The line between 2D anime aesthetics and 3D digital art is blurring faster than ever, and 3D artist Hiroshi Kanazawa is leading the charge. If you’ve been scrolling through tech-art circles recently, you’ve likely seen his breathtaking, cel-shaded explosion effects. What looks like hand-drawn keyframe animation from a high-budget anime is actually crafted entirely within Blender.
For the community here at 3dxdev, Kanazawa’s work is a masterclass in how modern tools can be pushed to achieve classic, stylized visuals.
Breaking Down the 2D Look in a 3D Space
Creating an explosion that feels authentically “anime” requires more than just throwing a toon shader onto a simulation. In a short breakdown shared on X, Kanazawa revealed that his gorgeous sequences are built by meticulously separating and layering distinct visual elements.
Instead of relying on a single heavy fluid simulation, he builds:
- The Core Blast: Stylized, shifting mesh volumes that handle the primary fiery shapes.
- Anime Smoke: Layered, billowing cel-shaded elements that give the blast its weight and graphic silhouette.
- Sparks & Debris: Fine particle details that add high-frequency energy to the blast radius.
By mixing these individual components in the final composition, he achieves a highly controlled, dynamic result that reacts beautifully to lighting while maintaining a flat, illustrative texture.
Driving Creativity with Geometry Nodes
What makes Kanazawa’s workflow incredibly relevant for game developers and technical artists is his brilliant implementation of procedural generation. He has built an incredible Geometry Nodes-powered setup that functions as a stylized explosion generator.
“With his toolset, he can procedurally generate an anime explosion and even dynamically crack the environment to appear as a crater at the blast’s epicenter—all while running surprisingly light in the viewport.”
This procedural flexibility is a game-changer for production pipelines, allowing artists to rapidly iterate on timing, scale, and placement without needing to re-bake massive simulations from scratch.
Why This Matters for the 3dxdev Community
Whether you are an animator trying to nail timing, a VFX specialist building runtime assets, or a game dev looking to inject high-energy styling into your project, Kanazawa’s portfolio is pure inspiration. It proves that with a deep understanding of art direction and the right node setups, Blender can comfortably rival traditional 2D animation pipelines.
Be sure to check out his latest fiery effects demo and follow Hiroshi Kanazawa on X to keep up with his mind-bending workflows.