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~~Pocari_Sweat~~ · 2012-06-02, 00:00

Thanks for the thread totoum. Tari Tari subforum was getting outta control with all the Okada talk when she's not even involved. I admit though, I was one of the participants

.

So Mari Okada... where to start. I think I'll first point out how I find it ironic on how she's been criticized for being excessively melodramatic, she's wasn't always like this and in the past (not that long ago actually) she was able to write great down to earth, subtle, controlled drama be it in original works or adaptations.

I know this sounds absurd but once upon a time she scripted a series called True Tears back in late 2007, early 2008. That was also PA Works debut anime, and to this very day I consider it both Okada and PA Works's best work. Unfortunately True Tears was competing with both Clannad Season 1 and ef tale of memories on the drama side which Clannad pretty much took all the market share and popularity, not to mention according to the majority, the "wrong pairing" won in True Tears which led to massive shipping wars and butthurt at the time both on AS, MAL and various blogs. It was actually quite humourous

.

Fast forward to the Winter Season of 2011, and we had Horou Musuko, in which Mari Okada scripted the adaptation of the critically acclaimed manga by Takako Shimura together with Fate/Zero's director Ei Aoki. That was also a very well done drama without excessive melodrama, was down to earth and controlled. And it was also the only anime that involved crossdressing involving Okada that wasn't used as the butt of a joke.

Both series had relatively great writing, in particular internal monologues. This is something Okada really excels in when she gives a damn, which I cannot say for her recent works. Both series also had something else in common. They bombed. True Tears initially under 2k DVDs per volume, and Wandering Son was the worst selling noitamina series of all time selling under around the 700 mark. They were disgustingly underrated.

Now compare that to series in which Okada was involved that were the most successful financially - Toradora and Anohana. Now what did Toradora and Anohana both have? A lot of slapstick comedy for the former and a lot of melodrama in the latter. You know what else had a lot of slapstick comedy and melodrama and did very well in sales? Key - Air, Kanon, Clannad and Angel Beats. Anime fans in general love slapstick comedy and melodrama. Hanasaku Iroha was also doing poorly reception wise until that infamous bondage episode (episode 3) came out, after which pre-orders spiked drastically up. Still makes me mad, but that's the reality.

So in a way, Mari Okada is "selling out" just like rest of the industry. Because you have to be almost Gen Urobuchi level to create a highly recepted, financially viable that is also "great" from a "critic's" point of view, is the reason why there has been a lack of creativity. Why bother making something that is great from a academic or critics point of view, when you can just churn out something via a "checklist" approach that caters towards a niche group of the fandom who happens to have all the spending power. Why bother making genuine subtle drama or interesting premise/plot when you know it's gonna bomb unless if it's absolutely amazing (Urobuchi's Madoka level) when you can just have a bunch of teenagers crying on screen and having the next tsundere beat up the MC, alongside a high budget to which Japanese "hardcore" otaku gobble up.

Of course, Mari Okada herself has a lot to blame on herself. Firstly, she takes up way too much work. This season she's working on three series, Aquarion EVOL, AKB0048 and Lupin III and out of the lot, I can only say that Lupin III is the only "legit good" out of the bunch with the other two having a hit or miss "campy" charm depending in what tickles you fancy. Last Spring, she was scripting both Anohana and Hanasaku Iroha, which were both anime originals ON TOP of finishing off the Gosick adaptation. This is just absurd and crazy and the woman is really just overworking herself. It's gotten to a point where she got mad at she was suggested to be taken off the AKB0048 writing team because Aquarion EVOL behind schedule. I have no idea what Okada is trying to prove at this point other trying to perhaps set a world record on the number of scripts an script writer works on in the industry.

This leads me to the second point. Either Mari Okada is too ego-flated that she's telling other production staff to F-off if they don't let her get her way, or the other production staff don't have the balls to say NO to her crazy antics and fetishes - she seems to have developed an obsession of putting males in dresses, generally portraying male characters terribly and the craziest ideas of fanservice that would rival NishioIsin's "toothbrush" debacle in absurdity. The only person recently that I can think of that had the balls to say NO to her was Tatsuyuki Nagai who pretty much told Okada to rewrite the whole of Anohana because Okada initially intended it to be a raunchy romcom. Thankyou Nagai, you have my respect for having balls.

At the end of the day, I think Okada needs a hiatus. She should take a holiday and come back refreshed. And god forbid ... go find a boyfriend or something because her writing seems to be affected by her lack of one lol! So much "romance trolling" on her part, some of which is just flat out facepalm worthy. There's a bit of joke going on in the AS forums atm in that Kawamori and Okada should get married already since they're current style is so complimentary it's hilarious. The King of Trolls and the Queen of Trolls. When they combine the anime industry will explode

not in a good way of course

EDIT: I'm using some hyperbole here so don't take everything at face value!

2012-06-02, 00:00	Link #11
~~Pocari_Sweat~~ <em style="color:#808080;">Disabled By Request</em> Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Australia	Thanks for the thread totoum. Tari Tari subforum was getting outta control with all the Okada talk when she's not even involved. I admit though, I was one of the participants . So Mari Okada... where to start. I think I'll first point out how I find it ironic on how she's been criticized for being excessively melodramatic, she's wasn't always like this and in the past (not that long ago actually) she was able to write great down to earth, subtle, controlled drama be it in original works or adaptations. I know this sounds absurd but once upon a time she scripted a series called True Tears back in late 2007, early 2008. That was also PA Works debut anime, and to this very day I consider it both Okada and PA Works's best work. Unfortunately True Tears was competing with both Clannad Season 1 and ef tale of memories on the drama side which Clannad pretty much took all the market share and popularity, not to mention according to the majority, the "wrong pairing" won in True Tears which led to massive shipping wars and butthurt at the time both on AS, MAL and various blogs. It was actually quite humourous . Fast forward to the Winter Season of 2011, and we had Horou Musuko, in which Mari Okada scripted the adaptation of the critically acclaimed manga by Takako Shimura together with Fate/Zero's director Ei Aoki. That was also a very well done drama without excessive melodrama, was down to earth and controlled. And it was also the only anime that involved crossdressing involving Okada that wasn't used as the butt of a joke. Both series had relatively great writing, in particular internal monologues. This is something Okada really excels in when she gives a damn, which I cannot say for her recent works. Both series also had something else in common. They bombed. True Tears initially under 2k DVDs per volume, and Wandering Son was the worst selling noitamina series of all time selling under around the 700 mark. They were disgustingly underrated. Now compare that to series in which Okada was involved that were the most successful financially - Toradora and Anohana. Now what did Toradora and Anohana both have? A lot of slapstick comedy for the former and a lot of melodrama in the latter. You know what else had a lot of slapstick comedy and melodrama and did very well in sales? Key - Air, Kanon, Clannad and Angel Beats. Anime fans in general love slapstick comedy and melodrama. Hanasaku Iroha was also doing poorly reception wise until that infamous bondage episode (episode 3) came out, after which pre-orders spiked drastically up. Still makes me mad, but that's the reality. So in a way, Mari Okada is "selling out" just like rest of the industry. Because you have to be almost Gen Urobuchi level to create a highly recepted, financially viable that is also "great" from a "critic's" point of view, is the reason why there has been a lack of creativity. Why bother making something that is great from a academic or critics point of view, when you can just churn out something via a "checklist" approach that caters towards a niche group of the fandom who happens to have all the spending power. Why bother making genuine subtle drama or interesting premise/plot when you know it's gonna bomb unless if it's absolutely amazing (Urobuchi's Madoka level) when you can just have a bunch of teenagers crying on screen and having the next tsundere beat up the MC, alongside a high budget to which Japanese "hardcore" otaku gobble up. Of course, Mari Okada herself has a lot to blame on herself. Firstly, she takes up way too much work. This season she's working on three series, Aquarion EVOL, AKB0048 and Lupin III and out of the lot, I can only say that Lupin III is the only "legit good" out of the bunch with the other two having a hit or miss "campy" charm depending in what tickles you fancy. Last Spring, she was scripting both Anohana and Hanasaku Iroha, which were both anime originals ON TOP of finishing off the Gosick adaptation. This is just absurd and crazy and the woman is really just overworking herself. It's gotten to a point where she got mad at she was suggested to be taken off the AKB0048 writing team because Aquarion EVOL behind schedule. I have no idea what Okada is trying to prove at this point other trying to perhaps set a world record on the number of scripts an script writer works on in the industry. This leads me to the second point. Either Mari Okada is too ego-flated that she's telling other production staff to F-off if they don't let her get her way, or the other production staff don't have the balls to say NO to her crazy antics and fetishes - she seems to have developed an obsession of putting males in dresses, generally portraying male characters terribly and the craziest ideas of fanservice that would rival NishioIsin's "toothbrush" debacle in absurdity. The only person recently that I can think of that had the balls to say NO to her was Tatsuyuki Nagai who pretty much told Okada to rewrite the whole of Anohana because Okada initially intended it to be a raunchy romcom. Thankyou Nagai, you have my respect for having balls. At the end of the day, I think Okada needs a hiatus. She should take a holiday and come back refreshed. And god forbid ... go find a boyfriend or something because her writing seems to be affected by her lack of one lol! So much "romance trolling" on her part, some of which is just flat out facepalm worthy. There's a bit of joke going on in the AS forums atm in that Kawamori and Okada should get married already since they're current style is so complimentary it's hilarious. The King of Trolls and the Queen of Trolls. When they combine the anime industry will explode not in a good way of course EDIT: I'm using some hyperbole here so don't take everything at face value! Last edited by Pocari_Sweat; 2012-06-02 at 03:32.