Ask John: How Long Will Gen Urobuchi’s Prominence Last?

Question:
What is your opinion on Gen Urobuchi’s writing? Even with Psycho-Pass airing and Expelled from Paradise to come, do you think we’ll see even more of his works make the leap to animated form?

Answer:
I must preface my response with the clarification that due to limited time and opportunity, I haven’t ever actually read prose written by acclaimed and popular Japanese authors including Gen Urobuchi, Tow Ubukata, Nishio Ishin, or Kinoko Nasu. Furthermore, I’ve watched the Gen Urobuchi scripted Madoka Magica and Fate/Zero anime TV series in their entirety, but I’ve only sampled episodes of Blassreiter, Phantom, and Psycho-Pass. I have a significant respect for prolific writers, and even greater respect for authors that compose in a variety of genres, as writers including Gen Urobuchi and Nishio Ishin do. However, based on my extrapolation of their work, many of Japan’s contemporary popular writers in the anime industry may be more accurately described as craftsmen than artists. Particularly Gen Urobuchi’s greatest talent appears to be an ability to effectively combine and recycle established ideas and concepts. Phantom of Inferno was fundamentally a reimagining of writer/director Luc Besson’s earlier live-action film La Femme Nikita. Blassreiter borrowed ideas from Kamen Rider, Devilman, Mospeada, earlier Masami Obari directed anime, and a host of other media. Madoka Magica simple carried the tropes of the established magical girl genre to their logical ultimate conclusion. Psycho-Pass appears to conceptually borrow heavily from Steven Spielberg’s 2002 film Minority Report and earlier convicts-as-heroes media including Escape From New York and Yoshiaki Kawajiri’s 1990 OVA series Cyber City Oedo 808. Similarly, Nishio Ishin seems to have the dual ability to crank out books at a near superhuman speed and create complete novels based on simple wordplay puns.

I’m certainly in no position to criticize working creators. It’s no secret that I’m presently finishing up my own first light-novel-style book, so hopefully before too long readers will be able to determine whether I’m simply jealous or if I’m legitimately able to compose original writing that’s not a gimmicky as Nishio Ishin’s or as derivative as Gen Urobuchi’s. I think that writers like Gen Urobuchi have found and excelled within a particular, effective niche, and that practical, craftsman-like reliability ensures continued work. A time-sensitive professional industry like the anime industry absolutely requires writers that can meet deadlines and produce creative and even consciously derivative stories and scripts promptly and reliably. When a concept proves successful, producers want creators that can quickly script more of the same. Gen Urobuchi’s proficiency and efficiency, combined with his ability to compose in a variety of genres – from action to horror to fantasy to sci-fi – make him a very useful talent in the anime production industry. Sometimes, extremely prolific creators oversaturate the market. For example, for a span of roughly nine years, from 1999 to 2008 character designs from Hisashi Hirai seemed to be everywhere, appearing in Mugen no Ryvius, Scryed, Soukyu no Fafner, Giniro no Olynssis, Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny, Heroic Age, and Kurogane no Linebarrels. But viewers seemed to tire of Hirai’s distinctive style, and his character designs have been absent from any new anime franchises from the past four years. Particularly Urobuchi’s ability to write in a wide variety of genres will enable him to stay relevant and appealing to producers and consumers for a long time.