Screenwriters matter even in "faithful" Adaptations.

My priors posts about how I feel Writers for TV Shows and Movies matter just as much as Directors (and maybe sometimes more even) has focused on Anime that either aren’t adaptations or drawn out Adaptations with a lot of Anime Original “Filler” content so that I could say the basic plot of what’s going on doesn’t always come from the Source Material.  

But I’ve decided to start thinking more about the subtle ways they can matter even in a very direct adaptation.  Because most Anime Directors, especially Episode Directors, are more like Ron Howard than a visionary Auteur, they frequently just direct the script given to them.  It’s simply the Auteurs whose names you’re more likely to recognize.

And I decided one good case study for that happens to be the Anime Adaptations of SciADV Visual Novels.

Now I happen to like all of them, but the thing is I can still tell the difference between them and have a sense of why some are viewed as more poorly executed than others.

Robotics;Notes is the least talked about of the SciADV Anime.  Well Occultic;Nine is about equal in lack of discussion actually but it’s the one who’s source material isn't a game but a Light Novel series, as a LN Anime it reminds of Baccano! and Durarara! But there are no behind the scenes connections to vindicate me in that observation.

Steins;Gate is the one SciADV Anime that is viewed as a success, even beyond SciADV specifically it’s the one VN Anime even the harshest of VN Purists have trouble saying anything too bad about.

Chao:HEad and to a lesser extent Chaos;Child are among the most virulently hated VN based Anime, treated by fans as something you should ignore the existence of on the same level as Tsukihime.

When I recommend Robotics;Notes to people I express my very genuine belief that as an Anime and an Adaptation it is far more similar to Steins;Gate then it is to either Chaos: show.  That it has 22 episodes is an easy place to start. But none of the SciADV shows share the same lead Director, and they have too many episode directors for me to bother verifying if there is zero overlap.

However, Steins;Gate and Robotics;Notes have the same trio of writers, Jukki Hanada, Masahiro Yokotana and Toshizo Nemoto, none of whom had anything to do with any other SciADV Anime.  I think they are why the Robotics;Notes Anime is paced and structured similarly to Steins;Gate.

That they have different Directors and lead Artists doesn’t really surprise me, Robotics;Notes does look different, in ways that make it more inline with my general tastes in Anime. 

Masahiro Yokotana also wrote Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines which was pretty popular last season.