What anime/manga-style art do you recommend?

[Kuroyue]

I used to be in love with the anime and manga art style, but I've gotten really tired of it over the years. It's great eye candy, but most of the time, that's all it is at best. So, I really want to know:

What examples of good art do you keep track of that happen to be in the anime style?
What is it exactly that 'good' anime art has or lacks that sets it apart from...I dunno, the usual DeviantArt mush? Sometimes this is really obvious, but I'd still like to see the difference defined in real words, if possible.

I'd guess that what makes anime so hate-able is its overused stereotypes and shallowness, in both technique and subject. Well, can you point me to an anime or manga artist who defies this?

[ShroudStar]

Tsutomu Nihei - BLAME!, Abara, Biomega, Noise, Wolverine SNIKT! Very French-influenced, has a background in architecture (look at his megastructures), and does some killer Giger-esque creature designs.

Natsuki Sumeragi - You have to Google her. She does ancient Chinese, Japanese, and Korean-based manga. Very beautiful and elegant line art and more classical than contemporary.

[Kuroyue]

Tsutomu Nihei -- oh wow, that IS Giger-esque. I'm not so taken with the look of his characters, but the architecture blows me away. Thanks for showing me this! I've heard of BLAME! here and there, but I've never checked it out.

Natsuki Sumeragi -- well, I have to admit that classical style isn't my cup of tea, but it could be that I just don't know how to appreciate it. Still, not bad.

[Muz]

http://studioqube.com/

http://gueuzav.deviantart.com/

second link is a french artist but it is very much anime influenced, but man his work is really awesome and unique.

[Kuroyue]

...I'd like to see if anyone else agrees if I put these links here up for suggestion:

http://kidchan.deviantart.com (Consistent style, almost to a repetitive point, but very unique style nonetheless.)
http://members3.jcom.home.ne.jp/u1h/ (Haradaya -- Takehito Harada. Famous for the Disgaea game series.)

[Mordus]

Takeshi Obata: Death Note. DEATH NOTE.
Anything by Studio Ghibli. Also Shirow Masamune for Ghost in the Shell.

[Ian Barker]

kidchan does some good stuff. I like some of prodigy-bombay's stuff too, although he doesn't really go anywhere with it. I'm not a huge fan of the Death Note artwork, but hot DAMN does it have some good story... at least in the TV show, I haven't read it.

[PieterV]

Tatsuyuki Tanaka (http://www.animepaper.net/gallery/scans/Tatsuyuki-Tanaka/)

Cellar FCP (http://cellar-fcp.deviantart.com/)

Arma Eater (http://www.abukas.com/)

Kim Hyung Tae (http://www.hyung-taekim.org/) (my guilty pleasure)

Saskia Gutekunst (http://coyotesaskia.blogspot.com/)

Gez Fry (http://www.folioart.co.uk/illustration/folio/artists/illustrator/gez-fry/) <3

[Kuroyue]

PieterV, those are definitely some interesting links. I have seen Arma Eater, Cellar FCP, Kim Hyung Tae, and Gez Fry before, and I agree.

[catcon]

Basically everything i see in Miyazaki movies.

and http://gunnmgally.deviantart.com
great mix between anime/realistic

[rossipoo]

Kim Hyung Tae
!!!

[Spirit]

I'm not a big fan of anime style anything really, although there are a few artists which I enjoy looking at who have that style. Tukiji Nao is one of those exceptions. I love the details in this image and that it is a lot more "realistic" compared to most anime, as I associate most anime as "simple" and too cartoony for my tastes.

[Crass]

I love Ayami Kojima's work on the Castlevania series. Here's a gallery: http://gallery.aethereality.net/list/artist/38/1/


http://www.thatvideogameblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/alucard_002.jpg

[nofu]

Interesting. Totally unaware of this topic, earlier today I happened to browse some French site on mainly European and Asian animation and came across a studio called Studio 4°C. I could actually bring out most of their stuff as examples here but one particular animation called "Moondrive" really caught me in a spell. I love the style. It's a 15 min short. Here's a relatively good AMV of it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ggk1xnmXAT0

Today aside, I think Samurai Champloo is a great example of a bit different side of anime. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagan too. It's a bit generic maybe but the animation has that something extra that works for me and brings it out of the crowd. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is another good style example. Other names I can come up with right now that I think are worth mentioning would be Ergo Proxy and Michiko to Hachin. There's actually a lot of anime with cool style out there.

Also Makoto Shinkai. Don't think much of his plots and characters but the settings are just faboosh gorgeos mountains of eyecandy. He has this unrealistic realistic appeal to them.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDBH4xCE9ys&feature=fvst

[Kuroyue]

I've heard of studio 4C, and their animation is just spellbinding. I recommend watching Amazing Nuts! "Kung Fu Love": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yMrOcaDZJM

also, Ken Ishii (also by studio 4C): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUz13hYwuBw

I've heard of Samurai Champloo and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagan, but I haven't seen either. Probably shouldn't either--I'm already hooked with so many other things.

Will check out Makoto Shinkai.

[ZenitYerkes]

Although I don't like manga neither anime, the Grave of the Fireflies was one of the most beautiful movies I've ever seen. No eyecandies neither disproportioned people nor teenagers showing their underwear constantly

It's beautiful. Maybe the only word that would fit in that movie.

[Kuroyue]

To be fair, Western art also has a lot of disproportional people, albeit in a different style. But yes, Graveyard of the Fireflies is beautiful. Its effect is lost on me, though, because I've seen it when I was probably five and if I were to see it now there would be no shock value. I've heard that it's pretty known for making people cry, too.

[Chimi]

OMG! Tetsuya Nomura is the most epic of all. He's the master mind behind cloud and everything from ff7 and up. If you actualy do research and look closer at his work there are a few coool things you'll notice, for example riku from KH1. (dont have apicture so google one or something) but you'll notice that his pants are actualy shorts that have this little suspender thingies that hold onto his pant legs and from afar it looks like simple long legged pants but they're not (let's hope that was coherrent). and in his other works there are heaps of other little things that are "hidding" as yell as his use for useless belts and zippers

[Téa_Passer]

http://tknk.deviantart.com/

http://artgerm.deviantart.com/gallery/

http://shimizu0800.deviantart.com/

http://shuangwen.deviantart.com/

[GoGoJojo]

Hiroaki Samura, the guy who draws Blade of the Immortal! The faces are more stylized on the women, but the anatomy work is gorgeous.

And I agree that Grave of the Fireflies was a wonderfully sad movie.

[FightingSeraph]

Bronson and Tetsuo Hara: The two men behind Fist of the North Star (Best anime ever).

Ryusuke Mita: Dragon Half (too bad he's still in jail, I really dig his style)

Kaori Yuki: She and Ayami Kojima have the same style.

Y. Amano: I didn't get to play FF6 extensively, but I like his character designs.

Akira Toriyama: I personally prefer his other stuff over Dragon Ball.

...And this is coming from someone who has mixed feelings towards anime in general.

[Peter Coene]

I like Anime/Manga art in general, so long as it is actually an example of industry work. For example, artists who are working on the actual anime, creating storyboards or actually drawing the frames or backgrounds, as well as artists who make the promotional pieces, including posters or cover art or dvds, and anything else created by professionals specifically for the industry. Seeing as I do like anime quite a bit (yes, I have my weaboo moments) I think it will be easier to list what I don't like, rather than what I do like.

What I don't like is the stereotypical members of the anime/manga fandom, and by proxy I don't like the art created by said members. I especially do not like their art when:

a) it is based on a generic series that everyone has seen and there are a bajillion other artists drawing the same characters.

b) it depicts two characters, possibly from entirely different stories, engaging in a romantic union which neither character would be likely to be involved in, usually indicating a homosexual relationship. This especially bothers me when I actually enjoyed the original anime that the characters came from.

c) the "artist" has actually created their own characters for their own story. However, the story sounds like someone took a mishmash of old anime storylines from the '80s and based a fanfic on it, and the art looks like what someone might expect from a Japanese Picasso with Down Syndrome.

d) the artist finds something in an anime that was actually done as a cheep way to save on animation budget and uses this as a basis for ALL of his/her own work. This includes but is not limited to "chibis," avoiding noses, crazy sloppily drawn expressions, hands drawn like mittens, funny giant sweat drops, etc.

e) anything traced. I'm not sure if adding new features/changing appearance of character with a traced pose is actually better or worse than just tracing the character without making any changes.

f) The artist insists on making the bulk of their portfolio consist of anime fan work, especially with any of the above examples, shows it around while hopped up on pocky wearing a cosplay outfit, and then expects anyone to take them seriously enough to give them a job.

[Jovian M]

Hiroaki Samura and Obata Takeshi still get my balls wet. I like plenty of other uhhh, 'manga style' artists, but those two are probably my favourites. www.kse332.deviantart.com and www.lesean.deviantart.com are really good, too.

[Alex Chow]

I'll take anything that looks different and that it looks to be good quality. If I get the vibe that an "Anime style" artwork has been done at least 20 times before, it doesn't pass (Of course, I don't have a set number for this test...).

That said, some Anime-styled artists I like are George Kamitani, Yoshitaka Amano, Tatsuyuki Tanaka, Makoto Shinkai, Udon Comics, Hayao Miyazaki, and Falcoon. There are probably a billion others but these guys stand out for me.

[MrSmith]

generally any artist that draws faces in the default anime style fails with me. otherwise ok.

[PieterV]

Juno Jeong (http://studiosis.com/3rdBASS/)

And let's not forget about Amano (http://www.amanosworld.com/)!

[AlexEh]

http://studioqube.com/

http://gueuzav.deviantart.com/

second link is a french artist but it is very much anime influenced, but man his work is really awesome and unique.


That french guys work just blew my mind...

[Slothboy3000]

I like alot of old school artist's styles.

Fujio Akatsuka
http://www.intergalactico.com/images/Akatsuka_mix.jpg

Shigeru Mizuki
http://blog.newsarama.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/normal_thompson-mizuki.jpg

Tezuka and Ishinomori are others that stand out to me. It's a shame that these guys don't get the recognition they deserve in the west.

[Randis]

i would rename this thread in 'what anime or manga can you recommend'

"'Anime'-style art you DO approve of" sounds somewhat degrading to me.

It would be no different to say:
"Abstract art you DO approve of, Complimentary art you DO approve of, concept art you DO approve of

No art form needs anyones approval.

[Kuroyue]

i would rename this thread in 'what anime or manga can you recommend'

"'Anime'-style art you DO approve of" sounds somewhat degrading to me.

It would be no different to say:
"Abstract art you DO approve of, Complimentary art you DO approve of, concept art you DO approve of

No art form needs anyones approval.

Fixed. I knew it sounded degrading, but you have to admit that there is a certain attitude against anime here, more notably when it comes to the more stereotypical aspects (why else would people call it animu?). So I wanted to make sure I didn't sound like a mindless fan.

But there are certainly more positive responses than I'd anticipated, so it makes sense to change the title now.

[Enydimon]

Fixed. I knew it sounded degrading, but you have to admit that there is a certain attitude against anime here, more notably when it comes to the more stereotypical aspects (why else would people call it animu?). So I wanted to make sure I didn't sound like a mindless fan.

But there are certainly more positive responses than I'd anticipated, so it makes sense to change the title now.

People are more against those who think of style before basics, rather than the style itself. There's a lot of bad western cartoons and there's a lot of bad eastern ones. I'm not a big fan of anime anymore, but I can respect it and find some interesting aesthetics in different variations.

You're only a mindless fan if you're posting that way, and you weren't. :)

[Kuroyue]

People are more against those who think of style before basics, rather than the style itself. There's a lot of bad western cartoons and there's a lot of bad eastern ones. I'm not a big fan of anime anymore, but I can respect it and find some interesting aesthetics in different variations.

You're only a mindless fan if you're posting that way, and you weren't. :)

--(sigh of relief)--

[seba_boi]

Oh no, here's my list of favourites:

The Capcom Illustration team (the best character designers EVER!!!):
Kinu Nishimura (http://capcomdatabase.wikia.com/wiki/Kinu_Nishimura) (Capcom Vs. SNK, SFIII, Overman King Gainer),
Daigo Ikeno (http://capcom-town.es/2007/12/13/daigo-ikeno-disenador-de-personajes-de-sfiv/) (SFIII, SFIV),
AKIMAN (http://blog.livedoor.jp/akiman7/) (SF, Turn-A Gundam),
Edayan (http://capcomdatabase.wikia.com/wiki/Edayan) (Rival Schools, SFA),
Bengus (http://capcomdatabase.wikia.com/wiki/Bengus) (Darkstalkers, SFA2),
Kazuya Nuri (http://www.court-records.net/art4.htm) (Ace Attorney)

Takuji Kawano (http://www.creativeuncut.com/artsc4.html) (Soul Calibur)
Ogura Eisuke (http://snk.wikia.com/wiki/Eisuke_Ogura) (King Of Fighters XII)
Range Murata (http://www.pseweb.com/page/gallery.html) (Last Exile)
Hyung-Tae Kim (http://www.ferricorp.com/gallery/41/artist/Hyung-Tae-Kim-Gallery) (Magna Carta artist)
Shunya Yamashita (http://www.ferricorp.com/gallery/52/artist/Yamashita-Shunya-Gallery) (various Squaresoft games)
Ayami Kojima (http://gallery.aethereality.net/list/artist/38/) (Castlevania series)
Akihiko Yoshida (http://www.creativeuncut.com/profile_yoshida.html) (FFT, FFXII)
Senri Kita (http://www.xt.sakura.ne.jp/~yan/scribble/top.html) (Samurai Shodown, Fire Emblem Wii)
Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (http://animeartbooks.net/author/56-yoshiyuki-sadamoto/) (FLCL, Neon Genesis Evangelion, .hack)
Nobuteru Yuki (http://www.creativeuncut.com/art_chrono-cross_a.html) (Chrono Cross, Escaflowne)
Falcoon (http://falcoon.hp.infoseek.co.jp/) (KOF 2003)
Katsuya Terada (http://www.catsuka.com/focuson.php?id=terada_katsuya&page=2) (Blood: The Last Vampire)

I seem to be a big fan of videogame artworks... Not saying I don't like anime artworks too... Whilst many here would blow the style off, I think many have their merits especially in character designing and building a fantastic ensemble of casts... For instance, I really like the character designs and the cast from One Piece, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Ah! My Goddess, Ranma 1/2, Death Note, Tenjo Tenge, etc...

[Saskia]

Oh no, here's my list of favourites:

Tatsurou Iwamoto (http://www.court-records.net/art4.htm) (Ace Attorney)



The Artwork from this link ( Apollo Justice ) and the 5th Case in the very first Ace Attorney and comes actually from Kazuya Nuri. He has also done Artwork for Zak & Wiki for wii ( which is by the way a fantastic game !! )

Tatsurou Iwamoto is responsible for the Art in AA3 ( Trials & Tribulations ) and the new AA Investigations. You might want to edit that :)

And thank you so much for the Senri Kita link, i always wondered if hte artist had a site ( Fire Emblem ftw !! )

[armando]

Shin Chan is pretty hilarious.
If you wanna see shitty art and shitty writing look at pretty much anything produced by the Cartoon network. Almost all of that garbage is just wannabe Beavis and Butthead.

Edit: I meant the Adult Swim stuff: Xavier: renegade angel, "Bob and Tom fantastic show very good" or something like that.

[Kuroyue]

Shin Chan is pretty hilarious.
If you wanna see shitty art and shitty writing look at pretty much anything produced by the Cartoon network. Almost all of that garbage is just wannabe Beavis and Butthead.

B-but...the childhood nostalgia...

[Kraus]

Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Animatrix, hell, even Ninja Scroll. But you know what makes these epic in my opinion..it's the animation and the art direction as a whole. I usually am completely indifferent to still anime, although i'll say one thing, some of them are insane looking in detail and colour. But those are not drawn by artists who are confined withing constraints trying to imitate anime.

[hitnrun]

I dislike anime intensely, HOWEVER a lot of the artists in the links have talent - I can appreciate the style if it is done by a professional who isn't just trying to get pats on the back by his or her friends and trying to fit in. I actually thank everyone who posted here for showing me that not all anime is complete schoolboy/girl bullshit.

[Enydimon]

Oh no, here's my list of favourites:

The Capcom Illustration team (the best character designers EVER!!!):
Kinu Nishimura (http://capcomdatabase.wikia.com/wiki/Kinu_Nishimura) (Capcom Vs. SNK, SFIII, Overman King Gainer),
Daigo Ikeno (http://capcom-town.es/2007/12/13/daigo-ikeno-disenador-de-personajes-de-sfiv/) (SFIII, SFIV),
AKIMAN (http://blog.livedoor.jp/akiman7/) (SF, Turn-A Gundam),
Edayan (http://capcomdatabase.wikia.com/wiki/Edayan) (Rival Schools, SFA),
Bengus (http://capcomdatabase.wikia.com/wiki/Bengus) (Darkstalkers, SFA2),
Tatsurou Iwamoto (http://www.court-records.net/art4.htm) (Ace Attorney)

Takuji Kawano (http://www.creativeuncut.com/artsc4.html) (Soul Calibur)
Ogura Eisuke (http://snk.wikia.com/wiki/Eisuke_Ogura) (King Of Fighters XII)
Range Murata (http://www.pseweb.com/page/gallery.html) (Last Exile)
Hyung-Tae Kim (http://www.ferricorp.com/gallery/41/artist/Hyung-Tae-Kim-Gallery) (Magna Carta artist)
Shunya Yamashita (http://www.ferricorp.com/gallery/52/artist/Yamashita-Shunya-Gallery) (various Squaresoft games)
Ayami Kojima (http://gallery.aethereality.net/list/artist/38/) (Castlevania series)
Akihiko Yoshida (http://www.creativeuncut.com/profile_yoshida.html) (FFT, FFXII)
Senri Kita (http://www.xt.sakura.ne.jp/~yan/scribble/top.html) (Samurai Shodown, Fire Emblem Wii)
Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (http://animeartbooks.net/author/56-yoshiyuki-sadamoto/) (FLCL, Neon Genesis Evangelion, .hack)
Nobuteru Yuki (http://www.creativeuncut.com/art_chrono-cross_a.html) (Chrono Cross, Escaflowne)
Falcoon (http://falcoon.hp.infoseek.co.jp/) (KOF 2003)
Katsuya Terada (http://www.catsuka.com/focuson.php?id=terada_katsuya&page=2) (Blood: The Last Vampire)

I seem to be a big fan of videogame artworks... Not saying I don't like anime artworks too... Whilst many here would blow the style off, I think many have their merits especially in character designing and building a fantastic ensemble of casts... For instance, I really like the character designs and the cast from One Piece, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Ah! My Goddess, Ranma 1/2, Death Note, Tenjo Tenge, etc...
Thanks for posting that. I'm a big fan of artists from Capcom. Edayan was a huge inspiration for me when I was a youngling.

[seba_boi]

I'm afraid I didn't post a good link to Range Murata's art there... There doesn't seem to be enough of his illustrations that showcases his love for Art Deco and how he fused them with his designs...

http://i46.tinypic.com/4uuwyr.jpg

The Artwork from this link ( Apollo Justice ) and the 5th Case in the very first Ace Attorney and comes actually from Kazuya Nuri. He has also done Artwork for Zak & Wiki for wii ( which is by the way a fantastic game !! )

Tatsurou Iwamoto is responsible for the Art in AA3 ( Trials & Tribulations ) and the new AA Investigations. You might want to edit that :)

And thank you so much for the Senri Kita link, i always wondered if hte artist had a site ( Fire Emblem ftw !! )
Hellz yeah!... Somebody else knows Senri Kita!... I wish Capcom would hire her again...

And thank you very much for the correction there... I had the notion that the artist for the fifth case of PW:AA and Apollo Justice were different since the artwork and character designs are sooooo much better (my opinion)... I bought the artbook and his characters are definitely much more interesting and generally better designed...

But I have grown to like Iwamoto's designs too but not as much as Nuri's... I can't wait for Ace Attorney Investigations next month!... And there's also a friggin' new Hotel Dusk sequel!...

Thanks for posting that. I'm a big fan of artists from Capcom. Edayan was a huge inspiration for me when I was a youngling.
Oh man, I pretty much set any other videogame character designs against the Capcom team's works... In my eyes, they are the best hands down... If I only knew the artist for the Breath Of Fire series, I would've added him too... I already have the Capcom Design Works artbook, the Ace Attorney artbook, the Street Figther artbook, and now I just need the Darkstalkers artbook and the effing Monster Hunter Illustrations artbook!...

[seba_boi]

Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Animatrix, hell, even Ninja Scroll. But you know what makes these epic in my opinion..it's the animation and the art direction as a whole. I usually am completely indifferent to still anime, although i'll say one thing, some of them are insane looking in detail and colour. But those are not drawn by artists who are confined withing constraints trying to imitate anime.

I wouldn't just confine them to just that... An effing LOT of anime have amazing art direction... Examples?....

How about great opening sequences:
bXE4wO-Qt48

Use of montage:
oeFGQpj4Z8o

Some John Woo-esque fight scene perhaps:
sSQtn7lYJIM

Anybody remember this? How they love transformation scenes:
gg_jOr0Hjvg
"Form feet and legs!... Form arms and body!... And I'll form the head!" hahaha!...

Hell, even girly stuff like Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura has some great transformations and attacks...

[Randis]

Fixed. I knew it sounded degrading, but you have to admit that there is a certain attitude against anime here, more notably when it comes to the more stereotypical aspects (why else would people call it animu?). So I wanted to make sure I didn't sound like a mindless fan.

But there are certainly more positive responses than I'd anticipated, so it makes sense to change the title now.

I know what you mean :D
But is is not towards anime or manga, looots of people here, me included love anime and manga.
What people dont like is, kids drawing evil vegetas and gokus with new fictional muscle groups or fanboys calling themself Manga-ka and Otaku.

[Whitevillage]

I enjoy Jun Tsukasa's work, he draws mostly strong females - (NSFW) http://longrangebullet.info/ & http://gallery.shirow.net/v/TsukasaJun/bullet/

Always enjoyed Yasuhiro Nightow's work Trigun Maximum and Gungrave. He has also some Mike Mignola influences trough his work.

http://trigun.wikia.com/wiki/File:Wolfwood_id_trigun_maximum_by_samanosuke89.jp g

http://media.photobucket.com/image/trigun%20maximum%20manga/Macdoggle/Families.jpg

Kentaro Miura's Berserk is a must see fantasy horror manga; lot's of good and freakish designs and a lot of crosshatching and toning detail on each page.

http://media.photobucket.com/image/berserk%20miura/klhlam/miura.jpg

http://www.goodnightcircle.com/sites/cyborg1/usercontent/berserk1.jpg

The artwork of Order of Eclesia by Masaki Hirooka gets also my approvement of one of the best Castlevania artwork next to Ajami Kojima. - http://www.creativeuncut.com/art_castlevania-order-of-ecclesia_a.html

[seba_boi]

So that's her name... Masaki Hirooka... I love how her artstyle fits along side Ayami Kojima's other Castlevania works but at the same time is an original style in itself... And thank goodness they hired her to do the artwork for Order Of Ecclesia... The in-game artwork for Portrait Of Ruin and Dawn Of Sorrow was just blah...

[Armitege]

I have not watched anime in a long time.. I cannot remember really who I liked.

Here are some that stood out to me during that time though!

Yukito Kishiro - Best known for Battle Angel Alita.. A pretty cool cyberpunk comic. There is a anime out, but not as good as the comic.

If you want a strange style (to me anyways..) check out Nagano Mamoru - who is known for his Five Star Story comic and really really way out there mecha designs. His character design stands out to me.

Masamune Shirow comes to mind because after all of these years, I still love Appleseed.. the comic that came to the US in the 80's.. I haven't read any of his newer works.

[Raoul Duke]

I'll let Cromartie High explain the misconception about animu
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/53FkMK20aCg&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/53FkMK20aCg&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

[Jie Kageshinzo]

Thanks for introducing me to Gez Fry.

As for me, I've always liked Hyung-tae Kim's art style, as well as Ayami Kojima's. Much as how I hate to admit it, Tetsuya Nomura actually does decent artworks, if he doesn't overload them with zippers and pouches (just check out his rendition of Amano's original arts in Dissidia). And Yoshitaka Amano always has that distinct style that helps you stabilize your artistic inspiration whenever you're overloaded with the usual commercial stuff.

[Anid Maro]

Well, I've had a hard-on for Takehiko Inoue (http://www.itplanning.co.jp/)'s artwork in Vagabond (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagabond_%28manga%29) for a while now. I love the brushwork and I find his lack of the usual anime stylization quite refreshing.