I remember Good Blood in his short documentary [I]Crash Bandicoot: An Icon Decline[/I] [URL="https://youtu.be/0sbUdMNIG20?t=6m30s"]also went over the fundamentals of shape language[/URL], so it was nice hearing about it again in this retrospective.
So, full disclaimer, I'm not a fan of anime in the slightest, and have never heard of the first show before.
But, when he said that Tyga (assuming that's how you spell it) has an "extremely iconic design", I just kinda went ":what:". She looks identical to all the other characters to me. :v:
With that being said, it's a good video. It didn't really say anything I didn't already know, but I think he did a great job of explaining everything. All of his other examples were great, too.
[QUOTE=Gmod4ever;51979077]So, full disclaimer, I'm not a fan of anime in the slightest, and have never heard of the first show before.
But, when he said that Tyga (assuming that's how you spell it) has an "extremely iconic design", I just kinda went ":what:". She looks identical to all the other characters to me. :v:
With that being said, it's a good video. It didn't really say anything I didn't already know, but I think he did a great job of explaining everything. All of his other examples were great, too.[/QUOTE]
Close, it's spelled "Taiga". Having seen Toradora myself I can safely say that only reason people even give a fuck about that character is because she's voiced by Rie Kugimiya who is the queen of voicing characters with the "tsundere" personality.
[QUOTE=Gmod4ever;51979077]So, full disclaimer, I'm not a fan of anime in the slightest, and have never heard of the first show before.
But, when he said that Tyga (assuming that's how you spell it) has an "extremely iconic design", I just kinda went ":what:". She looks identical to all the other characters to me. :v:
With that being said, it's a good video. It didn't really say anything I didn't already know, but I think he did a great job of explaining everything. All of his other examples were great, too.[/QUOTE]
Adding to what chunkymonkey said, you should also consider that highly popular anime characters get A LOT of clones and people copying the design. Rei Ayanami from Evangelion is another character that gets copied a lot of the time.
I haven't watched Toradora but I could pick Taiga out of a lineup of generic tsunderes, her design seems fairly distinctive and not completely generic.
[QUOTE=ashxu;51981004]Adding to what chunkymonkey said, you should also consider that highly popular anime characters get A LOT of clones and people copying the design. Rei Ayanami from Evangelion is another character that gets copied a lot of the time.[/QUOTE]
You can find Evangelion's DNA in a shitload of modern anime generally.
[QUOTE=Gmod4ever;51979077]But, when he said that Tyga (assuming that's how you spell it) has an "extremely iconic design", I just kinda went ":what:". She looks identical to all the other characters to me. :v:[/QUOTE]
The video doesn't really do it justice. Taiga's pretty short compared to most if not all of the other characters in her series to the point that she's nicknamed "palmtop tiger," and she's practically got two faces between her pissy side and her gentler side that help emphasize her uniquely.
It's all pretty basic character theory, really, but unfortunately the author doesn't really go in-depth on much else than Jotaro and some Overwatch fanart.
[QUOTE=New Cidem;51981993]You can find Evangelion's DNA in a shitload of modern anime generally.[/QUOTE]
i dont mean inspiration, i mean it's a trope in itself because of how common it is
[img]http://puu.sh/uPPRa/1384bb1c64.jpg[/img]
[url]http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ReiAyanamiExpy[/url]
Yeah, I wouldn't call Taiga a bastion of character design
Doraemon's mouth is probably more memorable than her entirely
of course that could just be personal pref since i never really was into toradora in the first place
In the context of anime Taiga is distinct, in context of characters in general she is a walking tsundere stereotype and nothing there is unique anymore.
man why are there so many people making video essays now who only have the most surface-level understanding of the topic
[QUOTE=Eric95;51982470]man why are there so many people making video essays now who only have the most surface-level understanding of the topic[/QUOTE]
They see how popular Every Frame A Painting and NerdWriter1 are.
[QUOTE=Eric95;51982470]man why are there so many people making video essays now who only have the most surface-level understanding of the topic[/QUOTE]
i read this post then i looked at the user name and i smiled
but in all seriousness the uploader used to be (still is?) an animator however his channel is primarily anime videos, not character design
[QUOTE=ashxu;51982615]i read this post then i looked at the user name and i smiled
but in all seriousness the uploader used to be (still is?) an animator however his channel is primarily anime videos, not character design[/QUOTE]
He's an illustrator
[QUOTE=Eric95;51982470]man why are there so many people making video essays now who only have the most surface-level understanding of the topic[/QUOTE]
i think its less about his understanding of the topic and more about he probably just didnt want to make a 4 hour long video, so he made a shorter one covering some of the basics
either way i thought it was p informative
[QUOTE=Reds;51981391]I haven't watched Toradora but I could pick Taiga out of a lineup of generic tsunderes, her design seems fairly distinctive and not completely generic.[/QUOTE]
The only reason she would stand out in a lineup is because she would be vastly shorter than pretty much anyone else(with some exceptions).
[QUOTE=chunkymonkey;51983391]The only reason she would stand out in a lineup is because she would be vastly shorter than pretty much anyone else(with some exceptions).[/QUOTE]
She's also one of the more 'realistic' tsunderes in appearance compared to most of the well-known ones from her time. Seriously, they all either have some magical gimmick, specially colored hair, or so forth but a lot of them run together.
I'm not trying to knock on anime as an art form but to be honest Japanese animation tends to be a lot weaker in general when conveying personality in character design. Generally anime designs are just there to look aesthetically pleasing and cool, where as a western approach to design is much more influenced by story and personality.
[QUOTE=omarfr;51988267]I'm not trying to knock on anime as an art form but to be honest Japanese animation tends to be a lot weaker in general when conveying personality in character design. Generally anime designs are just there to look aesthetically pleasing and cool, where as a western approach to design is much more influenced by story and personality.[/QUOTE]
That really depends on what anime we're talking about and what western media it is compared to. The actually good series or feature length animes have really good and fleshed out designs and unique personalities to match. A fair share of western animation and media overall also suffers from tacky, often meaningless designs.
Also, can we cut it off with this whole 'shapes theory' of character design nonsense?
Like, when I look at a triangle the first thing that springs to mind isn't: "Wow, that's cunning and very competent."
The first thing that springs to mind is: "Yup, that's a triangle."
[QUOTE=Funktastic Dog;51988590]Also, can we cut it off with this whole 'shapes theory' of character design nonsense?
Like, when I look at a triangle the first thing that springs to mind isn't: "Wow, that's cunning and very competent."
The first thing that springs to mind is: "Yup, that's a triangle."[/QUOTE]
shape theory is very context sensitive
prime example:
[IMG]http://www.gamedynamo.com/images/galleries/photo/1140/weakling-game-characters-halo-grunts.jpg[/IMG]
[QUOTE=RonthisTW;51988642]shape theory is very context sensitive
prime example:
[IMG]http://www.gamedynamo.com/images/galleries/photo/1140/weakling-game-characters-halo-grunts.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE]
Shape theory makes zero sense though. It's way too psychoanalytical and relies too much on deep psychology, when really all that matters is the actual design of the character.
If I slapped a smiley face on a triangle, it's design wouldn't be 'cunning and competent' but friendly and cute.
I liked One Punch Man's protagonist a lot.
Sad he only got like, 10 or 20 seconds of mention.
[QUOTE=Funktastic Dog;51988671]Shape theory makes zero sense though. It's way too psychoanalytical and relies too much on deep psychology, when really all that matters is the actual design of the character.
If I slapped a smiley face on a triangle, it's design wouldn't be 'cunning and competent' but friendly and cute.[/QUOTE]
shape theory and its use isn't about creating absolutes out of all these theoretical subtleties, it's just a fun and somewhat guiding point to start your own design language from. And there's still a lot less psychological points to make with shapes, the basics I always get out of them are that squares are heavy/solid, circles are energetic/in motion/organic, jagged shapes like triangles are dangerous
like that's game design logic 101
[t]https://www.mariowiki.com/images/6/69/SMW_WendyCastle.PNG[/t][t]http://img11.deviantart.net/ea1c/i/2015/247/c/4/smw_castle_wallpaper_by_happymasksales-d98ceys.png[/t]
[QUOTE=Funktastic Dog;51988671]Shape theory makes zero sense though. It's way too psychoanalytical and relies too much on deep psychology, when really all that matters is the actual design of the character.
If I slapped a smiley face on a triangle, it's design wouldn't be 'cunning and competent' but friendly and cute.[/QUOTE]
Well there in lies the problem. You don't understand how shape theory works. No artists/teacher would ever tell you that sticking a smiley face on a triangle would make a cunning/competent character. There's a lot of nuance to character design and shape language that really does create stronger characters. It's also partially cultural, as is some color theory.
Our teachers at my school generally teach 4 fundamentals of creating a readable character
In order of development.
Silohouette/Shape Language -> Pose -> Costume
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