#astronomeys

Oh wow this is a complicated question!

Takahashi has been drawing manga for more than 40 years and her art style has changed a lot in that time. While I do not think certain points were objectively better than others, I do have my preferences.

First off I think her watercolors were always beautiful and that's the number 1 thing I miss with her modern style and digital coloring. It feels a little flat.

I am not the biggest fan of her really early work visually, like the short stories or early Urusei Yatsura or Maison Ikkoku. I think as those series continues her art just gets better and better, and the middle to the finale of Urusei Yatsura is completely gorgeous. (Same with Maison Ikkoku, though I think the difference is more pronounced in UY) Skinny, cartoony characters become more solid, broader and grounded.

For the stint of time she wrote Ranma 1/2 it was most consistently visually pleasing for me. At this point character get even more athletic and their legs get noticeably longer and their torsos get shorter, which is a little disconcerting, but I think it still works in the crazy mess of Ranma 1/2. The middle is probably the golden age though.

I completely agree with you about Inuyasha! The art style at the beginning, maybe the first 50 chapters, is my favorite where everyone is a little more rounded. At that point the proportions have the same issues as the end of Ranma 1/2 though. The middle is fine, though by the end everyone’s features look exactly the same (Takahashi was never great with this but by the end of Inuyasha I think it’s particularly pronounced.)

Her style for end of Inuyasha/Kyoukai no Rin-ne is not my favorite, I feel like it’s lost a lot of it’s early character and the character designs are feeling repetitive and have limited ability to express emotion. It’s more angular and I think that might contribute.

One day I’m going to walk into your apartment and steal your cats, imma leave no trace behind, the only thing you’ll hear is cats in the background when I’m in vc with you, you’ll slowly start losing your mind thinking if those are your cats or not, but you’ll never find out the truth.