...continued from previous page Likewise, anime has its own unwritten rules. You can't mention the Burakumin—the untouchable class—which still exists in Japan. You can't have a foreign character completely defeat a Japanese character (unless it's a tragedy). You can't portray the Imperial family in a negative light. And don't even mention the fanatic right wing... Etc, etc... Although you may have the freedom to create such works, it does not necessarily mean that you will have freedom from harassment by political fanatics who don't share your point of view. Although the final script is the same there are different ways a writer may be involved with a show. Most commonly he is a staff writer. Each series starts out with one main writer and other writers are hired on to write various episodes as they are needed. In Hollywood, you can submit a script to a TV series and try to sell it but in anime you need to be hired on before you can write anything for a series. Scripts which show up from outside the pre-set production group are automatically rejected, usually before they are even read. Sometimes producers will look at story/concept submissions from outside, but not for existing series. In the context of an anime series this makes a lot of sense because there are a lot of production problems to be considered. Each show has a set budget and the show must be written and directed with that budget level in mind. There are times when new writers think "Hey, it's animation—I can do anything!" and call for scenes with 10,000 soldiers riding flame-breathing dragons and such. While such a sequence is not as expensive as doing it in live action, it still costs significantly more than a normal scene and requires high-quality (expensive) animators to do the work. For a U.S. TV series the production crew creates a Writer's Bible which contains all the background and setting information about the show so that the writers do not run out of control. The show bible will clearly define all the characters and what their relationships are to each other. We do not have series bibles in anime. As the writer pool is small and totally controlled as well as always in close contact with the producers, director and sometimes creator, and since the show is sometimes developed dynamically (read as: written just before the deadlines), there is little need for extremely detailed documentation. For an episode script, the writer comes up with an idea and roughs it out then there are meetings with the director, show sponsors and producers where the details of the story are hashed out. Once the basic story is set, the writer writes the script and then it goes through another set of meetings where changes and enhancements are made. It is important to note that in the anime industry the writer is normally completely subordinate to the producers. They invested the money so they get the control. Better writers will fight with them if there is a change they don't like, but it's usually the producers who win. Once the script is approved, there are meetings between the writer and director where they go over what the writer's image of the show is, as well as the Director's interpretation of the script. The director and technical director are responsible for the creation of the visuals, so there is very little scene and action description in an anime script (as with a film script). The Director has rewrite control at all levels, but this is normally exercised when the voice recording is being done and a line doesn't come out sounding right. It sometimes happens if shots need to be cut out during production and dialogue needs to be modified to fill the hole. Once the meetings with the Director are done, then the writer moves on to his/her next job. There is no further involvement in the production process. (Many times I have met people who think that if they were to write a show then they would be involved in every aspect of its production, which does not happen. There is little that is more annoying to the creative team than to have a writer hovering around wanting to watch. Normally the Director is nice and lets them hang around for a day and then the production assistants are ordered to keep them out. It is completely understandable that the writer would want to watch the show be made but all too often they start with the, "But this scene should look more like this..." and there the trouble begins. If you want total control over the animation process you have to direct it.)