In this article, we will be sharing our breakdown of the major anime styles and how they can be prompted when generating AI images.

To help with our research, we chose to generate a classic phrase typically used in font demonstrations:

“A quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog.”

For all anime-style image examples in this article, we’ve used the ChatGPT o4-mini model. Performance of the prompts below might be different when used on other models like Claude, Grok, and Gemini.

Illustrative Styles

“A cartoon illustration rendered in bold pen-and-ink line art with heavy cross-hatching and stippling, overlaid with flat, watercolor-style color washes and subtle halftone texture. Use a slightly muted, desaturated palette. Overall composition should balance impactful line work and washes with a polished digital finish reminiscent of traditional print illustration.”

Anime / Comic Book Styles

Please render it in the style of Moebius

Please render in Ufotable / Digital Cinematic style

Please render in a mature Seinen anime style with detailed linework, nuanced shading, and a subtle, earthy palette.

Please render in Sailor Moon style anime art:

Please render in Samurai Champloo anime style of fusion of Edo-period Japanese aesthetics, layered backgrounds, light brushtroke patterns, almost lofi.

Please render in the style of neo-noir space Western aesthetic “Cowboy Bebop” that blends gritty, cool visuals with cinematic polish and smooth anime sensibilities. Thin outlines.

Please render in Ghiblify, use thin lines

Please render in Shonen Art style

Please render in CLAMP style

Please render in JoJo Bizarre Adventure anime style which features a rendered with bold, dramatic linework, almost Renaissance-esque form.

Please render in Berserk anime style with intricate pen-and-ink detail, with dense cross-hatching, deep shadows, high contrast, and richly textured backdrop. thin jagged outlines.

In the style of Serial Experiments Lain anime

Please render in the style of Paprika anime

In the style of Perfect Blue anime.

Please render in Kodomo-style anime rendition, with bold outlines, bright colors, and simplified shapes.

Please render in Kyoto Animation Style

Please now render in Gainax / Trigger Style

Please render in One Piece / Oda Style

Please render in Tezuka / Retro Style

Please render in SHAFT / Shinbo Style

Please render in Akira / Otomo Style

Please render in the style of Mononoke anime.

Please render in the style of The Animatrix: The Second Renaissance (Parts I & II)

Please render in the style of Animatrix: World Record. A stylized, high-intensity illustration of a lean brown fox mid-leap over a still, heavy-set dog. The fox’s form is elongated and fluid, captured in a surreal, slow-motion arc—limbs stretched with dynamic motion blur and fur streaked by speed. Use a bold, graphic visual style with stark contrast: deep shadows, bright edge-lighting, and fragmented silhouettes, inspired by the visual language of The Animatrix: World Record. The dog lies inert, almost statuesque, creating contrast through stillness. The environment is abstract—an empty, glitching racetrack or a fractured stadium rendered with minimal colors and hard edges. Focus on tension, velocity, and the moment of escape. Mood: cinematic, intense, surreal motion paused in time.

Please render in the style of the Fantastic Mr. Fox with a landscape nature background. Visible textures, tactile materials, and intentional imperfections. Almost puppet like. Dominated by autumnal colors: burnt orange, ochre, sepia, mustard, and brown.

Stylized / Medium Based

Please render in colored pencil.

Please render in marker

Please render in crayon.

Please render in watercolor.

Realism / Photo Realism Style / Cenematic

Please render in Cinematic CG

Please render in photorealistic mode

Please render in hyper realistic mode:

Please render in “Ultra-high-resolution documentary photography inspired by the visual standards of National Geographic. Captured using full-frame DSLR or medium-format digital systems (e.g., Canon EOS-1D X Mark III, Nikon Z9, Hasselblad X2D) paired with prime lenses—24mm for immersive environmental context, 85mm for intimate portraiture, and 400mm for compressed wildlife perspectives. Aperture is optimized for sharpness and clarity (typically f/5.6–f/8), with ISO kept low (100–400) to maintain maximum dynamic range and tonal fidelity.” — We found this one on Reddit.

Please render in a highly photorealistic photo captured with a full-frame DSLR (e.g., Canon EOS 5D Mark IV) and a 50 mm f/1.4 prime lens.
Lighting: golden hour / overcast / studio soft shadows
Camera settings: f/1.4, 1/125 s, ISO 100; natural depth-of-field, bokeh background, ambient occlusion
Scene details: subtle lens distortions, mild chromatic aberration at edges, natural grain/noise, realistic skin pore textures, tiny flyaway hairs
Composition: candid framing, slight parallax, rule of thirds
Color-grade: balanced white balance, realistic tones, neutral contrast
Environment: dust particles in air, soft environmental reflections, accurate physics and shadows

Thanks for paying attention! We’ll add more unique anime styles as we find them.