Design Characters for Cyberpunk Anime

I’m deep into building Tokyo Shadow, a gritty, neon-soaked anime set in a near-future Neo-Tokyo, and the area that needs the most firepower right now is character design. Our writers have pinned down the core arcs and world rules; what we lack are memorable faces—heroes, sidekicks, villains—who instantly feel at home under buzzing holosigns and rain-slick cables.

Because this is a nonprofit collaboration, I’m looking for designers driven by passion for the craft and for the cyberpunk aesthetic itself. You’ll take written briefs, rough mood boards, and a handful of thumbnail silhouettes, then push them into fully realised model sheets: turnarounds, colour palettes, expression sets, and a few key-pose illustrations that hint at each character’s story.

We have no restrictions on tools—Photoshop, Clip Studio Paint, Procreate, Blender for paint-overs, whatever helps you hit that sharp, electric vibe—only that final artwork arrives in layered PSD or CLIP files alongside high-res PNGs.

When you reach out, lead with your experience. Show me previous character work that proves you can balance gritty realism with stylised anime proportions and understand clothing that mixes traditional Japanese influences with futuristic techwear. If your portfolio already drips neon and chrome, you’re halfway there.

My immediate goal is to lock down the main cast, supporting crew, and key antagonists so our storyboard artists can jump in with confidence. If the collaboration clicks, there’s plenty more to tackle—mecha, street gangs, corporate security drones—but first, let’s nail the people who make this world breathe.