Great to see fanartists fix the mistake that is known as Shibafu's Intrepid. Its a very rare instance where almost all the fanart of a licensed character is better than the official art. Here's an idea though:

Intrepid being poor in comparison to the other ships is a good thing, because now the developers have seen how fans would react to a Shibafu American Ship, so they'll exclude him from the list of potential artists for, quite possibly, the single most anticipated Kanmusu ever:

Enterpise.

MentallyUnstable said:

Great to see fanartists fix the mistake that is known as Shibafu's Intrepid. Its a very rare instance where almost all the fanart of a licensed character is better than the official art. Here's an idea though:

Intrepid being poor in comparison to the other ships is a good thing, because now the developers have seen how fans would react to a Shibafu American Ship, so they'll exclude him from the list of potential artists for, quite possibly, the single most anticipated Kanmusu ever:

Enterpise.

If Tanaka actually cared about what the fans think, we'd have half the WW2 USN by now.

If you read the artist comment it gets quite ironic considering he/she draws this because he/she likes her art.

I think that the fans are like this because they don't like Shibafu's style per se..or at least some of them. I always thought that the potato jokes are just..well, jokes, but it also looks like an insult sometimes (post #3028983)
I wuld also highly question if that's really the majority since it's nearly always the case that only a small portion of fans is barking the loudest.

If I'm honest, her artwork looks more realistic than most anime art with its way too huge heads and boobs. The thighs may be a problem but otherwise it's perfectly fine.

JsTuCkEy said:

If Tanaka actually cared about what the fans think, we'd have an english version out by now.

Ahem.

But its still a significant portion of the fanbase who don't like it. If you want an example of how to do it right, look at Saratoga, almost none of the vitriol here is present there like with Intrepid, for obvious reasons. And keep in mind, its not the realistic nature of the art that people are criticizing, its the style, which, as we see, does not mesh well with American ships. You could have the same clothes and rigging and have it made by Akira, and it would garner almost no objective hate, merely subjective.

Its alright if you like how Intrepid looks, like this artist here, but you can't deny the fact that something looks wrong within the official art, be it either the head or thighs. And that's not to say other Kanmusu don't have errors, its just that this is pretty blatant, like some of Shibafu's other work in the game.

I will concede that the idea of Enterprise coming in is a long shot, but I do feel that the developers, if having decided to put her in the game, are competent enough to not make the same mistake twice.

MentallyUnstable said:

But its still a significant portion of the fanbase who don't like it. If you want an example of how to do it right, look at Saratoga, almost none of the vitriol here is present there like with Intrepid, for obvious reasons. And keep in mind, its not the realistic nature of the art that people are criticizing, its the style, which, as we see, does not mesh well with American ships. You could have the same clothes and rigging and have it made by Akira, and it would garner almost no objective hate, merely subjective.

Its alright if you like how Intrepid looks, like this artist here, but you can't deny the fact that something looks wrong within the official art, be it either the head or thighs. And that's not to say other Kanmusu don't have errors, its just that this is pretty blatant, like some of Shibafu's other work in the game.

I will concede that the idea of Enterprise coming in is a long shot, but I do feel that the developers, if having decided to put her in the game, are competent enough to not make the same mistake twice.

to me Intrepid looks like a brown shaded, short haired Akagi, with a rifle carrying a special destroyer class backpack. with a wonky leg.

MentallyUnstable said:

Its a very rare instance where almost all the fanart of a licensed character is better than the official art.

You do realize that Danbooru cherrypicks the fanart, yes? Pixiv and Twitter and the like are just as bad as DeviantArt when it comes to 99% of the artists being only half a step above drawing stick figures in MS Paint, so if you're seeing "almost all" good fanart, it's only because you aren't looking at anywhere near all the fanart.

You should also take a look at how wildly inconsistent the official art in a lot of other mobile games can be. Compare Arthur to Arden in FEH. It's just weird seeing them together in the roster.

And yeah, it's totally not a pathological hatred from some people who suddenly decided they hate Shibafu long after Shibafu created the standard for Kancolle's artwork. We should definitely keep flogging this dead horse every single time anyone posts a fanart of a Shibafu-drawn shipgirl. I mean, clearly, everyone hates Kitakami, Houshou, Akagi, and, going by who has the most art on Danbooru, the most popular kanmusu ever, Kaga.

Also, frankly, this isn't better artwork than the offical artwork. There is more detail in the shading of the clothing, yes, but that just sets up a contrast with the lack of shading on the face/skin, and there's too much negative space on that face. It's minor, but there's also less balance in the upper body, where the breasts are down a little too low, and the upper arms are small. I'd honestly say the official artwork edges this one out since, even if it is less detailed, it's actually better-balanced in style.

JsTuCkEy said:

If Tanaka actually cared about what the fans think, we'd have half the WW2 USN by now.

I think Tanaka never changed his primary target audience: The IJN otakus.

NWSiaCB said:
st popular kanmusu ever, Kaga.

Also, frankly, this isn't better artwork than the offical artwork. There is more detail in the shading of the clothing, yes, but that just sets up a contrast with the lack of shading on the face/skin, and there's too much negative space on that face. It's minor, but there's also less balance in the upper body, where the breasts are down a little too low, and the upper arms are small. I'd honestly say the official artwork edges this one out since, even if it is less detailed, it's actually better-balanced in style.

Can't agree with you more here, actually. And yes, even as the Approver I still know the flaws present at an image.
But what we have here is in my opinion totally over the top. I don't know where this is coming from (I can only repeat myself: The official artwork looks fine), but the only explanation I have is a growing impatience regarding Shibafu's artstyle. The potato-jokes have gotten pretty aggressive over time.

rom_collector said:

If you read the artist comment it gets quite ironic considering he/she draws this because he/she likes her art.

Most people do art of shibafu girls because they like the general design of them/etc, not out of spite.

Provence said:

Can't agree with you more here, actually. And yes, even as the Approver I still know the flaws present at an image.
But what we have here is in my opinion totally over the top. I don't know where this is coming from (I can only repeat myself: The official artwork looks fine), but the only explanation I have is a growing impatience regarding Shibafu's artstyle. The potato-jokes have gotten pretty aggressive over time.

Her design is sound; just a few small mistakes+an optical illusion caused by parts of it. But the sheer anti-Shibafu heat likely stems from the fact he seems to be not progressing in quality or getting worse (As people will bring up summer '16 Mikuma), such a thing is glaring when even top notch artists show more improvement over time (Konshi and Yoshinori)

@NWSiaCB
Just looked at the pixiv and gotta say, definitely disagree with you there. Yeah, the art is not great on all, like, 11 of Intrepid's pictures, but at least most don't have any blatant errors. Also, I said very rare instance, which implies traits such as the obscurity, unpopularity, and/or freshness of a character/franchise with not up to snuff official art when compared to what is available on fanart sites. In this case, because the official art is flawed and the character is new, then I would say almost all fanart that I've seen of Intrepid on pixiv which does not have blatant bad anatomy like the official art is better. I will admit though that this is very likely to change in the near future as more artists draw her.

As for your next point, I believe it to be irrelevant because my point is not that they should have all the American ships done by the same artist, but rather that it shouldn't be Shibafu because his style is not, in my opinion, compatible with the idea of the American spirit. Intrepid, to me, simply doesn't make me feel patriotic, save for her gun of course.

Onto the next paragraph, I, with respect, believe you are pulling a strawman arguement unknowingly. There is a very vocal minority who will always chastise whatever shibafu does, but they are not the far larger minority who believes that Shibafu's recent work is simply lacking. I appreciate that you brought up his previous works, because I believe this highlights the frustration felt by people like me. Shibafu has proven himself to be a competent artist time and time again, but his recent works almost feel as if he's slacking on the job, as if he's lost his passion. If he at least got the proportions right, I wouldn't even be typing this.

Finally, all art is subjective, but I must say your assessment of this artwork and Shibafu's is flawed. This art is not perfect by any means, but when compared to this artist's other work and the official art, it is far more consistent and believable. The fact that the anatomy in the damaged Intrepid official art doesn't seem to have the same problems as the undamaged art highlights that. When I look at this art, I need to look pretty closely to find the flaws, but with SHibafu's, I see multiple flaws immediately.

In closing, I urge everyone interested in this issue to review the official art of Akagi and compare it to Intrepid. Maybe you'll agree with me, maybe you won't.

MentallyUnstable said:

As for your next point, I believe it to be irrelevant because my point is not that they should have all the American ships done by the same artist, but rather that it shouldn't be Shibafu because his style is not, in my opinion, compatible with the idea of the American spirit. Intrepid, to me, simply doesn't make me feel patriotic, save for her gun of course.

Well, that proves my point about "how dare Japs disrespect our allied ships? we p0wned you at WWII. Kneel before us in the name of god when talking about us". Yet I'm still thinking it's a very vocal lousy minority who shouldn't be concerned for a game that wasn't targeted to them in the first place.

"In my opinion" is the key here. Some people take it for granted as an absolute truth put forcibly in the mouths for all.

NWSiaCB does have a point about theme. One of my least favorite things about Kancolle is the stylistic inconsistency. They use multiple artists to shovel out artwork without any regulations. Things like Murakumo with Fubuki, who look like they belong on different planets as far as presentation goes.

That's not to say all characters have to look exactly the same, like Kaga and Akagi, but as many school life or magical girl anime demonstrates, creating a constant and then showing how a character breaks that constant is a strong way to build character without narration or writing. Things like whether a girl wears her backpack with a pink bow versus wearing a black leather jacket with flames with the same school uniform can make two different characters without being inconsistent, even if they were done by different artists.

Thematic consistency does not make anything perfect, but in almost any other media, having the characters be both stylistically different, done by different artists, and thematically inconsistent would be considered a huge flaw. I have no idea how Kancolle gets away with it.

I don't care for Shibafu's art, but it doesn't bother me so much that I would complain if his style or character ideas were used more often for that reason.

rom_collector said:

Well, that proves my point about "how dare Japs disrespect our allied ships? we p0wned you at WWII. Kneel before us in the name of god when talking about us".

Well that's going a little overboard lol. I should clarify myself. My point is that from a mostly subjective and somewhat objective stand point, Intrepid doesn't scream out, or even really whisper out, patriotism when compared to the other U.S. ships. While there is the argument that not all the American kanmusu need to be like that, one cannot deny the fact that such a thing would imprint the idea of American ideals onto an American character. Of course, you do have a point about intended audiences and the such. If only I could read Japanese, I could see for myself how the japanese fans feel about Intrepid, as I can only read how the english fans feel.

@Blindga
I'm not complaining about Intrepid's consistency from an artistic standpoint nor stylistic standpoint, but rather an idealistic one. I feel if Intrepid were done by a different artist, including early Shibafu and artists who haven't even done an American ship, then I feel that they could have made a more consistent character. Shibafu's style is not inherently against this ideal, nor does Intrepid not have the potential to exhibit that some more if some changes were made to her art. That being said, I agree with you.

But before things get out of hand, I should make this clear:

I think Shibafu, as he is now, is incapable of making American ships that, at the very least, won't cause controversy. Whichever side of the debate you fall on, I think we can all agree that perhaps letting Shibafu work on other navies' ships and leaving the next batch of American ships to artists who haven't done them yet is the best course of action. I said it once and I'll say it again, Saratoga got nowhere near this level of debate on her.