50+ Best Anime Prompts for Midjourney Niji V5
Midjourney Niji Anime AI Art is Going to Blow Your Mind
Midjourney enables users to quickly create appealing anime character designs with Niji Mode.
Niji Mode is an anime-specific model with a vast knowledge of anime, styles and aesthetics. It’s especially adept at creating dynamic and action-packed shots with an excellent focus on characters and composition.
Midjourney just realeased the newest Niji Version.
The image quality is incredible, and it is much better at anime than the previous numbered models.
Crafting captivating Midjourney prompts is essential for creating great anime. Additionally, having some knowledge of keywords related to the genre such as “Retro-style”, “Chibi-style”, “Pixel-style”, etc., along with well-informed artist names can really take your Midjourney anime experience up a notch.
If you are starting, I know that crafting the perfect prompt is challenging. So, here is a beginner’s guide and list of prompts to get you started:
Let’s grab your backpack and enter the anime world!
To enter the anime world, we will need to switch to Niji mode in Midjourney Discord first.
Switch to Niji version 5
Type/ settings and select the “Niji Version 5” button OR add the parameter — niji 5 at the end of your prompt
What’s new in Niji 5
- Strengthened terminator line — A picture’s distinction between light and dark is known as its “terminator line.” Niji 5 capitalizes on this strong terminator line to create powerful first impressions.
- Unified shadow/light forms — Images from the Niji 5 series tend to be smoother but contain more information.
- Precise pivotal details -Niji 5 astounds with its precision when it comes to placing tiny, crucial details such as the highlights in the eyes.
- Image coherency — Significant developments in complex topics such as robotics have been achieved with the unveiling of Midjourney v5.
This time, I have prepared a list of keywords to get you started and will be experimenting with the Niji Version 4 and the Niji Version 5:
- Anime Artists
- Gorgeous Anime Backgrounds
- Retro Anime Style
- Futuristic Style
- Manga
- Figures & Toys
- Character Design & Concept Sheets
Let’s dive right in and start creating!
1. Anime Artists
When creating great anime through Midjourney, one of the simplest methods to use is to include the name of an anime artist, manga artist or a mangaka in your prompt.
Here is a list of some of the greatest artists of all time
- Hayao Miyazaki, Co-founder of Studio Ghibli
- Eiichiro Oda, One Piece
- Naoko Takeuchi, Sailor Moon
- Takehiko Inoue, Slam Dunk
- Hisashi Hirai, Gundam
- Norio Matsumoto, Hunter x Hunter
- Hiroshi Fujimoto, Doraemon
- Yon Yoshinari, Evangelion
- Momoko Sakura, Chibi Maruko-chan
Let’s see how Niji V4 and Niji V5 corporate with these artists.
Prompt: A girl in traditional japanese clothing, with white wolf beside her, standing in front of a a magical torri shrine, artgerm, by Studio Ghibli
--ar3:2 --niji 5
Prompt: A girl in traditional japanese clothing, with white wolf beside her, standing in front of a a magical torri shrine, artgerm, by Studio Ghibli
--ar3:2 --niji 4
As you can see, Niji Version 5 is definitely doing better in the details and artistic style. Let’s create some more.
Prompt: A group of animals in the wood, Hayao Miyazaki
--ar3:2 --niji 5
Prompt: A group of happy students taking an adventure in the woods, beautiful sun lighting, Eiichiro Oda
--ar3:2 --niji 5
Prompt: Futuristic space station, a group of human in robotic suit working on data, Hisashi Hirai
--ar3:2 --niji 5
2. Gorgeous Anime Backgrounds
If you’re looking to add a visual backdrop to your project, here are some suggestions of directors that can provide creative and high-quality inspiration
- Makoto Shinkai, Your Name
- Hayao Miyazaki, The Wind Rises
- Mamoru Oshii, Ghost in the Shell
- Taiyo Matsumoto, Tekkonkinkreet
- Hideaki Anno, Evangelion
Prompt: Ariel shot of Shibuya street, Hayao Miyazaki
--ar3:2 --niji 5
Try also places like:
- Coffee shop
- Tokyo city
- The beach
- Classroom
- The Train Station
- Basketball Court
- The Space Station
- City landscape
- Mt Fuji
- Japanese Temple
- Floating Castle
- Underwater World
- Torri shrine
Prompt: Coffee shop beside the beach, beautiful blue sky and cloud, Makoto Shinkai
--ar3:2 --niji 5
Prompt: Coffee shop beside the beach, beautiful blue sky and cloud, Makoto Shinkai
--ar3:2 --niji 4
I am amazed at Niji Version 5 with the details and artistic style. Let’s try one more with Niji 5.
Prompt: Mountain fuji, beautiful blue sky and cloud, Makoto Shinkai
--ar3:2 --niji 5
The introduction of Niji V5 Scenic Style is credible for an anime background! Be sure to check this out:
3. Retro Anime Style
Let’s travel back to the old days. To create a retro anime style, you can add the following:
- 1970s Anime
- 1980s Anime
- 1990s Anime
- Retro Anime
- Retro anime screencap
Prompt: 1980s anime, girl and a boy having coffee at a coffeeshop, retro fashion, muted pastel colors, by Tsukasa Hojo and Toshihiro Kawamoto
--ar3:2 --niji 5
I tried the same prompt with Niji v4, and the art direction looks more like the 80s anime. This time, Niji Version 4 is doing better in bringing us back in time.
Prompt: 1980s anime, girl and a boy having coffee at a coffeeshop, retro fashion, muted pastel colors, by Tsukasa Hojo and Toshihiro Kawamoto
--ar3:2 --niji 4
Prompt: 1970s anime, a young handsome hunter man, full beard, with a hat, retro style, smoking, in the dusk
--ar3:2 --niji 4
Okay, Niji Version 4, you win this time! Let’s continue to the next style.
4. Futuristic Style
Niji Mode has mastered the art of putting rainbow refractions on transparent clothing — it looks amazing! Give their clothes a go and you’ll definitely be impressed.
- Chromatic aberration
- Holographic
- Iridescent opaque thin film RGB
- Transparent Vinyl Clothing
- Transparent PVC
- Reflective clothing
- Futuristic clothing
Prompt: Pixiv, hyper detailed, harajuku fasion, futuristic fashion, anime girl, headphone, colorful reflective fabric inner, transparent PVC jacket, in tokyo city center
--ar3:2 --niji 5
Prompt: Pixiv, hyper detailed, harajuku fasion, futuristic fashion, anime girl, headphone, colorful reflective fabric inner, transparent PVC jacket, in tokyo city center
--ar3:2 --niji 4
I will say Niji Version 4 mastered the art of putting rainbow refractions on transparent clothing, especially transparent PVC and Neon RGB color — it looks amazing!
Niji Version 5 gives a different art direction. So it really depends on your need. Let’s try one more!
Prompt: An anime girl, looking at viewer, bubbles, highly detailed, reflective transparent iridescent opaque jacket, long transparent iridescent RGB hair
--ar3:2 --niji 4
You can also mix and match with other styles and parameters to create something truly unique!
5. Manga
Manga is a popular form of art originating from Japan, known for its distinct style of drawing characters. It offers a wide variety of genres, making it an easily accessible source of entertainment for people in Japan.
- Manga drawing
- Manga shading
- Manga screentone
- With largely and widely spaced dots
- With halftone pattern
- Manga comic strip
Prompt: John Wick, manga screen tones, screen tone patterns, dot pattern, larger and more widely-spaced dots, High-Quality
--ar3:2 --niji 5
Prompt: John Wick, manga screen tones, screen tone patterns, dot pattern, larger and more widely-spaced dots, High-Quality
--ar3:2 --niji 4
Btw, has anyone watched John Wick: Chapter 4? The stunts are mindblowing in the movie! Let’s just create one more of John Wick.
Prompt: A page from a comic book with John Wick fighting with bad guys, featured on pixiv, underground comix,cyberpunk, concept art
--niji 5
Prompt: A page from a comic book with John Wick fighting with bad guys, featured on pixiv, underground comix,cyberpunk, concept art
--niji 4
For manga, we are seeing more details with Niji Version 5, especially facial expressions!
We can also ask Midjourney for inspiration with your favorite anime scenes with the /describe command. Check out how to do that!
6. Figures & Toys
For incredibly realistic photographs of action figures, toys, and figures look no further to the following keywords:
- Chibi character
- Miniature character
- Anime character
- Toy figure
- In a glass display case
- Made of plastic
- Made of polyester putty
Let’s see who does a better job this time.
Prompt: toy figure, japanese anime girl character, blue cute mahou shojo dress
--niji 5
I think the answer is pretty obvious. But, it also depends on what style you are looking for.
Prompt: Chibi Japanese girl photographer, eggshell, space, pop mart IP design, Pastel color, 3D rendering, normal diffuse gradient background, high quality, realistic
--niji 5
Add extra cuteness to your fugues with the Niji v5 Cute Style
7. Character Design & Concept Sheets
If you’re a designer struggling with creating consistent characters across different poses and expressions, try beginning your prompts with the following keywords can be incredibly helpful:
- Character expression sheet
- Character design sheet
- Character pose sheet
- Turnaround sheet
- Concept design sheet
- Items sheet/accessories
- Dress-up sheet/fashion sheet
- Full body portrait
Mix and match the above terms with multiple angles and body parts.
Prompt: Beautiful detailed character reference sheet, a girl, blue cute mahou shojo dress, glowing opal , jellyfish motive, iridescent, ultra-detailed, granblue fantasy, anime key visual
--niji 5
Prompt: Beautiful detailed character reference sheet, a girl, blue cute mahou shojo dress, glowing opal , jellyfish motive, iridescent, ultra-detailed, granblue fantasy, anime key visual
--niji 4
Niji Version 5 is giving more details but Niji Version 4 is now bad at all!
Prompt: Wizened young beautiful female fortuneteller, head, close up character design, multiple concept designs, concept design sheet, white background, style of Yoshitaka Amano
--niji 5
Prompt: Anime full body portrait of shojo anime kitsune girl
--ar3:2 --niji 5
FINAL THOUGHTS
Experimenting with design prompts is an effective way to hone your design skills and come up with unique anime character designs.
It can help to push the boundaries of your creativity, giving you a chance to explore different references and techniques.
I write about tips, tricks and tools of AI tools especially Midjourney that will elevate your work! If you find this article helpful and would like to support me, make sure to:
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Niji Style Event:
With the launch of Niji v5, the team has provided us with a total of 4 styles to experiment with. Check out the whole list here:
