#trying out stuff with the ‘simple’ / chibi-esque style!

[thunderstomm]

“Today’s gonna be the best day ever- let’s not waste a second!”

[canmom]

finished watching made in abyss (tv series, not the film yet). remarkable show, not at all what i expected when i saw the chibu art style and i think it consciously leans on that, these kids go through some shit.

the premise is there's a kind of Roadside Picnic type zone full of strange effects, dangerous creatures and weird artefacts, with quite a cool conceit that the 'curse' punishes coming up much more than going in, such that in the lower depths climbing even a few metres will have you hallucinating, bleeding, or worse.

of course the scariest things in the abyss are not the creatures, delightfully shaped and yonically mouthed as they are, but the humans trying to exploit it, who start out as a massively stratified class society literally teetering on the edge of death, and that's before we get to the FMA-esque human experiments.

most of the time, though, it's kind of character drama (the central couple, though het, are very sweet), Dungeon Meshi-esque fictional ecosystems, and some really brutal medical emergency scenes near the end, shading into hurt/comfort. it only occasionally pulls its punches, and it really ramps up the intensity when it wants to, but it's got more than enough gorgeous artwork and appealing characters that it's not just a trauma parade and the horror is more effective when it comes.

the design sensibility makes me think a little of nausicaa in the environments and occasional vehicles and such, but it feels like very much its own thing - love the outfits, every character has a really strong sense of visual design, if you don't mind the chibi. about the only thing that doesn't work is its kind of awkward approach to sexuality, i think they were going for 'puberty is weird and alienating' humour but it sometimes seems like they can't go an episode without mentioning the robot boy's dick, which is about as jarring with the chibi style as the hardcore amputation scene later on. I think the idea is like the cave raiders are as blasé about sexuality as they are about death, but it fell kinda flat.

that aside though, it was still way better and different than i expected. the animation was very strong - i think the simple character designs let them do a lot of very lively motion, though the costumes are actually pretty complex! even in the first episode, a scene where the MC was being chased by a creature stood out, with the little stagger she has. the robot boy's arms being long extendable noodles, combined with all the extremely vertical environments leads to a lot of creative choreography

all in all good stuff, hope the film keeps it up!!

[thediamondpaw]

Okay... I am terrified! Why? Easy... I'm trying something new... 🙀 I am going to be putting up stuff like this for most, if not all of this week! They're simple, they're chibi, they're quick sketches. Hopefully, they are also enjoyable! 🐱💦 Now, why am I doing this? There have been MANY times where things did not go to plan. Maybe I was busy, disorganized, or as seen here, tired. I want to make those representations. If this goes bad, this will be the only run of this style. If people seem to like it however, I may do random doodle-esque stuff every now and then. 😽 I don't know, let me know what you guys think. 🐱 Have a good night everybody and don't forget to keep on smiling!!! ❤ -------- Hey, like what you see? Check out my other stuff at: https://the-diamond-paw.deviantart.com --------