Anime Tattoos: Ideas That Last (Artist's Guide)

Anime tattoos are the best style in terms of stability and longevity. The work holds up, the technique is forgiving, and there are tons of good artists doing it, so it's really easy for the clients to find a good artist — it's hard to go wrong if you like anime.

Witch on broom tattoo design, anime style, on the shoulder, of a cartoon character flying on a broom through a cloudy, starry sky

What is an anime tattoo

Anime tattoos split into two main looks. One of them is colored, built from solid blocks of saturated colors, usually with outlines, which is how the source material looks on a screen. Technique wise it sits very close to neo-traditional tattoos, which is built the same way, out of a bold outline, a finer line inside it, and packed color. The second type of anime tattoos is black illustrative work closer to a comic book page, a lot of linework, hatching or grey wash, with no color in it at all.

Both styles are loyal to the original character. Some anime artists would put a little twist onto their tattoos, but a lot of them don't. After all, the original character is what the client asked for.

Manga character tattoo design for women, anime style, on the thigh, with four black and white panel inserts, wearing a white and gold tunic, and light blue hair

Small and simple anime tattoos

This is the most common request. There are certain styles of tattoos attracting first-timers, meaning people who have never had tattoos before, and a small, simple anime tattoo is one of them. This type of tattoo is easy to accept, as they only have a few simple lines and minimum shading, so, pain-wise, it's really easy to accept. Not having to mention the character itself already carries a lot of meaning for the client.

In a way, you can call it minimalism as well, because it really simplifies the anime characters, as when still remains all the meaning. Technically, it usually uses the fine line tattoo technique plus a little bit of shading.

Small and simple anime tattoos can carry colors, but certain textures from comic books cannot be duplicated on the skin, especially when the tattoo is small.

Keychain charm tattoo design, anime style, on the forearm, with a cute character and small glass beads, in vibrant color

Anime sleeves and larger pieces

People usually request small to medium-sized anime tattoos, but that does not mean large-scale tattoos, such as anime sleeves, are not possible. It is a good way to fit in lots of characters, all at the same time. A large piece also gives the artist enough surface to get the details density right, which can help with the longevity even further.

Why anime tattoos took over

Two things happened at once. In recent years, people have been loving anime — including its side products, such as tattoos — more and more. Clients brought a feeling they already had, because they love a character for years, and that is the engine of the whole style.

The other half is supply. Anime is a comfortable style to work in, since the design arrives already finished and the technique it asks for is easy to master. A lot of artists moved into it not only because they love anime themselves, but also because of how simple it is to be a master in the anime style compared to other styles of tattoos. Many of the artists are younger and watch anime growing up. And a good number have Asian backgrounds, which follows from where anime spread first.

Mans face tattoo design for women, anime style, on the calf, with glasses and blond hair, surrounded by moons and geometric shapes

The technique it asks for, solid lining and packing saturated color evenly, is also one of the fastest ways to build tattooing skill. An artist who has only been working a few years can be genuinely excellent at this, which would not be true in another style that takes much longer to get right, such as the watercolor style.

If you are a tattoo artist and haven't decided what to pursue as your main style, there are a few reasons to consider the anime style. The character is handed to you, so the hours you would otherwise put into designing and drawing go into needle time instead, this will help you grow the technique very fast, which, from my point of view, is a huge benefit of making anime tattoos.

Not only that, you would have a huge client base, coming from their love to different characters. For some other tattoo artists in other styles, they have to constantly draw, design and market themselves to gain traction in the market, which may take years and still not be successful. But the anime tattoo artists already have it.

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The honest downsides

There is not much here for the anime style.

The technique is simple enough that the chance of the work going wrong is low. Color anime is built in a similar way neo-traditional is: a bold outline, a finer line inside it, and packed saturated color, and that combination has some of the best longevity. All these techniques are mature techniques that had existed for the longest time, which means there are plenty of training programs on the market to help every artist perform the techniques better.

Some other tattoo styles, for example, the watercolor tattoo style, may contain some technique that's too new to be tested with time, that problem does not exist in the anime style.

Deer tattoo design, anime style, on the thigh, with abstract rainbow flowers sprouting from their backs

Do anime tattoos age well

Yes, as said, they are one of those styles that have the best longevity.

Some people worry about color tattoos in general and say that colors will fade. This is partially true, because different pigments come from different mineral compounds, so they do not fade at the same rate. Bright pinks, yellows and light blues go first, but it is also not much of a problem in this style, because flat color is one of the most straightforward things in tattooing to go back over, and you refresh the area and it looks new again.

The usual advice is to pick black and grey if certain colors fading worries you. But here's something to know about: black and grey does not hold forever either. It fades as a whole and much faster, instead of losing one color ahead of the others, and can be a lot more blurry and less visible, especially when you have textures, such as whip shading dots in it. Black and grey anime still needs topping up to stay sharp.

Fire demon tattoo design, anime style, on the bicep, on a log with a date below it, with black splatters and red and orange flames

What an anime tattoo should cost

Most shops charge more for color than for black and grey, although I do not think they should.

That convention has a real origin, since color pigment used to be a meaningful supply cost for the artists, so people charge more to pass it on to the clients. It doesn't cost less now, but whether a color tattoo cost more or less has very minimum impact when it comes to decision-making nowadays.

In my opinion, what a tattoo should cost comes from two things instead. There is the art value, meaning the design and the thinking behind it, and there is the technique value, meaning how well the thing was actually executed. A well designed, well executed piece should cost more than a weak one, no matter it happens to be in color has nothing to do with either.

For rough numbers, a small simple anime tattoo usually lands at the shop minimum, commonly somewhere around $100 to $300. A large character piece or a sleeve runs from $500 into the thousands across several sessions.

Manga character tattoo design for men, anime style, on the upper arm, in two panels, with a bird and a person holding a knife, in black and grey

Character tattoos and copyright

In principle an artist should not be making money from tattooing someone else's intellectual property.

In practice the trade has left itself plenty of room to argue that the client asked for it and the artist carried out a request, which is why anime artists work openly and in large numbers. Enforcement against an individual tattoo is close to nonexistent, and Japanese creators in particular have generally been relaxed about fan work as long as nobody is selling it.

That is a description of how the industry behaves, not a statement about where the law lands. If the distinction matters to you, an original design in the same style, or a twist to the main character, sidesteps the question completely, and some artists prefer working that way anyway.

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How to find an anime tattoo artist

Because for the most part the design is handed over, almost everything you are judging is technique.

The most useful filter is specialization, since an artist who does one thing all day is better at that thing than an artist who does six. Look for somebody whose portfolio is focused on, for example colored anime, and very little else. If you see anime sitting alongside black and grey realism and single-needle script and traditional work, that person's technique is probably not as good as someone who focuses on just 1 thing.

Also, a general suggestion on picking artists is to always ask for healed photos instead of fresh ones, because that shows the real quality of the tattoo.

Pro tip about anime tattoos

Written by tattoo artist Jing

For customers who are seeking anime style, usually my only suggestion is to make sure you'll really love the character for a long time.

I would also suggest finding an artist who puts a twist on the original character. Or someone who has a bit of their own add-ons to the anime. I might be biased, but I think those who insist on putting a bit of their own add-ons to a given character are people who treat tattooing more like an art career, less like a needle work trade. Although it also depends on what the client wants, some people just want a very well-executed tattoo that's 100% original. That's also fine.

The example image below is a twisted version of the Pokémon Leafeon, in traditional Chinese style.

Fox tattoo design, anime style, on the forearm, peeking through blue orchids and green foliage, with a stippled background

FAQ

Can you tattoo copyrighted anime characters?

Artists do it every day and enforcement against an individual tattoo is close to nonexistent. In principle an artist should not be profiting from somebody else's character, and the industry's answer has always been that the client requested it. That is a description of how the trade works, not legal advice.

Do anime tattoos fade faster than other tattoos?

No. Color anime holds very well. It is built like neo-traditional work, with bold outline, a finer line inside it, and packed color, and that holds. Individual colors fade at different rates and the bright pinks and yellows go first, so plan on a touch-up would be helpful.