NotebookLM, Google’s AI-powered notebook tool, now offers a fresh set of visual styles for its Video Overviews feature, allowing users to transform their notes into engaging animated summaries. Among the newly added styles is an Anime-inspired format, joining others like Watercolor, Papercraft, Whiteboard, Retro Print, and Heritage. These styles are designed to make information more digestible and visually appealing, especially for users working with dense or technical material.
The update is powered by Google’s Nano Banana model, a recent innovation that has already enhanced Gemini’s image generation capabilities and made its way into tools like Photoshop. By integrating Nano Banana into NotebookLM, Google enables smoother, more expressive visual storytelling directly from user-uploaded sources.
To use the new styles, users must navigate to the Studio tab within NotebookLM, upload their source material, and select the pencil icon next to the Video Overview prompt. This opens a menu of style options, allowing customization before the video is generated. Users can also add specific instructions to tailor the overview’s focus, making it ideal for summarizing research, reports, or study materials.
This update follows recent changes to NotebookLM’s interface, including the removal of some popular prompts like FAQs and Timelines. The addition of stylized Video Overviews appears to be part of Google’s broader push to make AI tools more creative and user-friendly, especially for students, researchers, and content creators.
By blending AI summarization with visual flair, Google is positioning NotebookLM as a more dynamic alternative to traditional note-taking apps. The Anime style, in particular, may appeal to younger users or those in creative fields looking for a fresh way to present ideas.
