Manga Tutorials: How to Draw Anime Characters

Anime, which is sometimes called "anamation," is a distinct style of Japanese animation. Manga follows the same style, but refers to Japanese comics. Drawing manga and anime characters is different from more realistic drawing. Manga bodies and anime bodies are exaggerated and stylized representations of the human body.
 
Fortunately, any art form as stylized as manga and Japanese animation has rules and guidelines that can be learned. The following manga tutorials can help you draw anime characters.
 

Anime Bodies vs. Normal Bodies
 
Artists often measure the human body based on the length of the subject's head: The average adult is seven heads tall. The bottom of the torso is approximately halfway between the bottom of the feet and the top of the head.
 
Anime characters adhere to similar proportions, with a few significant differences. Anime bodies have shorter torsos and longer legs than real people. Manga bodies are smaller, the legs and arms are thinner and the hips are slender, especially in anime females.

Drawing Anime Females

When you draw anime females' torsos, think of the chest and torso as an inverted triangle that starts at the shoulders and reaches a point at the pelvis.
 
A female anime character's hips are the same width as the top of the torso, and the natural curves of the body are exaggerated (this does not necessarily mean a larger than normal bosom, although some anime females are certainly overly endowed).
 
From the side, anime females have rounded buttocks. Seen from the rear, the basic shape of the anime female bottom is a soft, curved "W." if seen from the front; a small "V" shape is used to represent the female crotch.

Drawing Male Anime Characters

In comparison to anime females, males in Japanese animation have more angular bodies and they are less curvy. The torso is still drawn based on a triangle, but the male characters tend to have thicker torsos. Bear in mind, of course, that many male anime characters are quite feminine.
 
While anime females have hips and chests of approximately the same size, male manga bodies have chests that are larger in width than their hips. The exact difference between chest width and hip width are choices individual artists decide on.
 
Seen from the side, male anime characters have flatter buttocks than female manga bodies. Seen from the rear, anime males have straighter buttocks, shaped more like "UU" than the rounded "W" of anime females.
 
The male manga body has a rounder, more angular crotch than anime females. Musculature varies from character to character, but in general male anime characters are slender rather than muscular.

Manga Tutorials: Legs

Drawing legs for Japanese animation is essentially the same whether the anime characters are male or female.
 
Manga bodies have long legs, which are usually simple lines. Imagine the character's legs as two tubes with the knee separating the two. The upper tube is wider at the hip and narrows at the knee. The lower tube is wider at the knee and narrows towards the ankle.
 
Male legs may be broader than female legs, but again, the feminine nature of male anime characters means you won't be drawing males with tree trunks for legs.

SD Manga Bodies

One of the unique features of Japanese animation and manga is the SD, or "super deformed," body. Also known as chibis, SD anime bodies are cute, cuddly versions of the regular characters' appearances. Often used for comic effect, anime characters may morph into SD bodies to convey exaggerated emotions or for cute moments.
 
A super deformed character has a head almost as big as its body, which is compressed. Arms and feet are also large. The length of legs and arms varies, but as a general rule arms can only reach to the top of the head.
 
The amount of detail in super deformed anime bodies varies. While some SD manga bodies are extremely detailed, others rely on simple curves and lines to create cute comic characters.
 
Resources
 
Manga Tutorials (n.d.). Basics. Retrieved January 9, 2008, from the Manga Tutorials Web site: http://www.mangatutorials.com/index.htm.
 
Marshall, M. (n.d.). Lesson 2: Proportion. Retrieved January 10, 2008, from the Akemi's Anime World Web site: animeworld.com/howtodraw/bodies1.html.