds are, the likes of which I haven't come across in any anime series so far. The series doesn't take itself seriously at all; it's light-hearted fun and adventure. But when the time comes for it to do so, it does it brilliantly and sometimes with mere simple sincerity yet it is able to pull at your heartstrings more times than you can expect and the emotional impact over the simplest things can be quite epic. The fights are sometimes shounen-generic, but the characters involved more than makes up for it. As the fans of One Piece would say, this is by far the only series that will make you cry over a *boat* and still feel manly about it. It doesn't rely on cheap gimmicks and shock factors to reel you in; it knows where its strongest points are.

Needless to say, I fell heads over heels in love with the show, though I figured that it may take a few more episodes for some people to get hooked in. At 400+ episodes, this would be the only anime where I wish it will never end, as the crew journey around a world where Oda had painstakingly crafted. You will come to love almost every character in the crew as each of them have very distinctive personalities and of course, some that will argue and bicker with one another, often resulting in hilarious scenes, yet you know that each crew member would fight to the death for one another anyway.

In short, yes, the character designs may be appear to be fugly to some, but later on, it becomes more and more apparent that the designs are in fact, one of the charms of the series and OP wouldn't be OP without Oda's signature artwork

*Ahem* That's all, carry on...

Edit: There is a great resemblance of artwork between Hiro Mashima (Rave, Fairy Tail) and Eiichiro Oda (One Piece) because both of them happen to be worshippers of Akira Toriyama (Dragonball) and has been greatly influenced by him.

[MartianMage]

Originally Posted by Oppius

2. Bakemonogatari

Another Mononoke wannabe. Some live-acted 3d objects just don't fit on 2d animations.

Well this poster has already been banned so I guess this might be pointless but anyway in case you're here lurking...

Mononoke art doesn't even come close to Bakemonogatari. And if you hate the 3d objects then fine you hate the 3d objects but that's not the point here in this thread right? Not counting episodes 9 and 10, Bakemonogatari has gorgeous 2d drawings.

[fertygo]

just one thing i want to rant about the worst anime art style ever on here...

Sora no Woto is my biggest disappointment ever about anime art style

Where the hell the Rorona style whom they use to promoting on their website from about 3-5 month ago is gone !!!???



And the show turned out using the K-ON style instead the magnificent artworks they show its at first ???

[Ichihara Asako]

Originally Posted by C.A.

You've only watched 35 out of currently 400+ episodes, is it far? Also what you've watched is a portion from 10 years ago. One Piece today is exponentially better in everything than how it started.

It wasn't even 200 episodes when I watched it. A few years ago now. Back when Naruto and Bleach were still interesting before the filler started, there was absolutely no competition. Bleach was in Soul Society arc and Naruto was some time after the trials, iirc. Compared to that, the first 30 episodes of OP were incredibly boring and entirely uninteresting, completely failing to capture me at all.

[synaesthetic]

Originally Posted by C.A.

I do agree that One Piece started out average. You have to wonder how can something so average become the highest selling manga of all time.

You've only watched 35 out of currently 400+ episodes, is it far? Also what you've watched is a portion from 10 years ago. One Piece today is exponentially better in everything than how it started.

And yes One Piece's style will stick onto one firmly when they get used to it.

If the first episode bores me, I won't watch any further.

This is why I love shows like Gunslinger Girl, Soukou no Strain, Ga Rei -Zero- and Canaan. Absolutely freaking epic first episodes.

[cheesie]

Originally Posted by synaesthetic

If the first episode bores me, I won't watch any further.

Well, for me, from time to time, I usually bump into reactions like this and this and I would be reminded of why it's so incredibly easy for different kinds of people to to fall in love with a series. It's still hard to describe the appeal of the series though I do understand that some people may not click with it anyway even after watching, which is fine. But you'll find that the ones that do click may be rewarded with a ride that no "spectacular first episodes" are able to provide, but in the end, it's really up to people.

(Still, I suppose I should be grateful that it didn't pull a Naruto - the last thing I want to see is a grown man on the bus going "GOMU GOMU NO PISTORUUU". )

Edit:

Originally Posted by C.A

Just look at Brook, a featureless skeleton, yet you can feel powerful emotions coming from him.

No kidding, I honestly didn't imagine I would've liked him so much, and you figure that it'll get tiring whenever he goes something like "My heart feels so painful -- oh, I have no heart YOHOHOHO" yet it just killed me over and over. Or how he'd just drink milk and his bones would shine, LOL, this is why I love you Brook.

Okay, that's all, carry on.

No, I'm not hijacking the thread, nope!