Ask John: What happened to the old-school Style of Character Design?

Question:
What happened to the old-school “Dokite”-style of anime drawings? I am wondering about what has become of this very old fashioned design, as it has seemed to have disappeared along with Tsukasa Dokite’s role as a character designer. These designs used to be very popular and the details were meticulously exquisite for their time. Just what has become of this style? Has it really been superseded by bishoujo, gal-type moe drawings? Do you think the departure from traditional cell animation to digital animation led to more simplified , “line-efficient” forms in Japanese animation (along with higher frame counts)? And just where and what is Tsukasa Dokite working on, now?

Answer:
Tsukasa Dokite, probably best known as the animation character designer for the “classic” Dirty Pair anime, wasn’t solely responsible for the look of 80s anime characters, but I do apprehend the spirit of the question. It doesn’t take a lot of scrutiny to recognize that anime character designs from the 1980s have a distinctly different look than contemporary character designs do. Since there is no singular style of character design, it’s only possible to compare vague impressions. I think that the general impression of 80s character design includes characters with fleshy, warm faces drawn with broad strokes. Modern character design has the stereotypical image of being thin, shapely, and sleek. 80s characters would be like potatoes – lumpy and substantial with a rich, earthy color. Contemporary character design would be like carrots – streamlined, thin, and pointy with vibrant, bright color. The difference between the two styles is, I think, a natural evolution of the creative influences behind anime.

Some of the most prolific and influential animation character designers of the 1980s included Tsukasa Dokite, Akemi Takada, Haruhiko Mikimoto, Hiroyuki Kitazume, Kenichi Sonoda, Yasuomi Umetsu, Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, and Toshihiro Hirano. Many of these artists are still involved in the anime industry, but no longer primarily as animation character designers. For example, Tsukasa Dokite recently provided new art for the Japanese Dirty Pair TV series DVD boxed set released earlier this year, and a new cover illustration for the recently released Dirty Pair Complete Works illustration book. But through the 1990s and 2000s, new generations of character designers have entered the field and brought a new sophistication and style to anime character design. Character designers including Toshihiro Kawamoto, Hisashi Hirai, Keiji Goto, Range Murata, Poyoyon Rock, and Kazuto Nakazawa have contributed to establishing a new, modern aesthetic for anime character design.

We can see a similar evolution in American comic books. Jack Kirby’s characteristic style of square jawed, brick house superheroes and 50s style mainstream American values is completely different from the stereotypical look of modern American comic book characters that are tall, slim, toned and chiseled rather than burly. The characteristic visual impression of comic characters naturally evolves in response to the spirit of the time, and the generation of artists at work. So I do think that the style of character design typical of the 1980s has been superceded by today’s “line efficient” sleek style. I don’t think that the change is for better or worse; it’s simply different.