Tag Archives: Anime

Anime (アニメ in Japanese) is the style of animation or cartoons popularized in Japan, but appreciated worldwide today. Anime inspires lots of LEGO models from builders everywhere. Whether you love the artistry of Hayao Miyazaki or mecha from shows like Gundam and Evangelion, you’ll find many wonderful LEGO creations inspired by anime here on The Brothers Brick.

What mysteries lie behind the door – LEGO homage to Suzume

The anime film Suzume, written and directed by Makoto Shinkai, premiered in 2022, in the midst of the pandemic, and was a wonderful escape that won critical acclaim. So it is certainly not surprising that it has inspired LEGO builders around the world, like Jean-Philippe Leroux, who has recreated the image from the promotional poster in stunning detail. The weathered white door set in a broken brick wall serves as the central focus, while the round building with rib-like frames curving upward in the background perfectly captures the source material.

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Otaku icons Yotsuba and Danbo in LEGO&!

Outside of Otakudom, Yotsuba might not be as familiar as Calvin and Hobbes or Dennis the Menace, but this genki girl from the long-running manga offers a similar authentic and charming child’s view of the world. To celebrate a new volume, Ids de Jong builds Yotsuba in LEGO, along with her cardboard companion Danbo. Yotsuba is posed among sunflowers, a motif used on the book covers. Ids uses bright green bricks for the hair, a color that is quite scarce, and even pick-a-brick has limits of 10 for some parts, but the results are spot on.

Ids previously made a Hatsune Miku character that is equally kawaii.

Highly-synchronized miniature Evangelion mecha are absolutely terrific

The EVA mechs of Neon Genesis Evangelion are perennial subjects for LEGO builders, and as big fans of the show, we never get tired of seeing new takes. Joe Lam has the Nerv(e) to build all three units in his signature spindly style. These little guys are so tiny, I hope they don’t face any Angels bigger than a cherub. Unit-01 trades purple for blue and sports a scredriver for its signature horn and holds an impressively pointy Spear of Longinus. What’s fun about this scale of bot is how common the parts are and how accessible it is for new MOC builders to figure out the steps to make copies of their own.

Joe previously made bloody good LEGO Chainsaw Man and Katana Man at this scale.

Take a trip through the LEGO looking glass for two very different spins on Alice

When LEGO introduced a new scale of buildable figures for characters like Wednesday Addams, the sets introduced interchangeable printed faces with big eyes. As builder lavishlump points out, these faces are quite similar to the ones used for the popular Japanese Nendororoid figures and work great for LEGO anime characters too. Lavishlump used the Glinda face for a model of Alice Margatroid, a magical puppeteer from a Japanese PC game.

LegoWyrm uses the same techniques for a very different video game Alice – the heroine of American McGee’s Alice. Wednesday’s goth expression is a perfect match for this dark spin on Wonderland.

Time will tell if LEGO continues to release buildable figures at this scale and expand the face options for anime fans, but for now it’s great to see a specialized part spur creativity in the community.

We’re howling with praise for this LEGO model of Studio Ghibli’s iconic Moving Castle

Studio Ghibli films are known for unusual and fanciful vehicles like the floating castle of Laputa from Castle in the Sky, or the glider from Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, but few vehicles are more iconic than the walking, and at the end of the film, flying, castle belonging to the enigmatic magician Howl. The enchanted structure made from buildings, round cannon turrets, fishlike fins, and a large rusty face complete with riveted tongue, all walking along on four spindly chicken legs, poses many challenges to any builder, but Sakiya Watanabe works magic and brings it to life in bricks like never before.

When building something so iconic, choosing the right parts can be challenging, as there is nothing conventional about the outer surface of the castle. How do you form a cohesive model out of such a chaotic inspiration? (I’ve tried myself once before – it wasn’t easy!)

Read on to learn how Sakiya Watanabe weaved his LEGO magic and tamed Howl’s famous castle

Lose yourself in this immersive tribute to Attack on Titan made from just 100 LEGO pieces

Anime doesn’t get more visceral than Attack on Titan, where all that stands in the way of annihilation at the hands of fleshy giants is the brave Survey Corps, zipping around on wires like steampunk Spider-men. Builder nu_montag thrusts you right into the action with this immersive LEGO scene. You can feel the weight of the Colossal Titan’s sinewy gaze thanks to the dynamic perspective. Even more amazing, this shot contains just 100 LEGO elements!

Read on to survey how the scene was done with just 100 pieces

“Even the greatest LEGO builders are forgotten someday”

At first glance, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End looks like a pretty standard D&D-infused anime adventure, but all it takes is one episode to know you’ve found something special. The beloved series about friendship and loss and the passing of time is told from the point of view of Frieren, an elf who ages much slower than her former questing companions. Joffre Zheng pays tribute to the heroes who slew the Demon King in LEGO form. From left to right, Fern, Stark, Frieren, Heiter, Himmel, and Eisen are lovingly recreated in the Miniland style, each proportioned to match the anime and manga. I especially like the way Joffre captures Heiter’s signature pose, hand on chest. It’s a beautiful ode to a series that reminds us that no matter how much time we have left, friendship matters.

LEGO MetalGreymon is digidestined to impress

While Digimon might not have the enduring popularity of their pocket monster rivals, these cyborg creatures have a fierce intensity that some fans will never forget. Especially MetalGreymon, the Ultimate form of Agumon and basically the franchise’s Pikachu. Only if Pikachu was a cyborg T-Rex with a metal claw and purple wings. Builder nobu_tary brings the beast from the digital world into LEGO and the results are digidelightful. nobu_tary excels at building chonky little dudes, which makes for a perfect fit with the Digimon design.

Phone in your One Piece fandom with a LEGO Den Den Mushi

Tired: snail mail. Wired: snail phone. In the crazy pirate world of One Piece (coming soon as official LEGO sets) den den mushi are a species of telepathic snails who function as phones letting Marines and captains communicate across the vast Grand Line. Anime enthusiast and character builder Rokan Cheung imagines what one of these useful critters would look like as a LEGO build, and the results are just as charming and weird as Eiichiro Oda’s original design. Now I just need to know if we’ll see a den den mushi at minifig scale in the upcoming sets.

2025 goal? Gains like this Colossal Titan!

We’ve seen some amazing Attack on Titan LEGO creations in the years since the hit anime took off, but this latest take of the Colossal Titan from builder Sakiya Watanabe is hands down the most… sinewy? Amazing parts usage for the muscles is on full display, such as what I believe are Hero Factory fists wrapped in rubber bands for the abs, crowbars for the trapezius, and oh so many tails for the pecs. Bruh is totally ripped. Must be all the protein in Survey Corps soldiers.

Craving more anime builds? We also loved the builder’s amazing LEGO Angel from Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Micro Miyazaki: Teto and Porco Rosso in LEGO

While there might not be any official LEGO sets based on Studio Ghibli films (yet?), the fantastical worlds of Hayao Miyazaki continue to inspire builders witch creations big and small. Today we’re presenting a couple of builds on the small side, like something Arriety might build. First up is a tiny Teto, the fox-squirrel from Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, built from around 20 elements from mini character maestro Qin. The mix of parts is ingenious, especially a pair of minidoll belt bags for the face and head.

Next up is a tiny flying ace from a builder known for his larger character builds, Eero Okkonen. This pipsqueak Porco Rosso with a tan binocular nose fits nicely into the cockpit of the Savoia S-21. Eero offers a detailed look at the plane and writes about why Porco Rosso is his favorite film over at Cyclopic Bricks.

Which Miyazaki film is your favorite? Why not have a look at our Miyazaki archive for inspiration!

An anime bust for the occult obsessed

The just-wrapped first season of Dan Da Dan, the bonkers series mashing up ghosts and aliens, is showing up on many lists as one of the best anime series of the year. Builder Chris Yu pays tribute to the buzzy series in LEGO with a bust of co-protagonist Okarun in his possessed form. The normally timid makes a pact with the spirit Turbo Granny in a quest to retrieve… the family jewels. Like I said, it’s bonkers. Chris’ bust captures the character’s split personality with bespectacled eyes peeking out above a demonic jawline. There’s lovely brick shaping, especially with the streaked hair and collar swept back to emphasize speed.