Cosplay, branded apparel, and Funko Pops are just a few of the many ways people display their love of the imaginative world of anime and manga. But one of the best ways, in our opinion, is via your manicure — and by the end of this gallery full of anime nail art, you’ll be running to book your next nail appointment.
There are endless design possibilities for anime- or manga-inspired manicures. Maybe you have a solid-colored manicure with an accent nail featuring a symbol from your favorite series. Perhaps you go all out with a character’s entire likeness — vibrant hair and all — on your nails. You can even reinvent the characters as adorable animals or in a different animation style. (You’ll see what we mean later.)
Texas-based nail artist Vanessa Ta says that, on average, anime nail sets take her about two to three hours to create, depending on how extensive the design is. “If possible I prefer to hand-draw them,” Ta says. “If the design is too complex or there are too many details for the small nails, then I do try to find specific stickers or decals for it,” she shares.
On average, it takes about three to four hours for Florida-based nail artist Kelly Kim to paint designs and another hour and a half for the entire appointment. Though she creates a variety of nail art, anime manicures have a special place in her heart. Within the last decade, she’s noticed that with anime’s rising popularity, more clients have requested those sets.
Both Ta and Kim are used to making anime sets, so it’s worth noting that your appointment might take longer than four hours if you schedule an appointment with an artist who does not paint anime nail art regularly.
How to Create Anime Nails
It’s totally fine to let the pros like Ta and Kim who have the skill, time, and patience create the anime manicure of your dreams. If you’re a nail art novice who wants to create anime nails at home, keep the process simple by adhering nail art stickers or decals.
If you’re looking to freehand paint the mini masterpieces onto your nails yourself, Kim has a few tips: She suggests looking into YouTube videos about drawing anime characters to understand how it’s done before working on your nails. “Anime characters have a lot to do with spacing, as far as how big their head is and where their hairline sits, and how big and far apart the eyes are. So pay attention to how far apart everything is drawn from each other [because] there are a lot of delicate features and small lines,” she explains. Additionally, adding contrast to the look for more dimension is key, according to Ta.
What Are Some Popular Anime Nail Art Designs?
Meraki Manicures’ most popular mani requests typically are centered around Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba or the demon Sukuna from Jujutsu Kaisen. Kim tells Allure that her most popular requests center around those two shows as well. Read on to see more popular anime nail art looks — and get some inspiration for your own.
Alongside the adorable Hello Kitty, Sanrio also introduced us to several other characters, including Keroppi and Badtz-Maru. Both characters are in this pastel, beach day-themed manicure. Manicurist Narina Chan painted the top half of the nail a pale lime hue to represent the beach sand and the bottom half with baby blue nail polish for the sky. Each character is dressed in beach day attire and occupies its own nails. The clouds, seashells, birds, and beach ball make this colorful manicure even more interesting to look at.
Staring at these nails will make you think you’re in the comfort of your home watching this Hayao Miyazaki film. Chan recreated an entire scene from the film on these short nails. She painted each nail in a blue hue for the sky and added white clouds for a more realistic touch. On three nails we see the movie’s protagonists, Howl Pendragon and Sophie Hatter, drawn in detail amongst a field of grᴀss.
Sailor Moon is undisputedly a classic in the anime world, and as a result, there are numerous Sailor Moon-inspired nail designs out there. What we love about this one is how Chan transformed the ’90s show’s characters into the cutest cat nail art. Everyone except for Usagi Tsukino, Sailor Moon herself, was drawn on one hand. On the other hand, Chan dedicated four of the short nails just to Sailor Moon with her golden hair flowing between the nails and Moon Stick on the pinky.
Who doesn’t love the anthropomorphic white cat whose face has been on our TVs, clothing, and even on beauty products? New York City-based nail artist Tim drew Hello Kitty onto three of the nails, with a third of her face on each cloudy base. The animal’s distinctive red bow was the only vivid color in this manicure. Tim bedazzled each coffin-shaped nail with tiny silver rhinestones sporadically placed.
Ta is the mastermind behind this colorful manicure inspired by purple-haired Shinobu Kocho from Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. It’s a perfect example of how your manicure doesn’t even need a character’s face. These nails take Kocho’s signature colors and symbols (ʙuттerflies and pastel hues), for a mismatched manicure with glitter, 3D decals, and graphic artwork.
This simple, stiletto-shaped manicure may just look like “baby boomer” nails (you know, the modern take of the classic French manicure that blurs the classic hues into an ombré) with geometric designs — but the black symbols actually represent the demon Sukuna from Jujutsu Kaisen.
Ta painted these vibrant blue and yellow nails in honor of the Ouran High School Host Club series. The manicure is mostly blue except for the middle fingernail of one hand with the show’s logo on a bright canary yellow base. On that same hand, Ta drew a bubblegum pink bunny for Usa-chan onto a white base.
This black swirled manicure might look like it’s made for Halloween, but it is actually an ode to the Phantom Troupe from Hunter x Hunter. The only almond-shaped nail that has any sign of the Japanese anime’s influence is the middle one with a black spider, the Troupe’s signature tattoo, that has a slashed-out zero on its back.
This manicure has black, grey, white, and red colors in honor of Megumi’s shadow dog from Jujutsu Kaisen. Ta painted a black-to-white ombré on the coffin-shaped nails with a stormy gray color where the two shades meet to represent the shadows. The ring finger on one hand and the middle on the other both have the dog’s triangle symbol drawn on black and white polish, respectively.
This navy blue-and-purple manicure may look like a nautical-themed mani, it’s actually an ode to Josuke Higashikata from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. Each nail except for the thumbs was painted in a navy blue hue. Some nails have a white vertical or horizontal block while others have golden designs, painted by Ta. If you look closely at the middle finger, you’ll notice a swirled black polish.
These nails are dark in more ways than one. Chan created this Fullmetal Alchemist-inspired black-and-gray manicure featuring one of the main characters, Alphonse Elric, and a dog who I won’t reveal due to spoilers. Some nails are pitch black while the others are covered with a stormy gray. On the gray middle finger, she drew Elric’s face covered with a metal helmet. She added the gray dog to the ring finger on the other hand. Other symbols relevant to the series are present including the alchemy icon.
These almond-sculpted clear nails are inspired by Hunter x Hunter characters Gon Freecss and Canary. Chan drew the spiky-haired protagonist on one hand with his signature bright green outfit. Canary’s brown skin and tied poofs of hair make their appearance on the other hand. On the nails without either face, Chan created a gold glitter ombre, adding the gilded flecks from halfway on the nail to the almond tip before topping off with 3D silver circular decals.
Dragon Ball Z undisputedly defined an entire generation of anime fans. Chan painted these blue-haired characters onto the duo-toned blue manicure. Chan painted one hand with a sky blue hue while the other has a darker navy blue with a lighter blue center. Chan recreated Bulma and Goku’s likenesses with their blue eyes and hair on each hand.
It’s hard to believe that this realistic portrayal of Shinichi Okazaki from Nana is just a manicure. Chile-based artist Mariane Amanda Gómez made sure to get all the tiny details, including the small bottom lashes, the eye folds, and teal strands of hair, onto three press-on nails in this manicure. Gòmez added several 3D silver decals to create Okazaki’s jewelry and lip piercing. The lip ring, for instance, is a pierced chain that connects to the character’s ear.
The pretty-in-pink manicure created by Chan uses Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun‘s Yashiro Nene and the ghost Hanako-san as inspiration. Each face was painted on the middle and index fingers on opposite hands, respectively. On the other fingers, Chan added other elements like the rabbit-like Mokke and flowing blue-and-pink spirits over a bubblegum pink base.
These Sailor Moon nails show that short nails can have intricate designs, too. All these nails have a marbled orange base. Chan drew Tsukino’s face with a gleam in her blue eyes, laugh lines, and a golden headband on the middle finger. She also added other symbols of the Sailor Guardian like her red bow and eye mask.
The iridescent sheen on these almond-shaped nails makes this Spirited Away-inspired manicure even cuter. Chan created a half-and-half mani with the top half of the nails painted in gray and the bottom half a ɴuᴅᴇ hue. On each nail, she drew the tiny fuzzy Soot Sprites or No-Face in various positions.
This glittery ɴuᴅᴇ ombré would seem simple except for the hand-drawn faces from Chan. The two characters are best friends from the Gakuen Alice series. The teapot and cup plus the mushroom are the cutest details on this manicure.
Loving anime doesn’t mean you need to rep the “good guys.” These glittery pink nails feature the H๏τ pink-haired antagonist of Hunter x Hunter, Hisoka, to a T. His pale face, signature star and teardrop face tattoos, spikey hair, and playing cards all made their way to this manicure. The white star details plus colorful 3D heart and star charms only make these H๏τ pink nails more exciting.
To the untrained eye, this looks like a simple numerical manicure. But each number actually references one of the Espalda, an army from Bleach, who have it tattooed somewhere on their body. Behind each black number written in a gothic font, New Jersey-based nail artist Nicole Flores added a tiny sword in different colors to each nail.
This mismatched purple-and-silver manicure features dark purple Gengar, 3D nail art charms, and lots of glitter. Flores hand-drew the dark Pokemon and added tiny pink and purple ʙuттerflies plus metallic charms to this set.
Bulma’s blue hair is as bright as day in this extremely long square-tipped manicure. Kim hand-drew the character in a black bunny outfit with a red bow on the middle finger. On the other hand, she painted the middle finger cobalt blue with a kanji symbol. She added jet-black nail polish to the index and ring fingers. The pinky fingers were sculpted into sharp stiletto points and covered in a bright tangerine hue with fiery red stars.
This short negative nail art manicure features the lightning-wielding Killua from Hunter x Hunter. She drew the character on each hand with a different expression. On the other nails, she added lightning, Japanese characters, and a spider in black.
The detail in these Attack on тιтan nails is out of this world. Kim drew several characters on these long square tips. You’ll recognize Levi’s and Mikasa’s faces alongside those of the flesh-eating тιтans.
This French manicure, created by Kim, looks like it’s been ripped from the black and white pages of a manga book. The Jujutsu Kaisen nails feature characters including Satoru Gojo and Kento Nanami. How she added all this detail to the small C-curve tip? We have no clue.
We’re obsessed with every inch of this coffin-shaped Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba manicure. Kim’s attention to detail here is noteworthy not just because the manicure looks amazing but because it also shows an epic fight scene from the show. You can see all the little lines in Nezuko Kamado’s bamboo gag, her pink pupils, and her dangerously sharp stiletto claws.
The gambling show Kakegurui is not exactly the average high schooler’s experience. Kim recreated the anime’s тιтular character painted in color and black-and-white. One hand looks like it was taken straight from the pages of a manga while the other looks like it’s a scene on the TV.
These coffin-shaped nails are an ode to Hayao Miyazaki films, specifically Spirited Away and Ponyo, the latter of which is Kim’s favorite Studio Ghibli movie. She drew the reddish goldfish Ponyo in the water on one hand. On the other, she created the blue-haired white dragon Haku from Spirited Away.
These kawaii nails created by Gómez perfectly exemplify the neon green and pink hues central to Saiki K’s character and the blue of Shun Kaido’s. Each thumbnail features a realistic drawing of both characters from The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. on glittery bases — Kaido’s has more of a silvery blue glitter while Saiki K’s is pinker. Gómez painted the rest of the Kaido nails a pale periwinkle, and on the other hand, she painted them neon pink and green. She adhered several nail art decals like pearls, crosses, hearts, and bows onto each almond-shaped tip.
Gómez recreated Kagome’s and Inuyasha’s likeness onto these long coffin-shaped nails. The other eight nails were all painted in baby blue with six of the eight nails having cherry blossom flowers and branches. The tiny droplet decals are a perfect finishing touch for these nails.
For this long manicure, Gómez highlighted a few blue Pokemon including Vaporeon and Bulbasaur. She hand-drew each character onto a glittery silver-to-blue ombre base.
Gómez created this pitch-black Tokyo Revengers almond-shaped manicure. The thumbs are a glittery gold base with characters Draken and Mikey. She added golden and red decals on each nail.
This Sailor Moon-themed manicure is all about Sailor Neptune. Gómez painted Sailor Neptune on the middle finger with her blue eyes, golden headband, and green hair. The jade green of her hair is the base color for the other nails. She also added the character’s Deep Aqua Mirror weapon and signature green wand.
Fans of Death Note can commemorate their love for the creepy-looking Ryuk with a manicure like this. The mostly black almond-shaped nails were decorated with crosses, silver spikes, and other 3D decals to add more edginess to this sinister set. Gómez did such a good job creating Ryuk that it’s hard for us to look at the thumbnail because of how creepy and realistic he looks.
Ta sculpted these Attack on тιтan-themed nails into a sharp stiletto point. She painted the middle fingers in a dark olive hue with the Survey Corps logo drawn on top. On the pink and index fingers, she even added brown lines meant to mimic the belts on the Survey Corps uniform.
