Anime Research for Thesis

[Shadowfury89]

Hi. First let me apologize if this topic is in the wrong section. I swear I browsed through every one and the Miscellaneous section appeared to me as the most appropriate place to start this topic.

I am in the last semester of grad school, where this summer I will finally earn my MFA in Screenwriting. Finally! For most of this semester, I have been working on my thesis. And this thesis, I pitched as a half-hour anime/animation TV series. I have already written the first draft and will soon start revising it for the first revised draft. Now the part I'm not looking forward to is a 10-page research paper of comparing and contrasting my anime show (although I've only written the pilot) to pre-existing works. Most of them half to be anime, and a few need to be live-action.

Problem is, my list of anime/non-Japanese animation that inspired my thesis and are in the similar genre or have great similarities is too short. These are DARKER THAN BLACK, VAMPIRE HUNTER D, HELLSING, TRINITY BLOOD, A CERTAIN MAGICAL INDEX, and YOUNG JUSTICE (non-Japanese anime), and FULL METAL PANIC to some extent. Problem with this list is that Vampire Hunter D is a movie, not a show...so that's really ineligible for my thesis. And I'm not really certain ACMI, Young Justice, or Full Metal Panic are qualified either. I need about 5 to 8 anime/non-Japanese shows for my thesis.

To give you an idea of what my hypothetical anime show is like, here is a list of live-action shows: GRIMM, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, ANGEL, X-FILES, AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D., and ARROW to some extent.

My thesis "anime" show is about a guy with magic powers whose job it is to kill supernatural/fantasy creatures (mostly vampires and werewolves), reunites with a sister who thinks he's been dead for ten years (who he feels he has to protect her from the evil creatures), he also happens to be a willing host to a demon who can at anytime take over his body permanently (it's a complicated agreement...and an equally complicated explanation), and surprise....his ex-girlfriend and former best friend (who are now a vampire and werewolf, respectively) have finally caught up with him and want to kill him. And did I mention all this occurs in a futuristic/high-tech world where science and magic, mythical creatures and humans barely co-exist in the year 2056 AD? Confused? I'm sorry, but that is literally all the relevant information I can give you without attaching my actual script or series bible.

So if you know of any anime or non-Japanese animation that are similar in genre, or the shows I listed, or similar to what I could tell you about my thesis, please let me know. I have to watch at least the first season (if there are multiple seasons), before I can start working on my thesis paper and I have about 3 weeks before it's due.

Many thanks and good health!

~Shadowfury89

[Sympathy]

supernatural monster killing? watch Hellsing or Hellsing Ultimate, and Claymore.

[Qoco]

Ga-Rei: Zero comes to mind.

[Shadowfury89]

Thank you horrendous, and Hydrus for your recommendations!

[Anime Forum]

There is a new anime out titled: Coffin Princess which someout relates to what you are looking for.

Oh by the way, Young Justice isn't anime period. Don't write it down on your Thesis that it is.

[Shadowfury89]

There is a new anime out titled: Coffin Princess which someout relates to what you are looking for.

Oh by the way, Young Justice isn't anime period. Don't write it down on your Thesis that it is.

Thanks for the recommendation. And I'm sorry if I didn't explain it thoroughly, although I strictly see my thesis as an anime show, I can include non-Japanese animation and I shouldn't have identified Young Justice as non-Japanese anime since it isn't.

[Anime Forum]

Thanks for the recommendation. And I'm sorry if I didn't explain it thoroughly, although I strictly see my thesis as an anime show, I can include non-Japanese animation and I shouldn't have identified Young Justice as non-Japanese anime since it isn't.

Anytime. I can probably find another five or so later! Just need to load up myanimelist. Ha, just didn't want you to write fictional information on your thesis. Would look bad if people noticed.

Good luck on your thesis btw.

[Shadowfury89]

Anytime. I can probably find another five or so later! Just need to load up myanimelist. Ha, just didn't want you to write fictional information on your thesis. Would look bad if people noticed.

Good luck on your thesis btw.

I'm certainly glad you caught my mistake. Maybe I was thinking the Avatar series as being anime-influenced. Having a hard time even coming up with non-Japanese animation that has similarities to my thesis.

If you think of any more suggestions, you can reply back to this or on my profile or private message. Still learning the ropes of this forum. And thanks! This thesis is gonna kill me.

[sunnyside]

What makes your show "anime."

Are your characters, by some confluence of events stuck living in the same house? A bunch of teenagers? Is super deformed artwork or "sweat drop" stuff written into the script?

basically if there isn't a reason for the association just call it animation, or actually use more modern CGI.

Anyway answering questions like that would better inform what you should watch.

[Shadowfury89]

What makes your show "anime."

Are your characters, by some confluence of events stuck living in the same house? A bunch of teenagers? Is super deformed artwork or "sweat drop" stuff written into the script?

basically if there isn't a reason for the association just call it animation, or actually use more modern CGI.

Anyway answering questions like that would better inform what you should watch.

I did say I "pitched as a half-hour anime/animation TV series." Visually, I see this as an animated show, whether traditional or CGI or both. I'm strongly leaning toward anime, as in the Japanese style, because of the art direction, action and etc. based on what I see both in my head and what's included in the script. Mind you, it's not a storyboard script with images. It's all text.. I can't include anime conventions like "sweat drop" or "blush" because there's only so much I can include in the script without irritating the reader with too much information.

The reason I'm asking for mostly anime shows as further reference for my research thesis is because the anime show that strongly inspired my animation pilot script is DARKER THAN BLACK. It would be nice to have some non-Japanese animation as references so if I really ever did pitch this to a Western animation studio, they would have good basis in understanding what my series is like.

[sunnyside]

The reason I'm asking for mostly anime shows as further reference for my research thesis is because the anime show that strongly inspired my animation pilot script is DARKER THAN BLACK. It would be nice to have some non-Japanese animation as references so if I really ever did pitch this to a Western animation studio, they would have good basis in understanding what my series is like.

Maybe a first question should have been who your demographic is. If you're after the Teen Titans demographic than, well, there you go. There is plenty of sci-fi or fantasy western animation aimed at people who don't have high school diplomas yet.

If you're going after adults then things are more complicated. Spawn the Animated Series and Aeon Flux are the only series that come to mind. Otherwise it seems the general thinking over here is that if something is worth making, it's worth making live action or in high end CGI. Animation is for keeping kids from getting scared in a movie and for keeping horrific violence funny for adults.

Personally I think there is a market here for high quality but low budget sci-fi among all the cable channels and streaming services because (in my opinion) animation beats live action in a low budget setting.

[Shadowfury89]

Maybe a first question should have been who your demographic is. If you're after the Teen Titans demographic than, well, there you go. There is plenty of sci-fi or fantasy western animation aimed at people who don't have high school diplomas yet.

If you're going after adults then things are more complicated. Spawn the Animated Series and Aeon Flux are the only series that come to mind. Otherwise it seems the general thinking over here is that if something is worth making, it's worth making live action or in high end CGI. Animation is for keeping kids from getting scared in a movie and for keeping horrific violence funny for adults.

Personally I think there is a market here for high quality but low budget sci-fi among all the cable channels and streaming services because (in my opinion) animation beats live action in a low budget setting.

Funny enough, my professor asked me if it would be better if I pitched this idea as a live-action instead of animation/CGI. But once I'm finally done with my thesis, I really doubt I'd be able to pitch this show to a Western/American animation studios. For me, this thesis show is like practice for me. I just like anime so much, that I'd try doing an animation/Japanese-inspired anime show.

But seriously tho, do you have any recommendations for me? Anime or non-Japanese animation? Do SPAWN THE ANIMATED SERIES and AEON FLUX are similar to my idea, or were you listing a few examples of animation that is targeted for adults? People here have listed HELLSING, CLAYMORE, GA-REI: ZERO, and then something called COFFIN PRINCESS. I already have DARKER THAN BLACK and TRINITY BLOOD. I have to re-watch those, including Claymore, then watch the previous animes I listed earlier to see if they really have any similarities to my thesis.

[DeathBlade/13.666]

Trigun kinda fits in that too, and the Blade animation stuff.

[Shadowfury89]

Trigun kinda fits in that too, and the Blade animation stuff.

Thanks for the suggestions!

[DeathBlade/13.666]

Thanks for the suggestions!

Just so you know, with Blade there's a Japanese anime series and a non-Japanese cartoon as well. Both are based on the Marvel Comics character Blade.

[Shadowfury89]

Just so you know, with Blade there's a Japanese anime series and a non-Japanese cartoon as well. Both are based on the Marvel Comics character Blade.

Lol. I didn't think of that. Thanks for pointing that out.