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How to Draw Advanced Manpu (Emotion Symbols) & Scared Faces: A Step-by-Step Guide by Japanese Pro Artists

The short answer: A manpu (emotion symbol) drawn next to a face tells the viewer what the character feels without a single word: a black swirl means trouble, a music note means a good mood, sparkles mean admiration, hearts mean love. A scared face is built from the face itself: the brows lift and pull together, the eyes open wide, the mouth stretches sideways, and the body pulls back.

If your characters' feelings are hard to read, or your scared faces just look surprised, this guide walks through a real Anime Art Academy lesson by a Japanese pro: how to combine manpu (emotion symbols) with the face, and fear from a nervous flinch to real terror.

Anime characters from the lesson: faces with symbols like a black swirl, a light bulb and a heart, next to three scared faces — From the lesson: manpu (emotion symbols) and fear.

The five stages at a glance

A boy with a black swirl above his head next to a girl with a music note

Symbols add meaningA black swirl, a music note, radial lines and a dazed look.

A sleepy boy next to a girl with sparkles in her eyes and around her face, circled in red

Sparkles, yawns and flowersSparkles for admiration, a bubble for sleepiness, flowers for a good mood.

A girl with hearts in her eyes and her hands clasped in front of her face, circled in red

Cold, hearts and blushingShivering and pale lines, hearts and clasped hands, a full blush.

A face drawn half as skin and half as muscle, with the forehead muscle in red and blue wrinkles between the brows

The fear musclesRaised brows pulled together, wide-open eyes, a stretched mouth.

A scared anime boy with a blue arrow showing his face and body pulling back

FearPale faces, sweat, a stretched mouth and a body pulling back.

Step 01 · Symbols add meaning

What do manpu (emotion symbols) do in an anime expression?

They tell the viewer exactly what a face means. The same kind of face reads as troubled with a black swirl, or happy with a music note.

In the first image, two faces get one symbol each. On the left, a black swirl: now you can read that he has something troubling him. On the right, a music note: now she looks like she's in a good enough mood to hum a tune. Adding a symbol to a face gives the expression a clearer meaning.

Symbols work on deformed, chibi-style faces too. In the second image, the orange circle marks a symbol that shows the character spacing out with a blank, dazed look. In red, radial lines around a smiling face show that the character keeps on laughing.

Red-pen checkDraw the face first, then add the symbol. The symbol makes the feeling clearer. It doesn't replace the face.

A boy with a sweat drop and a black swirl above his head, next to a smiling girl with a music note — Left: a black swirl, something is troubling him. Right: a music note, a good mood.

Two chibi faces. Red marks radial lines around a laughing face, an orange circle marks a symbol above a dazed face — Red: radial lines, laughing on and on. Orange: a symbol for a dazed, spaced-out look.

Step 02 · Sparkles, yawns and flowers

How do sparkles, sleepy bubbles and flowers change a face?

Sparkles in the eyes and around the face show admiration, a small bubble shows sleepiness, and flowers turn the mood happy and upbeat.

In the first image, the boy on the left yawns sleepily and the girl on the right gazes at something she admires. In the red circles, sparkles in her eyes and around her face show admiration. A blush and a smiling mouth make the feeling stronger. In the second image, in the blue circles, the boy's inner brows pull together and his mouth opens wide in a yawn. The small bubble at the upper right tells the viewer he's sleepy.

In the third image, the girl from before has flowers drawn around her (red circles). Before, the feeling read as admiration. With flowers, it reads as something good happened, or she's simply in a great mood. Pure good vibes.

Red-pen checkMatch the symbol to the face. Sparkles on a frown, or flowers on a crying face, send mixed signals.

A sleepy boy next to a girl gazing in admiration. Red circles mark the sparkles in her eyes and around her face — Red: sparkles in the eyes and around the face, for admiration.

The same sleepy boy. Blue circles mark his brows pulled together, his wide yawn and a small bubble above his head — Blue: inner brows together, a wide yawn and a sleepy bubble.

The same pair with flowers drawn around them, circled in red — Red: flowers, for a good mood.

Step 03 · Cold, hearts and blushing

How do you show a character who is cold, in love or embarrassed?

Add shiver marks, puffs of breath and pale vertical lines for cold, hearts and clasped hands for love, and a red face with flying sweat for embarrassment.

In the first image, the boy has shiver marks and puffs of breath drawn around him, which show he's shaking from the cold. The vertical lines on his face add one more point: he's turned pale.

In the second image, the girl on the right has hearts in her eyes and around her face (red circles). She's looking at something she loves, or at someone she admires. Clasping her hands in front of her face makes the feeling even stronger. In the third image, the girl on the left blushes across her whole face, and sweat drops fly off her (blue circles). She's shy or embarrassed. Make the ears and neck bright red too, and the embarrassment reads even stronger.

Red-pen checkFor embarrassment, don't stop at the cheeks. Color the ears and neck as well.

A boy shivering in the cold with puffs of breath and pale vertical lines on his face, next to a smiling girl with flowers — Shiver marks, puffs of breath and pale vertical lines: he's cold.

Two girls. The one on the right has red hearts in her eyes and clasps her hands in front of her face — Red: hearts in the eyes, and clasped hands.

A girl blushing red across her whole face with sweat drops flying off her, circled in blue — A face red all over, and flying sweat (blue): embarrassment.

Step 04 · The fear muscles

Which face muscles move in a scared face?

The frontalis lifts the brows while the corrugator pulls them together, the eyes open wide, and the risorius stretches the mouth sideways.

The lesson also covers fear. In this lesson image, one half of the face is drawn as skin and the other half as muscle. In red, the frontalis pulls the brows up. At the same time, the corrugator contracts, the inner ends of the brows draw together, and vertical wrinkles form between them (blue). In the second image, the eyes open wide. That's the most important point for drawing fear.

At the mouth, in the third image, the risorius pulls the lower lip out to the sides (red arrow). The upper lip relaxes (blue). Because the mouth stretches wide sideways, wrinkles form, shown by the green line.

Red-pen checkOpen the eyes wide. Without that, a scared face slides toward sad or worried.

A face drawn half as skin and half as muscle. Red marks the frontalis lifting the brows, a blue mark shows the wrinkles between the brows — Red: frontalis lifting the brows. Blue: wrinkles between the brows from the corrugator.

The same half-muscle face with both eyes colored orange, wide open — Orange: the eyes open wide.

The same half-muscle face. A red arrow pulls the mouth sideways, blue marks the relaxed upper lip and green marks the wrinkles — Red: risorius pulling the lower lip sideways. Blue: relaxed upper lip. Green: wrinkles.

Step 05 · Fear

How do you draw a scared anime face?

Raise the brows and pull them together, open the eyes wide, pull the mouth corners out and down, then add a pale face, sweat and a body pulling back.

In the first image, the girl on the right shows a little fear and the boy on the left shows more. Both raise their brows and draw them together, and both open their eyes wide. The girl is looking up, but her lower eyelids are pulled down, so you can tell her eyes are wide open. The red arrows show the mouth corners spreading and dropping. In blue, a pale face and sweat show the fear. The boy pulls his head back, as if trying to get away from what scares him (pink).

The second image shows stronger fear. This is horror-movie territory. The brows go way up with tension at the inner ends, and the eyes open wide. He clenches his teeth while the mouth corners drop (red arrows), and because the mouth is stretched sideways, the wrinkles are deep (green). Sweat and vertical lines make his face look pale and sick (light blue). Both are manpu: Sweat drops show cold sweat from fear, and vertical lines over the face, like the Vertical "gaaaan!" lines, show the color draining out of it. The stronger the fear, the more of them you can add. In the third image, his eyes look down while his face and body pull back along the blue arrow. What he fears is right where he's looking, and his body is trying to escape.

Red-pen checkPoint the eyes at the threat and pull the body away from it. That push and pull is what makes fear read.

Two scared anime characters. Red arrows mark the mouth corners, blue marks a pale face and sweat, and a pink arrow shows the boy pulling his head back — Red: mouth corners out and down. Blue: a pale face and sweat. Pink: the head pulling back.

A terrified anime boy clenching his teeth. Red arrows pull the mouth corners down, green marks deep wrinkles and light blue marks sweat and pale lines — Red: mouth corners down, teeth clenched. Green: deep wrinkles. Light blue: sweat and a pale face.

The same boy with his eyes looking down and a blue arrow showing his face and body pulling back — Eyes looking down, face and body pulling back (blue arrow).

Same fear, different strength

Both are scared. A little fear shows in raised brows, wide eyes and a tense mouth. Strong fear clenches the teeth, deepens the wrinkles and turns the face pale.

Two scared anime characters with raised brows, wide eyes, sweat and tense mouths

Fear: raised brows, wide eyes, a tense mouth.

A terrified anime boy with clenched teeth, deep wrinkles and a pale, sweaty face

Strong fear: clenched teeth, deep wrinkles, a pale face.

Where people usually get stuck

My character's feeling is hard to read.

Add one symbol that names it: a black swirl for trouble, a music note for a good mood, sparkles for admiration, hearts for love, flowers for a happy mood.

My embarrassed face just looks happy.

Blush the whole face, not only the cheeks, and add flying sweat drops. Coloring the ears and neck red makes it read as embarrassment.

My scared face looks surprised.

Surprise lifts the brows. Fear lifts them and pulls the inner ends together at the same time. Add a mouth stretched sideways, a pale face and a body pulling back.

Advanced manpu and scared faces FAQ

What do the manpu (emotion symbols) around anime characters mean?

They spell out the feeling. In the lesson, a black swirl means the character is troubled, a music note means a good mood, sparkles mean admiration, a small bubble means sleepiness, flowers mean something good happened, hearts mean love or admiration, and shiver marks with puffs of breath mean the character is cold.

How do you draw a scared anime face?

Raise the brows with the frontalis while the corrugator pulls the inner ends together, open the eyes wide, and let the risorius stretch the mouth sideways. For stronger fear, add a pale face, sweat, clenched teeth and a body pulling back from what scares the character.

How do you draw an embarrassed anime character?

Blush the whole face and add sweat drops flying off the character. To push it further, make the ears and neck bright red as well.

How do I get feedback on my facial expression drawings?

When you join an Anime Art Academy course, a professional Japanese artist gives you personal advice and draws red-line corrections directly on your drawing. There is no limit on how many times you can submit. The only rule: post one drawing at a time, and wait for your teacher's reply before posting the next.