How do I make an AI anime video?
Make an anime-style still of your character first, then animate it with an image-to-video model using a prompt that names the animation technique (hand-drawn 2D, cel shading, ink lines, held poses, impact frames) and times each action. Keep each clip to 5 to 15 seconds and join clips for anything longer.
The workflow
- Design the character as a still. Use an image model and describe the character plus the anime look: line weight, palette, shading. Generate a few options and pick one master image.
- Paint the opening frame. Put the character in the first shot's setting and pose, in the same style, at the shape you will post (9:16 for TikTok and Shorts). The opening frame carries the look; the video prompt only has to carry motion.
- Write a timed motion prompt. One beat per few seconds, each with one action. Name the style in technique words, add any spoken line in quotes, and list what to avoid.
- Render one take. If it is wrong, change the prompt and re-render; do not batch spare takes.
- Join clips for length. Take the last frame of a good clip and use it as the first frame of the next one.
- Finish in an editor. Trim, add music, and add subtitles yourself; ask the model for no on-screen text.
A prompt that works
This follows the structure we use for every published video: references, style in one sentence, an avoid list, then a timeline. Adapt the character and action.
References: @Image1: the opening frame. Open on exactly this composition. Visual style: hand-drawn 2D anime, clean ink outlines with slight line-weight variation, flat cel colours with one shadow tone, painted watercolour background, held poses between fast movements, smear frames on the fastest motion, one impact frame on the hit. Avoid: No subtitles. No on-screen text or logos. No 3D shading. No change to her face or outfit. One continuous shot, low angle, slow push-in. 0-3s: She stands on the rooftop edge at night, coat whipping in the wind, eyes closed. 3-6s: Her eyes snap open; a held pose, then she draws the sword in one smeared arc. 6-10s: She leaps toward the camera; impact frame as her boots hit the next roof, petals scatter. Sound: wind, cloth snapping, one sharp metallic ring.
No studio, show or character names: video models filter recognisable franchises, so describe technique instead. Our free video prompt builder writes this structure for you.
What sakuga means, and how to ask for it
Sakuga is the anime fan term for standout, highly animated moments, usually fights or big emotional beats, where the drawing gets looser and the timing more extreme. In a prompt, it is more useful to describe what makes those moments look the way they do than to write the word alone: expressive smears, elastic timing, impact frames, loose painterly linework and momentum carried between cuts. Cast's Sakuga Anime style, for example, sends a clause asking for "explosive high-sakuga energy, preserving the reference images' delicate sketch-like linework" with expressive hand-drawn smears, elastic animation timing and graphic impact frames.
Keeping the line art
- Start from an image. A text-only anime prompt drifts toward a generic glossy look; a painted first frame pins the line weight and palette.
- Say "preserve the linework" and "no 3D shading". Without it, the output tends to drift toward smooth, 3D-like shading.
- Keep camera moves small. Big orbits force the model to draw angles it has not seen, and that is where the style breaks.
- Restate small details (eye colour, hair clips, markings) in every prompt.
How long can an AI anime video be?
One generation is short: Seedance 2.0 goes up to 15 seconds[1], Seedance 2.5 up to 30 seconds[2], and Kling 4.0 from 3 to 30 seconds[3]. In our own work, the reliable way past that is chaining: render the first part, take its last frame, and render the next part as image-to-video from that frame. Feeding the first clip back as a video reference made the model restart the scene. Details are in our Seedance prompting guide. For free ways to render, see free AI anime video generators.
Where Cast fits
- Anime clips without writing the full prompt: pick the Sakuga Anime style, type one line, and Cast writes the timed prompt and renders a 9:16 clip.
- An anime character drawn from your description in the same style, four looks to pick from (15 credits).
- Trying it free: the first 5-second video needs no sign-up.
Where it does not:
- Animating your own anime drawing; Cast cannot take an uploaded image.
- Episodes or anything longer than 15 seconds in one clip; for multi-episode series, Katechon Arc (https://arc.katechon.technology/) is the tool.
- Frame-by-frame control or keyframes.
People also ask
- What prompt makes an AI video look like anime?
- Describe the technique: hand-drawn 2D, ink outlines, cel colours, painted backgrounds, held poses, smears and impact frames. Starting from an anime-style first frame matters more than any single word.
- What is sakuga?
- The anime fan term for exceptionally animated moments. In prompts, describe its ingredients (smears, elastic timing, impact frames, loose linework) rather than relying on the word.
- Can I name an anime studio or show in the prompt?
- Avoid it. Video models filter recognisable franchises, and in our renders franchise names caused blocks. Describe the look instead.
- How do I make an AI anime video longer than 15 seconds?
- Render it in parts and start each part from the last frame of the previous one, or use a model with longer clips such as Seedance 2.5 at up to 30 seconds[2].
Sources
Claims about other companies come from their own pages, read on the date shown. Products and prices change; check the link for the current version.
- ByteDance Seed: Seedance 2.0 launch (read )
- ByteDance Seed: introducing Seedance 2.5 (read )
- Kling AI: AI video generator (read )
Related answers
- Is there a free AI anime video generator?
- How do I write a prompt for an AI video?
- Why are AI videos only 8 to 15 seconds, and how do I make longer ones?
- Can AI animate a drawing of my character?
- Can I make AI videos of fan characters from anime or movies?
- How do I make a video of my OC with AI?
Part of the Cast answers library (Your own characters, OCs and fan characters).
Updated