Who says you can't learn anything from anime? Coop and Sylvia run down a list of DIY and creative series that can inspire you to get creating.
The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views of Anime News Network. Spoiler Warning for discussion of the series ahead.
Coop
Hey Sylvia, have you ever read or watched something that changes the creative trajectory of your life? A work that pushes you to take up a new hobby, develop a new skill, or dump a bunch of money into a set of tools you've got no clue how to use?
Or one that makes you uncontrollably sob as you recall decades-old trauma that's tied up in a discipline you once loved but swore off?
Sylvia
That is what we in the business call a "big mood," Coop. And yes, it's safe to say that anime and manga have changed the trajectory of my life several times over. I have no idea what my life would look like without that part of it. Who is the Sylvia who doesn't buy How to Draw Manga at the Scholastic Book Fair? Who is the Sylvia who doesn't take up blogging again after years of hiatus thanks to The Flowers of Evil? I could go on—and we will go on, because it's the subject of today's column—but I've been through many a creative fire kindled by the power of anime and manga.
Talk about a series that went for the jugular almost immediately. Within minutes of flicking on Draw This, Then Die!, I was on the verge of sobbing. Seeing a little kid (like Yasumi here) discover their all-time favorite thing is a hard-to-describe, inexplicably joyful experience. As she rips through all the manga in that little bookstore, I couldn't stop thinking of my own experiences as a middle schooler in the early aughts. Back when I was heading off to the library to look for whatever manga that'd just come in. Be it Ranma 1/2, Naruto, Flame of Recca, and so on.
As adults, it feels like we're often chasing after that experience ("chasing the nostalgic dragon" as I like to call it) in an attempt to recapture even a little of the joy we felt back when we were children. That chase can lead us to amazing opportunities, our ruin, and perhaps both. Yasumi's a teen now, but she's still a kid and still has that wonder in her heart. She wants so bad to read manga and maybe even try her hand at making it. After all, it's changed her life for the better, making her a more outgoing and considerate person. That was really all thanks to the book she found in that dingy shop all those years ago.
Dear god. I got so emotional while watching these opening episodes; it felt like someone had just opened up the intense feelings valve.
I had heard plenty of compliments directed at the series early on in the season, but yeah, that did not prepare me for how sharp the claws on Draw This, Then Die! are. It is an endlessly effervescent anime dripping with love for its craft, and it is also one kick in the teeth after another. To your point, my early pick of poison was not manga in particular, but I was a very quiet kid and a very voracious reader growing up. I would beg my mom to take me to the library. Books taught me to be human.
Legends aside, the "almost sobbing" became "real sobbing" when we start getting to know Yasumi's teacher, Ms. Teshima. She's introduced as the stick-up-her-behind kind of educator who doesn't see manga as real literature. But by the last third of the first episode, it's revealed that she authored the title that made Yasumi fall in love with the medium. Ms. Teshima is brusque as she is for a reason: the industry seemingly chewed her up and spit her out. When you're filled with so much spite and conflicted emotions over something you used to love, it can be hard to be anything but repulsed when you feel that someone else is about to fall into the same trap. It doesn't matter if the joy's there either.
Oh, by far, the most painful parts of the story have been the flashbacks to Teshima's youth. All the passion. All the angst. All the unbridled rage. I have been her, and I still am her.
Additionally, I'm beyond impressed with how well the series juggles its tones. As we see Teshima's struggles through her own retrospective, she litters these scenes with a bit of wry, self-deprecating humor. The drama of it all. The urge to detonate your editor. That's real.
At the same time, though, Teshima does not pull her punches. The feelings of shame that eat away at you. The frustration of falling short of others' expectations. The frustration of falling short of your own expectations. Choosing to make anything as an artist is an inherently vulnerable act, and when it inevitably goes wrong, that shit hurts. It hurts in ways you hold onto for the rest of your life.
For example, I have a theatre degree, and I haven't used it once in the almost-decade since I got it. Needless to say, I've got some pretty tender feelings about that era in my life, and it's only been within the past couple of years that I've been able to let go a little. Or at least, not see red when I think back to those days.
As for myself, I have a Bachelor's in English with a concentration in writing (I don't know if that means anything or if it was just my undergrad being fancy). I took several creative writing classes. Each one was agony, and each one taught me countless lessons. I even submitted one of my stories to a magazine once, at the prodding of my teacher. I didn't get in. I also could not tell you the last time I wrote something in that milieu. Too often, I find myself wishing I had the time and energy—willing myself to make the time and energy to try my hand at fiction again. Still hasn't happened.
And that's a part of why so many of Teshima's lines feel like nails driven into my ribs.
Same here, but my current feelings might have a little more to do with the outpouring of support for freelance manga workers following Jan Mitsuko Cash's AMA win from over the weekend.
Award-Winning Translator, Jan Mitsuko Cash, Calls on American Manga Industry to Double Their Rates!
The technical part of it's hard to begin with, but the "making a living" part often makes the work way more difficult.
Right, what does "making it" in a creative industry even look like anymore? Being criminally underpaid? Having your job security threatened by executives who think chatboxes can replace you? Winning the popularity lottery and being harassed by people who gleefully refuse to engage with your work? It is rough out there right now.
Like, I was tickled to see Teshima bring up Stephen King, because On Writing is full of advice and anecdotes I've carried with me ever since reading it. But King's memoirs also detail a fragment of a long-gone world. I don't know if the industry as it currently exists has the ability to foster another Stephen King. And certainly that feels analogous to the world of anime and manga.
It's hard not to go full Don't Hug me I'm Scared when thinking about the realities of living as a working creative, however, but creativity isn't always tied in with commerce and the HORRORS. Sometimes you can build yourself a nice little bookshelf just for the hell of it!
I suppose that's the irony, lol. This industry (and others like it) creates the horrors while also providing the raw material that lets me escape the horrors. That's why I'm more than happy to keep singing Do It Yourself!!'s praises. I mean, it says it right there on the tin. Take control of your own destiny. Nail two pieces of wood together. Be very careful around power tools.
As someone who had a table saw accident that was the least bad it could've been... For the love of god, wear your PPE and be careful!
Yes, let Yua Serufu's perpetually bandaged visage stand as a cautionary tale. And seriously, when it comes to Girls Doing Stuff anime, Do It Yourself!! remains one of the gems of these 2020s. An amazingly timed series that extolled the virtues of making and using your own two hands just before generative AI started spiraling out of control. It even provides step-by-step instructions for some craft projects. That's edutainment!
Not to slide back into the horrors almost immediately, but I find the series' focus on what you can do with your own two hands to be razor-sharp. Especially because we see self-driving cars and delivery drones just moments into the premiere. Not to mention the talk of overly complicated 3D printer projects another ten minutes or so later.
Right, it neither ignores technology nor condemns it in its pursuit of the DIY ethos, and I think it's a much stronger series for it. Like, there can be smart and responsible ways to utilize technology as a part of one's creative process! In fact, we shouldn't let these AI slop mills and their chud CEOs make us forget that.
True! I suppose Gundam Build Fighters would be the obvious shout-out for another series that inspires some hands-on activity, but I've actually yet to watch it myself. No, my first gunpla experience was a result of me falling in love with Qubeley's design in Mobile Suit Gundam Zeta. So many good shapes on this weird bug robot.
You're probably going to need to build yourself a new bookshelf, so you have a place to put that good-shaped weird bug robot. In my case, it's another shelf for all the Blu-rays, books, AND model kits that've spilled out across the house. It looks like the jam-packed storeroom of a Barnes & Noble right now.
Photo by Coop Bicknell
Like for real.
That is a lot of plastic begging to be snipped and snapped together. Many rainy days accounted for.
I will also say, while the results are not quite so tangible, I am perennially susceptible to series that address the craft of writing. It's the creative outlet I'm most familiar with, after all. Journal with Witch, for example, inspired some of my best work on this site (if I do say so myself), and I believe that was in part due to Makio's often poignant observations on writing itself. She got me fired up and motivated to challenge myself.
We talked about this a fair bit a few months ago, but I haven't seen another series that's been as brutally honest about how much of a slog writing can be. Most days at the desk for me are just sitting there and trying to pound something out, which is often easier said than done. And just like me, Makio's sitting at that desk almost all the time. Despite my chosen profession, writing is something I've had to really work at over the years. While it's been akin to pulling teeth at times, that's nothing compared to actually finishing the damn thing and feeling the sense of accomplishment that comes with it.
And I feel like that's a mode (and a mood) that Draw This, Then Die! captures well for its own subject.
That moment when DO you go full Don't Hug me I'm Scared.
Happens to the best of us! And to be clear, I am not a visual artist by any means. I know I said I bought the classic How to Draw Manga tome earlier, but that never amounted to much more than awkward doodles of Sephiroth in the back of my math notebook. Maybe that's something I'll work on in some capacity in the future. I'd like to explore that facet of the art world more. In the meantime, though, I also find some fulfillment and inspiration in series like Blue Period, which is very much about that journey.
Especially when you're feeling crushed by societal expectations to take the same path in life that everyone else seemingly has. It's like opening a door to a world you'd never even considered before.
Or just drawing boobs because they're cool, and it worked out for Gō Nagai. Side note, I kind of love that the teacher of this class is like "Hell yeah, man! Paint those boobs!"
Hey, I'd say most people's journey to art involves drawing boobs at some point or another. We should embrace the boobs.
Also, a semi-tangent: I honestly do not remember how well Blue Period handles this aspect overall, but I do find it interesting that, via Yuka, there is a trans element running through the story. Speaking for myself, I know art was an incredibly important facet for realizing and accepting my own transition. And that's hardly surprising. Art is a means of communication. It's a way in which we understand others better, and in doing so, we come to understand ourselves better too.
After only having dipped my toes into Blue Period's opening episodes, I hope Yaguchi learns fast that intentionally and maliciously calling someone by their deadname is completely unacceptable.
Shifting over to another "blue" title, Blue Giant's been a pleasant surprise I find myself coming back to every so often. I think I'm a little too far gone to pick up the sax these days, but the electricity you feel in the room while listening to a talented group of Jazz musicians just go for it is like nothing else. It also calls back to the reflective aspect of art you just mentioned, Sylvia. Art doesn't always have to have a meaning. It could be as simple as folks goofing around with a voice modulator and fart noises, but regardless of what that art specifically is, people will find their own meaning in it.
Also, it bears mentioning that even if a piece of art is seemingly devoid of meaning, it doesn't mean that it wasn't an ordeal to create. Art is all about friction, and nothing's getting made without it.
True that! In fact, I love shows that peel back the curtain on that friction. Anime like Shirobako, Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, and Zenshu each take a different tack in their approach towards answering how and why the anime sausage gets made. And while I cannot say any of them have inspired me to join in on the "fun," they have made my overall experience with anime that much more rewarding.
I'd add Draw This, Then Die! to the manga-specific pantheon of this genre, too. It's got heartwrenching truths about the brutality of the industry next to step-by-step instructions for adding screentone.
Draw This, Then Die! really did a number on both of us, didn't it?
Several numbers, I'd say.
Then again, the dam was probably ready to break, especially after I look back at my recent reviews of Beat & Motion and The World Is Dancing. I might've been working out a few things with those two. When you've been in a creative field for a good chunk of your life, works about said fields hit extra hard because you can directly pinpoint the moments when you've been in a similar situation. It's incredibly difficult for me NOT to relate to these sorts of stories.
As long as we keep making art, we are going to keep making art about art. That may sound recursive, but I hope we've shown it can also be inspirational and instructive to one's own creative process. Draw This, Then Die! is stuffed to the gills with such lessons, including the most important of all:
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