So Kawaii! Drawing Book Review

So Kawaii!: 100 adorable animals to draw step-by-step by Aria Wei is here to help you make your doodles even cuter and easier to create, with only four easy-to-follow steps per animal. Aria, a.k.a. @riacchie, is a part-time artist and full-time med student who has a strong online following and is known for her cute & chonky chibi animal renditions. Keep reading to take a peek at what this handy drawing guide has to offer, plus look out for a discount code at the end!

Digital illustration aside, I’ve always wanted to practice drawing chibi versions of animals, especially those that aren’t typically cute in real life. To start off, I like how the cover already gives you a preview of what to expect, with kawaii-fied versions of various critters such as a dragon, shark, and gecko.

The table of contents lists all 100 animals sorted per category: pets, aquatic, mythical, farm, safari, forest, bugs & insects, and polar. I love the wide range and variety of creatures included, as well as how everything’s pretty much straightforward and easy to navigate. Following this are a few more pages on an introduction to kawaii, how to use the book, tools and materials, and tips on adding cuteness. I also appreciate how the book can be used as a reference for both traditional and digital artists.

Right away, I notice the cute pink axolotl peeking out from one of the introductory pages, so I immediately decide to make it attempt #1. I used ibisPaint on my Android tablet for all my drawings, and played around with different tools and colors while mostly using the watercolor brushes.

I’ve honestly slacked off on practicing digital illustration for quite a while so while I still thought the end result was cute, my axolotl ended up looking a bit chonkier and wonkier than I expected, haha! As with pretty much all things in my current stage of life, though, I continued to give myself grace while I slowly got back into the habit. I also included a couple more touches of personal cuteness by adding extra eye shines and some pink eyebrows. My timelapse video is at the end of the post.

The platypus guide was right next to the axolotl, so that made it attempt #2. I was slowly starting to get more comfortable again so I experimented a little more by making the platypus’ irises dark brown instead of black and adding a bit of orange highlight on its back. I also decided to continue adding cute little eyebrows. I was pretty happy with how this one looked in the end.

I then decided to take it up a notch by challenging myself to draw a couple of mythical creatures: a phoenix and a dragon. This one took me a bit more time than the first two, but I was honestly having so much fun concentrating that I barely noticed until I saw the total time elapsed. I played around with a few more tools and colors, then added a couple of chibi headshots of Diluc from Genshin Impact and Dan Heng: Imbibitor Lunae from Honkai Star: Rail. They’re two of my most favorite characters from each game, and both of them are respectively associated with the phoenix and dragon.

I’m looking forward to trying out sketching even more animals, and I’m also planning to challenge myself to draw every single one! All in all, I can easily recommend this book to anyone, whether you’re a beginner artist or someone looking to practice chibi-fying various critters.

So Kawaii!: 100 adorable animals to draw step-by-step is out now in both print and digital editions, and available to buy online from Search Press. Use the code SCKAWAII to get 10% off a copy of So Kawaii! (offer ends 30th November 2026). You can also buy the book from online booksellers worldwide, or order it through your local book store.