Anti-generic-bishi-stamp

EDIT 01:
Added Superjail, Happy Tree Friends, Mater from Cars and Beetlejuice (thanks to the commentors who mentioned these, it was a 'wtf, how did i forget those?' moment )

Thanks to all those favers + commentors out there who completely understand what this stamp is about



Ok, I'm going to have to explain this stamp before I get piled on by those who missenterpret this stamp's meaning

I know some people will twig instantly what I mean, and that's cool....for everyone else....

PLEASE READ THE COMMENTS BELOW BEFORE POSTING RAGE MESSAGES For the TLDR version scroll right to the bottom to get the message

Ok

1) THIS IS NOT AN ANIME-BASHING STAMP

I LOVE anime. Like all forms of animation, Japanese anime has its charms and style that intregues me. I am an anime fan in a big way, and enjoy many popular anime shows like Soul Eater, Pani Poni Dash, Cosplay Complex, Ouran High School Host Club, Princess Tutu, Azumanga Daioh, Mononoke and Excel Saga to name a few. Not to mention the hundreds of anime movies I enjoy, like Utena, Ah My Goddess and Totoro

I appreciate the style anime has, and all the steriotypes that tend to pop up in anime (big eyes, girls who look about 20 when they're supposed to be 12, unnatural hair colours, flawless boys and sparkly girls etc), and have no problem with them

2) THIS IS NOT AN ANIME-STYLE BASHING STAMP

As said above, the anime style has its pros and cons, and I actually like the anime style in most images. It's a style like any other and deserves as much respect as any other.

I don't have a problem with people who like drawing in the anime style. Hell I do it too!

2) THIS IS NOT AN ANTI-DRAWING-CHARACTERS-IN-NEW-WAYS STAMP

The whole point of fanart is to draw your favourite things while injecting your own style and individuality. If we all drew characters exactly how they appear in the TVshow/comic/film/cartoon etc it wouldn't be so much fanart as tracing. What's the point of making a carbon copy of something that already exists?

So drawing characters (western, anime or otherwise) in a different style, making them more realistic, making them more cartoony, swaping genders, making them older or younger, using different techniques and mediums to make fanart of a character...ALL THESE THINGS ARE COOL AND SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED. They make the fanwork DIFFERENT and unusual compared to the original, and that's awesome *thumbsup*

4) THIS IS NOT AN ANTI-BISHIES STAMP

As i said before, I love Ouran High school Host Club because it messes about with the steriotype of the perfect anime boy, with their gorgeous eyes, fantastic bodies, flawless skin and habit of being surrounded by rose petals whenever they take off their shirts.

Bishies can be lots of fun, they can also be nice to look at, and they are a big part of the Anime style just like chibis and shojo magical-girls


BUT

The number of times I've been to a gallery and seen someone who has done fanart of a western style character (i.e. the Disney/warner bros/DC comics style of artwork) and instead of attempting to draw the original style, or something resembling it, they have gone for the lowest common denominator and the most piss-easy and basic way you can draw a character;

Drawing them as a big eyed, sparkly haired, completely bland and generic 'bishonen'.

In this form the character has no substance, style, character, flaws or personality. They've suddenly stopped being a recognisable character, different to other shows and genres, and have just fallen into the pit of basic anime-gorgeousness. It removes all the things that make the original character stylish, different and recognisable in the sea of popular characters. Why would anyone want to make Spongebob and Freakazoid look the same? they're completely different characters!

Bland-bishifying them just throws all those individuals into the same pot and makes them unrecognisable.

The worst victims of this tends to be South Park. the South Park kids have been re-drawn many ways
<<<<< some super awesome examples of alternative style SP fanart
....and i've seen some really nice anime-style ones too, but SO MANY have been cutsey-fied to look like any other generic anime cutey. So I look at the pic and go 'hey that's a cute bishie...wait...that's supposed to be CARTMAN?! WTF? Why is he skinny and pretty and frilly and acting all cuddly to characters he normally antagonises?'

My basic point is there ARE ways to create fun, interesting and enjoyable fanart, including through the anime style, but it shouldn't be the case of drawing some changable prettyboy with anime eyes, slapping on a set of hair colours and clothes and saying 'there, it's Flapjack, I drew him anime bishi style KAWAIIIII'.

Westen animatoirs worked hard on those styles to make their characters stand out. It's why the style looks so individual compared to everything else, why Total Drama Island doesn't look like Ed, Edd and Eddy, or South Park doesn't look like Animaniacs etc



Man, that was a lot of explaining. i hope you all take this on board.

For the TL/DR:

no I don't hate anime, or bishies, or people who draw western characters in different styles. I just hate it when lazy fankids decide to draw every single western character they see as a bland bishie just because it's the simplest form of eye-candy they can manage.

And I'm well aware that not all anime artists are like this...I know because I'm one of them Appreciate the western style's individuality for what it is, and try making fanart that ISN'T the same as everyone elses'

*goes to have a lie down*