Okada Mari and Anime ‘Writing’

Aka: a response to The Canipa Effect’s recent video on Okada Mari.

Less than a week ago, Canipa messaged me to ask if I’d be able to check a script he’d written “on Mari Okada/Anime Writing.” However, he recorded the script before he even sent it to me. As such, the largest changes that I recommended weren’t reflected in the finished video, and his line of argument is something that I do not agree with. I’d go so far as to say that it undermines the work I’ve been doing in the fandom. This post is my attempt to explain what my feedback was focused on, and thus, why I disagree with Canipa’s argument, and the related suggestion that “maybe we can introduce the idea of the showrunner, a screenwriter in charge of their own vision, into the anime industry.” It focuses on two issues—his definition of “showrunner” and how that is related to the “director,” and the question of how “authorship” is related to “writing.”

Code Geass’s writer takes a trip down memory lane 6!!

Now that I’m back home from a certain convention I was prepping for, here’s Okouchi’s latest round on tweets on Code Geass. He hasn’t tweeted anything new since then, so I’m not sure if this will be the last time — perhaps he’ll be back when The Rebellion Path has reached Japanese screens… Though I should be back before then, doing something else Geass-related. Not entirely sure how it’ll go down, given that this will be the first time I’m discussing the show with other fans! But it should be ‘interesting’, at the very least, so do look forward to it!

Code Geass’s writer takes a trip down memory lane 5!!

Against my expectations, Okouchi tweeted another 10 or so tweets late last night, and that reminded me that I’d actually forgotten to post the last three or so tweets he posted at the last minute before the first film landed last week. So here they are! (Along with the last one from last week, which is related.) I’ll try to get to the new ones later this weekend, in between all the figure skating, perhaps (^^;).

Code Geass’s writer takes a trip down memory lane 4!!

And here we are at the end! This time, at least. Code Geass Lelouch of the Rebellion: The Awakening Path is the first of the three films in this retelling of the show, and Ōkouchi may have some more memories to share when the next two films are released. But that first film opens today, and in celebration, Ōkouchi talks about the relationships that sit at the centre of the entire story.

Code Geass’s writer takes a trip down memory lane 3!

I kind of wish Ōkouchi had given me another 1 day break! In any case, this set reveals some broad world-level decisions that have interesting implications for story decisions that writers might make. Quite obvious once you think about it, but really does show the importance of worldbuilding!

Code Geass’s writer takes a trip down memory lane 2…

As I suspected, Ōkouchi has a few more snippets to share about Geass 11 years ago. This time, though:

** WARNING ** SPOILERS AHEAD **

Please click only if you have already seen the first season!!

Code Geass’s main writer takes a trip down memory lane

With just one week until the first of the Code Geass recap films hits Japanese cinemas, Series Composer and main writer Ōkouchi Ichirō took to Twitter yesterday to reveal some early production soundbites about this decade-old anime behemoth. Some of these might already be known—I do remember hearing rumours about timeslot changes and how they affected the plot, especially when R2 was moved back to the Sunday 5pm slot. Going by the wikipedia entry, Ōkouchi apparently talked about it in his BD/DVD interviews. It’s something I’ve been meaning to verify, but I simply haven’t gotten around to it. Well, perhaps this 10th year anniversary revival might finally galvanise me into creating another series masterpost! For the moment though, here’s what Okouchi had to share.

Lost in Translation: YOI characters’ handwriting!

Well, turns out that another of those “Lost in Translation” pieces found its way into my head this week, courtesy of Twitter and tumblr. But hopefully, this one’s just going to amuse you as much as it did me.

Early on Wednesday morning, Yuri!!! on ICE animator Itou Noriko posted the following image on twitter:

勇利文字#手書きの文字はその人の性格や特性を端的に表していると言われています pic.twitter.com/8OHtQ1PUlV

— 伊藤憲子／Noriko Ito (@nrkito) October 10, 2017

It reads: “It is said that your handwriting can reveal your personality and traits,” with the tweet noting that this was “Yuuri’s writing.” I think we’ve heard about this before, but Itou-san is the person responsible for all of his writing, not only on the famous “love” placard at the the TV Asahi Grand Prix series opening press conference, but also on all the chalk board explanations throughout the series.

Of course, this tweet has gone viral. In fact, it hit the English-speaking fandom within a few hours, on Twitter and on Tumblr, with both translators pointing out one of Itou-san’s subsequent comments about Yuuri’s writing looking like a/his mother’s (お母さんみたい).

Yuri!!! on ICE, one year on…

It’s hard to believe that it’s already been a year since that first episode dropped on us. Whilst I have yet to make it to an actual skating competition or ice show (it WILL happen!), Yuri!!! on ICE certainly changed my life. One year ago, I would never have thought I’d go to another anime convention, much less one in the US. I wouldn’t have encountered many of the people that I met there, whom I now consider my friends. And I may have gone many more years before discovering Yamamoto Sayo and the “relationship without a name” theme that runs through so much of her work, a theme that means a lot to me personally.

Hence, to celebrate this anniversary, I bring you another translation. But I’ve put aside my rule of “full interviews only” for a day, in order to focus on the few minutes in episode one that captured so many of our hearts. I present, thus, a collection of translations on Victor’s free skating program, Aria 《Stammi vicino, non te ne andare》.

MAPPA Producer Otsuka Manabu on the charm of Yuri!!! on ICE

Having writers’ block and what I’ll call “translators’ block” at the same time ain’t fun. I won’t promise anything—except Animestyle sometime before August, hopefully—but in the meantime, let me continue on this quest to translate all the Yuri!!! on ICE interviews that I can get my hands on.

This interview was published on November 2, 2016 on Mantan-web’s Anime Questionnaire, a column that probes creators about the charm of shows that are the talk of the town. In it, MAPPA Producer Otsuka Manabu shares what he thinks viewers should pay attention to as the characters head into the Grand Prix (episode 5 and onwards).

Personally, I found this interview to be pretty vague, which is to be expected given that it was published online just four weeks in. However, Otsuka did mention a lot of the elements that I personally found fascinating: the animation, the music, the figure skating choreography and most of all, the out-of-this-world characters. It is in no way a must-read, but it does contribute to the canon of interviews that continue to paint a picture of what the creators were focused on in Yuri!!! on ICE.

Also, in other news, I did write a 4,000-word essay on what I loved about this show, and it’s finally been published thanks to Josh on WMC. It might be a bit controversial, but I hope you will give it a read.

Usual disclaimer applies: This translation is entirely my own work. Please do not copy and paste large parts of it elsewhere, though feel free to link to it if you wish. —karice

Anime Questionnaire: Yuri!!! on ICE

A hitherto unseen charm, stretching the limits of a TV series