Hello to all,
If you’ve read any volume of House of Khepru, or my About Page, you should know that my style of writing is highly influenced by anime. I’ve always thought that anime, manga, and Japanese stories in general are great sources of inspiration and wisdom, not just for writing, by for life as well.
I understand that anime certainly isn’t for everyone, but there are some great lessons that can be learned from them for both writers and non-writers. For example, Shounen, one of the most popular genres of anime these days, have taught me a lot about story-telling as a whole.
Shounen has many tropes specific to it, one of which being its lovable characters with crazy superpowers. It’s through Shounen that I learned about character archtypes, story arcs, and the many different aspects and elements that come with story-telling of any form.
Anime can also provide very useful life lessons through the stories they tell, particularly those belonging to the Shounen genre, where one of the main tropes is overcoming difficulty and achieving your dreams.
Personally, I feel that anime is a great story-telling medium that I take a lot of inspiration from. I aim for my own stories to show the level of depth that a lot of these stories have, and hope that one day, they can bring life lessons and hope to those who read them.
What about you? Do you think anime is a good source of inspiration? Leave a comment below with your thoughts. I’d love to know what you think.
And as always, stay awesome!
House of Khepru is available for FREE on Smashwords and other retailers!
Feel free to make a pledge on Patreon if you want to help support the story, and any others that come out.
Calvin Travostin 
Well since you asked . . .
I loved Doraemon, Dr. Slump, Sazaesan, Cureyon Shinchan, and Totoro. But I began to sour slightly when my ex-husband, a Japanese man, began buying anime that seemed to idolize under age figures in sexualized ways. He said then (mid eighties) that it was only fantasy. The rest of what gapped to us is pure tragedy.
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I personally think a lot of anime these days do oversexualize women. I will say, even as a straight male, I find it somewhat disgusting, especially when it’s done for very young girl characters, but as long as it doesn’t overshadow the story in any way, I can usually put up with it.
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I have to say that my writing has been influenced by anime at least the story that I am writing right now. It was actually the spark that began my story.
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That’s great! Anime has some great inspiration for creators of all kinds.
I hope to read your story someday!
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I definitely find anime to inspirational. One of the biggest lessons I learned from anime but also from music is how to have a open mind. I learned to respect people differences and quirks from a young age through anime. Those types of lessons have pooled into my everyday lifestyle. I’ve been a fan for a really long time. lol
Cool post.
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Really interesting article, personally I’ve found that anime has helped prevent me from restricting myself in writing. Something when I write I stop and think that it’s too ridiculous or stupid, but seeing some of the ridiculous things that happen in anime (and done well) gives me the confidence to write whatever I want – rather than being overly cautious.
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I highly have always thought anime is more than just a entertainment medium and does teach you things about life and life lessons. I’ve learnt so many things from anime and I find it so easy to think of so many topic ideas for 😀
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I think anime is a good source. Anime always have a great story and it has characters that we can either relate or not. It’s always interesting to see characters go through a challenge and win at the end.
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My writing is definitely influenced by anime as well, so needless to say, I agree with what you say here.
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Thank you. It’s nice knowing that others agree with my stance on the topic.
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Hello Cal,
Certainly! I agree that anime is a great inspiration not only for writing but for life as well. Anime is a huge part of my life. I’ve been watching ever since I can remember. If you haven’t seen these titles yet, I suggest you try watching “Mushishi” and “Bakuman”. “Mushishi” uses amazing storytelling devices effectively. I learned a lot watching this series. Another favourite is “Bakuman”. It shows the struggles artists and writers face when working for their passions. Whenever I feel unmotivated, I just rewatch “Bakuman” and I feel like writing again. Anyway, thank you very much for submitting this post to my Fujinsei Blog Carnival. I appreciate it. Keep on watching anime and writing. Take care. Cheers!
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Thank you for your comment, and for hosting this blog carnival. I will certainy be participating in next month’s carnival. I had a great time reading everyone’s post and articles.
Feel free to check out my own work, at the top of the page under series. I think it’s something you’ll like, since a lot of it is anime-inspired.
Again, thank you, and stay awesome!
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