Quote:
Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo
He needs a good writer, and I think Okada Mari (true tears, Toradora, Zakuro) has a chance to provide that.
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I hope so. However, my opinion is that Okada has yet to make a true breakthrough when it comes to envisioning and pacing an original story. True Tears and Canaan were both pretty lean in substance, and the structures were more than a little loose (big events or changes in characters happening with too little development and too short a timeframe. In general, there were ambitious ideals but little vision). Unless Okada improves, it might take extra involvement from her planning partners to come up with something fantastic.
What she really excels at would be the sensitive character moments and interactions. True Tears showed this off the best, but her own episodes on Red Garden and Kita e: Diamond Dust Drops were also delightful.
These character oriented parts are exceptionally paced and written, which may have earned her the good reputation and busy workload she currently enjoys (well, the latter probably has more to do with the commercial successes of her Toradora! and Kuroshitsuji adaptations).
.....which may be why opinions on Okada are so polarized. Viewers who really value well done character moments are quite thrilled, while those who prioritize the actual content aren't particularly impressed yet.
Okada's other strength is adaptation. Toradora! was an incredible feat - light novels compressed into two episodes apiece while remaining coherent and emotionally convincing (as much as possible within the limitations anyway). However, while adaptation is the bread and butter of the industry these days, I don't tend to attribute the content to the person handling the adaptation. Good work proves that he/she excels at reworking content into a show, but it doesn't prove their ability to create.
And adaptation works multiple ways. You can do a great job adapting a bad source that no one likes....that's a commendable result. Or you can do a half-hearted job adapting a great source, yet people still enjoy the final show because the core material is so good. For that reason, pedigree in adaptation can only gauge how well they adapt, and little more.