
Archived from the original on 5 August 2007. ^ "Which Japanese words come from French?".^ 日本国語大辞典 Nihon Kokugo Daijiten (in Japanese) (2nd ed.).Artistic canons of body proportions – Criteria used in formal figurative art.Moe (slang), expression of fascination or infatuation.In 2022 the Disney Channel introduced the Disney Chibiverse, program shorts, that uses dozens of Disney animated characters.
Chibi base series#
In May 2016, Rooster Teeth released the first episode of RWBY Chibi, a 3D animated series of shorts involving the characters popularized by their show RWBY. An anthropomorphic cat with a head bigger than her body created in 1974 for a coin purse, Hello Kitty is one of Japan's biggest icons being featured in series, music, games, and books. Perhaps the most renowned use of the style is in the Hello Kitty character. You can see the usage of exaggerated features, like very large eyes, round heads, and small rounded limbs, and as these features lend themselves well to it, this style is often used to represent children and child-like characters like Astro Boy. Created in 1952, the chibi style was not yet what we know it as today, and yet some of the characteristics you can notice were beginning to emerge. The main character of the manga, and later several anime adaptations, “ Astro Boy,” is an early example of the evolving chibi style. The super deformed style has also appeared in anime-influenced American series such as Homestuck, Teen Titans, and Avatar: The Last Airbender, which feature super deformed shorts. It is used as comic relief in anime and manga, giving additional emphasis to a character's emotional reaction. The style was popularized by franchises like Dragon Ball and SD Gundam in the 1980s. The chibi art style is part of Japanese culture, and is seen everywhere from advertising and subway signs to anime and manga. One example of chibi's usage in Japanese, which brought the term to the attention of Western fans, is Chibiusa this diminutive pet name for the daughter of Sailor Moon comes from Chibi Usagi ('Little Rabbit'). And with it being as cute as it is, the Chibi style allows for easy advertisement in the culture, and even in other countries. The Chibi style easily falls under the Japanese category of Kawaii, with the specific proportions being exaggerated in the ways that they are. If a character has a signature characteristic (odd hair, a particular accessory, etc.) this will typically be prominent in the super deformed version of the character. Details such as folds on a jacket are ignored, and general shapes are favored. As a result, when a character of average proportions is depicted as a super-deformed character, certain aspects of their design will be simplified and others will be grossly exaggerated. In addition to their modified proportions, super-deformed characters typically lack the detail of their normal counterparts. An example of a character being drawn with typical chibi proportionsĬompared to the average anime character, usually about seven to eight heads tall, the head of a super-deformed character is normally anywhere between one third and one half the character's height.
