Forum - View topicOriginal Novel Ideas?
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Richard J.
 Posts: 3367 Location: Sic Semper Tyrannis. |
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I thought I would ask, can we talk about original ideas for novels if they have a Japanese influence or if they are drawing on anime concepts for developing the characters or plot?
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tasogarenootome
 Posts: 593 |
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I like this thread idea, what with NaNoWriMo going on and all.
If it's OK to go ahead and keep this thread going, what do you mean by drawing on anime concepts, Richard J? I know it's a goofy question, but I'm just curious to see your thoughts because even for myself I wonder what exactly sets light novels and anime/manga apart as far as story-telling, outside the visual component. |
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Richard J.
Posts: 3367 Location: Sic Semper Tyrannis. |
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Well, part of what I was referring to with anime concepts is some of the story-telling conventions and structural elements, like certain character arch-types that aren't as common in western story-telling. You don't really have a lot of character like Tohru Honda for instance, who are so kind and giving. And you're very unlikely to see a cat girl running around in a series over here. There's a tendency to incorporate faith more often into stories as well, something which I think is often lacking in western literature which seems increasingly nihilisitic to me. There's a feeling of hope in many anime and manga series that just doesn't exist in similar stories over here.
The Japanese also have a host of themes and myths and cultural elements that there just aren't any easy equivalents to in western culture. Sure we've absorbed ninja, but of the super-martial arts and weapons variety, not the almost magic variety. On a similar note, a Miko is a far more useful character than the average nun. The idea of the bond of fate in the form of the red string is an especially attractive take on an almost universal concept of soul mates. And their take on Valentine's day with the girl's giving gifts takes the traditional view of the holiday and changes to perspective to create an entirely different sort of story. Also, I've found that I like the structural narrative the Japanese use. They don't repeat the same information over and over again, they generally expect the audience to remember what happened before. They can have utterly unrepentant villains without any excuses or explanations, rather than painting every bad guy as a victim of society or something. It's also nice to have characters that are quirky. Going beyond the super-good example of Tohru, you just don't have as many oddballs in western writing. There's a normalcy in even fantasy/sci-fi/horror series over here. Would you expect to encounter people who fight with sheets of paper that can cut through metal, beings from other worlds who devour humans to bring dolls to life, or sentient masses of tentacles that do all kinds of naughty things in western story-telling? Anyway, that's what I was talking about. The odd and hopeful nature of anime and manga versus the sometimes very bland and nihilistic quality of much western story-telling. (Although this is all my own opinions.) |
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bloodwashbroken
Posts: 3 |
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Wow, hit the nail on the head with that one.
The reason I came on here was to talk about original story ideas, so, I hope we are allowed, I'm in the middle of writing one myself. I'm trying to make it as lenghty as possible because I like to think that I'm taking a snippet out of somebodies life, so I'm reluctant to give it a climax. Thoughts? |
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Wooga
 Posts: 916 Location: Tucson |
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I wrote a mecha-anime themed novel for nanowrimo, but I stopped after about 70 pages because I got stuck.
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