Talk:Super deformed

No superdeformed?
If someone could answer this question... It would be a nice thing to add... Is there such a thing as an anime without any use of superdeformed characters?Undead Herle King (talk) 23:36, 8 June 2008 (UTC)
 * SD Styles usually are only used to exaggerate emotions to create a funny effect. In more serious manga or anime other methods of exaggeration are used instead. I can't think of many anime's right now that totally waive the chibi-SD concepts, but movies like Akira (film) and most works by Studio Ghibli should do that, if I remember correctly.--Yamavu (talk) 09:03, 9 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Gunslinger Girl, Claymore, Death Note, and Haibane Renmei are a good examples. Lots of anime and manga series don't use SD. Like Yamavu said, it's usually the more serious ones that are like that. --Eruhildo (talk) 04:15, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

general
It would be great if someone could find a pictoral example of this. Cogent 14:48, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * It would be great if there were a better example. That Cloud character design is pretty mild as far as super-deformity goes. Ace of Sevens 04:48, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
 * I replaced Cloud with Ryu from Pocket Fighter, which I think is much more obviously super deformed. Nightwatch／respond 06:55, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Difference between Chibi and Superdeformed?

http://forum.anipike.com/showthread.php?t=2956


 * These forum posts of Western manga/anime fans you show us do not really explain anything. From what I have read in Japanese and Mandarin literature or manga, it seems that there is a general guideline according to which a figure is chibi or super deformed. In our cultures we often talk about head-to-body proportion, and asides from its other uses, the term "chibi" is supposed to indicate a smaller ratio, while SD is closer to 1:1. When I find something to cite I will add this. Terukiyo 10:50, 17 May 2006 (UTC)


 * Is anyone else amused that there is no Japanese article on this yet an in-depth one in English?76.185.10.76 00:11, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

Merging of chibi
As far as I can tell, chibi and super deformed seem to be pretty much the same thing. The Ryu image that's used for an example I would call a clear case of chibi. At the very least, chibi seems to be more of a sub-classification more than anything.--SeizureDog 19:57, 4 December 2006 (UTC)


 * I was looking for an article on chibi/super-deformed character designs to use in an edit I made, and imagine my surprise when I found two different articles for what I believed to be the same thing. So, unless there's a valid reason for this, I think they should be merged.--Nohansen 01:29, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Here's an example of actual use where chibi and SD are NOT interchangeable:

http://www.fanfiction.net/search.php?field=title&plus_keywords=chibi&minus_keywords=&categoryid=0&languageid=0&genreid=0&ratingid=0&statusid=0&datetype=0&fromyear=0&frommonth=0&toyear=0&tomonth=0

Agreed with Nohansen. They can be similar, but they are *not* the same thing at all. Chibi simply means 'small', or 'child', and is used in many instances in the manner of a younger version of an established character (Chibi Goku in Dragonball Z, for example). Super Deformed is a specific style, and is used to depict adults and, in many cases, robots/mechs (see the SD Gundam series, or the Super Robot Taisen series of games) as well as children. The Super Robot Taisen series, which is SD, is not chibi. Also, while the mechs in this series are in the SD style, the actual human characters are not.  Destrado Zero  21:54, 22 February 2007 (UTC)


 * Well, if they are apparently NOT the same why should Wikipedia merge both articles? This doesn't make any sense to me. So I disagree. 87.168.36.125 02:59, 7 April 2007 (UTC)


 * That's a fanfiction specific use of the term. Fanart used the terms almost interchageably. The only difference lies in the less technical and more popular nature of the term "chibi". --StalkerAT 16:37, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

It appears that Super Deformed and Chibi are separate things. So, the differences should be explained in the article. DarshaAssant 03:34, 11 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Don't Merge they are different things, and I see no real reason to merge.Darkcraft 10:50, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

Merge They're different things allright but they're alike enough to justify one article. Chibis might show up in fanfictions but they're nothing different from charaters that are shown in SD-style permanently. One term can't exist without the other. Many people think they are the same, therefore it should be one article that explains the term "SD" AND "Chibi". Two articles won't develope that quickly. Merged we have a chance to bring the whole theme to a point. --213.47.161.95 10:05, 12 May 2007 (UTC)

DON'T MERGE. "Chibi" refers specifically to the childlike representation of an anime character - whereas "Super Deformed" is a generic term relating to artistic misproportions in anime art.
 * If your point is that a chibi is drawn only slightly deformed, not super-deformed, I disagree.--StalkerAT 16:37, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

Merge SD and Chibi may or may not be the same thing, but the term Super Deformed is absolutely necessary for Chibis, since they're using the SD-style all the time. However Chibi is a more modern, less technical term for these style of characters. A merging would make lots of sense to me.--StalkerAT 13:55, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

MERGE These two topics are not always the exact same thing, but they are irrevocably tied together. A Chibi Ryu is Super Deformed. A Chibi Goku is Super Deformed. Chibi is a usage of the Super Deformed style, and few people outside of the world of fan fiction would even know there is a difference. Most people could look at a SD Goku and a Chibi Goku and never know they were looking at two seperate things. Having two separate articles clouds the issue. Remember that these articles should be aimed at people who know nothing of the topic. Make an article for Super Deformed with Chibi as heading. This is the most informative was to present it. As it is there is no reference to Chibi on the Super Deformed article, and I for one didn't even know there was a seperate Chibi article until now. JohnnyMrNinja


 * As this is the ONLY reference on the Chibi page, I don't even see how there's a question - "Definition of a Chibi (in anime & manga context) The word Chibi has a Japanese origin to mean 'small' or 'child'. In various anime and manga (not only Sailor moon), chibi characters are normally used to convey humour, extreme emotion or cuteness. It is a style of drawing where the characters are more child-like, since their proportions are closer to those of a child. Another commonly used term for these types of characters is 'Super Deformed' (SD). Although Chibis are found in most anime, this term was popularized by Sailor Moon, especially the well-known characters; Chibiusa and later Chibichibi." Besides the fact that these pages are very short and merging it would take about 30 seconds at most. 24.20.53.251 00:38, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

Do not merge — Chibi describes the person or character, super deformed describes the art style. They are NOT the same thing. The Chibi article had an erroneous description of the word Chibi, which I just recently corrected.--Endroit 14:59, 9 July 2007 (UTC)

Do Not Merge If anyone can explain how the video game Chibi Robo can possibly be considered super-deformed, I will change my vote. The topics are related, but separate enough that merging them would mislead people into thinking they are the same thing, when they are in fact two separate techniques that are often used in tandem, and thusly confused for each other. Both articles need to be fleshed out, and I'm not the one to do that, but merging them would inhibit such a possibility. Fishamaphone 13:02, 14 July 2007 (UTC)

Whether the articles are merged or not, it is really odd that the word chibi appears nowhere in the article at all at this point. underalms

The most common SD style intentionally does represent the character with more child-like features (for human and humanoid-type creatures, this means a large head/forehead, large eyes, small nose and mouth, and short, stubby limbs; for mechs and such, this means looking like a child's toy, with soft features and-or rounded, plastic looking panels and edges). A great example is this JSDF billboard: As you can see, the adults are drawn "as if" they were (specifically stylized) children in their proportions. So even though chibi technically means "small, short, child-like," I fail to see why SD is not a subset of chibi; chibi covers more meaning than SD, but not less. In other words, all SD are chibi, but not all chibi are SD. 64.234.1.144 (talk) 02:06, 17 February 2008 (UTC)

Japanese Wiki?
Is there really no comparable article in the J-wiki we can link to? Or even the Japanese term for this artistic style? --Do Not Talk About Feitclub (contributions) 13:52, 8 June 2007 (UTC)


 * ちびキャラ is linked from the Chibi page, which should really redirect here. I've always hated the use of "chibi" for this kind of thing. Bnynms 00:34, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

Also, there is no mention in this article what this style is called in Japanese. [PEC] — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.213.243.54 (talk) 10:43, 4 November 2012 (UTC)

Super Deformed as a Caricature Style
Thinking about the latest edits I came to the conclusion that Super Deformed actually should have it's roots in caricatures. The idea was popularized by Japanese works, but today it's not exclusively known in Japanese pop-culture. Even automatic systems are built that should deform a given photograph .--Yamavu 15:00, 4 November 2007 (UTC)


 * The difference is that charicature exaggerates an individual's actual features, and super-deform works a character into a very uniform set of alterations. The process of the two is completely different.  SD characters all look the same, just accessorized, and charicature is hyper-individual.  Charicatures can be easier to recognize than a photo.  And that picture of Charles Dickens charicatures his face, but what's going on with his body is extreme perspective foreshortening, he's not been made into a cute little character, his body is actually more or less normally proportioned, but the perspective makes it look like it's not.  -- AvatarMN 07:20, 6 November 2007 (UTC)


 * A more fitting example may be the caricatures found in the opening credits for the film Man About the House, where the heads are caricatured in Western style, while the bodies are untraditionally superdeformed. Asat (talk) 02:33, 22 May 2008 (UTC)


 * I just want to display parallel movements and find interpretations of that matter. I think it might help this article since caricatures are not anime-geek knowledge exclusive but a matter that has been around for more than 100 years in western and eastern countries. --Yamavu (talk) 11:09, 23 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Such a caricature style is actually also still very popular in Japan. It's rather common to see manga magazines (often directed at older readers) with covers featuring realistically drawn caricatures with enormous heads. 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 14:46, 10 April 2010 (UTC)

Non-SD Final Fantasy 7 character models
The article mentions non-super-deformed character models for Final Fantasy 7 characters being found in the PC version's code, implying an abandoned attempt to make more realistic models. Ignoring the obvious original-research nature of this statement it also doesn't have a reference.

Most of the article is unreferenced original research and I don't advocate trying to remove it all because there wouldn't be much of an article left. But this section I'd like to see a reference for if anyone knows where to see pictures of these models. Ok, I'll admit, I just want to see the models for myself but doing the right thing for the wrong reasons is better than doing the wrong thing for the wrong reasons....

If anyone has a link I'd be most appreciative.193.128.87.36 13:32, 12 November 2007 (UTC)

Image copyright problem with Image:Wanpaku graffiti.jpg
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 * That there is a non-free use rationale on the image's description page for the use in this article.
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This is an automated notice by FairuseBot. For assistance on the image use policy, see Media copyright questions. --00:15, 5 November 2008 (UTC)

Repetition in the opening

 * This style is referred to as chibi by anime fans.


 * The style is also known as the Chibi drawing style (Japanese term).

what would be the best way to merge those? WookMuff (talk) 10:33, 9 November 2010 (UTC)

A visual subject with no images
Why would you have an article that describes something visual and not have any images or examples? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.47.110.146 (talk) 19:33, 20 November 2012 (UTC)

Proportions, and the mystery of the missing Japanese article
I removed the "ratio" values given after the proportions. For the "one-half" example (二頭身 in Japanese), editors had changed between "ratio 1:1" and "ratio 1:2" -- it's impossible to say either is "right" or "wrong", because the meaning of these "ratios" was never defined. If the head is 1/2 of the total body height (including the head), then the ration of head to "body" (excluding head) is obviously 1:1, but, well 1/2 can be written 1:2. But none of this is helpful.

And why is there no ja:WP article for this title? Because there is ちびキャラ (chibi-kyara), which describes this as 「スーパーデフォルメ」 or suupaadeforume ("abbreviated SD"). This is (probably) from French déformer, occurring in art terminology. Of course this makes it extremely difficult to claim that "super deformed" is not simply an aspect of chibi, but that is a separate argument. Imaginatorium (talk) 15:25, 7 February 2016 (UTC)

Chibi vs Super Deformed revisited
I know this debate raged on a few years back, but I just wanted to throw in another perspective. My interpretation has always been that labeling something "SD" (or super deformed) is more about the disproportionately-sized head-to-body ratio. Whereas, "chibi" means small, chubby, and child-like. The two are very often connected and used interchangeably, but that doesn't mean it's entirely correct. Take a look at the toyline for manga/anime series Kinnikuman... There have been many sets of rubber kinkeshi ("Kin" for Kinnikuman, "keshi" short for "keshigomu" meaning eraser), including two distinct sets of SD kinkeshi AND Chibi kinkeshi.

Here's a link to a Brief Guide to Kinkeshi Types on LittleRubberGuys.com. There, you can see the difference between SD and Chibi kinkeshi.

Now I don't know when the chibi vs SD conversation became a point of contention, but I can say that the SD Kinkeshi came out as far back as 1987 with that name. I'm not entirely sure on the release date of the Chibi Kinkeshi line, but it very likely was around the same time. At least, in this instance, there is a distinct, recognizable difference between the two terms. So take that for what it's worth... Thanks for reading! Dahumorist (talk) 03:44, 15 May 2020 (UTC)