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.

LEGO Nausicaä glides to a brighter future

Before co-founding Studio Ghibli and going on to win two Oscars for Best Animated Feature, it was Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind that cemented Hayao Miyazaki as Japan’s great animation auteur. Joffre Zheng pays tribute to the film with a brick-built Nausicaä on her swooshable glider racing over a herd of Ohmu as they skitter across the desert. The diorama uses forced perspective to sell how high Nausicaä soars over the titanic bugs. The use of bowed slopes to give the dust clouds a sawtoothed edge does a great job evoking Miyazaki’s style and conveying the Ohmus’ terrifying speed. As a bonus detail, Nausicaä’s glider features an LED that lights up with a button press.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

For other masterful Nausicaä models, check out these builds from Tino Poutiainen, TBB alum Iain Heath, and Alex Hui.

This LEGO Voltron is ready to defend the universe and look slick doing it

If your Saturdays didn’t used to involve at least some sort of giant robot on TV, did you even have a childhood? This LEGO build by Marco De Bon captures one such icon: the mighty Voltron. With hardly a stud in sight, this Voltron all clean lines and smooth surfaces, perhaps even more so than the official set from a few years back. I was always more of a Transformers kid myself, but you don’t need to be steeped in Voltron lore to appreciate the talent on display here.

Lego moc Voltron

Venture into uncharted regions of the universe and see more!

You’ll be Spirited Away

You don’t have to be an anime fan to appreciate this pair of incredible and contrasting LEGO builds, each one an astonishingly well rendered recreation of a memorable moment from Spirited Away. (Though if you haven’t already, do yourself the favour and watch this anime instant classic ASAP!) First up, this marvelously detailed microscale Bathhouse made by Marius Herrmann looks amazingly close to the source material when shot from this low angle

The Bathhouse (from "Spirited Away")

And next up, Joss Woodyard (Jayfa) treats us with this deliciously detailed and kinetic scene from the film’s emotional climax.

Spirited Away

There’s even more to love about both creations. Read on below!

Continue reading →

Chainsaw Man: the demon-hunting lumberjack’s superhero

The best thing about Japanese anime and manga has to be how absolutely bonkers it can be. One minute you could be watching a heart-wrenching coming-of-age film that will bring you close to tears, the next you’re reading about a man with a chainsaw head and limbs who hunts demons. This beautiful madness is captured superbly in LEGO form by DeRa. Although Denji – the titular Chainsaw Man – does have saws for arms too, we’re presented with just the head here. That does mean the scale can be upped and we get the fantastic detail like the teeth and, er, teeth. It’s somewhat reminiscent of the helmets and busts we’ve had in LEGO sets for the past few years. Except a tad more eye-catching. Just a little bit.

LEGO Chainsawman

The fragile beauty of microscale LEGO spaceships

I have reason to suspect our very own Mansur Soeleman must be a wizard. Why? Well, look at his latest LEGO creation. Not only is it a super rendition of Spike Siegel’s Swordfish II from Cowboy Bebop, it looks to be held together with magic. I’d be worried about breathing near this for fear of something falling off. There are so many pieces that look like they’re barely hanging on to each other, but it works so well! And what pieces they are, all in such a tiny package. Wheel arches, the venerable sausage piece, a rubber ring and of course, the sword at the front. Well, it is known canonically as the Swordfish II, so there had to be one in there somewhere, right?

The Swordfish II

A great day for Grendizer

Classic mecha fans rejoice! Marco De Bon has created this stunning version of the anime mech, Grendizer. The build has a clean and smooth look to it, with hardly any studs in sight. This has been achieved through the use of a variety of curved slope pieces which also assist in recreating the humanoid appearance of the mech. At the top of the head small pyramid pieces represent short spikes of the helmet. The model even includes hooked bladed weapons which can be attached together or used individually. With the ability to strike some awesome poses, there’s not much more you could ask for in a LEGO mech model.

Lego Grendizer (Goldrake, Goldorak)

Micro Nausicaä glides over a LEGO Sea of Corruption

I don’t think there are enough words to describe my love of the Studio Ghibli movie Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. And the same can be said for this gorgeous LEGO build by Tino Poutiainen. The vibrant coloration of all the virulent fungi fits in perfectly with the aesthetic from the film, giving off that strong “poison arrow frog” vibe. Heavy use of round disks and plates, combined with more texturally complex parts create enough nooks and crannies to trigger some serious trypophobia. The skull of a long-dead God Warrior, resting atop the pile of fungi, is spot on. I especially like the use of old and new LEGO shades of gray to add some wear to the husk. But the icing on the cake here is the micro Nausicaä herself, soaring above on her mehve. Using under ten parts, it’s a shining jewel in an already brilliant crown.

The Sea of Corruption

The Attack Titan is a smash hit!

Right on cue, Sandro Quattrini has come out with yet another outstanding LEGO build, this one from the Japanese manga/anime Attack on Titan. While I’ll fully admit that I’ve never watched or read any of the source material (I know, but we all have our flaws), I don’t have to be familiar with the show or books to see how impressive this build is! The Titan is caught mid-smash as it bursts through a wall, adding so much movement to a stationary build. All over the arms and chest, you can see the clever use of rods and other long, thin parts. This conveys all the raw power pouring out of this beast, tense muscles heaving forward with so much effort. Couple that bodily strain with an expertly-crafted face and the Titan’s rage seems to radiate out of the screen! Sandro has a reputation for expressive LEGO characters, but the Attack Titan’s excessively-toothed visage is some of their best work to date, in my opinion. And I can’t help but want to start on episode one of AoT thanks to this.

Attack Titan

Explore the cosmos with Captain Future!

Eric Druon lovingly recreates the Cosmo-Liner spacecraft from the 1978 anime Captain Future. The ship is really cool, from both a design and LEGO model perspective, bringing to mind visions of a deep-sea diving vessel. The viewport of the ship is hexagonal as if it’s destined to be made of LEGO! This calls for the use of the transparent blue canopy from the 2000 Artic LEGO toy line. The color palette of the ship is simple and quite clean, letting the canopy shine as the focal point. Looking at the design, I can’t help but think the original designers were inspired by TIE fighters. Star Wars premiered a year before the anime aired, leaving room enough for the artists to be inspired by that hit movie. Regardless of the ship’s origin, this build is inspiring in its own right!

Capitaine Flam Cosmolem

Fun fact, the anime was based on the pulp sci-fi character Captain Future. The character’s original adventures were published in the eponymous pulp magazine from 1940 to 1944. The anime was imported into many countries and was particularly successful in France. It was in France that the character’s name changed to Capitaine Flam.

Time to turn back the clocks with this monster from Yu-Gi-Oh!

LEGO builder Bodhimitri has constructed this fantastic model of Time Wizard from the classic card game anime, Yu-Gi-Oh!. The charming rounded shape of the creature has been perfectly captured in this model, even with the cogs around the face and the staff in hand. The pointed shoes are partially created by the use of sloped curved pieces and the wizard appears to be standing on a card version of himself. In the show, when this card activates its effects you have a 50-50 chance to destroy your opponent’s monsters or your own. It all depends on the result of where the spinner lands, located on Time Wizard’s staff. Let’s hope this is one lucky spellcaster!

This small-scale Evangelion mech is ready to fight some monsters

Inspired by Eva Unit 01 from the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion, Derrick Li has built this fantastic-looking miniature LEGO mech. Although the mech has a bright, playful colour scheme, be warned, it is a savage fighter. The thin build captures the humanoid style of the mechs featured in the show with their tall, athletic proportions. There are some inventive techniques applied at the head, such as the use of what appears to be a quarter circular tile representing the glowing yellow eyes. The spindly fingers are formed of wands, from the Harry Potter sets.

There is also a great arch in the back which creates the mech’s odd hunch. It is incredible how accurately Derrick has managed to portray the intricate details of Eva Unit 01, especially in this miniature scale.

You can check out many more awesome LEGO mecha builds right here on The Brothers Brick!

Spirited Away bathhouse recreated from LEGO bricks in intricate detail

In the Studio Ghibli animated classic Spirited Away, a sense of wonder and magic infuses just about everything. Marcin Otręba takes us on a trip to a LEGO recreation of the iconic bathhouse, and it’s every bit as wonderous. From the graceful curve of the bridge to the spot-on color choices and complex tiling in the walls, this microscale reproduction is very true to the original. But, like in the film, there’s more here than you might first see. Keep reading to discover some of the secrets!

Continue reading →