I absolutely adore the sunlight in Frieren and its medieval-inspired fantasy color palette, so I’m eager to experience something like that again. Are there any other anime with beautiful artwork that could move me? (Since I’m using DeepL, the English might sound unnatural…)
Well, “good lighting” and “good cool palette” are pretty subjective (as is many things related to art).
To me, Perfect Blue by Satoshi Kon is a masterpiece work and has both a color palette and lighting perfectly fitting the theme and mood of the film. But I will guess that this type of film is not exactly what you mean.
I bias towards older anime around the OVA boom, because I personally prefer the older art style over much of the newer anime. Especially for cyberpunk or medieval-fantasy style anime. So for me, I think of anime like:
- Princess Mononoke (Mononoke Hime) and from Studio Ghibli
- Record of Lodoss War (Lodoss tou Senki), the original 1991 OVA, the 90s TV serial was decent too
- Berserk (Kenpuu Dinky Berserk), the 1997 series
- El-Hazard (Shinpi no Sekai El-Hazard), the 1995 OVA
- Slayers (Slayers), the 1995 TV series
- Bastard!! (Bastard!! Ankoku no Hakaishin), the 1992 OVA
- Angel’s Egg (Tenshi no Tamago), the 1985 OVA (only one episode)
Obviously, these all have varying levels of quality due to various factors, usually directly related to Japan’s bubble economy and subsequent market crash in 1992. However, these are I think among the best and make a good use of color and lighting in all of them to create an enjoyable experience.
If you habe more details on what specifically you are looking for, I might know of somethines else maybe you haven’t considered.
I see, just saying “good lighting” was vague, sorry about that. I’m not a pro, and I’m not even a native English speaker, so it’s really hard for me to express it perfectly to get the nuance across to you, but I’ll try my best. What I’m imagining is a slightly muted palette—think a bright green meadow stretching beneath a blue sky, with something like a white brick path winding through it—where light filtering through tree leaves creates delicate patterns that gently touch the characters. But honestly, if you think “Wow! That detailed light description is beautiful!” then any form is welcome! Honestly, all the works everyone’s shared here feel beautiful to me, regardless of any perceived differences in quality.
Now, about the works you mentioned: Record of Lodoss War is truly beautiful! The light is obviously gorgeous, but my first impression upon seeing it was how stylish it was. I’ll definitely check it out. As for Berserk, as a gamer, I recognize it as an undeniably cool anime I can’t ignore. But I’m hesitating to watch it, wondering what if characters die brutally lol. Next, Angel’s Egg caught my attention. I initially imagined sunlight, but this work feels incredibly beautiful and chic with its moonlight. Also, simply put, the protagonist of Bastard!! is so cool it got me interested lol. Thank you for explaining it so carefully!
Many good recommendations here already.
I can also list some that have some good scenes:
- appocalypse hotel specifically episode 11
- most Makoto Shinkai works are very pretty i.e. Suzume no Tojimari
- people have already called out Kyoto Animation studios and they consistently deliver some of the most visually captivating shows
- I’ll also call out Soushimin series it’s more understated than Hyouka and Frieren but something about it is always pleasant. The aspect ratio contributes a lot.
- Chainsaw man, Reze movie specifically. The fireworks. The pool. The explosions. Much more cinematic than Frieren’s fantasy pallette but the color work is perfection.
You’re a genius! I just watched the preview for Episode 11 of Apocalypse Hotel, and this is exactly my thing! It’s not really related to the whole “light” discussion anymore, but I absolutely love that slightly chic, decayed city vibe—like in Tarkov or NieR: Automata. But there just aren’t many beautiful works set in places like that, you know? That’s what I’d been thinking! And about the light—man, it’s perfect. The scene where the sun is tilted in the evening sky, casting warm autumn-like light on the brownish trees, and the scene where someone is looking up at moonlight filtering through the branches—both are absolutely amazing! Some other people have mentioned syoushimin too, and I thought that sounded good as well. Hyouka looks promising too. I saw some images for Chainsaw Man, and it looks beautiful! It’s super popular in Japan too, so I knew the name but hadn’t watched it. I wonder if I could enjoy it even if I just watched the movie first? Either way, I think the Apocalypse Hotel is the best! Thanks!
to say it’s absolutely amazing! And I’d totally written off Abyss as just another dark anime set in the depths—turns out I was wrong. As for Miyazaki’s work, I’ve seen plenty of Ghibli films, so I get it—his handling of light is incredible, like I felt watching Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea. I didn’t know he made anime too, but I’ll check them out. Thanks!
Watch out for Made In Abyss. It starts off really cheery and gets super fuckin dark. I couldn’t make it past the first season.
Ah, I figured. I’ve heard about it a lot since it’s famous in Japan too, but I hesitated because I thought it might be scary if it was a grotesque story. But I guess I’m still curious.
Anything by director Naoko Yamada is amazing.
Apothecary Diaries has gorgeous looking moments too.
I watched the first season of this anime! This artist’s work really does have an amazing art style. Thanks!
王様ランキング Ranking of the Kings. This anime has very colorful and unique looking art style.
I immediately dismissed it as something I didn’t want because of the simple character design, but looking closer, the background is indeed beautiful and refined. Thank you!
Violet Evergarden.
It is absolutely lovely both in terms of animation and story.
After looking into it, I found out the theme is love and emotions, which made me even more interested!
A lot of the plot takes place underground, but Dungeon Meshi certainly has that same medieval vibe. And the indoor setting is used to great effect for both cozy and claustrophopic moments.
It does feature some more colorful locations, because the magic of the Dungeon can make some levels feel like the surface.
Too much more than that would spoil some things.
See if you like the vibe of the first opening. It features several locations (with the charachters as giants in them).
I thought it would be a dark anime since it’s set in a dungeon. But after watching the opening, there were bright outdoor scenes too, so it was closer to what I imagined! Thanks!
At times it is. The story has both bright and dark parts, both visually and tonally.
It depends on the level they are on, and there is also a kind of B plot that happens above ground.
That really piqued my interest! I’ll check it out on Netflix.
If you like it, you can join us over on !dungeonmeshi@ani.social.
If you’re like me, you might enjoy reading the comment threads for each episode as you watch them. Each episode got a good bit of discussion when they aired.
I also posted a bunch of extras pages from the manga that didn’t get an equivalent in the anime. You can find these by searching “Monster Tidbits”.
Thank you so much for your kind invitation! That sounds really interesting—I’d love to join! (Everyone’s illustrations are so cute!)
Houseki no Kuni. It’s the best 3D I’ve seen in an anime and each character is colourful and light is done super well too, give it a chance and watch one episode!
I read the comic, where does the anime end in relation to the comic? 12 chapters for a 100+ story seems short.
I only read the manga but the anime covers just a tiny bit of the story, then the studio moved on to make Beastar which was a huge success so no S2
What a vivid and beautiful anime world! I’ve heard the story gets a bit heavy, so I’m hesitant, but I think I’ll give it a try! Thanks!
It does get sad, but you did ask for anime that could move you haha
Also, the anime never got a S2 and S1 is only a small part of the story, just a headsup. Looks amazing tho, just watch the OP, its one of the GOATs.
Even if it’s a sad story, my inner self says this stylish design is worth checking out lol. Thanks!
Hell yeah, let me know what you think!
Mushoku Tensei
Yeah but it is absolute dogshit in the character department
I’ve heard that name before. This work is indeed beautiful and captivating—I think it’s almost perfect! Is there something wrong with the character others have mentioned? Either way, I’ll give it a try! Thanks!
The main character Rudy is more or less an “ugly bastard” sort of character before reincarnation. After reincarnation for quite awhile he’s a weird little creep of a child but he grows out of it and the people who love him love him genuinely. Dude is seriously weird for awhile though. He matures very well, especially in the upcoming season
I’ve seen other anime where the main character is a jerk at first, and I enjoyed those too, so I’m sure I’ll be able to watch this one just fine! I’m definitely going to see it.
I never imagined so many people would recommend such amazing anime to me—thank you so much! I’m Japanese and not very good at English, so I’m using DeepL here. Please excuse any unnatural English that might result.
大丈夫だよ
皆さん本当に優しくて助かってます！（Everyone is so kind and helpful!）
日本語は得意じゃないけど、ちょっと分かるから頑張ってみようと思います。
なるほど、DeepLでしたね。いまさっきRemedultさんの他のコメントを読んでいるうちに、これはAIかなと思っていました。
もう一つのアニメをすすめたいけど、「京騒戯画」と呼ばれています。どれよりも僕の気に入ったアニメなんで何回みても、色がめっちゃすぶらしい〜！と思えざるをえないんです。全くフリーレンと違っているけど、ほんの少しでもお気になったらぜひ見てください。
Your Japanese is amazing! I looked up 京騒戯画—it’s an anime with distinctive colors and artwork. Sounds interesting, I’ll give it a watch! おかしな英語でごめんなさい、僕のために日本語で教えてくれてありがとうございます！
Little Witch Academia immediately comes to mind when I hear the word colorful.
This artwork is adorable, colorful, and sophisticated! Thanks for telling me!
Ruri Rocks.
Ruri Rocks… rocks.
Second Ruri Rocks, it’s amazing. Also you’ll learn a bunch!
I’ve actually seen this a few times at bookstores. The background art is truly beautiful!
None of these are the same genre, but for “beautiful depictions of light and color” I don’t think KyoAni can be beat, first one of theirs that comes to mind is Hibike Euphonium. Violet Evergarden would probably be the closest to Frieren.
Some off the top of my head other than KyoAni: Shoshimin Series, Yofukashi no Uta. These are decidedly darker color palettes though.
This one is “muddier”, but if you like Frieren, maybe Mushishi is worth a shot.
Violet Evergarden was the first thing that came to my mind, but I don’t have a strong enough recollection of the art detail to recommend it on my own. I’m glad someone with a better memory was able to give it its due.
Hibike Euphonium. Violet Evergarden
I can second both of these.
I didn’t recommend them earlier because I remember them best not for beautiful scenery, but for peak animation and story. However, I won’t be surprised if they are extremely good-looking when it comes to background art too.
Thanks so much for telling me all about it! From what little I’ve seen, Violet Evergarden looks absolutely beautiful. I actually picked up Mushishi at a bookstore once, but since I didn’t know what it was about, I ended up passing on it. It definitely is an anime that piques my interest!
I can really recommend よふかしのうた (Yofukashi no Uta), the night sky in that anime is striking.
I’d been curious about it because the artwork was so lovely. Thank you!
Wandering Witch
Bocchi the WitchSilent Witch (but go ahead, try Bocchi the Rock too)Once Upon a Witch’s Death
Akebi’s Sailor Uniform
The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity
Tsurune S2
Vinland Saga
Violet Evergarden
Black Clover
To Your Eternity
Kino no Tabi
Thank you so much for showing me all of these! Each piece is close to what I imagined, but the top three are especially beautiful! Thank you so, so much!
Completely different Genre, but Dusk Maiden of Amnesia has beautiful artwork and a very moving story
The lighting is great, of course, but the way the shadows are drawn is what really makes this piece stand out. The shading is unique and really cool. Thanks!
