flavorblasting boring anime girls

okay I roasted the boys so now it's time for our basic brunette anime girls to get the same treatment!!! but yeah they're not nearly as bad and also I love tohru nobody ever be mean to her again.

∆ My book Unfamiliar is available here! -

[arcanexarcade]

“flavorblasting” is the best term i’ve heard for redesigning a character lol

[chi]

I ADORE the men's dress shirt detail for Tohru. I love that even though Tohru is a very feminine character, she does have little touches of masculinity - her mother was a hardworking tomboy and while Tohru is a girly girl she isn't afraid to deal with dirty or gross things. She gets her formal speech from her father. She has a masculine first name. Having her wear a cheap men's dress shirt, like the ones her father may have bought while trying to support his young family on a single salary...my heart.

[grosebud]

Honestly, pigtails actually suits tohrus personality so much more than completely straight long brown hair. It sort of gives off the "trying to hold it together" vibes because plaits can either look very clean and put together or can be very disheveled.

[bugbear]

yeah I agree that there's an unwillingness in media to show characters, especially female characters, as being dishevelled, ugly, weird, etc, beyond the superficial level or informed attributes, for fear of losing audience appeal

usually it's unsympathetic, villainous or comedic characters who are shown that way instead of protagonists because in an attempt to appeal to everyone or not alienate anyone, characters can end up not being unique in their design

[flamevix]

Thank you. I used to love Vampire Knight. Getting older, I realized how much Yuuki lacked personality. And I wondered why two guys were fighting over her. 😐

[purpleclaws]

Side note. I appreciate that Hailey is showing us that she sometimes traces when she draws. Which many artists do. And she really only traces the pose, and everything else is original. Which isn't bad since it isn't a straight-up copy and paste. Thank you Hailey ❤

[demonheart]

The problem with making haruhi more visually unexeptable is the fact that she is not suppose to know she is a god and there are several entities in place to keep her in the dark. So if she was the only one not getting in trouble for wearing different clothes then she would figure it out. Best example is Saiki from another anime who knows he can warp reality and everyone has super abnormal hair styles and clothing because he has a weird hair color and he knowingly fit the world to his design thus he doesn't stand out.

If the universe were to match Haruhi then she wouldn't get what she truly wants which is to stand out and feel like an individual. Which is one of the reasons her finding out about being a god could destroy the world.

[devilheartcandy]

Now we need “flavorblasting bland creatures” featuring the design pet peeve of cool characters turning simpler for 90% of the movie

[beleiveinthemagic]

Tohru's design I feel is intentionally "boring" and unassuming. They want her to look like the most normal and basic girl you'd see every single day to contrast her depth as an incredibly tough and kind person. I think it's intentionally trying to give you tonal whiplash as you are judging Tohru based on her looks and then getting under those surface layers, you learn how incredible and complex she is. It fits the narrative of the series really well.

All that to say, I think you did a really good job maintaining that in your redesign! She still looks like a girl you'd see everyday but the slight imperfections like messy hair and eye bags hint towards her actual situation.

(I love fruits basket can u tell lol)

[Dollightful]

Omg I've always admired Tohru! It sounds super dorky, but whenever I endure a hardship or get incredibly upset with someone, I pause and have a "WWTD?" moment lol. Her ability to persevere with open-mindedness, patience, and selflessness are all traits we should strive for in real life. I adore your redesign of her... and I agree that having her struggle with realistic hygiene might have added to the story haha

[finneytheghost]

Seeing Tohru in the thumbnail startled me for a moment-
She’s such a good character

[teken]

haruhi looks like a randomised picrew character

[Autistic_Menace]

Yeah Haruhi just straight up sexually assaults the others throughout the show and it’s legitimately disturbing how they attempt to play it off as comedic

[rgs_goat-xbwp]

The only criticism I'd have is about Yuki Cross's new design is that it's not supposed to be obvious that she's a vampire at first. I think that the colour scheme gives it away when a big part of the story is finding out that she's a vampire, but anyone can look at this new design and tell that she is one. Other than that though I love the redesigns

[beesnquackers]

I completely understand the awful connotations of a red band outside of Japan but I’m pretty sure it’s just to show someone being a club leader in Japanese schools? These designs are so cute though, and for Haruhi, maybe the omission of the red band comes with her ability to be a god and be above societal norms

[opalcrescent]

honestly I really like disheveled characters. I realize it's probably to make it easier to animate them, but I think there's a lot of charm in characters when they've got a bit of a ragged feel in some areas. Like a well-loved stuffed animal.

[sluggirl]

I always thought that having a main character as kind and self-sacrificing as Tohru was actually really unique. fruits basket is very cathartic in that way tbh. It's nice to watch good people do their best to do right by each other, and Tohrus main motivation is really just to be kind and make her mum proud

[theoriginalgummy]

About the armbands. While I do understand your issue, it is part of japanese culture. These armbands are worn in many contexts, be it schools by students with roles, traffic officers, reporters and other roles that would need to be easily identifiable at a glance. Which is why it appears in Haruhi Suzumiya. That aspect of japanese culture could feel unconfortable for some foreigners, thinking about its WWII context, but it feels unfair to label it as problematic knowing that context.

[nasinnarcotics]

As a lover of Haruhi I was immediately defensive upon seeing her in the thumbnail, since her design is iconic… but it’s only really iconic because she, Haruhi the character, is iconic.

[michaelprost]

could you make angel girls out of the seven virtues like you made demon girls out of the seven deadly sins?