An art style alternative to the tall, skinny design that is so common in
bishoujo.
Puni Plush avoids straight lines, emphasizing a character's curves, especially the face and hips, that can give to the cast an overall
short, young look. Most common in
romantic or slice-of-life anime, but sometimes used in
less obvious ways. Often leads to characters that are
Older Than They Look.
Contrast
Bishoujo
Examples
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Anime and Manga
- Lucky Star is probably the most notable example, which is even mentioned in the theme song.
- Moetan
- Mahoraba was influential in first developing the Puni Plush style.
- Manabi Straight, especially jarring when it's removed to accommodate a Beach Episode and the girls suddenly look much older.
- Popotan - "Puni-Puni!"
- Ninin Ga Shinobuden
- Pani Poni Dash
- Kamichama Karin
- Kamichu
- Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei used this in an Art Shift during a Magical Girl anime parody.
- Potemayo
- Hidamari Sketch
- Macademi Wasshoi
- K-On!, being the Moe series that it is, loves this—
The girls The entire cast almost looks like chipmunks!
- Kyouran Kazoku Nikki, with humans but especially with animal characters.
- Kemeko Deluxe
- Kanokon
- Figure17, albeit very restrainedly, and with attention to proper representation of characters' ages.
- GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class
- Saki
- Ichigo Mashimaro
- Bottle Fairy
- Read Or Dream, in comparison to the somewhat more "realistic" character designs of the Read Or Die manga.
- Kokoro Library
- Suzumiya Haruhi had a puni-plush web anime called Suzumiya Haruhi-chan no Yuutsu (based off a gag Manga) to settle the fan's cravings for the upcoming Season 2.
- Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, particularly the manga.
- Quite oddly, Dragonball had traces of this style, but it was gradually abandoned by the time of the Tienshinhan saga.
Video Games
- Most of the heroes of the Earth Bound series are 13 years old, but it's very hard to notice. There's a reason why the likes of Ness and Lucas may be classified as Cute Shotaro Boys.
- Yggdra Union poses an interesting example in that even the items get some puni.
- Perhaps not surprisingly, the game (and the entire Dept Heaven series, since its release) was art-directed by the creator of GA and Kuro above; Kiyudzuki is famous for her puni-moe characters (though she doesn't always draw this way).
Western Animation
- Lilo And Stitch. The character designer were explicitly told to avoid straight lines and harsh angles, and even rectangular objects have dulled corners.
- Magi Nation, at least in its original incarnation. Even the fierce Hyrens were kind of cute and chubby.
