Best Artist between the creators of the Top Three?

[Kage Kisaragi]

This is pretty much a copy of a thread from another forum. Someone posed the question which of the creators of the current top 3 ranking manga's (One Piece, Bleach and Naruto) is the best over all artist..

Basing their opinions on all aspects of the books, such as character designs, backgrounds, and sequential story telling, people came up with various arguments to support their pick. What I want to know is, how does the CBR Anime and Manga board view these guys and who is their number 1 pick.

[Ghost]

They're hard to compare, honestly. Each of them are professionals with their own defined style, but all three have specific strengths as artists.

In purely personal taste, I like the art of Bleach the most. I find Kubo's style to be nice to look at and usually easy to follow. At the same time, he's not afraid to experiment or make an artistic statement. (I know some people didn't like the nearly-all-black pages, but I thought it was kinda bold.)

However, some of the things Kishimoto does when he really tries -just in terms of using visuals to relay something that can't easily be put to words- are completely brilliant. The reoccurring imagery and use of foreshadowing in the Sasori fight was amazing, and I loved Sai's picture book and that final "friendship" panel of his introduction arc.

Oda is probably my least favourite, but I won't deny the man is insanely creative and has produced a lot of original designs. He's also really good at using the scenery as more then just backgrounds - the specific locations tend to have an important part to play in each given scene as opposed to just being a place where the characters can do their talking/fighting.

Ultimately, I'm not sure one can be said to be a "better" artist then the others. It's going to largely depend on ones own individual taste.

[MKTerra]

Bleach was godlike during Soul Society. Nowadays the faces are less distinctive and events are heavily decompressed, but it still has the best style, IMO. Easily. Naruto and One Piece just don't draw people as well.

Naruto had one really good two-page spread:
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/6717/showdownbetweenmadaraan.th.jpg (http://img210.imageshack.us/i/showdownbetweenmadaraan.jpg/)
The rest of the time, it's not as visually striking.

One Piece, well, let's just say I've avoided it specifically because of the art. I've only started checking it out after Fairy Tail raised my tolerance for the general style. Even then, OP's designs are alot crazier.

[Ragnorok64]

In basic style I'd have to say I like Naruto the most. I enjoy his character designs as they all seem to have a nice flow to them. If that makes any sense.

Oda though. The shear amount of stuff he can cram onto a page is mind boggling at times. This latest arc is a wonderful example.

[Ghost]

Oda though. The shear amount of stuff he can cram onto a page is mind boggling at times. This latest arc is a wonderful example.

Actually, that's part of the reason his art looses points with me. It's true he's really good at adding details, but sometimes I find it to be somewhat cluttered.

[Sound Silence]

Actually, that's part of the reason his art looses points with me. It's true he's really good at adding details, but sometimes I find it to be somewhat cluttered.

I agree with this. I really like the art style, since it's very different, but especially in this last arc I've found it hard to figure out what's going on.

'Course, one may say that adds to the frantic feel of the arc, but still.

I don't read either, but perusing through them, I find Bleach to be the better. Naruto doesn't seem to be as...well-defined, maybe? I'm not exactly sure how to word it.

[Nik Hasta]

I prefer Old Kishimoto over his current stuff, he's too clean now and I dislike it. I quite liked the older, scrappier stuff it had more character to it in my opinion.

Kubo has been consistantly best in my opinion, he's got a nice sense of visual style even though I don't much care about what he draws. That said Oda has a style that keeps growing on me the more he does with it and I am much more invested in the stories he's telling than the other two.

So they're all good but in different ways.

That said all three fall way behind my actual top four artists who are: Oh!Great (Air Gear, Tenjou Tenge), Kentaro Muira (Berserk), Raiko Makoto (Zatch Bell) and Katsura Hoshino (D.Grey-man)

[Dark Soul # 7]

They're all different from each other. That has to be said first.

Personally I'd have to say that Bleach is the one that pulls me in the most artistically. Everything done there just looks slick and cool or artistically modern and kind of daring. It stands out the most to me out of the three.

One Piece has the advantaged of Oda's awesome creativeness. He can really pull off different and unique character designs that sets everybody apart, except for giving slim & beautiful women defining traits beyond their hair. And he is a master of the backgrounds. Making sure that we always know just where an event is taking place. He can also capture the mood very nicely, especially the hectic insanity of One Piece.

Naruto is good, really good at times. Lots of cool character designs and symbolic imagery. But it doesn't really stand out all that much for me compared to the other two. And it is the worse of the three when it comes to humerous expressions.

[Ghost]

That said all three fall way behind my actual top four artists who are: Oh!Great (Air Gear, Tenjou Tenge), Kentaro Muira (Berserk), Raiko Makoto (Zatch Bell) and Katsura Hoshino (D.Grey-man)

My personal favorites, aside from Kubo, would be Ken Akamatsu, Kentaro Yabuki and Yukiru Sugisaki.

Though it's hard to talk about favorites on art alone.


Naruto is good, really good at times. Lots of cool character designs and symbolic imagery. But it doesn't really stand out all that much for me compared to the other two. And it is the worse of the three when it comes to humerous expressions.

I also think Kishimoto is slightly worse at character design then Oda and Kubo.

[Libaax]

Oda is creative, his art can do alot of things.

While Bleach,Naruto look like another weak artist series which is a bit typical for some shonen.

[Kevin M.]

For character design, and overall detail I have to give it to Kubo. The man knows how to crate some really good looking characters, and some cool looking motifs, especially with the Espada.

Oda's style can be a bit overly simplistic, and down right strange at times with the random character's he creates. Though, they do help to give them an unique style to them, they do tend to come off a childish. But that man knows how to create backgrounds, and knows how to fit in some great action with in his alloted twenty page per week chapter.


Never really found anything special with Kishi's art save for some of the two page spreads.

[The Xenos]

I gotta say One Piece's Oda wins me over. He has the most unique style. His character designs are so absurdly creative that I think that alone wins him over for me. I can't think of a single manga artist that has his cartoony wit, the way he uses the art of cartooning to bend lines on the page and exert character and emotion. The closest artist I can think of is American artist Kyle Baker's cartoony style. It's a pleasure to read One Piece just to see the characters and designs he comes up with. Heck, the animals alone just make me laugh out loud at how crazy the designs get. I love it.

By comparison Naruto and Bleach are boring to me, no matter how good on their own are. One Piece just has such a fun creative cartoon energy to it.

From the moment I saw the One Piece characters, I was intrigued. Meanwhile, Naruto and Bleach's art just didn't catch my eye. I ended up watching some of Naruto and Bleach and the story was interesting, but the art and designs just didn't draw me in like One Piece. I can't think of a single book that has One Piece's style. (Well, not counting that Fairytale by Oda's protege.)

[Hazard]

While I would generally consider Bleach's art beter, Oda's style so perfectly suits the wacky world of One Piece that I have to go with him.

[Zero Hunter]

I will agree on Bleach having the better overall art in my eyes, but I also agree that it seems to have been going down hill lately likes it rushed or something. It just looks alot sloppier.

But for sheer creativeness Oda beats them all by miles. Some of the stuff he comes up with is just so far out there that it leaves you slackjawed sometimes, and that is why One Piece is my overall favorite manga.

[master of read]

in terms of realistic style and slickness, i'd go for kubo.

but for overall creativity and uniqueness, i'm going for oda. he really makes his characters stand out from each other, with little easter eggs in their designs. his backgrounds and settings give you the same sense of awe that the characters in the story have.

[NickGuy]

this is a great thred *thumbs up*

Oda- His stuff blows me away so much. Ive aped so much of his compositions and the way he poses panels and action. His action scenes are the cleanest to read and everything just looks awesome.

Kubo- I love his scratchy "i drew everything with a ballpoint pen" look, and when he does dry bush effect on the shinigamis outfits and for kanji i swoon. However, lately hes starting to waste more page space and it seems like hes fallen into the trap of falling in love with speed lines.

Kishimoto- Early Naruto had a fun, bouncy feel. Now it feels stretched out for me. and i find when reading the fight scenes i have to re-read over and over to understand what the hell just happened.

my vote (if this werea poll) would go Oda

[yeoman]

I will agree on Bleach having the better overall art in my eyes, but I also agree that it seems to have been going down hill lately likes it rushed or something. It just looks alot sloppier.

But for sheer creativeness Oda beats them all by miles. Some of the stuff he comes up with is just so far out there that it leaves you slackjawed sometimes, and that is why One Piece is my overall favorite manga.


I have to say, while One Piece is easily my least favorite of the three, I'd probably have to give it the most props in terms of art from what little I've seen of it. It's inventive, fits the story to a T, and a bit different from the norm, showing a willingness to not just play the same game everyoen else is.

Naruto is probably second best in terms of background and inventive character designs. Bleach, however, is the one I actually care about story and character-wise (Outside my main man Shikumaru), and, thus, is the only one I read.

[GrampaGen]

Kishimoto is the most technically sound and consistent. He's able to work with figures in all sorts of angles and tends to show off more perspective tricks for dramatic shots, which compliments his fight scenes nicely.

Kubo makes interesting effects and is very good at individualizing character designs. However, his layouts have always been less than economic.

Oda's art takes some getting used to, but he's very good at hammering emotional messages across. I'll refrain from further comments since I've only gotten past Captain Kuro at the moment. I find that he's rather love it or hate it though.

[master of read]

Kishimoto is the most technically sound and consistent. He's able to work with figures in all sorts of angles and tends to show off more perspective tricks for dramatic shots, which compliments his fight scenes nicely.

Kubo makes interesting effects and is very good at individualizing character designs. However, his layouts have always been less than economic.

Oda's art takes some getting used to, but he's very good at hammering emotional messages across. I'll refrain from further comments since I've only gotten past Captain Kuro at the moment. I find that he's rather love it or hate it though.

all i got to say is.............enjoy the ride.

[RubberLotus]

all i got to say is.............enjoy the ride.

And stay far, far away from the 4Kids dub.

[Libaax]

Well i love reading OP and i have never ever seen the anime.

Dub or sub who needs fillers and crap......

[Hazard]

Well i love reading OP and i have never ever seen the anime.

Dub or sub who needs fillers and crap......

The One Piece fillers are surprinsingly decent. If i remember correctly they make 60 or so of the aired episodes, which is way better than other animes like Naruto where more than half of the episodes are filler.

[master of read]

Well i love reading OP and i have never ever seen the anime.

Dub or sub who needs fillers and crap......

one piece fillers are very good. its believable. not to mention that oda handles them a lot.

plus, they go beyond most fillers. the last one was a two parter about what if luffy and the gang were in ancient japan.

[RubberLotus]

one piece fillers are very good. its believable. not to mention that oda handles them a lot.

plus, they go beyond most fillers. the last one was a two parter about what if luffy and the gang were in ancient japan.

There's a lot more than just two of those. Just saying.

And don't forget about the full-length episode of Chopperman... who'd have thought they'd turn a two-minute short into twenty-two minutes?

[Watchtower]

Oda from One Piece, but manga art today is still a far cry from when it was actually great artwork. Stuff like Akira, Ranma 1/2, Fist Of the North Star, etc is head and shoulders above anything else today.

[Libaax]

Ranma ? Fist of North Star ?

Compared that to Berserk, Vagabond artists ;)

[Sound Silence]

The One Piece fillers are surprinsingly decent. If i remember correctly they make 60 or so of the aired episodes, which is way better than other animes like Naruto where more than half of the episodes are filler.

It's true. There are certain episodes of filler I'd recommend watching purely for themselves, and not just "You're watching through the anime, it's okay to watch through this"

The Ice Hunters arc was great, for instance. I heard G8 was too.

Others, not so much.

[NickGuy]

Oda from One Piece, but manga art today is still a far cry from when it was actually great artwork. Stuff like Akira, Ranma 1/2, Fist Of the North Star, etc is head and shoulders above anything else today.

nothing will ever be as good to me as akira ever again and that makes me sad inside

[The Xenos]

in terms of realistic style and slickness, i'd go for kubo.
For realism.. I go with... none of them. All three are very cartoony. For realism you need at least Death Note. Then you have even more detailed and realistic artists like in JoJo's Bizzare Adventure or say Crying Freeman. Plus other ones mentioned like Akira and fellow Shonen Jump manga Fist of the North Star also are more on the realistic scale. As good as any of the three big dogs today are, none of them could be called realistic.

[Ghost]

...Who the heck reads shonen for the realism, anyway. oO

[RubberLotus]

...Who the heck reads shonen for the realism, anyway. oO

Yeah. That's what Seinen is for. :tongue:

[The Xenos]

Well, I mean realistic art style. JoJo and Fist of the North Star are far from realstic. (Unless.. There is some way to punch someone and have their head asplode!) Meanwhile, it's rather a sign of the times as those were older Shonen Jump series. These more cartoony styles are obviously all the rage tody.

[FlyingFox]

I'd say Kubo, but if I could pick any artist it would be Takeshi Obata.