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Historical painters including Michelangelo, Hokusai become hot anime men in artsy video game

Casey Baseel Nov 15, 2017
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Palette Parade’s parade of handsome anime versions of art world icons continues to grow.

Last summer, we took a look at some of the early artwork for Palette Parade, a game that asks the question “What would famous historical painters look like as handsome anime men?” While developer Silicon Studio is taking its sweet time in bringing the game to market, it’s at least staying true to its core concept of visual art appreciation by continually adding characters to its cast.

Initially, Silicon Studio was highlighting only four characters: van Gogh, Courbet, da Vinci, and Renoir. But since Palette Town isn’t limiting its casting to a single time period or artistic movement, there’s a practically limitless pool of talent for it to draw inspiration from, and the game’s character page now has profiles for more than two dozen characters, so let’s check out some of the newcomers.

Not surprisingly, Michelangelo shows up, portrayed as an extremely talented shut-in with a bit of a chip on his shoulder towards da Vinci, who the game quotes as trying to placate him with the assurance that “Hey, people are going to love you too, Michelangelo.”

And if we’re talking about da Vinci and Michelangelo, we can’t leave out Raphael, who’s listed as a lover of Italian wine with a kind, supportive personality.

Doménikos Theotokópoulos, better known as El Greco, has a swarthy complexion, ostensibly due to his upbringing on the sun-kissed isle of Crete, but wishes people would remember his real name.

Impressionist Calude Monet’s hobby is listed as gardening, a reference to the famous garden at his home in Giverny, and the pattern on his zip-up hoodie recalls his famous Water Lillies series.

Speaking of impressionists, Édouard Manet is drawn in a pose almost identical to Monet’s, perhaps as a subtle jab to art philistines who can’t keep the similarly named painters separate in their heads.

Despite his most famous work being The Scream, Edvard Munch looks downright cheery.

Some characters’ wardrobes mirror those of their real-life versions, such as Peter Paul Rubens, who’s wearing the same jaunty hat as the Flemish painter in his 1623 self-portrait.

And though the bulk of the cast is made up of European painters, a few Japanese luminaries are also represented, such as ukiyo-e masters Hokusai…

…and Hiroshige, both itinerant artists whose in-game profiles state their hobbies to be “moving house” and “travel,” respectively.

Silicon Studio’s vaguely defined smartphone/PC release window for Palette Parade is “summer 2018,” so if your favorite artist hasn’t shown up yet, keep your fingers crossed, because there’s still a chance they’ll be added before the game comes out.

Source: Palette Parade via Anime News Network/Lynzee Loveridge
Top image: Palette Parade
Insert images: Palette Parade (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)