So...I'm Thinking About Creating/Writing an Anime

[Thor McOdin]

I have written sketches, scripts, short stories, speeches, papers, letters, etc. In fact, one of the only thing that I haven't written is anything along the lines of cartoons or Japanese anime (...or a book). I am thinking about jumping into hostile territory in order to broaden my horizons for my major and possible career opportunities. Okay. Technically it can't be considered an anime, but you know what I mean.

With that said, for any of you who have already been down this road, I have a few questions.

1. Where exactly do you start?
2. Does the humor, romance, action, or whatever come from your personal background or are you doing it for the Japanese culture?
3. What is too cliche or taboo?
4. For What kind of audience are you writing?
5. What role do allusions (entertainment, literary, etc.) have in the creation process for this specific medium?

[Flamo Bringer]

I'm not the kind of person that makes anime and stuff, but i know something that people love... Humours...
There are humors in most of the movie made in this world and people do love it...

[Yvl]

The answer to all your question is that its up to you. the "Who is you audience" one especially.

I've got a damn good idea for a graphic novel myself. It's like Animal house + Naruto. Problem is that I have no art skills whatsoever.
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[Lord Vader]

1. Where exactly do you start?
I'm not to sure where you should start, but I do think you need to just simply right a story(Manga) first. Then you base the anime off the Manga.
2. Does the humor, romance, action, or whatever come from your personal background or are you doing it for the Japanese culture?
I haven't wrote any Mangas or Animes so I can't really attack this question, but I can say that I really do like the way japanese action and humor works so well together.
3. What is too cliche or taboo?
I don't like cheesy humor. Just make sure that its funny and not downright stupid.
4. For What kind of audience are you writing?
Your writing for anyone who enjoys reading Mangas. I have only read the Ghost in the Shell manga. I watch a lot more Anime then I do read it.
5. What role do allusions (entertainment, literary, etc.) have in the creation process for this specific medium?
Not sure how to answer this one.
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General of the Godwin Army
United States Navy ATF-HT

[John Layfield]

1. Where exactly do you start?
With a basic outline of the point of your creation. An outline of the characters and story that you find servicable for a few chapters.

2. Does the humor, romance, action, or whatever come from your personal background or are you doing it for the Japanese culture?
Your own. Just as it comes from the Japanese author's own personal background.

3. What is too cliche or taboo?
Nothing for the former. Approach something well enough and with enough skill at it won't matter. As for what is too taboo, that depends on what you're comfortable with.

4. For What kind of audience are you writing?
Whomever you want. The Dragon Ball manga for example rapidly shifted direction in both content and audience. Go with what works for you, and those that like it will be the audience you're writing for.

5. What role do allusions (entertainment, literary, etc.) have in the creation process for this specific medium?

As much as you want or need it to be. Allusions are useful things. Especially if you can crowbar them in in a ironic or humourous way.
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One day, I shall come back. Yes, we shall all come back. Until then, there must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties. Just go forward in all your beliefs and prove to me that I am not mistaken in mine.

[Yohn]

1. Where exactly do you start?

Just like you would anything else. Anime is just a term, really, which has come to imply Japanese-styled cartoons. That's it. Plot is so incredibly varied that it wouldn't matter what kind of story you wrote. Anything can be animated.


2. Does the humor, romance, action, or whatever come from your personal
background or are you doing it for the Japanese culture?

Nope. Not even all anime is Japanese based. They do it like that because it's familiar to them. To make something appeal to a more international basis, try to do a little research and avoid something that people outside of your country/area are unfamiliar with.

3. What is too cliche or taboo?

Battle-nurse-android-priestess-megane-twin-mech-catgirl-maids in a bikini.

4. For What kind of audience are you writing?

General audience, really.... something kids can read or watch for a face value while the older audience will appreciate much of the deeper meanings in dialogue, characters, and setting.

5. What role do allusions (entertainment, literary, etc.) have in the creation process for this specific medium?

Research is always your friend. You can never have enough and once you start, you'll find you can't stop. Ever... you'll wander around the library and pick out anything you haven't read about before. Seriously. :|
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"And as the lion slaughters man, I am the wolf and you're the lamb." ~Blind Guardian

[Thor McOdin]

Well, I made an episode or whatever they are called at this stage of the game. Hah.

Thanks for the help, everyone. I really do appreciate your input. Now I just need to wait for an opportunity to share it.
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Not all ninja codes are brewed equally. Here at Shinobi, we use the choicest Bavarian hops that are ripened to perfection. One sip and we will have you saying...nothing.

[Delsaber]

As someone who has been creating his own excessively large and somewhat convoluted sci-fi universe for over two years, I have to echo Mr. Layfield's sentiments. A solid foundation is a must. Spend as much time as you need developing that backstory, work into your main cast of characters, how they all relate to each other, then start building from there. You'd be surprised how easily things can start rolling once you've established something you're happy with and know your characters and their world inside-out.

[Falcon Critical]

Better late than never to jump in here. I was/am writing an online manga though the term is probably a bit restrictive now, since I'm working on my own style which is not necessarily japanese anymore.

1. Where exactly do you start?
Personally my story started with my sister's dream. I started watching anime and I liked the way characters were portrayed but especially the emotions that the japanese style allows. From that dream I sat down with my sister and we established a simple plot and some characters. I threw myself straight into it with abandon, and suffered for the lack of planning as I was just stealing characters from here there and everywhere and trying to fit them into one story.

So I after I finished my first pad I stepped back and decided I needed to restart the entire thing and make all the characters into my own creations. Drawing other peoples characters now annoys me because I seem them how they're drawn and knowing that anything you do with a character could be out of character for them was too much pressure. So I made them all my own so I could do whatever I wanted with them.

One of my characters turned out to have a massive backstory which was going to be too large to flashback so I dropped that project and went back to tell his story first. That is how my online manga started. Between me and my sister we expanded the world that our story was set in and we now have at least 9 different stories in the same world(s) to tell and our research has gone a long way towards making them fit together.

2. Does the humor, romance, action, or whatever come from your personal background or are you doing it for the Japanese culture?
Haha good question. Well like most people when I first encountered anime I was infatuated with it in every form. I started thinking I was japanese and trying to get my drawings/stories/humour to pass as if I was natural to it. More recently I have realised that I am never going to be japanese so I might as well accept that and take my own path without tying myself down to the japanese 'norm'. It is a great place to start though, to throw yourself in and see how well you can do.

3. What is too cliche or taboo?
Theoretically the beauty of anime/manga is that the answer to both of those is "nothing". If you can think of a cliché like sailor scouts saving the world, there's obviously Sailor Moon but also a legion of rip offs and attempts at everything out there. Schoolgirl saves the world IMO is cliché to the extreme, it irritates me how many stories are based around that, and often simply for the fact that a cute girl in a school uniform will draw readers/watchers.

Too taboo? Think of something that is so incredibly wrong you couldn't imagine anyone drawing it. Anime has been there and far worse. The only things that are taboo really are what your target audience wouldn't appreciate. If you want your parents to read your comic don't go putting rape or gore in there.

4. For What kind of audience are you writing?
Me personally? I write the stories 90% for myself. I love drawing and I love developing stories... drawing my manga does both things for me and apart from those sad moments when you see someone else using your original idea or someone pointing out how much your story is like another, its very fulfilling.

The other 10% is my sister/friends that are my fanbase. They encourage me to keep going, though even that isn't enough at the moment as I'm in a large lull. When other people read what you're doing and start saying things like "hurry up I wanna see what happens next!" and "you should release that in a zip file so I can download them all at the same time", it also makes the whole thing worthwhile.

5. What role do allusions (entertainment, literary, etc.) have in the creation process for this specific medium?
For a start the only allusions in my comic were stolen characters from other games/anime. I quickly realised this was limiting me to the extreme and I had to rework everything to fit to my mold.

More recently I've found ( and others mentioned this as well ) that I'm reaching into my own roots to find stories to share. Since I am of Asatru (Norse) faith I have twisted my story around and it now fits perfectly into the norse concept of the Yggdrasil and the 9 worlds of creation and all of the scriptures of old norse.

It is now so entirely based in norse prophecy that I could not remove that aspect of it without 90% of my story falling to pieces. This is a good thing however, as a large part of having a successful story is having a world and characters that readers can identify with and believe in.

Oh and FYI "Anime" refers to animated japanese cartoons, such as you would watch on TV or at the movies. "Manga" refers to the comic form of the japanese art and graphic storytelling.
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[Dragonstar13]

Uh, I'll post anyway in case someone is thinking the same.