Line #14 Main/PuniPlush


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2	%% Zero-Context Examples are NOT ALLOWED and all such examples have been commented-out.
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6	%% "(work) does this" isn't context; please try and describe the style.
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9	[[quoteright:250:[[Manga/ManabiStraight https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mutsuki_uehara.png]]]]
10	[[caption-width-right:250:RealWomenHaveCurves.]]
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12	An art style alternative to the tall, skinny design that is typical for BishoujoSeries. Puni Plush avoids straight lines, emphasizing a character's curves, especially the face and hips, that can give to the cast an overall [[{{Moe}} short, childlike look]]. Most common in {{Romantic Comed\|y}}ies 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.
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14	Take this trope to its extreme and you get SuperDeformed. Contrast NoodlePeople. See also ThickLineAnimation; both styles are not complete opposites by definition, but Puni Plush 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''. The name of this trope actually comes from a Japanese word, ぷにぷに (punipuni), meaning "squishy."
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16	[[noreallife]]
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18	!Examples
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20	[[foldercontrol]]
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22	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
23	%% * In ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'', at least 90% of the countries are this.
24	%% * ''Anime/BottleFairy''
25	%% * ''Manga/DenkiGaiNoHonyaSan'' uses this style, which can feel jarring as some of the cast are implied to be in their twenties.
26	* ''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 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai arc, and afterward it gets increasingly angular.
27	%% * ''Manga/FateKaleidLinerPrismaIllya''
28	%% * ''Anime/Figure17TsubasaAndHikaru'', albeit very restrainedly, and with attention to proper representation of characters' ages.
29	%% * ''Manga/GAGeijutsukaArtDesignClass''. They get more slender later on thanks to ArtEvolution, but never lose their charm.
30	%% * ''Grrl Power!'' (the OVA, not the webcomic)
31	%% * Anything whose character designs are done by artist Hanaharu Naruko (''Anime/{{Kamichu}}'', ''Shojo Material'', ''Anime/GargantiaOnTheVerdurousPlanet'').
32	* All of the students in ''Manga/HanamaruKindergarten''. These are some of the smallest and roundest toddlers anywhere in fiction.
33	%% * ''[[Anime/HareGuu Hare+Guu]]''
34	%% * ''Literature/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).
35	%% * ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'' is verging on this because of its heavy ArtEvolution.
36	%% * ''Anime/HeartcatchPrettyCure''
37	%% * ''Manga/HenZemi'', which brings great graphical dissonance with the horribly {{squick}}y fetishes discussed and practiced therein.
38	%% * ''Manga/HidamariSketch''
39	* The younger characters of ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'', such as Satoko and Rika. Rena strikes a variable medium between this and Mion's leaner, more angular form; depending on the scene she could fall more toward or away from Puni Plush.
40	%% * ''Anime/ImGonnaBeAnAngel''
41	%% * ''Manga/KamichamaKarin''
42	%% * ''Manga/KemekoDeluxe''
43	%% * ''Manga/KokoroLibrary''
44	%% * ''Manga/KOn'', being the {{Moe}} series that it is, loves this.
45	* ''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.
46	%% * ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'', particularly the manga.
47	* ''Manga/MadeInAbyss'' uses this style for its child characters, most notably the main characters Riko and Reg, whose features avoid nearly any use of sharp angles. [[ArtStyleDissonance This is intended to clash dramatically with the dark themes of the series]] and also draws a notable contrast with the adult characters, who display sharp, angular, and drawn features (with the overall effect of making the children look innocent and cute, while the adults are haggard, worn-down and world-weary).
48	%% * ''Manga/MagicOfStella''
49	%% * ''Manga/{{Mahoraba}}'' was influential in first developing the Puni Plush style.
50	%% * ''Anime/MajokkoTsukuneChan'' is an absurdly adorable example of this style, which makes the show's CrossesTheLineTwice humor all the more amusingly jarring.
51	* ''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.
52	%% * ''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.
53	* ''[[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 [[TokenMiniMoe Kanna]]. It's even lampshaded in the afterword of volume 7, which says that the two most important 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.
54	%% * ''Manga/{{Mitsudomoe}}''
55	%% * ''Moetan''
56	* ''Anime/MonColleKnights'': While most of the more mature characters [[NoodlePeople aren't this trope]] [[{{Bishounen}} at all]], the child characters' designs are a lot less angular than those from any season of ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}''.
57	* ''Manga/MysteriousGirlfriendX'' has a short, round-faced character aesthetic.
58	%% * ''Manga/{{Nichijou}}''
59	%% * ''Manga/NinjaNonsense''
60	%% * ''Anime/NurseWitchKomugi''
61	%% * ''Anime/OjamajoDoremi''
62	%% * ''Manga/OtasukeMikoMikoChan''
63	%% * ''Anime/PaniPoniDash'', except for certain characters like Tsurugi Inugami.
64	%% * ''Popotan'' - "Puni-Puni!"
65	%% * ''Anime/{{Potemayo}}''
66	* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', while created by someone known for dark and gritty works, was drawn by Ume Aoki, the creator of ''Manga/HidamariSketch'', for ArtStyleDissonance.
67	%% * ''Read or Dream'', in comparison to the more "realistic" character designs of the ''Anime/ReadOrDie'' manga.
68	* Creator/RumikoTakahashi (''Manga/UruseiYatsura'', ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'', ''Manga/InuYasha'') tends to draw plenty of soft characters, with plenty of {{bishonen}} males to boot, often resulting in ArtStyleDissonance.
69	%% * ''Manga/{{Saki}}''
70	%% * ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei'' used this in an ArtShift during a MagicalGirl anime parody.
71	* ''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 lose some of its Puni Plush design and make the characters look more slender, but the anime adaptation uses the original style.
72	%% * ''Manga/StrawberryMarshmallow''
73	* ''VisualNovel/ToHeart'': The manga has a particularly plush-like style compared to the anime and original visual novel.
74	%% * ''Manga/UraraMeirocho''
75	%% * ''Manga/YozakuraQuartet'' second anime, in contrast to the 2008 anime.
76	[[/folder]]
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78	[[folder:Comic Books]]
79	%% * Creator/TaralWayne's art style is a western, anime (and Cats Don't Dance) influenced, version of this.
80	* As observed with ''Comicbook/ScottPilgrim'', Bryan Lee O'Malley's style straddles the line between this and ThickLineAnimation: while the art style doesn't look light in the slightest, very few characters are drawn with sharp lines and angles, and teenagers and young adults tend to look at least like pre-teens.
81	[[/folder]]
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83	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
84	* ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' was deliberately given a rounded style, more reminiscent of older Disney movies, such as ''WesternAnimation/LadyAndTheTramp'' and ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians''. The directors believed those movies were the pinnacle of Disney's style.
85	* ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch''. The look of the film, and [[Franchise/LiloAndStitch its subsequent spin-off installments]], are reflective of director Creator/ChrisSanders' 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 Sanders has storyboarded and/or directed, such as ''WesternAnimation/TheCroods'', and ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast''.
86	[[/folder]]
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88	[[folder:Literature]]
89	* ''Literature/BakaAndTestSummonTheBeasts'''s illustrations depict the characters in a very rounded and cute art style, which carries over to the anime adaptation.
90	%% * ''Literature/{{Kanokon}}''
91	%% * ''Literature/KyouranKazokuNikki'', with humans but especially with animal characters.
92	%% * ''Literature/LadiesVersusButlers''
93	%% * ''Literature/MagiciansAcademy''
94	[[/folder]]
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96	%% [[folder:Live-Action TV]]
97	%% * 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.
98	%% [[/folder]]
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100	[[folder:Video Games]]
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102	* The indie game, ''VideoGame/AriseASimpleStory'' uses this style to its near-full potential; all the characters and the environments are very simple, smooth, and well-rounded, both in-game and within the memory collectibles, which conversely take on a watercolor style.
103	%% * ''Battle Arena Nitoshinden'', featuring certain fighters from [[VideoGame/BattleArenaToshinden the main franchise]] (and a few exclusive to this game) as kids.
104	%% * Similarly, ''VideoGame/VirtuaFighter Kids'', an SD-ified version of ''[=VF2=]''.
105	* Most of the heroes of the ''VideoGame/{{Mother}}'' series are 12 to 13 years old, but it's very hard to notice. There's a reason why the likes of [[Videogame/EarthBound1994 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 worldwide). Adult characters are also depicted with big heads and stumpy limbs.
106	* ''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]]).
107	* 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''.
108	* ''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.
109	%% * ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey'' has this too. Quite jarring given the scenario, but very charming too.
110	%% * ''VideoGame/EternalSonata''
111	%% * 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.
112	%% * ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX''. Exceptions seem to be limited to named characters (civilians exhibit this on a massive scale, even the furry ones.)
113	%% * ''Ontamarama''
114	%% * All ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' characters, at least in the official art. Fanart depictions vary considerably.
115	* ''VideoGame/SenranKagura'' uses a [[WorldOfBuxom very curvy]] puni plush art style, which fits nicely for the SliceOfLife parts of the story... and creates some interesting ArtStyleDissonance during the dramatic parts.
116	%% * ''VisualNovel/HerTearsWereMyLight''
117	* 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 Creator/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 console remakes and Steam rerelease use more slender art styles.
118	* Most of the character art in the ''VideoGame/PanelDePon'' games (at least the ones that have characters) is done in a soft, round style somewhat reminiscent of girls' cartoons from the [=1980s=], making the already cute cast of characters look even more adorable and chubby. The only exceptions are the character portraits used in Two-Player and Vs. modes, which use more realistic character proportions.
119	* The art in the first ''VideoGame/ShepherdsCrossing'' is very soft and squishy. The second game, however, trades this in for a more realistic anime art style. Since some of the characters are the same between games, it makes for a very clear dichotomy.
120	* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' uses this for many of its characters, including Link and Tetra[[spoiler:/Zelda]], who have proportionally large, oblong, rounded heads, large eyes, and smaller bodies with shorter limbs, with their hands and feet being small or almost non-existent.
121	[[/folder]]
122
123	[[folder:Web Comics]]
124	* ''Webcomic/SleeplessDomain'': One of the defining characteristics of Creator/MaryCagle's art for the series is the cute and rounded character designs. It serves to reinforce how young most of these characters really are... and to [[ArtStyleDissonance juxtapose]] that with the series' themes of [[MagicalGirlGenreDeconstruction loss, depression, and dealing with trauma]].
125	[[/folder]]
126
127	[[folder:Western Animation]]
128	* ''WesternAnimation/MagiNation'', at least in its original incarnation. Even the [[OurDragonsAreDifferent fierce Hyrens]] were kind of cute and chubby.
129	* Fionna from ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' has a lot more curves than the typical NoodlePeople in that show. Her designer says she's meant to look 'chubby cute.' Considering she's the DistaffCounterpart of Finn, it makes sense. He's kind of a chunky kid (?) and women hold their weight in different places.
130	* ''WesternAnimation/ClassOf3000'' use a style that favors curves above straight lines--especially noticeable in the character design, as everybody looks super-rounded.
131	* All the child characters in the ''Literature/{{Madeline}}'' AnimatedAdaptation have round, plump heads.
132	* The ''WesternAnimation/ChalkZone'' episodes done by Creator/SunwooEntertainment (which animated episodes of seasons two and three) gave Rudy and Penny a more rounded look by making their limbs a little wider than usual and overall gave the two a more softer, rounder look (which was a sharp contrast to the first season's NoodlePeople look to the two that Galaxy Digimation gave them). While there are a few fans who loved Sunwoo's episodes [[{{Moe}} due to them managing to make Rudy and Penny even cuter with the more puni plush art style]], they also qualify as OffModel, as none of the other studios utilized this look.
133	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', instead of the somewhat more realistic horse designs from previous generations, uses a simplified art style with a tendency towards curved, rounded lines that makes the ponies look cute (well, cuter) and plump.
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135	* ''WesternAnimation/FiremanSam'' Rob Lee's signature art style for the first 4 series included very rounded faces,heads and noses, this is especially notable in characters like Sam,Penny,Elvis, Steele and Trevor, the child characters like Norman also feature rounded faces, Sam's face is ovoid and oblong shaped being more wide and curved while Penny's face is more circular, the style of uniform and body shapes is also quite round and plump,the round curves combined with Sam's bright cartoony curved eyes give him a cutesy, Moe aesthetic, this continued into series 5 with added creases to show realistic texture.
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137	* ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' has a rounded art style which results in teenage characters looking much younger than they're supposed to be. Of course, they ''are'' toons.
138	* ''WesternAnimation/WorkItOutWombats'' uses a curved art style to create a friendly and welcoming atmosphere.
139	[[/folder]]

Context Main / PuniPlush