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What's your favorite and least favorite artstyle of anime? (Be it a decade's look, a certain studio's look or even a specific series

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Apr 17, 12:55 PM
#1

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Jun 2017
6616
Be as specific or generic as you want. You can say a whole decade, or just single out one specific studio or even series if it represents your tastes enough.

My Favorite: 90's Movie and OVA's aestetic



Least Favorite:

Whatever the hell Abunai Sister is



Modern Hentai

My waifu is the most wonderful waifu. Mai Valentine.

We're freaking out that we're running out of time, but to do what? Should i stop and think of that? Is there something i could do to slow it down? Live in a day for once, instead of watch it sprinting by
Apr 17, 1:00 PM
#2
BIKINI⚔️ARMOR

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May 2019
10478
Most Favorite: 80's city pop and celluloid.



Least Favorite: Early 2000s Moe and digital animation.



Apr 17, 1:09 PM
#3

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Jan 2019
170
Favorite: Definitely Shaft's artstyle

Least fav: Same as tchitchouan, the big eyed moe artstyle of 2000s never appealed to me. Stuff you see in Clannad for example.
Apr 17, 1:13 PM
#4
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Apr 2014
580
Favorite: 2000s VN artstyle

Least favorite: 2020s oversimplified desexualized budget oversized rectangle body look. If you watch a lot of anime you know the one.
Apr 17, 1:36 PM
#5

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Sep 2016
21978
Character style: Code Geass

World style: Made in Abyss

Effect style: A Kite & Mezzo Forte

*kappa*
Apr 17, 1:37 PM
#6

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Sep 2018
5297
Favorite: modern era (the last 10 years). Of course the good anime from the last 10 years, not the below average ones.

Least favorite: as many already said, early 2000s art styles with those stupidly huge eyes.
Apr 17, 4:09 PM
#7

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Oct 2022
2797
Favorite: AIC (one of the studios responsible for 80s OVAs)

Absolute worst: Studio Shaft. Gives me a migraine, followed by a seizure
SuperAdventureApr 17, 4:25 PM
Apr 17, 4:43 PM
#8

Online
Dec 2021
4021
A lot of '70s anime in general have a vibe I love, just all around. One I love the most would be Ashita no Joe (Not 2, but specifically 1), just because of how gritty it looks, while still being colorful and fun.



Runner up would be Urusei Yatsura, somewhere in the mid to late half of Pierrot running the show. I still love Deens part, but Pierrot UY just hit different.

Can't easily think of something I despise art-wise, but prolly something like One Piece (The anime's not bad, but the art style is definitely an acquired taste). The Lupin III pilot artstyle makes me uncomfortable for reasons I struggle to find the words for.

EDIT: GoHands. You bring GoHands into my house, I'll show you what I'll do to it with my hands.
Daviljoe193Apr 17, 6:09 PM
Apr 17, 4:46 PM
#9
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Jan 2020
523
Favorite:
'90s style like Cowboy Bebop or Neon Genesis Evangelion.


Least Favorite:
They aren't the worst offenders and I do like Knights of Sidonia, but the Polygon Pictures style of animation is just not great.
Apr 17, 5:17 PM
Nostalgia Rules!

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Jun 2008
14420
I also will add - something about some of the anime that came out in the early 2000s, I tend to find kind of ugly looking. For some reason it kind of reminds me of a mixture between anime and western style art. I can't really put my finger on it, but I've never been a fan of a lot of art styles that came out in that era. Not all, but a good amount.
Apr 17, 5:37 PM

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Jun 2017
615
The way early 2010's ecchi was animated. Like High School DxD and Maken Ki for example would be my fave.

Or the way New Generation did Toshi Densetsu. (:

I don't really have an art style I completely dislike though. Maybe the huge early 2000's eyes can be off putting sometimes but I don't mind it that much either so hard to say.
Apr 17, 5:38 PM

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Dec 2012
10006
Favorite: The artstyle from K is my favorite, also almost anything by Production IG, Madhouse, UFO Table, or SHAFT looks great

Least Favorite: Dead Leaves, also Amnesia's style where everyone is dressed like fashion show models
KruszerApr 17, 5:48 PM
"The name's Gambit. Remember it."
-Gambit "X-Men '97"

Apr 17, 5:52 PM

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Aug 2020
3266
Fav: Late 90s








Least fav:

Basically the generic chibi/loli/moe middle/high schooler type esp the modern ones where they usually lack in colour schemes and shadings. Also the "yo, look at my flashy animation"

and when the hair looks more like cake


the 15 FPS 3d instead of 30 FPS too
TRC_RandyApr 17, 6:01 PM
Apr 17, 5:53 PM
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Oct 2017
328
Most Favorite:
cel-shading and kanada style animation. Modernly, its just Trigger's style cause it feels like they're the only ones who can make an anime with a dynamic drawing capability for every frame and storyboard but even BONES' mob psycho and WIT's YAIBA can adopt that sense of style and even go above and beyond. I feel like this is what anime's true potential is and what the industry can achieve.





Least Favorite:
Modern Anime has been getting into compositing and After Effects filters and without a planned artstyle from the director, the editors just make stuff up and do what they're taught and what they're taught is to bastardize animator's celshaded effects work or add CGI Assets and not the one that the director knows, the ones they got from the internet.




I really can't appreciate the drawing/animation parts of the anime because its hidden in stupid glow effects and that dumb masking texture effect that just covers up the screen with visual noise and I hate looking at it

Apr 17, 6:01 PM

Online
Jan 2022
1563
Favorite: 5 Centimeters per Second and Frieren

Least Favorite: Black Rock Shooter: Dawn Fall
Apr 17, 6:07 PM

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Apr 2022
7914
favorite: one piece, gurren lagann, slam dunk, intial D, evangelion

least: dorohedoro, golden kamuy, undead unluck
Apr 17, 6:45 PM

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Jul 2015
14392
Anything made by Imaishi, especially KlK.



Mid 80s to early 90s"standard" art style



Yoshiaki Kawajiri's art style




Like Plopop, I'd say the thing I hate the most is any kind of over-filtered digital show. Makoto Shinkai comes to mind, I'd enjoy his work more with half the gradients/lens flares.
Prophetess of the Golden Era
Apr 17, 7:25 PM

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Mar 2019
766
Some faves are the big moe eyes, moeblobs, shoujo, KyoAni, Shaft, Akio Watanabe, Shinkai Makoto

Hate: Ajin, Egumi Legacy, Human Bug Daigaku

Apr 17, 7:36 PM

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Oct 2017
5349
Reply to tchitchouan
Most Favorite: 80's city pop and celluloid.



Least Favorite: Early 2000s Moe and digital animation.



@tchitchouan Yeah basically the same opinion honestly. Though funnily enough, even though I think early digital animation, is one of the worst eras for anime art/animation, I do have a lot of nostalgia for it.
Apr 17, 8:57 PM
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Jul 2019
20
fav artstyle prob Noragami and Kaiji.

as for the least fav i'd say Ping Pong the Animation but Tsuritama is even worse
Apr 17, 9:02 PM
Laughing Man

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Jun 2012
7034
Character design: the design of characters in unrise mecha shows in the 80's.

Overall artstyle: Vampire hunter D.

I also want to mention the more recent Lupin III series. They all look amazing.

I'm level on MAL-Badges. View my badges.
Apr 18, 2:31 AM

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Jan 2021
6967
Most favorite would be anything from Ufotable since Garden of sinners. Best animation, visuals and style in an animr. I also like the style of modern hentai. You just aren't looking at the right one.
If you enjoyed the time you wasted, then its not a waste of time.

Apr 18, 2:59 AM
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Aug 2024
458
Favorites: Jojo, Vagabond, Dragon Ball, One Piece, Attack on Titan (no i actually dont think its ugly, it has a charm to it) - These series just look the best imo. Throw Bleach in there too.

As for least favorites... I have never looked at a manga series and thought: ''This art is bad'' These mangaka are very talented. With that said, I don't like the Clannad look. (but its not bad by any means) man those eyes.... 💀 but I'm not into romance that much. Thats why I havent watched it.
Apr 18, 3:50 AM
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Nov 2021
2472
Favourite - Where every characters looks distinct, like in cowboy bebop, vinland saga etc. I hate when character art act as a template for other characters like how oda did for most of female characters in one piece. As for animation style and aesthetics, I mainly prefer something unconventional like mononoke, monogatari, mushishi, 3 gatsu, 2000s anime(death note, monster and vampier hunter )

Least favourite - New spice and wolf art style is inferior to older one by far even though i love both anime, bright flashy art like in Oshi no ko, anime with SAO kind of art, MHA also looks ugly, the art of csm author... Yeah ig thats pretty much.
Apr 18, 4:15 AM

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Feb 2025
542
My Favorite:90's art style, Wit Studio , Kyoto Animation, Shaft art style, Made in Abby's art style
Least Favorite:Toei art style
Apr 18, 6:43 AM

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Jul 2024
1025
Favs:

Character Design-Code Geass/Hellsing & those made by CLAMP & Shaft
Artstyle-Eva,Texhnolyze,SoulTaker,Hellsing,Darkside Blues & most anime made by Madhouse before 2016.Also Shaft.

Least favourite to unbearable:

Characters-Moe,lolis & designs like Dorohedoro/Demon Slayer/Megalobox/Akira
Artstyle-AOT/most set in high-school (yk the type)/One Piece/Naruto/Bleach/Monster and the unity asset flip "anime fantasy/isekai starter pack"
Can I Still Go To Heaven If I Kill Myself?
Apr 18, 6:47 AM

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Jul 2013
12161
I think all anime shows have a good art style. With a few exceptions to that rule, of course.
Here is my Pixiv account of my hentai drawings.....

https://www.pixiv.net/en/users/104739065

Here is my blog....

https://theendofindustrialcivilization.blogspot.com/?m=1
Apr 18, 7:17 AM

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Jul 2023
23
Fav: late 2000s KyoAni (especially K-ON) and White Fox

Hate: Early 2000s moe
Apr 18, 9:01 AM

Online
Jul 2021
10699
The best is of course Violet Evergarden.
TRC_Randy said:
Also the "yo, look at my flashy animation"



Worst? There is so much to pick from...
JaniSIrApr 18, 9:05 AM
Apr 18, 10:11 AM

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Oct 2010
21958
favorite: AIC 80s OVAs, mikimoto
hate: moe blobs
Apr 18, 10:32 AM

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Mar 2021
1447
Favorites would be Patlabor movies, Cowboy Bebop and Evangelion. I love how vivid in detail these shows are, except for the frame rate they're almost comparable to the multi million dollar Disney animated films of the 20th century.

Least favorite would ofc be your average low quality isekai shows with the janky animation and soulless character designs.
Apr 18, 10:54 AM

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Sep 2024
271
My favorite artist is Rin-Shin, she is the mainline character designer of Ikkitousen, Queen's Blade, To-Love Ru, and many others.

Here is an art piece from Rin-Shin:
Apr 18, 4:05 PM

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Aug 2020
3266
Reply to JaniSIr
The best is of course Violet Evergarden.
TRC_Randy said:
Also the "yo, look at my flashy animation"



Worst? There is so much to pick from...
@JaniSIr I never said "worst". Besides, like I said it's just flashy visuals.
Apr 18, 6:15 PM

Online
Jul 2021
10699
Reply to TRC_Randy
@JaniSIr I never said "worst". Besides, like I said it's just flashy visuals.
@TRC_Randy Come on, Violet Evergarden looks better than real life.
Well, there is that train scene where they made an ugly CGI background, but besides that.
Flashy visuals are fine, as long as the scene stays clear, ufotable is really bad at that, and while I enjoyed Solo Levelling season 2, the fights were too flashy, and became hard to follow...
Apr 18, 6:58 PM
best user ever

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May 2022
1266
Fave: Honestly really liked the whole Cardcaptor Sakura/Tsubasa Chronicles/ whole CLAMP artstyle.

Also all those really cute moe looking 90s-2000s anime/vns/whatever (dokuro-chan, to heart 2, da capo, etc)


Least Fave: Kanon (the 2002 one not the 2006 one)


waferishApr 18, 7:03 PM
Apr 18, 10:09 PM

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Aug 2020
3266
JaniSIr said:
Come on, Violet Evergarden looks better than real life.
no. Glossier? Yes.

JaniSIr said:
Flashy visuals are fine, as long as the scene stays clear
but the example I gave isn't.
Apr 20, 6:45 PM
Tobias

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Oct 2023
735
Favorites: 70s-90s anime. Stuff like lodoss war, rayearth, dirty pair, Ranma 1/2, Cowboy bebop, Evangelion etc. I also LOVE anime with art styles that really look like western cartoons (Gutsy frog, panda kopanda, future boy, etc)

Least favorites: A lot of 2000s anime styles sucked. Inuyasha, bleach, Precure, and fma look good, but most look weird. xxxHolicx comes to mind
Apr 21, 4:19 PM

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Apr 2017
3120
Anime like Dear Brother and Please Save My Earth have my favorite art styles as far as retro anime is concerned. In modern times, I really like A Sign of Affection and Dungeon Meshi.

Least favorite: Clannad. Such as ugly looking anime.
Apr 22, 5:13 AM

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Jul 2015
14392
Reply to LuxuriousHeart
Anime like Dear Brother and Please Save My Earth have my favorite art styles as far as retro anime is concerned. In modern times, I really like A Sign of Affection and Dungeon Meshi.

Least favorite: Clannad. Such as ugly looking anime.
@LuxuriousHeart Dungeon Meshi is another reason to believe Trigger is saving japanese animation, and will save it again in the future.

😤😤😤 Trigger Gang 😤😤😤



Also, I'm pleasantly surprised by the answers. Either the "Kimi no Na wa is the most beautiful anime ever" crowd left, or they're hiding in a corner crying after seeing so many awesome 80s/90s gifs.
Prophetess of the Golden Era
Apr 22, 5:58 PM

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Aug 2019
2536
As much as I rave about 90s anime (and even 80s anime to an extent), I would like more anime that had the early 2000s art style/vibe of "FLCL" (this is a big reason why "Magical☆Shopping Arcade Abenobashi" drew me in).

Not the best edit I could find on the latter series, but it shows off the character designs at least.

Also, "Air," "Clannad," and other series with the same character designs already gets enough flack for it, but it's not my personal style and would rank as one of my least favorites.




EDIT: I also really like the visuals of "Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun" and the studio for the anime has done it justice. "Soul Eater" feels similar in a different way. "Gachiakuta" did catch my attention for its character designs and finding out the mangaka was an assistant of Atsushi Ookubo makes the series feel more like a spiritual successor of sorts.
bucciestApr 22, 6:22 PM
Apr 22, 6:55 PM

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Apr 2017
3120
Reply to Deathko
@LuxuriousHeart Dungeon Meshi is another reason to believe Trigger is saving japanese animation, and will save it again in the future.

😤😤😤 Trigger Gang 😤😤😤



Also, I'm pleasantly surprised by the answers. Either the "Kimi no Na wa is the most beautiful anime ever" crowd left, or they're hiding in a corner crying after seeing so many awesome 80s/90s gifs.
@Deathko Yeah, I really love the art of Dungeon Meshi, and Studio Trigger adapted it perfectly. I'd honestly like to see Studio Trigger adapt Mars. Mars has a sort of fragile art, and Studio Trigger would do it justice.
Apr 22, 7:27 PM

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Jul 2015
14392
Reply to bucciest
As much as I rave about 90s anime (and even 80s anime to an extent), I would like more anime that had the early 2000s art style/vibe of "FLCL" (this is a big reason why "Magical☆Shopping Arcade Abenobashi" drew me in).

Not the best edit I could find on the latter series, but it shows off the character designs at least.

Also, "Air," "Clannad," and other series with the same character designs already gets enough flack for it, but it's not my personal style and would rank as one of my least favorites.




EDIT: I also really like the visuals of "Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun" and the studio for the anime has done it justice. "Soul Eater" feels similar in a different way. "Gachiakuta" did catch my attention for its character designs and finding out the mangaka was an assistant of Atsushi Ookubo makes the series feel more like a spiritual successor of sorts.
@bucciest I was expecting to see the same character designer for both shows, but no. As far as I could tell the only two staff members that had the same important roles in both are Imaishi and Anno (storyboard and animation director/assistant animation director)

I swear it's always these two guys >.>
Prophetess of the Golden Era
Apr 23, 2:28 PM

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Aug 2019
2536
Reply to Deathko
@bucciest I was expecting to see the same character designer for both shows, but no. As far as I could tell the only two staff members that had the same important roles in both are Imaishi and Anno (storyboard and animation director/assistant animation director)

I swear it's always these two guys >.>
@Deathko I know I looked up this information at some point, but both series having the same character designer makes the most sense that my brain overwrote whatever I learned and I thought it was the case until your comment pointed it out that it isn't. At least it can be explained with the involvement of certain staff members - and both series had Gainax creating or producing it, so there's that, too.

Deathko said:
Also, I'm pleasantly surprised by the answers. Either the "Kimi no Na wa is the most beautiful anime ever" crowd left, or they're hiding in a corner crying after seeing so many awesome 80s/90s gifs.

I'm surprised by this, too, and now it's making me wonder about how well Makoto Shinkai's films will stand the test of time. I don't think I see Studio Ghibli mentioned either, but I've gotten the impression from this website that there's more of a crowd on here who are into Makoto Shinkai over Ghibli films, so am less surprised by that. "Your Name" is a pretty film, but I've always found it shallow and prettiness will only do so much.
Apr 23, 2:31 PM

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Aug 2019
2536
Reply to LuxuriousHeart
@Deathko Yeah, I really love the art of Dungeon Meshi, and Studio Trigger adapted it perfectly. I'd honestly like to see Studio Trigger adapt Mars. Mars has a sort of fragile art, and Studio Trigger would do it justice.
@LuxuriousHeart I haven't read "Mars" yet (it's on my PTR list though) so I could be wrong, but it doesn't look like a series that Studio Trigger would adapt.

Also, your Miwako Sakurada avatar pic will be missed!
Apr 23, 2:35 PM

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Jul 2013
12161
I think Hyperdimension Neptunia and Date a Live has my favorite art style for anime. I think Tsunako created the artwork. As for my least favorite anime style, I won't post that.
Here is my Pixiv account of my hentai drawings.....

https://www.pixiv.net/en/users/104739065

Here is my blog....

https://theendofindustrialcivilization.blogspot.com/?m=1
Apr 23, 3:02 PM

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Apr 2017
3120
Reply to bucciest
@LuxuriousHeart I haven't read "Mars" yet (it's on my PTR list though) so I could be wrong, but it doesn't look like a series that Studio Trigger would adapt.

Also, your Miwako Sakurada avatar pic will be missed!
@bucciest They likely wouldn't. But I do think that Studio Trigger is talented at adapting different art styles that are true to the vibes of the manga.
Apr 24, 5:50 AM

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Jul 2015
14392
Reply to bucciest
@Deathko I know I looked up this information at some point, but both series having the same character designer makes the most sense that my brain overwrote whatever I learned and I thought it was the case until your comment pointed it out that it isn't. At least it can be explained with the involvement of certain staff members - and both series had Gainax creating or producing it, so there's that, too.

Deathko said:
Also, I'm pleasantly surprised by the answers. Either the "Kimi no Na wa is the most beautiful anime ever" crowd left, or they're hiding in a corner crying after seeing so many awesome 80s/90s gifs.

I'm surprised by this, too, and now it's making me wonder about how well Makoto Shinkai's films will stand the test of time. I don't think I see Studio Ghibli mentioned either, but I've gotten the impression from this website that there's more of a crowd on here who are into Makoto Shinkai over Ghibli films, so am less surprised by that. "Your Name" is a pretty film, but I've always found it shallow and prettiness will only do so much.
bucciest said:
I'm surprised by this, too, and now it's making me wonder about how well Makoto Shinkai's films will stand the test of time. I don't think I see Studio Ghibli mentioned either, but I've gotten the impression from this website that there's more of a crowd on here who are into Makoto Shinkai over Ghibli films, so am less surprised by that. "Your Name" is a pretty film, but I've always found it shallow and prettiness will only do so much.


Nobody's saying the early 3d video games were pretty nowadays, and I think it's going to be the same for early digital anime. The 2000s are already there. When I joined it was the best decade for tons of users, now it's almost universally considered the ugliest anime has ever been. 2010s are next in line, and I think even shows that were considered beautiful back then, like Ufotable's Fate or Makoto Shinkai's movies, will be judged harshly.

With Makoto Shinkai it's tragic, because there's actually some pretty good animation hiding under those layers of cheap gradients and lens flares. What's even more puzzling is that, for people who were interested in graphical design and Internet in the early 2000s, gradients and lens flares were reviled. Every boomer making his free webpage was overdoing that shit, and those digital tools were widely considered extremely tacky.
Prophetess of the Golden Era

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