Anime

So I (Patrick) was talking with Philip (the creator of this blog) about anime (Japanese animation with a specific way of drawing people's eyes) and manga (Japanese comics, almost always black & white, and not necessarily anime-style).

Japanese artists in general:
* Takashi Murakami: An important person for the "superflat" movement, which is a specific style of anti-art (much like how Picasso's work is also a specific style of anti-art).
* Junya Inoue: His style is usually not typical anime which is good. He is a very character-focused individual. You can see examples of his work here, here, here and here

Anime:
* Wolf's Rain (series): This helped me get through college.
* RahXephon (series): This is about a struggling painter in high school who feels like he's stifled. Then a bunch of crazy stuff happens, but the idea of painting as an expression of oneself is an important part of this anime.
* Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (film): This is about an alternate Japan where fascism persisted into modern times.
* Windy Tales (series): I like this one for its really unique art style. It was very influential on my own.

Manga:
* Domu: By the same artist of Akira (Katsuhiro Otomo), this was his first work based on the idea of psychic powers.
* Akagi: This is about a guy who really likes gambling and playing mahjong. It has a distinctive crude reductionist art style that I like. You can see some traces of it in my own sketches.
* JoJoLion: This is the latest in an 8-part series with totally out-there artwork. It is also super-detailed, with every scene being full of ridiculous things that don't necessarily belong.
* Btooom!: Drawn by Junya Inoue, this is about a 20-something guy who lives at home and is jobless. I like this manga a lot because I can totally relate to the main character's situation.

Video Games:
* Killer7: This game strongly pioneered the use of cel-shading in video games. It also has scenes with very different visual styles, such as this, this, this, and this
* Shadow of the Colossus: This is part of the Smithsonian's "The Art of Video Games" exhibit. You can see a sample here
* El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron: Each level of this game was directed by a different artist. Here's an example, and this is my favorite part.
* Panzer Dragoon Orta: One of my favorite games ever, especially this part