Goth Chibis teaches the reader how to draw 24 goth characters that represent the goth subculture seen in film, television, anime, manga, and high fashion.
One of my hobbies is drawing, another is journaling. One of my interest areas is the gothic. My wardrobe is mostly black, but I also like cute things, so when I had the opportunity to review Goth Chibis by the one and only Yoai, I was so excited. A big thanks to Castle Books and Edelweiss for the digital ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) – official release date: 11 September 2025.
Reviewing a ‘how to’ book is much harder than a novel or a non-fiction piece of prose as it cannot be weighed up against the normal criteria. Nor can you simply look through the book and try and conclude a review based on simply skimming over the pictures and reading some of the text. You have to actually do. So I did.
Yoai takes you through 24 step by step cute gothic Chibi drawings (perfect for your journal or if you simply want to practice in your sketchbook). She has split them into two categories, featuring 12 Chibi’s each. The first are traditional tutorials and the second are digital tutorials. But you must not be put off by this if you do not indulge in both. My recommendation is to start with the medium you’re using. Once you’ve attempted several of them and understand how Yoai breaks each of the designs down, then you can simply apply the method to the other 12 chibis. The hard part is actually choosing one as they’re all so good.
The step by step guides are easy to understand, but I do feel sometimes there could be an additional step between the basic drawing and the detail step, as several of the characters require a lot of detail and it can be hard to not miss anything, but that is my one and only criticism, and it’s a minor one at that. Yoai takes us through each steps, providing clear and precise instructions. I used alcohol markers for my little drawings, and the cheaper versions to – Spectrum Noir Brush pens. I do have both Copics and Promarkers, but I wanted to also share that these can be done with any markers. Similarly, you could use any medium of your choice. This is the beauty of this can of book. It is there for inspiration, but the rest is up to you.
The book is such a cute book and well considered. After the tutorials, Yoai provides some further inspiration, including more hairstyles, before providing you with some colouring pages – and who doesn’t love a colouring page or two? The design of the book is beautiful, with full colour spreads that fit the theme very well. I am very much looking forward to the release of Goth Chibis so I can add it to my collection, as it will be undoubtedly, a go to book to add little characters to my journaling.
