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Regular characters and Chibi characters
This section focuses on the main differences between the regular style of character and the Chibi style.
Regular characters |
Chibi characters |
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| This is Amelia Wil Tesla Sailune (try saying THAT three times fast!) from the anime series "The Slayers" (or just "Slayers" for short). The first difference you're likely to notice is the attention to detail. As opposed to her Chibi counterpart, the regular Amelia has all eight of her fingers, as well as both thumbs. There are more creases drawn into her dress and cape, and a lot of attention is paid to how shadows are cast upon her. Unlike the fun Chibi style, the regular eyes and mouth are quite small, and make the character capable of more serious looks. |
This is Amelia's Chibi form, which straight away looks a lot cuter. As opposed to the attention to detail on her regular counterpart, Amelia's Chibi form is more simplified. There isn't a single crease line drawn on the inside of her outfit (only a bare minimum on the outside), and rather than having fingers and thumbs, her hands take on a "mitten-like" appearance. Her eyes and mouth seem to have grown considerably as well, adding to the cute appeal of the character. Shadows on the Chibi form are kept to a bare minimum. |
Of course, while there are characters that have regular and Chibi forms, there are different types of anime where the characters are either only regular types (usually for movies and serious-type anime) or only Chibi types (essential for anime shows that are pure humour).
Tokyo Revelation
Character: Akito |
Di Gi Charat
Character: Dejiko |
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| As you can see, Akito looks quite menacing. But then, he is portrayed as the "bad guy" of the film Tokyo Revelation. The film itself has an occult theme and involves demons, Satan, sacrifice and even its own God. There is also quite a lot of graphic violence in this film, as well as inappropriate language and nudity scenes. Needless to say, this won't appeal to children and isn't intended to be humorous, so there are no instances of Chibi style here. (I will call this "Chibification" in future.) |
Di Gi Charat is all about Chibification! Well, its main theme is humour, and the characters are intended to be cute, as you can see from the way Dejiko is designed. Notice how, unlike Akito's menacing gaze, Dejiko looks a lot more "cartoony" and appealing to younger eyes. She looks like she's having a lot of fun, so as you can imagine, many viewers would have fun watching Di Gi Charat. Dejiko has been given more shadow than Amelia had in Chibi form, but this may be due to the fact that in Di Gi Charat, the characters are "Chibified" most of the time. |
Conclusion
So, to conclude this section, we can see that the regular characters are usually rather serious and set for serious-type anime (Cult, horror, etc.) while the Chibi characters are set for a more humorous and visually appealing scale. This also helps to distinguish between which anime shows are suitable for children and which shows are of more adult nature (don't be led astray by the term "adult". I can safely say that I watch a lot of "adult" shows and what I watch is more likely to confuse and bore kids than corrupt them).
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