This is one of my favorite manga styles!
Blade of the immortal
by Hiroaki Samura
Here's a quick summary of what I talk about in the video. Let me know what you think about this art style in the comments section.
Medium
Pencil, pen & ink
Proportions
Characters
Human proportions.
About 8 heads even though it has a manga style.
Eye size and head proportions are mostly normal human proportions but simplified. A bit stylized but not too exaggerated.
Clothing
Clothes are realistic but simplified.
Usually drawn with more straight lines and angular shapes.
Hair
Based on real hair styles but a bit stylized and simplified.
Some spiky ‘anime hair’ but more toned down (not too exaggerated)
Environment
Real world proportions, but not too detailed.
Simplified and not the main focus.
Rendering
Sketchy lines
A lot of freehand hatching and cross hatching for shading and texture.
Not too many pure black areas.
Hatching with quick lines
A lot of pages and panels are done in pencil.
Pencil drawings use the same rendering style keeping things consistent.
Uses a lot of grey tones (pencil and screen tones) for light and shadow.
Shadows aren’t too detailed, usually just a toned character or background in order to focus on a certain area of the scene (it’s realistic but focusing more of keeping a graphic look)
Speed lines are mostly done in the shading and added to the characters or the environment, drawing the lines in the direction of the movement. There are some external speed lines too but not as much.
Composition
Not too many straight on angles for the face or body (Most of the time characters are at an angle. Even if it’s a front shot there’s a slight angle)
Seems to like overhead and low camera angles (bird’s eye and worm’s eye view)
Doesn’t seem to have a pattern when it comes to poses, panels or page layout. A lot of variation.
Take a look at my clip studio paint courses here:
https://kendrys-s-school.teachable.com/
Analyzing the bleach manga art-style