Mari Okada, prolific anime screenwriter extraordinaire, lover of (true) tears and melodrama—she came to Anime Expo this year, accompanied by PA Works producer Nobuhiro Kikuchi. Here’s a tweet record of what she said in the fan and press conference panels!
Mari Okada AX Fan Panel and Press Conference Liveblog
Mari Okada, prolific anime screenwriter, appeared in a raucous fan panel as well as a more sober press conference with her PA Works producer, Nobuhiro Kikuchi. This is a raw liveblog of their comments!
- Mari Okada panel starting! #AnimeExpo!
- She looks at all of us here in LA and thinks, “humans are awesome.” #MariOkada #AnimeExpo
- It’s embarassing to write love scenes sometimes…like when Taiga and Ryuji kiss a lot at the end of Toradora. #MariOkada #AnimeExpo
- Q from @omonomono: what’s her favorite True Tears girl and which one has the biggest fans?
- A: Hiromi was modeled off herself in high school. Noe was what she wanted to be. #TrueTears #MariOkada #AnimeExpo
- Q: how much pressure do studios put on you during the writing process? A: depends on the studio. Sometimes has to work overtime. #MariOkada
- Apparently PA Works has a tatami room for overnight stays. #MariOkada #AnimeExpo
- On AKB0048: it was after Kawamori had her worked on Aquarion EVOL and they worked well together. Was always a fan of AKB48. #MariOkada
- Ano Hana was her first really original story. Thinking about the memory makes her want to cry…#MariOkada
- Nagai and her were about the same age when they started working on Toradora. She related to Ryuji being raised by a single mom…#MariOkada
- Okada is really lively btw. Now I really think Ohana is basically her writing about herself…#MariOkada
- With Simoun–the director changed halfway and the script was aired not long after writing, which was unusual. #MariOkada #AnimeExpo
- Suigintou is her favorite Rozen Maiden girl. #MariOkada #AnimeExpo
- She wants to make more AKB0048, and this time incorporating the ‘graduation’ concept into the next season (if there is one)…#MariOkada
- Loved Lupin since childhood. Loved the original 1st season which was “very cool,” and was drawing from that in her version #MariOkada
- Loves Suzuran b/c her dance moves are sexy. #MariOkada #AnimeExpo
- She sees herself in Jintan in #AnoHana. Normally she doesn’t use real people as character models though. #MariOkada
- Q: Which of your works should I see next? A: all of them. But especially the #AnoHana movie! #MariOkada
- She dodged the question about the AKB48 scandal…#MariOkada
- Apparently these days you have to stick closer to the original when adapting works so you have to love the original already. #MariOkada
- Mari Okada press conference in about 10 minutes. We have Hanasaku Iroha questions for all those who missed them! #AnimeExpo
- Q for Kikuchi (by @omonomono): did you have to work with the local tourist board for depicting real life locations? #PAWorks #AnimeExpo
- A: It depends on the project. There is a team that goes out to visit local groups. (The example here was Koitabi) #PAWorks
- Q (from me): was the story of AnoHana at least inspired in part by the song “Secret Base”? #MariOkada
- A: she knew the song, but not a conscious influence. Only when the script was done the producer point out: isn’t this the song? #MariOkada
- She feared that the story and song were too closely linked together (too “overdramatic”). But the staff loved it. #MariOkada
- Q (from Rome): the end of AnoHana reminds him of 70s youth dramas. Was that a conscious influence? #MariOkada
- A: her generation sometimes felt that emotional straightforwardness was embarassing. She felt that screaming was a good way to show honesty.
- A: the offer came from a hot spring that was finishing their reconstruction from floods. #PAWorks had to figure the festival’s details.
- A: the animation and inn staff came together to figure out the festival’s details. The #HanaIro production committee and animators set up!
- #MariOkada: she was already working on the story for the #HanaIro movie when the TV series was airing. It helped smoothen the process.
- Whereas there was a long gap between the #AnoHana TV show and the movie, so reassembling the staff and cast was a challenge. #MariOkada
- Kikuchi: there were a lot of lucky incidents, small miracles, that enabled #HanaIro movie to happen.
- Q (from me): were the depiction of the struggles of the artists in Sakurasou informed by her own personal experiences? #MariOkada
- A: the author of Sakurasou is a childhood friend and they both aspired as youth to become pros. Their experiences informed it #MariOkada
- WIth Simoun: there was little time to write many of the scripts. Under that stress, you may not have time to be diplomatic… #MariOkada
- The conflict and harshness actually helped refine the project, which made Simoun a stronger work. #MariOkada
- What kind of details does #MariOkada pay attention to when script writing? “I never lie with the character’s behavior.”
- Characters have a mind of their own. She does not bend the characters to fit the plot. #MariOkada
- Q: is the screaming a conscious decision to break with traditional ways of dealing with emotions in Japanese culture? #MariOkada
- A: the scream comes at the end of #AnoHana because the characters’ emotions had frozen when Menma died. Time became unstuck then. #MariOkada
- It’s not so much a scream as much as a love confession. She wants to scream at the sun sometimes too! #AnoHana #MariOkada
- Q: what was it like creating the story for Fractale? A: Yamakan approached her first, with Azuma. The 3 of them came up with it. #MariOkada
- It was refreshing and inspiring to work on the script for Fractale because she had 2 other people to work off of. #Fractale #MariOkada
- #MariOkada isn’t attracted to flawless characters. Her prefers men who are flawed for instance, but also with her female protagonists.
- She doesn’t like harem leads. There has to be a reason: maybe the male lead is having a great time, or maybe weakness too… #MariOkada
- Okada apparently pulls all nighters a lot while working. She apparently shops online to procrastinate among other things!
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