Ask John: How Are Storylines For Anime Series Plotted Out?

Question:
I have a question about how storylines are made up for anime series. Is the whole thing usually plotted out in advance, or do the writers make it up as they advance through the series?

Answer:
Given the nature of collaborative creative projects, virtually no story ever written in advance will ever get produced without some alterations. My own knowledge of the anime industry doesn’t extend far enough for me to be able to provide a factual answer to your question. I can only provide a subjective answer, based on my own experience. Most OAV series and half or single season TV series are closely scripted-out before they go into production. It’s necessary to have a story in advance in order to be able to produce weekly episodes quickly. In addition, many such series are based upon existing manga, so the animators always have the established manga story to refer to. Longer series that are not based on manga, such as Akira Toriyama’s recent Dr. Slump TV series, Super Doll Rica-chan, Doraemon, and Akazukin Cha-Cha are more than likely not scripted far in advance because of the length of the series. In my experience, though, some series do seem to be made-up on the fly. The 26 episode Maze Bakunetsu Jiku TV series, for example, seemed, very obviously to me, as though it was made up as it went along. I’ve personally had the opinion that Gainax had a clear idea of how they wanted Secret of Blue Water to begin and end, but no clear plan for the middle of the series- particularly the “desert island and Africa episodes.” Another example is the Dragonball Z TV series. Near the end of the initial Freezer saga, the animation staff had to incorporate the first DBZ movie into the TV series in order to give Akira Toriyama enough time to complete more of the manga, so that the animation staff had a direction for the story to proceed in.