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Originally Posted by sa547
*looks for second-most-prolific screenwriter*
Seriously, it's often that the director is more prominent than the screenwriter, and hence generally not well-known, so it's hard for me to know of a writer who's on her level (or even better) and/or has a similar range of works and genres.
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There have been a number of renowned writers, such as Yousuke Kuroda, Hiroshi Ohnogi, Seishi Minakami, and Yoji Enokido. For adaptations, we also have heavyweights in Reiko Yoshida and Tomoko Konparu. When it comes to prolificness or critical success, I don't think Okada is necessarily unique.
Nevertheless, what sets Okada apart is her success at zeroing in on industry demand. She's in tune with the tastes of modern otaku (I don't think the style and direction of her writing is any coincidence), can structure a show well, dabbles in multiple genres, gets along with the producers/directors (most of them anyway
), and feeds the industry's demand for large quantities of shows on tight schedules. I suspect her way of working has led to some skewed perceptions.
As with prolific directors and production studios, Okada sells dependability. It's really the type of business savvy that brought Akiyuki Shinbo and J.C.STAFF (primarily through head producer Yuji Matsukura) into prominence. All are capable, but they ultimately succeed by catering to specific industry wants.
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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.
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Anime scriptwriting is too lucrative. You hear about grossly underpaid animators, but there's an argument that writers are grossly
overpaid. I can't remember the exact details, but the gist of it is that pay allocation is divided sections: one part to animation, another to script, another to sound (the most overpaid section of anime production), and so forth.
The problem is that the animation pot is divided amongst tons of overworked people, whereas the script pot is enjoyed by only a small handful of writers, some of whom may write multiple episodes at a time.
The average payment for a script is about $2000 US an episode. Last year, 55 Mari Okada episodes were released, which would mean a sum of ~$110,000 (excluding the series composition fee).
On top of that, there are royalties. I'm not sure if this applies to adaptations, but the successes of AKB0048, Aquarion EVOL, Hanasaku Iroha, and AnoHana would represent a nice sum of extra cash. I can see why Okada would insist on tackling AKB.
The iron is hot, so Okada has every reason to strike while she can, especially when it has worked out so well.