Midjourney creators shared new style references led by --sref 3438423518 for a gritty 80s dark-fantasy manga look, alongside retro-futurist and soft-focus options. Save it if you build reusable visual systems and want faster look development from prompt libraries.

--sref 3438423518 as a reusable shortcut for an 80s-90s dark-fantasy manga look, with Artedeingenio's post describing a mix of seinen linework, post-apocalyptic grit, and influences associated with Miura and Fist of the North Star.The new code is being presented as a style reference for gritty manga illustration, not a broad fantasy preset. In Artedeingenio's examples, faces are etched with dense pen texture, armor is rendered with metallic scratch detail, and the scenes sit in red-black skies or barren landscapes. One image pushes a Berserk-like armored silhouette; another pairs a ruined car, rifle, and skull with a desert backdrop. The common thread is harsh ink structure plus muted color, with bright eyes or red fabric used as the main contrast.
That makes the code useful for concept sheets, key art, and story beats that need “printed manga gravitas” fast, without prompting every material and shading choice from scratch.
Alongside the dark-fantasy code, creators also posted --sref 2509259129 as a European retro-futurist sci-fi look. That reference points to Moebius-adjacent bande dessinée, with sun-bleached deserts, yellow-blue vehicles, brutalist transit structures, and contemplative sci-fi framing. It lands in a very different register: cleaner skies, brighter palettes, and architectural detail over menace.
A separate thread from Promptsref highlights a “retro dreamy soft-focus” style built around halation, diffusion, film grain, and saturated-but-hazy light. Their linked guide PromptSref library and a similar orange-gold cinematic breakdown orange-gold guide show how creators are turning sref discovery into categorized look-development workflows. Even the engraving-style post fits that pattern: a single code attached to a tight visual grammar instead of a vague mood board.
Creators are moving from V8 calibration complaints to darker film-still scenes, fashion shots, and worldbuilding tests, with ECLIPTIC remakes showing stronger depth and lighting. Retest saved SREF recipes if you rely on V8 for cinematic ideation.
releaseTopview added Seedance 2.0 to Agent V2, pairing multi-scene generation with a storyboard timeline and Business Annual access billed as 365 days of unlimited generations. That moves longform video workflows toward editable sequences instead of stitched clips.
workflowCreators are moving from V8 calibration complaints to darker film-still scenes, fashion shots, and worldbuilding tests, with ECLIPTIC remakes showing stronger depth and lighting. Retest saved SREF recipes if you rely on V8 for cinematic ideation.
workflowA shared workflow converts GTA-style stills into photoreal images with Nano Banana 2, then animates them in LTX-2.3 Pro 4K using detailed material, skin, vehicle, and camera prompts. Try it for trailer-style previsualization if you want more control at lower cost.
workflowShared Nano Banana 2 workflows now cover turnaround sheets, distinctive facial traits, and photoreal rerenders that keep the framing of a reference image. Use one prompt grammar for concept art, editorial portraits, and animation prep.
When I found this style reference in Midjourney this morning, I literally said wow: --sref 3438423518 It’s an 80s–90s seinen manga illustration style with dark fantasy and post-apocalyptic influences. A style strongly associated with several Japanese artists. It feels like Show more
You can probably tell how much I love retrofuturistic aesthetics. Today I’m sharing a new Midjourney style reference: --sref 2509259129 This style is European retro-futuristic sci-fi, clearly inspired by the French sci-fi bande dessinée school of the 70s and 80s. The most Show more
Mar 9, 2026 - Most popular sref on PromptSref.com: 🏆 Top 1 Sref: --sref 5184362986 --v 7 --sv6 ❤️ Likes number: 4 ✨ ## sref Style Characteristics Analysis This SREF style presents an incredibly captivating **"Retro Dreamy Soft-Focus" aesthetic**. It is deeply Show more