10 Types of Anime Drawing Styles That Artists Should Know About!

Anime drawing is one of the most popular forms in the world.

There are many anime drawing styles and the best anime art styles have been a point of discussion for many.

With the different anime art styles out there, some explanation is required.

For those looking to get into the medium, finding a laptop for artists is a good place to start, though there are extensive training techniques that will need to be learned.

With the right tools and frame of mind, you can create your favorite anime. But for now, let’s get into the different anime styles.

Types of Anime Drawing Styles

There are more than a few anime art styles. The best anime art is up to the beholder.

There is:

manga art
anime girl drawing

And anime style art that all set different boundaries within the overarching term.

Drawing anime can come down to the different styles. But what are those styles?

Here are more than a few for you to chew on!

1. Chibi Anime Style

An anime Chibi base is much more childish in nature.

What does Chibi mean? It generally means that characters are meant to look much younger than they actually are.

Chibi anime characters tend to have features that make them appear to be younger than their actual age dictates, though that is not a hard and fast rule with Chibi.

The stars of these shows tend to be in their late teens but look much younger than that.

It is rare to see Chibi characters much older than that.

2. MOE Anime Style

MOE meaning can be a bit difficult to define. Little anime girls, though looking young in nature, are meant to look a little more believable than their Chibi counterparts.

The best MOE anime makes use of realistic features while keeping the characters looking young.

Top Moe anime has become popular in the medium.

Not only that, but it is believed that Moe can change anime by presenting something of a less cartoonish product.

Relevant: 15 Kawaii Anime Figures That Will Make You Blush

3. Shōjo Anime Style

Shōjo manga is another popular anime style. You might hear it referred to as Shoji mha or even shoujo anime.

The shoujo anime definition is also a little ambiguous.

It is generally aimed at girls because it uses themes that are attractive to girls. Things like friendship, companionship, and comedy are all crucial aspects of this type of anime.

4. Seinen Anime Style

When asked to define seinen of the best seinen anime, you might come to the term seinen manga.

Seinen is “a young man” which has a contrast of similarity to Shounen. The difference is that seinen tends to be a little more sophisticated than its Shounen counterpart.

The two are typically confused and compared to one another. But seinen contains a much wider array of artistic styles than Shounen.

There is more emphasis on the plot with less of it being able to the action that Shounen features.

5. Josei Anime Style

Josei manga is basically the female equivalent of Seinen anime. The Josei meaning is literally “female” and the best Josei anime tends to entail the everyday experiences of adult women without over the top action or drama.

There is also a romance of a non-sexual variety at the heart of this style of anime. It is meant to be a more realistic form of romance as compared to the Shojo style of anime series.

6. Kodomo Anime Style

Without even realizing it, Kodomo anime for kids may be the most commonly seen type of anime out there.

Kodomo anime and manga, like Kodomo no jikan manga, come in the form of popular shows like Pokemon.

Kodomo anime style is meant to contain themes and characters for families and children. This style is sought out by adults because of the simple plot and the shorter duration.

There is something almost “innocent” about this style of anime. No doubt one of the aspects that makes it such a popular choice among anime communities.

7. Cartoonish Anime Style

Cartoon anime tends to be over the top. Think of an anime cartoon that you have seen, full of cartoonish art styles.

There are those huge anime cartoon eyes that we are familiar with.

These anime tend to be light and fun, with exaggerated features for each of the characters.

8. Realistic Anime Style

These tend to have more serious plots and more realistic features.

Some other anime styles may feature huge eyes or no nose or some other feature that is simply not realistic.

That is not to say that they are completely realistic, but the approach is a more serious one than some of the other anime styles out there.

9. Kemono Anime Style

This is something of a sub-style anime art.

In this style, characters have animal traits while they are acting in normal human situations. Characters are generally fused with “cute” animal attributes while maintaining a human-like personality.

They also rarely act like the animals which they portray.

The differences in behavior between the two are negligible despite the much more exaggerated, animal appearance.

10. Shounen Anime Style

Shonen Anime Drawing Style — @inkartluis

Some will say that the best Shounen anime or a good Shounen anime has a lot of action.

Shounen actually means “boy” in Japanese and contains elements from both anime and manga. It was created specifically for male audiences.

It has themes like:

action
violence

And even a little bit of romance, but seen from the male perspective.

The most popular anime titles tend to fall under the Shounen umbrella. As a matter of fact, most American networks that carry anime have a Shounen offering or two.

Conclusion

anime art drawing styles pictures 1 — animeoutline.com

As you can see, there are many styles out there for anime drawing. There are far more than this list holds.

Finding the right style for you takes a little bit of looking around and experimentation to find what fits you best.

The good news is that you don’t have to stop at one. You can find a few different styles that fit your interests and see how they compare and contrast.

Image taken from @inkartluis