Writing
is the hidden part of anime production. Actors get the glamour, artists
get the credit, but writers create the stories - and stories create the
appeal. Screenwriter Ichiro Okochi has written the scripts for animated
series including Turn A Gundam, Azumanga Daioh, Angelic Layer
Raxhephon, Overman King Gainer and Planetes. That covers the gamut from
comedy shorts to sci-fi epics. "The job of a screenwriter is to write
about people, and that extends across the genres," Okochi said through
an interpreter at an Anime Expo interview session. Generally, I don't
have a different opinion about the different genres in which I write."
Azumanga Daioh, written as five-minute short stories, was written
differently and Raxhephon, crafted as a double mystery. And all series
have limits of time, budget, standards and sponsorship that must be
met. When Okochi adapts an original manga or novel for animation, "I
like to think you have to like the original work to be able to get the
best out of the series. Once you pinpoint what you like, you can figure
out what part to expand or which part to cut off."
Okochi
writes by collecting his thoughts and ideas. "I sit down at the PC and
write down everything I have in my head. After that, I know if things
are going to work out or not. After I feel that I've written everything
down, I go back and try to get organized. If I believe that's enough. I
write the screenplay. If that's not enough, I go back and write more."
He developed into a screenwriter after working as a card game designer,
a magazine editor and a novelist who wrote the book version of animated
series such as Utena and Snow Fairy Sugar. Writing a novel is a
solitary job for Okochi, but it's not the most satisfying way to create
for him, because "...I get a lot of freedom but it's also very lonely.
As for animation, I don't get as much freedom as for novels, but I work
in collaboration with a lot of people so it's a lot of fun." Some of
the collaboration came with famed Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino, who
gave Okochi his first screenwriting job.
Writing
is the hidden part of anime production. Actors get the glamour, artists
get the credit, but writers create the stories - and stories create the
appeal. Screenwriter Ichiro Okochi has written the scripts for animated
series including Turn A Gundam, Azumanga Daioh, Angelic Layer
Raxhephon, Overman King Gainer and Planetes. That covers the gamut from
comedy shorts to sci-fi epics. "The job of a screenwriter is to write
about people, and that extends across the genres," Okochi said through
an interpreter at an Anime Expo interview session. Generally, I don't
have a different opinion about the different genres in which I write."
Azumanga Daioh, written as five-minute short stories, was written
differently and Raxhephon, crafted as a double mystery. And all series
have limits of time, budget, standards and sponsorship that must be
met. When Okochi adapts an original manga or novel for animation, "I
like to think you have to like the original work to be able to get the
best out of the series. Once you pinpoint what you like, you can figure
out what part to expand or which part to cut off."
Okochi
writes by collecting his thoughts and ideas. "I sit down at the PC and
write down everything I have in my head. After that, I know if things
are going to work out or not. After I feel that I've written everything
down, I go back and try to get organized. If I believe that's enough. I
write the screenplay. If that's not enough, I go back and write more."
He developed into a screenwriter after working as a card game designer,
a magazine editor and a novelist who wrote the book version of animated
series such as Utena and Snow Fairy Sugar. Writing a novel is a
solitary job for Okochi, but it's not the most satisfying way to create
for him, because "...I get a lot of freedom but it's also very lonely.
As for animation, I don't get as much freedom as for novels, but I work
in collaboration with a lot of people so it's a lot of fun." Some of
the collaboration came with famed Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino, who
gave Okochi his first screenwriting job.
