Anime & Manga Fuse Beads: 12+ Designs to Bead Your Favourite Heroes Peg by Peg

Hello lovely beaders! At our house, the very first rainy day means one thing: an anime marathon and a pegboard on the coffee table. My kids are forever asking me to bead their favourite heroes, so today I’m taking you on a trip to the land of Japanese cartoons. Buckle up, because here are 12+ anime and manga fuse bead designs to recreate peg by peg, from the easiest to the most jaw-dropping. Ready to bead your icons? Let’s go!

One Piece: hoist the sails!

There’s really no other way to start than with the Straw Hat crew, the household favourite. And when I say “jaw-dropping”, I’m not kidding:

This Thousand Sunny, the ship of Luffy’s crew, is a proper long-haul project, but oh, the payoff! Sails, lion figurehead and Jolly Roger, it’s all there. Pop it in a frame and you’ve got a seriously impressive gift. A big cheer to histoiredeperles.com for this one.

Luffy and the gang, chibi style

For a calmer Sunday, we stay with the pirates but switch to “chibi” versions (tiny and round), perfect for the kids:

Luffy’s yellow straw hat and little red vest are recognisable at a glance: two bold colours and you’re done. A great pick for a first character.

Shonen staples: Naruto and Dragon Ball

If your little ones are growing up with the big classics, these two will click instantly. We’re keeping things chibi and colourful, nice and easy to follow:

Naruto’s tousled yellow hair and Goku’s famous orange gi mostly call for black beads to make the outlines pop. Mum tip: stock up on black before you start, it disappears fast on manga designs!

Fancy levelling up? This green-haired portrait, all soft gradients, shows just how expressive a fuse bead face can be. Take a deep breath and work it row by row.

Colourful portraits and duos

Manga is also about striking heroines and tender little scenes. These are the ones I love for long, cosy afternoons:

The big green portrait is a real test of patience (and gradients!), while the little chibi couple is perfect to make in pairs, one character each. Thanks again to histoiredeperles.com for these lovely finds.

Cult icons: from a robot cat to golden knights

Let’s round off the gallery with two icons that cross the generations:

Doraemon and his flat blue-and-white blocks are perfect for beginners. The Knights of the Zodiac come as a lovely set of figures: make one, then two, then the whole squad. Collector’s joy guaranteed!

Three ready-to-follow grids

Prefer to follow an exact pattern, peg by peg? Good news: a pixel art design reads exactly like a bead grid. One coloured square = one bead, simple as that. Here are three portrait grids to copy straight onto your pegboard:

And if you fancy creating YOUR own designs from a picture of your favourite anime, this video explains really well how to turn a drawing into a bead grid:

Want more Japanese worlds? Take a look at my Studio Ghibli fuse bead designs, or my cartoon fuse bead selection to recreate even more small-screen heroes.

Grab your pegboards!

There you have it, plenty to fill many a rainy Wednesday! Whether you’re Team One Piece, Team Dragon Ball or Team detailed portraits, the trick is to start small and simply enjoy it. Show me your creations (well, in spirit!) and above all, have fun. See you very soon for a new selection. Happy beading! — Léa