I grew up watching a lot of animation, and to this day, I still watch animation (though I don’t really watch many shows anymore…only if something really catches my eyes, and if I decide in the moment to start it and commit to it). I’ve been able to collect a couple of pieces of media that I enjoy lots and have captivated me and inspired me to be artistic, and creative, and to enhance my imagination even further.
As it stands, my favorite Japanese series is My Hero Academia, which has an anime adaptation of the manga, and that is definitely a piece of media that has inspired me to start creating again for myself (I don’t have much motivation or time anymore to create things outside of college anymore, but every time I consume something from this series, I feel myself getting inspired). The author, Kōhei Horikoshi, is a fantastic artist (and overworked, if I may be honest), and he creates such captivating panels and knows how to tell such an amazing story. I hold this series close to my heart, and it’s one that I won’t ever get tired of talking about.
As far as animation that have inspired me to pursue art a bit more…I would have to go with Arcane. The animation is absolutely gorgeous—the way it mixes 2D and 3D animation to create something spectacular blows me away. The writing is outstanding as well. But something that has captivated me so much about the show is how they design their characters. I aspire to be able to create characters like Arcane, and to be able to customize them in any way that I want to. Of course, my skill is not to their standard, and I am going to need a lot of time before I can create a standing character pose that doesn’t make them feel stiff; but character design, and character concept design is something that I want to try and do, even if it’s just a hobby that I do during my free time.
A warning to those who want to watch Arcane: this show contains lots of flashing lights, blood and violence, and other various things that happens throughout the show. I recommend going through the Does the Dog Die website, which gives a list of content warnings for users to list whether or not that specific thing is mentioned or happens in the show, and to give context for each episode. It will contain spoilers for some posts, but if someone has some triggers that they want to avoid, then I recommend this website for anyone who wants to look through it.