The vibrant art style of Genshin Impact has been a huge inspiration for hundreds of fan artists that have found themselves attached to one colorful character or another. However, one artist has taken that inspiration and crossed miHoYo’s unique characters over with the famous art style of Studio Ghibli for stellar results.
In a few recent posts, the artist Pochaimo has shared an animation that combines a Genshin Impact character with one of Studio Ghibli’s most well-known feature films. This isn’t the first time that this artist has made an impressive piece for the gacha title, as they have dedicated several works to characters like Xiao and Xiangling before.
The new animation takes Genshin Impact’s Xiangling and her little panda Guoba that helps her in combat as one of the most notable shots from My Neighbor Totoro. In the short animation, Guoba takes the place of Totoro, while Xiangling takes the role of protagonist Satsuki as the two wait for the bus in the rain. It’s a neat little recreation of the one segment of the classic Ghibli film that even fans who haven’t seen the full movie for themselves are fully aware of.
One interesting aspect of the crossover piece is that it has a much warmer tone than the original scene, using oranges and reds to decorate the trees in order to better keep the aesthetic consistent with the flame elemental Genshin Impact character. It’s a small detail that helps the recreation to feel unique to both the Xiangling inspiration, as well as the theming of Studio Ghibli’s art style found in My Neighbor Totoro. An additional character also makes a cameo in the quick animation, with Yaoyao hanging onto Xiangling’s shoulders in the same way Mei did in the original film.
Fan art can be a huge indication that a game has made an impact on the industry and has a flourishing community behind it that wants to share new interpretations of locations and characters. In the case of Genshin Impact’s growing roster of characters, not only are there enough vibrant designs for every player to find a favorite, but the uniqueness of each one is what continues to drive the game. So, it’s little surprise that artists like Pochaimo are drawn to miHoYo’s art style in the same way that many have been drawn to the films of Studio Ghibli over the company’s extended history of success.
Genshin Impact is available now for Mobile, PC, PS4, and Switch.
