Why is the art style considered "animesque"?

[P.Y.C.]

It's not anime. The characters have very large heads compared to their bodies. The lines are thick and consist of smooth round curves ending in narrow angles. It doesn't represent old people accurately, unlike Japanese game companies which have done so even in chibi proportions. This art style looks more like Owl House and Star vs Evil, sorry.

[SolidPayne]

I mean not all anime looks the same either. One Piece looks incredibly different from Berserk. DBZ has a different style from Bleach, you won't find another anime that look like Ping Pong or Tatami Galaxy I can tell you that much. Don't know what old people being drawn accurately has to do with anime but whatever

I agree that it's not anime as do most people which is why it's not tagged as anime but I'd say it definitely has some influences, particularly with the pointed noses and narrow chins. The same way you can look at Teen Titans and Avatar TLA and tell they're not anime but they're still clearly inspired by it

[Ferry]

Dude, it looks nothing like the owl house or SVFOE, even season 1 of that last show.

Personally, always thought it looked Tim Burton esc but in 2D

[水面]

Are you talking about the portraits or the overworld sprites? If you mean the sprites, then I definitely wouldn't call them anime, they're closer to a hand-drawn comic or older cartoon. If you mean the portraits though, then they definitely feel anime-inspired, especially the large eyes and exaggerated expressions. It might not have enough similarities for it to be called anime or anime-style, but there was definitely some inspiration there.

Side note, it's funny to me that you mention two modern Western-made cartoons whose art styles were also likely anime-inspired.

[SolidPayne]

Originally posted by Ferry:

Dude, it looks nothing like the owl house or SVFOE, even season 1 of that last show.

Personally, always thought it looked Tim Burton esc but in 2D

Yeah it's definitely more Tim Burton / German Expressionism. I have no idea how someone could see Owl house or SVTFOE with this. Cause their faces are round? Yeah so is the case in alot of anime and other cartoons big whoop

[SolidPayne]

I would like to know who refers to this as an anime like game. Is there fan art of them in anime style? Oh for sure but I've never heard anyone call the game itself an anime game

[Sukaiba]

Frankly, I think the 'anime-esque' is basically "Drawing but the artist gave a shﭐt about maintaining the integrity of the human body and beautification of the character"
aka exactly the opposite of garbage like Calarts or such do

tl;dr Anime-esque nowadays is 'The artist was actually trying' tag

Originally posted by spikejet2736:

I would like to know who refers to this as an anime like game. Is there fan art of them in anime style? Oh for sure but I've never heard anyone call the game itself an anime game

For better of worse, lewds commonly make them look slightly more like it

[P.Y.C.]

Originally posted by spikejet2736:

I would like to know who refers to this as an anime like game. Is there fan art of them in anime style? Oh for sure but I've never heard anyone call the game itself an anime game

TV tropes calls it "animesque" and I see Twitter users calling it "fake anime style". Both terms typically refer to Western cartoons like Totally Spies and ATLA, which quite obviously take inspiration from anime.

This game's portraits don't look like those to me and it certainly doesn't look like actual anime either.

[P.Y.C.]

Originally posted by Sukaiba:

Frankly, I think the 'anime-esque' is basically "Drawing but the artist gave a shﭐt about maintaining the integrity of the human body and beautification of the character"
aka exactly the opposite of garbage like Calarts or such do

tl;dr Anime-esque nowadays is 'The artist was actually trying' tag

Originally posted by spikejet2736:

I would like to know who refers to this as an anime like game. Is there fan art of them in anime style? Oh for sure but I've never heard anyone call the game itself an anime game

For better of worse, lewds commonly make them look slightly more like it

This is what people mean by the term but I don't see it. The only anime-like components in this game's portraits are the eyes, which is not quite enough for me to give it that label.

The character portraits here are objectively more CalArts than anime. It's got the proportions of Star vs Evil and a thick lineart style which resembles Steven Universe more than any anime.

[SolidPayne]

I mean Soul Eater, Attack On Titan, Demon Slayer, Hellsing Ultimate, Samurai Champloo (to some extent) all have thick line art and are still unquestionably anime. Thick line art isn't intrinsic to cartoons

Originally posted by P.Y.C.:

TV tropes calls it "animesque" and I see Twitter users calling it "fake anime style". Both terms typically refer to Western cartoons like Totally Spies and ATLA, which quite obviously take inspiration from anime.

Sure I can buy that which is what I think it is but it's definitely not anime the same way Persona is or even games not made in Japan like Va-11 hall-a or Doki Doki Literature Club

[SolidPayne]

Originally posted by Sukaiba:

Frankly, I think the 'anime-esque' is basically "Drawing but the artist gave a shﭐt about maintaining the integrity of the human body and beautification of the character"
aka exactly the opposite of garbage like Calarts or such do

tl;dr Anime-esque nowadays is 'The artist was actually trying' tag

That's nothing new, I remember back in the 90s and early 2000s when people would call shows like Aeon Flux, Spawn or Samurai Jack anime even though they don't even resemble anime probably because they were serious action shows and not goofy cartoons that was enough to call them anime

[VanillaSatou474]

I'm not fluent in art styles, but there are some instances where Ashley and Andrew have smiles that look right out of CalArts (Steven Universe, Star vs. Evil).

The art style is definitely more Western than anime. Perhaps people are associating it with the latter since Western cartoons are usually less appealing to look at. Not the case here, since the art in TCOAAL is actually pretty in all of its early 2000's goth style.

[SmokeyCat]

i'd consider it anime adjacent

[Nigellus Cage]

Find me an actual cartoon that has this art style. An anime that does is called "Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt." It's a Japanese anime inspired by Western cartoons. There's still a distinction between Scooby Doo/Flintstones/Looney Toons and this game as well as PSG where characters have huge eyes, huge pupils, chibi proportions. Gen Z (and younger) grew up on a lot of cartoons heavily inspired by anime so you kids are confusing Western cartoon art style with Japanese anime art style. Powerpuff GIrls was heavily inspired by anime art style.

If you just look up "Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt," you cannot argue this is a Western art style since it's literally the same art style as an actual anime.

[P.Y.C.]

Originally posted by Nigel:

Find me an actual cartoon that has this art style. An anime that does is called "Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt." It's a Japanese anime inspired by Western cartoons. There's still a distinction between Scooby Doo/Flintstones/Looney Toons and this game as well as PSG where characters have huge eyes, huge pupils, chibi proportions. Gen Z (and younger) grew up on a lot of cartoons heavily inspired by anime so you kids are confusing Western cartoon art style with Japanese anime art style. Powerpuff GIrls was heavily inspired by anime art style.

If you just look up "Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt," you cannot argue this is a Western art style since it's literally the same art style as an actual anime.

Coffin of Andy and Leyley looks nothing like Panty and Stocking.

I almost wanted to bring this up earlier, I thought I didn't have to but I was wrong. Having slightly deformed characters do not make two styles look similar. PaSwG has uniquely shaped characters and visible use of line weighting. Its lines aren't weak curves with sharp angles, PaSwG characters have more angular faces and hands, and usually a mix of spiky or smooth hair rather than soft curve looking hair. PaSwG looks quite distinct from Western animation styles even though it's an affectionate parody of them.

Coffin of Andy and Leyley's character style is closer to Star vs the forces of Evil characters than to Panty and Stocking.

[Ferry]

Originally posted by P.Y.C.:

Originally posted by Nigel:

Find me an actual cartoon that has this art style. An anime that does is called "Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt." It's a Japanese anime inspired by Western cartoons. There's still a distinction between Scooby Doo/Flintstones/Looney Toons and this game as well as PSG where characters have huge eyes, huge pupils, chibi proportions. Gen Z (and younger) grew up on a lot of cartoons heavily inspired by anime so you kids are confusing Western cartoon art style with Japanese anime art style. Powerpuff GIrls was heavily inspired by anime art style.

If you just look up "Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt," you cannot argue this is a Western art style since it's literally the same art style as an actual anime.

Coffin of Andy and Leyley looks nothing like Panty and Stocking.

I almost wanted to bring this up earlier, I thought I didn't have to but I was wrong. Having slightly deformed characters do not make two styles look similar. PaSwG has uniquely shaped characters and visible use of line weighting. Its lines aren't weak curves with sharp angles, PaSwG characters have more angular faces and hands, and usually a mix of spiky or smooth hair rather than soft curve looking hair. PaSwG looks quite distinct from Western animation styles even though it's an affectionate parody of them.

Coffin of Andy and Leyley's character style is closer to Star vs the forces of Evil characters than to Panty and Stocking.

Why are you arguing so much about the artstyle, who cares that some people call it anime esc or something, like why does that bother you? Seems a bit obsessive

I just think it looks nice, that it.