1.
characterization; depiction of a character; portrayal of a person
The way a person is portrayed in a novel, film, drama, or other work — covering appearance, personality, background, and behavior. Standard in literary criticism, film reviews, and writing guides; used to praise a work for its vivid portrayal of characters or to criticize it as flat or shallow.
Compound of 人物 ('a person; character') and 描写 ('description; depiction; portrayal'). A standard term in literary, theater, and film criticism.
Usage
- Typically appears as the subject of evaluative predicates like 巧みだ ('skillful'), 細やかだ ('nuanced'), 深い ('deep'), 薄い ('thin; shallow'), 平板だ ('flat').
- Used by critics, reviewers, and creative writing teachers; also by fans discussing novels, manga, anime, and dramas.
- Not usually used for non-fiction profiles — those would be 人物紹介 ('profile; introduction of a person').
Common collocations
- 人物描写が巧みだ: the characterization is skillful
- 人物描写が細やか: nuanced, detailed characterization
- 人物描写が薄い: the characterization is thin/shallow
- 人物描写を深める: to deepen the characterization
- リアルな人物描写: realistic characterization
Similar words
- 情景描写: description of a scene or setting — the counterpart dealing with scenery rather than people.
- 心理描写: psychological description — focuses on a character's inner thoughts and feelings; a subset of 人物描写.
- キャラクター造形: character design; character construction — used especially in manga, anime, and game contexts, with a production-side nuance.
- 人物像: character profile; image of a person — the resulting picture of the character rather than the act of depicting.