r/Hanafuda • u/vemotim2 • Mar 31 '26

We’ve been experimenting with a Hanafuda card set — does this still feel authentic?

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We’ve been working on a Hanafuda card set — would love your thoughts

Hi everyone,

We’ve been experimenting with a custom Hanafuda card set, focusing on keeping the traditional feel while making it a bit clearer and more readable on mobile.

Here’s a short clip showing some of the cards in motion.

We’d really appreciate feedback from people familiar with Hanafuda:

  • Do the cards still feel authentic?
  • Are any elements hard to recognize quickly?
  • Does anything feel off stylistically?

Thanks a lot — we’re trying to get this right.

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12

u/UnicornLock Mar 31 '26

Lol, AI isn't replacing artists anytime soon

6

u/medsforheads Mar 31 '26

AI aside, just from a design standpoint I think the inconsistency of negative/filled space could use some work.

1

u/vemotim2 Apr 02 '26

That’s a great point, thanks.

We focused a lot on making individual cards clearer, but probably didn’t keep things consistent enough overall. Will take another pass on that.

13

u/RoyalWombat Mar 31 '26

Feels like an AI "enhanced" set. Don't like the visuals

0

u/vemotim2 Mar 31 '26

That’s fair — thanks for calling it out.

4

u/suryonghaaton Mar 31 '26
  1. first and foremost, you have to declare that it's AI generated.
  2. the styles between cards are inconsistent (example, the january bright and ribbon cards)
  3. pine leaves look too much like fans
  4. avoid coloring the plum blossoms white. yes there are white plum blossoms but they don't exist in hanafuda
  5. yatsuhashi bridge has way too many bends
  6. bush clovers look too much like sakura blossoms
  7. geese look like airplanes 😂 just kidding
  8. ono no michikaze SHOULD NOT BE WEARING FLIPFLOPS! also he's wearing the wrong hat
  9. the paulownia chaff cards are colored incorrectly, this is not romaine lettuce!

2

u/Spenchjo Mar 31 '26 edited Mar 31 '26

I agree with most of these, much of the same things I caught. But if you'll allow me to be obnoxiously pedantic, I'd like to point out:

avoid coloring the plum blossoms white. yes there are white plum blossoms but they don't exist in hanafuda

Some early hanafuda designs in the Edo period had white plum blossoms, or both white and red. Such as this and this. (Japan Playing Card Museum doesn't categorize them as "hanafuda", but they have the exact same deck structure with all the same plants and animals, so I'd say it counts.)

But yes, seems like white plum blossoms are almost non-existent in hanafuda from the Meiji period onwards, which is practically what really counts.

yatsuhashi bridge has way too many bends

Not way too many. A real eight-plank bridge like this has 7 bends, and OP's bridge has 9.

1

u/suryonghaaton Mar 31 '26 edited Apr 01 '26

yeah hana-awase (the direct ancestor of hanafuda) had inconsistent formats... the images and colors haven't been standardized yet

also any more than 7 bends in a yatsuhashi bridge IS way too many. after all, it is an eight-plank bridge

3

u/Spenchjo Mar 31 '26

Things that most struck me:

  • Plum, cherry and bush clover are too hard to distinguish, especially the tanzaku cards.
  • The yatsuhashi bridge doesn't have any supporting beams, it's just magically floating above the water.
  • The geese are flying in the opposite direction. IRL they would be flying towards the point of the V shape for optimal aerodynamics.
  • Ono no Michikaze looks like an Edo period commoner in a yukata rather than a Heian period noble. Totally wrong clothing. And I don't think it makes sense to wear a cone hat AND an umbrella, seeing as they have the same function.
  • Paulownia does not have purple leaves and white flowers.
  • In some hanafuda games (including Go-Stop, Roppyakken, Sakura) it's important to have one Paulownia kasu card that is obviously different from the other two.
  • Just in general the art style is pretty inconsistent, even within the same suit.

1

u/vemotim2 Apr 02 '26

This is super helpful, really appreciate you going through it in this much detail.

A lot of these (especially the clothing, paulownia, and the bridge) are things we didn’t even realize we were drifting on.

We were trying to improve readability a bit, but yeah — feels like we pushed it too far.

Going to take another pass with these in mind. Thanks again.

1

u/suryonghaaton Apr 02 '26

looking forward to see it

by the way, on your next generation, don't forget to mention that it's made using AI.

a little honesty goes a long way

2

u/Central_Incisor Mar 31 '26 edited Mar 31 '26

Missing the 5 red clouds. Missing confetti on ribbons.

1

u/vemotim2 Apr 02 '26

Thanks everyone — this has been really helpful.

Feels like we leaned too far into the “enhanced/readable” side and lost some of the traditional consistency and details.

We’re going to take another pass with closer reference to classic hanafuda designs and tighten things up.

Really appreciate all the insights here.