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Answerman FAQ: "How do I get my idea made into an anime?"


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Fronzel



Joined: 11 Sep 2003
Posts: 1906
PostPosted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 11:24 am Reply with quote
This reminds me of a terrible episode of the first series of OreImo.

And a little website I stumbled on years ago probably run by schoolkids that had the explicit goal of getting their idea made into an anime...and their idea was just cute little characters living in a whimsical fantasy town, as if Japan doesn't already make tons of merchandise factories in that mold. All that had to show for it was a few pictures and a 10-second clip of a song with mediocre voice-acting.
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Leebo



Joined: 14 Nov 2005
Posts: 660
Location: Somerville, MA
PostPosted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 11:44 am Reply with quote
I recently started learning how to make video games, and you hear the same types of questions in that industry too.

There are hordes of people whose dream is to be "the guy who thinks up the plot summary of RPGs"
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R. Kasahara



Joined: 19 Feb 2013
Posts: 649
PostPosted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 11:46 am Reply with quote
Fronzel wrote:
This reminds me of a terrible episode of the first series of OreImo.

Hah, yes. I loved that first season overall, but that particular episode was a low point.

I was reminded of my time working as an animator, as a freelancer much of the time, and talking to potential clients who not only had ideas for films, but were willing to fund them themselves. Never heard from very many of them again once I gave them a budget, which was usually fairly generous by industry standards. It's more expensive than a lot of people think it is to make a decent 30-second animated commercial, never mind a 30-minute show pilot.

I could go on and on about such special snowflakes, but I'll leave it at that Razz
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Redcrimson



Joined: 30 Mar 2013
Posts: 160
PostPosted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 11:58 am Reply with quote
Realistically, it's probably easier to produce a doujin Visual Novel and pray to whatever deity you believe in that it gets popular enough to end up on some anime producer's radar. That is assuming your super-awesome idea is actually good.
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Dimlos



Joined: 02 Mar 2008
Posts: 226
PostPosted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 12:06 pm Reply with quote
Redcrimson wrote:
That is assuming your super-awesome idea is actually good.
And even that isn't really necessary, considering the number of garbage visual novels that have gotten anime adaptations.
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Otaku_X



Joined: 25 Nov 2008
Posts: 298
PostPosted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 12:24 pm Reply with quote
I've found this to be one of the hardest parts of joining/forming an anime club/community offline. There's always people who think their ideas are amazing, their art is great, and knowing 'kawaii' and 'sugoi' makes them fluent in Japanese, yet refuse to watch anything that isn't dubbed. And yet, when you tell them their idea isn't good, or that there art has a LONG way to go to being good, or anything else, even in a polite way, you're the jerk, but the people telling them to just skip college and become famous are the ones who 'care about them'.
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maximilianjenus



Joined: 29 Apr 2013
Posts: 2862
PostPosted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 12:44 pm Reply with quote
Dimlos wrote:
Redcrimson wrote:
That is assuming your super-awesome idea is actually good.
And even that isn't really necessary, considering the number of garbage visual novels that have gotten anime adaptations.


oh, but those are good, at least comercially speaking, most ideas are horrible both comercially and execution wise.
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Divineking



Joined: 03 Jul 2010
Posts: 1293
PostPosted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 12:46 pm Reply with quote
Not gonna lie, I totally used to be the kind of person he's describing (and still am on a very minor level, though I'm much more cynical these days). Of course nowadays I know better and if I ever actually sat down to write any of the stuff I've come up with it would probably just be for personal satisfaction/amusement.

On a somewhat different note, I feel like the people who want to make the next big "anime" should pitch their ideas to westen animators instead. Sure their just as likely(probably even moreso) to get rejected, but in the off chance something made it, it would likely be much more relevant in the long run. Laughing
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GVman



Joined: 14 Jul 2010
Posts: 729
PostPosted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 12:46 pm Reply with quote
The world of novels and short stories is always waiting for new blood. The publishing process isn't arduous, either; it's just waiting for a response that may never come.

Of course, that's assuming that you A. have a short story or novel written, B. it's good enough to publish, and C. in the case of novels, you can summarize your novel's plot and everything that makes it good in a paragraph.
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thenix



Joined: 18 Apr 2012
Posts: 265
PostPosted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 12:52 pm Reply with quote
I'm happy to read this granted I've read it several times before as well as it should just be common sense. Actually even though this is out there there will be a ton of stary eyed people who think they will make the next hit anime.

One problem is people hear that they could do anything if they try hard enough, and what they hear is you can do anything without even trying. You want to make anime but you don't want to learn japanese, move to japan, get a degree in creative writing, get experience working for other people first? That's not how it works.

Also what is wrong with making a cartoon? Why do you want to go to japan to have them make it and release it to a Japanese audience and then hope it gets put out in America as a secondary audience?

Ugh anyways...
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MentalMachine



Joined: 09 Oct 2013
Posts: 74
PostPosted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 1:01 pm Reply with quote
Like all forms of entertainment, it's more than just the glitz and glamour and for the most part, anime has almost none of that. For starters, voice actors and animators are slaves, not stars, despite their hard, prosperous work. Their pay is appalling. The closest to "stars" are directors, writers, animation directors and character designers, who may get cuts of home video sales and what not, but you still need to work hard and long to even get to those stages.
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Petrea Mitchell



Joined: 12 Jan 2007
Posts: 438
Location: Near Portland, OR
PostPosted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 1:19 pm Reply with quote
Divineking wrote:
On a somewhat different note, I feel like the people who want to make the next big "anime" should pitch their ideas to westen animators instead.


And hey, there are plenty of western animators who are big fans of anime too. Seems like less of a long shot than trying to cross the linguistic and cultural barriers to the native anime industry.
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noblesse oblige



Joined: 22 Dec 2012
Posts: 279
Location: Florida
PostPosted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 1:26 pm Reply with quote
Ha. That was a laugh to read. Though I do feel badly for all the young people out there who must wake up to the shock of life being completely contradictory to the way they were brought up to believe (ie. work hard and anything is possible/everyone is a special snowflake). But yeah, nobody in the industry cares what some unknown "X" has to say. The professionals that get their ideas produced have to spend their entire lifetimes immersed in the anime industry, spending time with the industry's influential people, and producing other peoples' ideas long before they get a crack at producing their own. This, I believe, is why there is such a glut of derivative work in the anime industry. Everyone who has worked their way into a position of considerable creative power has been exposed to the same stuff for far to long. They've lived in the same conditions, worked in the same workplace, and socialized in the same circles for twenty years. I'm oversimplifying of course, but the point I'm trying to make is that it's difficult to expect originality from a group of people who've lead such a homogenous lifestyle. For that reason I hope that, despite the considerable challenges ahead of them these dreamers never give up on their ideas. Sure most of them will be garbage. But hey, this is anime fandom, it's not like we're unprepared to sift through the rubbish in order to find the worthwhile efforts!
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Fronzel



Joined: 11 Sep 2003
Posts: 1906
PostPosted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 1:45 pm Reply with quote
CorneredAngel wrote:
Hey, if First Squad happened once, something like it can happen again!

Heaven preserve us!
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noblesse oblige



Joined: 22 Dec 2012
Posts: 279
Location: Florida
PostPosted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 1:48 pm Reply with quote
CorneredAngel wrote:
At the same time, there is one short answer: You pay a Japanese studio to get your idea made into an anime. It probably will not be good, and you will probably lose whatever money you invested, but that's a different question entirely. Hey, if First Squad happened once, something like it can happen again!


Very true. Also, if one isn't inflexible about the animation style, you could go the Monty Oum route. Who knows, with enough of a demand, animation software could evolve similarly to music production software and become increasingly accessible to the average person. Actually, that last thought scares me a little bit.
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