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The clash of Character Art Styles

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Post by Paragon-Yoshi Wed Oct 30, 2013 8:46 pm

Am I the only one who has noticed this?

There seem to be two different art styles used for the characters in the Shantae games.


Lets see...

Manga-Style
The simpler kind of manga-style drawings, with the pointy noses and simpler details.
Yet still more detailed than the other kind of art style.

This one only used for the female cast (save for the ugly one, like the fat bath lady in Oasis Town).


Simple Cartoon-style
In this style the character have oversimplified head-shapes, mostly a "Pineapple" shape.
Which doesn't look as beautiful as the other one.

Used for all male characters and ugly females.


So what does this boil down to?
Surely those two art styles are clashing.
One is beautiful and attractive (Manga-style) while the other one (Cartoon Style)... not so much.


So one could assume that WayForward used the human Manga-style for female's only (not counting ugly ones) to make them look more attractive and beautiful compared to the rest of the cast.


I find that interesting!
No rating. Just saying it's interesting.
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Post by Guest Thu Oct 31, 2013 1:55 pm

Nah, not the only one, although I didn't identify the variance as neatly as you did. ^^'' I chalk it up, as you, to beautifying the female cast - which, if I recall correctly, is one of WF's key goals with the Shantae series: to maximize the influence of its ladies, a quest aided by their designs. It's intentional skewing to emphasize females over males. Does that effectively combat the gender imbalance in gaming overall? - er, not...necessarily, since 1) Shantae's a smaller series & 2) as noted, WF pulls no punches with emphasizing its ladies. If anything I wouldn't mind another male protagonist backed up by a well-rounded cast (Sigma Star Saga 2, no?~).

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Post by Paragon-Yoshi Thu Oct 31, 2013 9:26 pm

The question I'd like to ask is: "Why not using just one art-style, but two clashing ones?"

Sure the beautifying intention is obvious.
But couldn't it have been done with just one art-style too?
I wonder.


Either way, it's something I noticed for a long time now.
And now I found the words to share it as potential discussion.
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Post by Guest Fri Nov 01, 2013 3:11 am

It could've, if the intent was not so narrow: to segregate the females and males - perhaps to /amplify/ the differences between the genders as cemented by the foundation of the Shantae universe. It reinforces the typing: 'females marvelous; males plain.' Whether that was or was not prudent is not a conversational pursuit I desire. S'pretty clear to me tho' that the females will almost certainly drive the series 100%, and as such, their depictions will almost certainly remain less plain.

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Post by Maetch Fri Nov 01, 2013 9:44 pm

What more can I say? WayForward loves their sexy ladies (juvenile and immature as it sounds). Just look at their past resume:

*Shantae (obvious, but Risky is so stacked that her bra is literally struggling to keep itself on her)
*Xtreme Sports (Guppi and her bikini)
*Sigma Star Saga (Psyme's the classic sci-fi staple: hot alien chick with minimal clothing)
*Mighty Switch Force (The main antagonists are five sexy chicks, and Patty's pretty well-built herself)
*BloodRayne: Betrayal (Though Rayne actually looks LESS racy compared to her original games)
*Contra 4 (Play as Lucia and watch her run... Boingy-boingy!)
*Double Dragon Neon (The Lindas and Marian have such low-cut tops that it's amazing they don't slip a nip)

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Post by fm3 Tue Jan 21, 2014 3:39 pm

You say that the men and less attractive females are rendered in more of a cartoony style, while most females are in anime style, but I feel that you're not quite right there.  True, the ladies of Shantae are often more attractively stylized, but the fellas aren't really drawn in a different art style at all.  Anime does tend towards idealized proportions, but it has it's fair share of -shall we say- Western builds if you look for them, and generally these are attributed to male characters because males are usually more muscular or fat.

Consider the anime One Piece for a moment.  Many of the females are tall, slender and curvascious to the point that only their costumes and hair set them apart physically.  The only real ecception to this that I can recall is the villain from the first episode who was rather obese, and even she came back later on with those idealiszed proportions.  The males are considerably more varied, coming in several shapes, sizes, and ages.

In the end it all comes down to trying to make the girls attractive, and the men masculine.
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Post by .Luke Wed Feb 19, 2014 4:24 am

Sorry for not posting lately guys, Valentines and a birthday card for a friend kept me pretty preoccupied with art.

I kinda have to agree with fm3 here. Anime/Manga itself doesn't have a strict art style to go by, and a lot of characters can vary in weight, eye shapes, or proportions. For instance, Bolo seems to have the general shape of Mangaka heads and bodies, (At least in Risky's Revenge.) but none of the typical facial structures. Shantae herself doesn't even have a typical Manga face, and her body proportions would seem anatomically impossible in comparison to a lot of Animes.

Mimic and others, I'm not entirely sure about; this isn't something I've thought about very deeply. All I can really say is that WayForward's characters seem like a lot of Western cartoons, so they aren't afraid to go for variety in shapes, or other hallmark features, (Such as Risky's distinctly pale white skin.) that helps distinguish each character from one another.
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