History Main / PuniPlush

* ''[[Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid: Kanna's Daily Life]]'' uses a very rounded art style due to it being from the perspective of the [[TokenMiniMoe Kanna]]. It's even lampshaded in the afterword of volume 7, which says that the two most importing things to drawing her are making her look squishy and soft. The other works in the series do something similar, but not to the same extent.

%% * ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid'', though more so in the anime than in the manga.

[[quoteright:250:[[Manga/ManabiStraight https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cit_manabi_straight_-_lookin_kinda_plushy.jpg]]]]

* ''Manga/DragonBall'' had traces of this style [[UrExample before it was even considered a "type" of style]] (there are almost no angles anyway), but it was [[ArtEvolution gradually abandoned]] by the time of the Tienshinhan saga, and afterward it gets increasingly angular.

* In the original ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'' (and sister-series ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'') sound novels, all the characters are drawn like this, full with FourFingeredHands (though this is more due to Ryukishi07's limited drawing skills than anything intentional). It can be a bit jarring [[ArtStyleDissonance when the murders and paranoia start to kick in.]] The remakes and Steam rerelease use a more different art style.

* ''Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' was deliberately given a rounded style, more reminiscent of older Disney movies, such as ''Disney/LadyAndTheTramp'' and ''Disney/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians''. The directors believed those movies were the pinnacle of Disney's style.
* ''Disney/LiloAndStitch''. The look of the film, and [[Franchise/LiloAndStitch its subsequent spin-off installments]], are reflective of [[Creator/ChrisSanders the director's]] personal style. [[https://youtu.be/ZnvW7DKevUo?t=1161 This makes the movie very unique]]; almost no straight lines are used, and even pointed objects are dull. This also tend to seep into other movies he has storyboarded and/or directed, such as ''WesternAnimation/TheCroods'', and ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast''.

* In ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'', at least 90% of the countries are this.
* ''LightNovel/BakaAndTestSummonTheBeasts''
* ''Anime/BottleFairy''
* ''Manga/DenkiGaiNoHonyaSan'' uses this style, which can feel jarring as some of the cast are implied to be in their twenties.

** Toriyama actually uses this style a lot more often. It's even more pronounced in ''Manga/DrSlump'' than in ''Dragon Ball''.
* ''Manga/FateKaleidLinerPrismaIllya''
* ''Anime/Figure17TsubasaAndHikaru'', albeit very restrainedly, and with attention to proper representation of characters' ages.
* ''Manga/GAGeijutsukaArtDesignClass''. They get more slender later on thanks to ArtEvolution, but never lose their charm.
** Also ''Manga/ShoulderACoffinKuro'', from the same creator.
* ''Grrl Power!'' (the OVA, not the webcomic)
* Anything whose character designs are done by artist Hanaharu Naruko (''Anime/{{Kamichu}}'', ''Shojo Material'', ''Anime/GargantiaOnTheVerdurousPlanet'').

* ''[[Anime/HareGuu Hare+Guu]]''
* ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'''s AnimatedAdaptation drifts a little bit into this around the second season as well as in TheMovie, no thanks to being produced after ''Manga/LuckyStar'' (see below).
* ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'' is verging on this because of its heavy ArtEvolution.
* ''Anime/HeartcatchPrettyCure''
* ''Manga/HenZemi'', which brings great graphical dissonance with the horribly {{squick}}y fetishes discussed and practiced therein.
* ''Manga/HidamariSketch''

* ''Manga/KamichamaKarin''
** Actually everything authored by Koge-Donbo.
* ''LightNovel/{{Kanokon}}''
* ''Manga/KemekoDeluxe''
* ''Manga/KokoroLibrary''
* ''Manga/KOn'', being the {{Moe}} series that it is, loves this.
* ''LightNovel/KyouranKazokuNikki'', with humans but especially with animal characters.
* ''LightNovel/LadiesVersusButlers''

* ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'', particularly the manga.
* ''Manga/MadeInAbyss'': All of the main characters, with the exception of some of the White Whistles (whose full outfits are high-tech exoskeletons). [[ArtStyleDissonance This is intended to clash dramatically with the dark themes of the series]].
* ''LightNovel/MagiciansAcademy''
* ''Manga/MagicOfStella''
* ''Manga/{{Mahoraba}}'' was influential in first developing the Puni Plush style.
* ''Anime/MajokkoTsukuneChan'' is an absurdly adorable example of this style, which makes the show's CrossesTheLineTwice humor all the more amusingly jarring.
* Pictured above: ''Anime/ManabiStraight''. Especially jarring when it's removed to accommodate a BeachEpisode and the girls suddenly look [[FanService much older]]. They're supposed to be 15-16 years old at the start of the series, and after a four-year TimeSkip, they still look the same.
* ''Anime/MarginalNumber4'' looks like this, and the characters are boys. But they are [[IdolSinger idols]], and their senpais, Lagrange Point, are more {{Bishounen}}. But the younger boys tend to look like this, especially R.
* ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid'', though more so in the anime than in the manga.
* ''Manga/{{Mitsudomoe}}''
* ''Moetan''

* ''Manga/{{Nichijou}}''
* ''Manga/NininGaShinobuden''
* ''Anime/NurseWitchKomugi''
* ''Anime/OjamajoDoremi''
* ''Manga/OtasukeMikoMikoChan''
* ''Anime/PaniPoniDash'', except for certain characters like Tsurugi Inugami.
* ''Popotan'' - "Puni-Puni!"
* ''Anime/{{Potemayo}}''
* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' for ArtStyleDissonance.
* ''Read or Dream'', in comparison to the more "realistic" character designs of the ''Anime/ReadOrDie'' manga.
* Creator/RumikoTakahashi's character designs are this to a T.
* ''Manga/{{Saki}}''
* ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei'' used this in an ArtShift during a MagicalGirl anime parody.

* ''Manga/StrawberryMarshmallow''
* ''Manga/UraraMeirocho''
* ''Manga/YozakuraQuartet'' second anime, in contrast to the 2008 anime.
* Anything by artist Yuichi Hasegawa (''Manga/MobileSuitCrossboneGundam'', ''Maps''); this may be the reason why ''Crossbone'', despite being immensely popular, never got a Western release.

* Creator/TaralWayne's art style is a western, anime (and Cats Don't Dance) influenced, version of this.

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* The Korean soap opera ''I Love You'' featured as its protagonist a struggling cartoonist who drew his friends and family members in this style, which led to his successful ''I Love You'' serialized manga.
[[/folder]]

* While Creator/AkiraToriyama may have moved away from this style in his print and animated works, it's still quite evident in the game series with his character designs, such as ''Videogame/BlueDragon'' and ''VideoGame/DragonQuest''.
* ''Battle Arena Nitoshinden'', featuring certain fighters from [[VideoGame/BattleArenaToshinden the main franchise]] (and a few exclusive to this game) as kids.
* Similarly, ''VideoGame/VirtuaFighter Kids'', an SD-ified version of ''[=VF2=]''.

* A similar problem occurs in ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing''. The player doesn't even look pubescent but can move out, drink coffee, pay taxes, and is heavily implied to be an adult. {{Averted}} in ''New Leaf'', where everyone more resembles NoodlePeople, but due to their face stays the same as ever, so to some this isn't [[UncannyValley totally a good thing.]]
* ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey'' has this too. Quite jarring given the scenario, but very charming too.
* ''VideoGame/EternalSonata''
* Most of the character art in the ''VideoGame/PanelDePon'' games (at least the ones that have characters) is done in this style. It's toned down for the 2-Player and Vs. mode portraits, though.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX''. Exceptions seem to be limited to named characters (civilians exhibit this on a massive scale, even the furry ones.)
* ''Ontamarama''
* All ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' characters, at least in the official art. Fanart depictions vary considerably.

* ''VisualNovel/HerTearsWereMyLight'' and most of Creator/NomnomNami's works.

* All the child characters in the ''Literature/{{Madeline}}'' AnimatedAdaptation.

Take this trope to its extreme and you get SuperDeformed. Contrast NoodlePeople. See also ThickLineAnimation; both styles are not complete opposites by definition, but PuniPlush favors soft, thin lines while the latter tend to emphasize angles and points-- but there's no rule that says that something can't have bold lines and a rounded design. Not to be confused with the species from ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor''.

* ''Manga/SchoolLive'' uses this in a ZombieApocalypse setting thanks to being a faux SchoolgirlSeries. It also zigzags this trope. The main girls and SenseiChan Megu-nee are drawn this way, but later in the manga we meet university students and they mostly don't. The zombies are also drawn in a realistic style post-ArtEvolution. Over time the manga began to loose some of its PuniPlush design and make the characters look more slender, but the anime adaptation uses the original style

* ''Manga/GAGeijutsukaArtDesignClass''

* ''Manga/MadeInAbyss'': All of the main characters, with the exception of some of the White Whistles (whose full outfits are high-tech exoskeletons). [[ArtstyleDissonance This is intended to clash dramatically with the dark themes of the series]].

* ''Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' was deliberately given a rounded style, more reminiscent of older Disney movies, such as Lady And The Tramp and 101 Dalmations. The directors believed those movies were the pinnacle of Disney's style.

* Several early ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon'' games had art like this. It's mostly been dropped since ''Island of Happiness'' in favor of {{Bishonen}} and {{Bishojo}}. If you didn't know any better, you'd think the protagonists were preteens at most. Yet, they're supposed to be in their 20s and up. The hints drop when you can drink beer and wine and are expected to get married. It's especially jarring in games like ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon64'' and ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonMagicalMelody''.

* ''Anime/MonColleKnights''. While most of the more mature characters [[{{NoodlePeople}} aren't this trope]] [[{{Bishounen}} at]] [[{{Bishoujo}} all]], the child characters' designs are a lot less angular than those from any season of Franchise/{{Digimon}}.

[[caption-width-right:250:Real women have curves.]]

An art style alternative to the tall, skinny design that is typical for {{Bishoujo Series}}. Puni Plush avoids straight lines, emphasizing a character's curves, especially the face and hips, that can give to the cast an overall short, childlike look. Most common in [[RomanticComedy Romantic Comedies]] or SliceOfLife anime and manga, but sometimes used in [[BreakTheCutie less obvious ways]]. Shows with prominent {{Moe}} content often use this art style as well. Often leads to ArtisticAge of the "[[OlderThanTheyLook looks younger]]" variety.

!!Examples

* ''WesternAnimation/MagiNation,'' at least in its original incarnation. Even the [[OurDragonsAreDifferent fierce Hyrens]] were kind of cute and chubby.

* While Creator/AkiraToriyama may have moved away from this style in his print and animated works, it's still quite evident in the game series with his character designs, such as ''Videogame/BlueDragon'' and ''Videogame/DragonQuest''.

* Most of the heroes of the ''VideoGame/EarthBound'' series are 12 to 13 years old, but it's very hard to notice. There's a reason why the likes of [[Videogame/EarthBound Ness]] and Lucas may be classified as [[AdorablyPrecociousChild adorable children.]] (Lucas's [[TheWoobie woobiness]] doesn't quite help either.) The American version of the figurines has them aged up physically. This is especially visible on the Ness figurine (''Videogame/SuperSmashBros'' uses the original Japanese version world-wide)
* ''Videogame/YggdraUnion'' poses an interesting example in that even the items get some puni. Perhaps not surprisingly, the game (and the entire VideoGame/DeptHeaven 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 [[VideoGame/KnightsInTheNightmare doesn't always draw this way]]).

* A similar problem occurs in ''Videogame/AnimalCrossing''. The player doesn't even look pubescent but can move out, drink coffee, pay taxes, and is heavily implied to be an adult. {{Averted}} in ''New Leaf'', where everyone more resembles NoodlePeople, but due to their face stays the same as ever, so to some this isn't [[UncannyValley totally a good thing.]]

* ''Videogame/EternalSonata''

* In the original ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'' (and sister-series ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'') sound novels, all the characters are drawn like this, full with FourFingeredHands (though this is more due to Ryukishi07's limited drawing skills than anything intentional). It can be a bit jarring [[ArtStyleDissonance when the murders and paranoia start to kick in.]] The remakes and Steam rerelease use a more different art-style.

[[folder: Live-Action TV]]

* ''Anime/PaniPoniDash'', except for certain characters like Tsurugi Inugami

[[folder: Live Action TV]]

* Similarly, ''VideoGame/VirtuaFighter Kids'', an SD-ified version of ''VF2''.

* ''MagiNation,'' at least in its original incarnation. Even the [[OurDragonsAreDifferent fierce Hyrens]] were kind of cute and chubby.

An art style alternative to the tall, skinny design that is typical for {{Bishoujo Series}}. 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 [[RomanticComedy Romantic Comedies]] or SliceOfLife anime and manga, but sometimes used in [[BreakTheCutie less obvious ways]]. Shows with prominent {{Moe}} content often use this art style as well. Often leads to ArtisticAge of the "[[OlderThanTheyLook looks younger]]" variety.

* ''Manga/MadeInAbyss''

* ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'', at least 90% of the countries are this.

** In the original sound novels, all the characters are drawn like this, full with FourFingeredHands (though this is more due to Ryukishi07's limited drawing skills). Which can be a bit jarring [[ArtStyleDissonance when the murders and paranoia start to kick in.]]

* ''Manga/LuckyStar'' is probably the most notable example, which is even mentioned in the theme song.
** The manga tends to have a character even more Puni Plush at the beginning and end of each chapter. The beginning is more notable than the ending sketches, due to the character sketches still having them in a Plush-like state.

* Most of the heroes of the ''VideoGame/EarthBound'' series are 12 to 13 years old, but it's very hard to notice. There's a reason why the likes of [[Videogame/EarthBound Ness]] and Lucas may be classified as [[AdorablyPrecociousChild adorable children.]] (Lucas's [[TheWoobie woobiness]] doesn't quite help either.) The American version of the figurines has them aged up. This is especially visible on the Ness figurine (Videogame/SuperSmashBros uses the original Japanese version world-wide)

* Early ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon'' games had art like this. It's mostly been dropped since ''Island of Happiness'' in favor of {{Bishonen}} and {{Bishojo}}. If you didn't know any better, you'd think the protagonists were preteens at most. Yet, they're supposed to be in their 20s and up. The hints drop when you can drink beer and wine and are expected to get married. It's especially jarring in games like ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon64'' and ''Magical Melody''.
** A similar problem occurs in ''Videogame/AnimalCrossing''. The player doesn't even look pubescent but can move out, drink coffee, pay taxes, and is heavily implied to be an adult. {{Averted}} in ''New Leaf'', where everyone more resembles NoodlePeople, but due to their face stays the same as ever, so to some this isn't [[UncannyValley totally a good thing.]]

* ''VisualNovel/HerTearsWereMyLight'' and most of Creator/NomnomNami's works

* ''Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' was deliberately given a rounded style, more reminiscent of older Disney movies, such as Lady And The Tramp and 101 Dalmations. The directors believed those movies were the pinnacle of Disney's style.
* ''Disney/LiloAndStitch''. The look of the film, and [[Franchise/LiloAndStitch its subsequent spin-off installments]], are reflective of [[Creator/ChrisSanders the director's]] personal style. [[https://youtu.be/ZnvW7DKevUo?t=1161 This makes the movie very unique]]; almost no straight lines are used, and even pointed objects are dull. This also tend to seep into other movies he has storyboarded and/or directed, such as ''WesternAnimation/TheCroods'', and ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast''.

** A similar problem occurs in ''Videogame/AnimalCrossing''. The player doesn't even look pubescent but can move out, drink coffee, pay taxes, and is heavily implied to be an adult. {{Averted}} in ''New Leaf'', where everyone more resembles NoodlePeople, but due to their face stays the saame as ever, so to some this isn't [[UncannyValley totally a good thing.]]

* ''Disney/LiloAndStitch.'' The look of the film, and its subsequent spin-off installments, are reflective of [[Creator/ChrisSanders the director's]] personal style. [[https://youtu.be/ZnvW7DKevUo?t=1161 This makes the movie very unique]]; almost no straight lines are used, and even pointed objects are dull. This also tend to seep into other movies he has storyboarded/directed, such as ''WesternAnimation/TheCroods'', and Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast.

* ''Disney/LiloAndStitch.'' The look of the film, and its subsequent spin-off installments, are reflective of [[Creator/ChrisSanders the director's]] personal style. This makes the movie very unique; almost no straight lines are used, and even pointed objects are dull. This also tend to seep into other movies he has storyboarded/directed, such as ''WesternAnimation/TheCroods'', and Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast.

[[caption-width-right:250:"Magic lives in curves, not angles."]]