5677


I have noticed that most anime characters are drawn without lips. Is there a
specific reason for doing this?

![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/nh790.png)
![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/jfpt0.jpg)
![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/fxrSe.jpg)
![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/lj5Pk.jpg)


CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-02T02:29:12.547
5676
2018-12-30T22:19:47.967
2013-11-02T20:10:41.153
2656
2656
question
anime-production
Why are anime characters usually drawn without lips?


The reason seems to be more historical and technological than some kind of art
or costumes. **Realistic lips are hard to draw**. The lips has certain
singularities that prevent creatives from trying to imitate them. In cases
where they need a close up (focus on) the lips, the quality/relistic could be
increased (this depends greatly on the production) but in most of case whereas
there is another more important elements in the scene, some realistic details
are just dropped.

Of course, some technology could allow producers to pimp up all realistic
features (lips included) so they picture more realistic lips.

In a single line, the answers is: if they are not pictured, is because it
results a pain to produce them; if they are pictured is because all other
details are also realistic, why not lips.


CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-02T02:48:09.077
5677
2013-11-02T02:48:09.077
2159
5676
answer


Animes are hard to make and the majority reason for creating Animations is to
express imagination, creativity, ideas etc and not how good you are at drawing
real pictures.

If you draw real lips, would have to show teeth as well when the characters
smile, which further adds to the complexity without substantial visual benefit
for the viewers.

> Dont you think the without lips version looks cute ?

![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/OM6bU.png)


CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-03T13:13:56.077
5692
2013-11-04T05:10:12.970
2013-11-04T05:10:12.970
2587
2587
5676
answer


A lot of traditions in anime design come from manga. This makes sense: many
anime are adaptations of manga, and so the makers of the anime usually want it
to resemble the manga that's being adapted.

In the case of manga, this tradition comes largely from the fact that drawing
lips requires intricate detail in a very small space. Aside from being more
difficult to draw than a simple mouth line, lips also take a lot longer to
draw, and manga is often drawn on a very tight schedule. As a result, they're
generally not considered worth doing for _most_ characters: specific
situations or designs might call for them, but if that doesn't happen, the
default is to leave them out.


CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-04T13:34:40.943
5720
2013-11-04T13:34:40.943
2403
5676
answer


This sort of lack of defined lips is **stylistic** within the **art form** of
anime (and some manga do this as well). This isn't something that the artists
can't be bothered to draw due to lack of talent, skill, or time. Even though
that style exists, **many anime character designers and mangaka have drawn
lips in their character designs, from the earliest anime up through today.**
So we can be sure that **it is not that lips are just too darn difficult** ,
or that **only the early artists could handle it but that newer generations
just aren't cut out for drawing lips**. Those who do not incorporate well-
defined lips into their character designs **desire for their designs to look
that way** ; it's not a case of refusing to learn how to draw a face
accurately. In the same way, we can note that some anime characters have
barely-there nose design, but this is because some artists think this looks
better than drawing out a large nose or detailing nostrils, rather than
because they couldn't draw a more robustly-shaded nose if they wanted to (and
likewise, some character designers and mangaka do choose to draw very defined
noses compared to what other artists prefer).

Furthermore, one **might even be hard-pressed to prove that anime characters
are "usually drawn" without lips.** Two out of the four images you posted as
examples actually are drawn with lips (the _Full-Metal Alchemist_ image does
not look like it comes from an anime cel... but it does have a lower lip in
the illustration). So this may not be the most popular answer to your question
-- certainly a lack of visible lips is true of many series -- but **whether it
is true of the majority** of series (in other words, "usually" the case) is
debatable.

**Historically, both _shounen_ and _shoujo_ anime have featured lips on a
regular basis** in the character designs for both male and female characters:

<http://www.new-anime.com/images/black-jack_3.jpg>
![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/f1zshtTasBw/hqdefault.jpg)
![](https://professormortis.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/scandal-hunter.jpg)
![](https://www.tgcom24.mediaset.it/binary/65.$plit/C_4_foto_1232761_image.jpg)
![](https://static.fanpage.it/cinemafanpage/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Occhi-
di-gatto-638x425.jpg)
![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/zSWAxTmTDD4/maxresdefault.jpg)
![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/NFOIZ.jpg)
![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/H1vUz.jpg)
![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/UfFRo.jpg)
![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/RNQ7F.jpg)
![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/QLfJM.jpg)
![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/HBgoD.jpg)
![](https://0.viki.io/c/5849c/aeca2cf6cf.jpg?x=b&s=590x330&q=h&e=t&f=t&cb=1)
![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/I9e8n.jpg)

Yet **recent series** have also featured a good deal of defined lips...

![](https://ramensoupreviews.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/oremono_takeorinko.jpg)
![](https://static.hummingbird.me/gallery_images/images/000/004/227/original/4227.jpg?1375602391)
![](https://entresabanasyalmohadas.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/sidonia-no-
kishi-03-large-26.jpg?w=1200)
<http://animemvc.com/Content/animes/nana/nana_hachi_komatsu_nana.jpg>
![](https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v646/StarMasayume/Galleries/AnimeCovers/GNK_New_Anime_ED4_04.jpg)
![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/f8XxM.jpg)
![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/uYwaI.jpg)
![](https://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/paradisekiss/images/7/7c/Para-Kiss-
anime.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120830030710)
![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Bp6a7.jpg) ![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/8flrd.jpg)
![](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s0hbaokJCrI/VViCZFuGitI/AAAAAAAABpE/gcn3G5mDbyQ/s1600/Aldnoah.Zero.full.1862333.jpg)
![](https://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/wolfsrain/images/b/b8/Wikia-
Visualization-Add-6.png/revision/latest?cb=20130225210912) ![Sailor Moon
Crystal](https://i.stack.imgur.com/cNxMc.png)

Some series have characters who wear lipstick as part of their personality...

![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/qaeqM.jpg)
![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/WQs2M.jpg)

... or as a plot element:
![](https://33.media.tumblr.com/7a1d72c6e98f7b847ca8c4b8b86a306f/tumblr_ncznffH57J1tl8vkpo3_500.gif)

In series in which characters' lips are not usually emphasized, the shape of
lips is often seen in **side views**...

![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/CkFnb.jpg) ![](https://www.briarhenge.com/wp-
content/uploads/2014/10/Akatsuki-no-Yona-01-hair-1024x575.png)
![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/bkp4o.png)

... **but even in such series, at times the characters' lips _are_ drawn in
detail**, in order to emphasize that the other character in the scene is
noticing their lips (worrying about getting kissed, thinking the other person
looks alluring) or to contrast a female character as young and demure against
other characters.

![Seiya Kou, who is not often drawn with defined lips, in a scene where Usagi
presumes he wants to have sex with her](https://i.stack.imgur.com/QpQSC.png)
![](https://classicanimeblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/nineteen19-anime-
ova-1990-screenshot-3.png?w=584&h=298)


CC BY-SA 4.0
2015-06-09T11:57:57.390
22274
2018-12-30T22:19:47.967
2018-12-30T22:19:47.967
14883
8134
5676
answer