Hi all,
who is the character designer for studio Ghibli?
I hear great things about most Ghibli films, but I find them difficult to enjoy due to the simplistic character designs.
Are there any Ghibli films that use more exciting character designs?
Er. . . you could try watching My Neighbors the Yamadas, which uses a completely different art style.
shareI just googled My Neighbors the Yamadas and that's even worse to me than the standard Ghibli artstyle
shareWell, that's the only feature film in the Ghibli catalog that uses a different drawing style for the human characters, so I really don't know what to tell you. You don't like the way the characters look, so. . . don't watch them, I suppose?
shareActually not true. The Cat Returns is drawn in a different style too. Some characters in Porco Rosso look a bit different than regular Ghibli characters too (they are more goofy looking and unproportional).
I personally love the style of the characters in Ghibli films. But it really depends on the movie itself. For example the characters in The Tales from Earthsea looked very plain and boring to me, but everyone in Mononoke Hime is very memorable loooking even though it's drawn in the same style. So it really depends on how you use this style I suppose.
I don't understand how anyone can possibly say Ashitaka's design is memorable...
shareNow what do you mean by simple?
shareI've been a fan of anime since the 80's and I tend to like anime with artwork that is attractive to me.
I like the character artwork style in Macross, Megazone, Ninja Scroll, Magic Knight Reayerth, Evangelion, Macross 2 and Macross plus, Fatal Fury the movie, Cowboy bebop,Armitage III and El Hazard.
I dislike the way the characters are drawn in movies like Akira, Wings of Honneamise, Miyazaki movies, and series like One Piece, dragon ball,and Fooly Cooly. They just seem plain in style, I feel they could have done better. its comparable in comic books with Jim Lee being good to john romita jr's art being simple or ugly.
You like classic manga style anime, which is fine, but Ghibli films are not in that category, which should by no means be considered as an inferior style. It's simple as that. Maybe you just don't like this style, which in my opinion is a great pity, since Ghibli films delivered a few of the best storys in the history of the animation genre. I personally fell in love with the simplistic yet elegant style since I first saw Laputa play on TV quite a few years back and have now seen almost everything directed by Hayao.
R.I.P Roger Ebert, Best Critic Ever
http://i.imgur.com/nkbP8FP.jpg
for more "complete" animation the ghibli style works well, its simple and effective, I cant think of many studios that can deliver effective animation with the stylization that anime brings. simpler stuff=easier to animate. vampire hunter D, well that was a labor of love, stylized characters and less animation, but even though it was stiff looking I still think its one of the best animated films i have ever seen, in a technical sense, again though it was probably expensive, ontop of the fact it didint do so well.
also many of the animations you mentioned, akira, wings, miyazaki movies...... fooly cooly actually animate better than the ones you liked, in anime too much stylization means less movement, simpler you get more.
Seems like you'd enjoy Sword of the Stranger as well. Easily one of the best animated movies from the last couple of years, with a style that reminds me a of Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo.
And also Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, from the director of Ninja Scroll.
I'm the grim reaper, lardass, and you're my next customer.
The most beautiful anime I've ever watched is Gundam 0083. However, I do like Ghibli's style as well. Tales from Earthsea was a boring movie, but it was beautiful!
sharewell I thought Howl (from Howl's Moving Castle) was hot with his blonde hair ;)
on the other hand, I think Makoto Shinkai's character designs were awful, especially in Voices of a Distant Star. I mean, even the manga version of 5 Centimeters per Second was better than the actual movie.
Every female alive has a huge crush on Howl :P
I'm a straight guy and even I think he's dreamy hahaha
At least there are three: Hayao Miyazaki, Goro Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. But, most of Ghibli's characters are drawn by Hayao Miyazaki. I don't know, maybe you should ask to them by yourself.
shareIf you are going to watch Ghibli films for the art, it is definitely for the background, nature, and worlds the stories take place in. That's where Studio Ghibli really shines. The character designs are simplistic and reused over and over (ever notice how all most of the female protagonists look like Nausicaa to some extent?). The characters in Princess Mononoke wear some interesting outfits, but studio Ghibli always seemed like they put more effort into how the characters move and express themselves than in designing them to stand out and be flashy.
share"...but studio Ghibli always seemed like they put more effort into how the characters move and express themselves than in designing them to stand out and be flashy."
And that's why Studio Ghibli's films are actually good, simply excellent animation, and not some "anime" crud.
But I wouldn't say the character designs are simplistic. They're no more simplistic than anything else produced in Japanese animation. The Miyazaki films are different from the Takahata films, which are different from Yoshifumi Kondo's designs for Fireflies and Only Yesterday, which are different from Hiromasa Yonebayashi's work on Arrietty, which are different from Goro's work, etc.
Ghibli has a house style but there is clearly variation within it.
I like seeing recurring character designs in Miyazaki's films - it's like seeing Ward Bond, Anna Lee, Francis Ford, Victor McLaglen, Hank Worden, and other members of John Ford's stock company constantly appearing in Ford's films.
It may just not be your cup of tea. While they are simply drawn there is an elegance to them. As others have said, they move very fluidly and you(or I rather) can't seem to help but fall in love with all the characters.
Do the stories not matter at all? Which have you tried? Princess Mononoke is phenomenal IMHO and Spirited Away.
Some of the movies they have done are very quiet and lovely stories but can be a little boring, Whisper of the heart for example is quite slow and simple.
Up on poppy hill is also just a nice warm lovely film but not full of WOW factor.
I think you should give a few more a try ;) or not. I still love absolutely all of them... So far. You can never predict the future.
Another great film in their collection is Arrietty the background color in that is jaw dropping. I mean it's beautiful. If you like detailed art you have to admire it. http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/25000000/Scenery-karigurashi-no-arrietty-25051986-1600-893.jpg
thanks all, the backgrounds and the colors looks really nice.
No offense but half the shows you mentioned look like garbage. Armitage and Fatal Fury? These are some of the worst looking anime I have ever seen.
Do you see what i did there? I have pointed out that art and animation style is subjective and what appeals to one person does not appeal to another.
Ghibli has a simple if you will but charming style that fits perfectly with the stories they are trying to convey.
But seriously Armitage and Fatal Fury are crap both art wise and story wise.
I think I read somewhere Miyazaki - & in turn Ghibli - went with a simpler design for their characters because after directing his Lupin movie, The Castle of Cagliostro - he was upset with a lot of the highly sexualized fanart that came after regarding his female characters.
So while the rest of the anime industry went towards more intricate, colorful & iconic outlined type work, Miyazaki reverted to a simpler style where focus is on the movement & character.
Either way, i love the designs in Ghibli films. They aren't ridiculous like a lot of anime characters - when the eyes literally take up 3/4's of the characters heads it's unsettling - and that simpler character aesthetic has seemingly worked for the Ghibli team since their films are more readily accepted in the mainstream by other cultures than other anime is.
A powerful effect in a lot of Ghibli films is to identify on a relatable level with the character. That's kinda hard to do if the character is an intricately drawn meathead or a stick figure with size G boobs & eyes the sizes of dinner plates.
There. It's on the Internet. Thus it's official
I could not agree more.
shareYou're acting like there are only two different art styles in anime. Either Ghibli's, or the style with stick figures with size G boobs & eyes the sizes of dinner plates. Which is *beep* obviously.
Check out movies/shows like Paprika, Samurai Champloo, Ghost in the Shell, Sword of the Stranger, etc. Not that I don't like Ghibli's style, but just saying...
I'm the grim reaper, lardass, and you're my next customer.
the yamadas animation is superb. its so simple and warm.
shareI have always disliked the over stylized characters of Anime, I never wanted to watch any Japanese animation because of that. Not until I saw Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind about 10 years ago did I decide that I liked some Japanese animation. I especially like Studio Ghibli films. I could never understand some of my friends obsession with Anime and I still don't, but I now I enjoy Japanese animation in my own way.
shareNot simplistic, Realistic. The scenery of Ghibli films are as much a character as the people and animals. A lot of Anime is soft porn for teenage boys, with ridiculous overpowered beings.
share