Neirai the Forgiven
Christian Guilds List Manager
For those of you who don't speak comic book or manga:
* Setting-Driven
A Setting-Driven work, such as a High Fantasy (i.e. the Hobbit, Harry Potter, Green Lantern) or a Historical Drama is a work in which the setting plays more of a part than the individual characters. In a Setting-Driven work, emphasis is placed on political systems and groups of people, as well as what is happening in the world at large, and then boils down to the individual actions of the characters against that fundamental backdrop.
For example, as story about a Union medical officer in the Civil War is mainly driven by the Civil War, not the medic. The medic's actions are what interest us, but they're only interesting in how they relate to the Civil War. Again, in the Lord of the Rings, Frodo's actions are based on the overall war between Sauron and the Elves and Humans, not on Frodo himself.
* Shonen Battle Manga
A Shonen Battle Manga is a popular form of Japanese comic involving interesting characters squaring off against each other with a story to keep them together. What is happening in the world isn't as important as how cool the characters are and the fact that they need to fight something in order to get what they want. The action in a Battle Manga is based on 1) who's fighting, who are winning or losing, 2) why they fight, and 3) what interesting powers they have that you didn't know about.
Battle Mangas are fun and easy to craft, and are flexible and popular.
* Slice-of-Life
Slice-of-Life is one of the most interesting genres of Japanese comic. A Slice of Life is essentially the comic form of the American Short Story novel. The piece follows a fairly ordinary true-to-life set of characters at the pivotal point of their life. We drop into their lives, see the problem, and experience the change, and then leave. Slice-of-Life shows are typically fairly ordinary to human life, but can involve some fairly odd concepts. Action is driven by the natural reaction of a well-developed character to an obstacle or situation.
For example, in Myself, Yourself, nothing abnormal or supernatural happens, but it is a story about a young man who meets his elementary sweetheart after her life has been shattered into a million pieces. In contrast, Kokuro Connect is about a group of fairly normal students who are experimented on by a sociologist-like alien creature. Both are set in "the real world," but teach you about what it takes to change people for the better. Or the worse.
* Superhero Story
The superhero story is the backbone of American comics. In a superhero story, we have a character or set of characters who are larger-than-life and have special powers. The action is driven based on how the character applies its powers to a set of obstacles or situations and how they react to who they are.
For example, Spider-man is about the life of a man with spider-like powers, who believes he's a joke of fate, but who believes that with his powers come the responsibility to use them to help other people. Whether he succeeds or not and what this looks like depends on who is writing the comic we're reading -- but finding this out is why we read Spider-man.
* Setting-Driven
A Setting-Driven work, such as a High Fantasy (i.e. the Hobbit, Harry Potter, Green Lantern) or a Historical Drama is a work in which the setting plays more of a part than the individual characters. In a Setting-Driven work, emphasis is placed on political systems and groups of people, as well as what is happening in the world at large, and then boils down to the individual actions of the characters against that fundamental backdrop.
For example, as story about a Union medical officer in the Civil War is mainly driven by the Civil War, not the medic. The medic's actions are what interest us, but they're only interesting in how they relate to the Civil War. Again, in the Lord of the Rings, Frodo's actions are based on the overall war between Sauron and the Elves and Humans, not on Frodo himself.
* Shonen Battle Manga
A Shonen Battle Manga is a popular form of Japanese comic involving interesting characters squaring off against each other with a story to keep them together. What is happening in the world isn't as important as how cool the characters are and the fact that they need to fight something in order to get what they want. The action in a Battle Manga is based on 1) who's fighting, who are winning or losing, 2) why they fight, and 3) what interesting powers they have that you didn't know about.
Battle Mangas are fun and easy to craft, and are flexible and popular.
* Slice-of-Life
Slice-of-Life is one of the most interesting genres of Japanese comic. A Slice of Life is essentially the comic form of the American Short Story novel. The piece follows a fairly ordinary true-to-life set of characters at the pivotal point of their life. We drop into their lives, see the problem, and experience the change, and then leave. Slice-of-Life shows are typically fairly ordinary to human life, but can involve some fairly odd concepts. Action is driven by the natural reaction of a well-developed character to an obstacle or situation.
For example, in Myself, Yourself, nothing abnormal or supernatural happens, but it is a story about a young man who meets his elementary sweetheart after her life has been shattered into a million pieces. In contrast, Kokuro Connect is about a group of fairly normal students who are experimented on by a sociologist-like alien creature. Both are set in "the real world," but teach you about what it takes to change people for the better. Or the worse.
* Superhero Story
The superhero story is the backbone of American comics. In a superhero story, we have a character or set of characters who are larger-than-life and have special powers. The action is driven based on how the character applies its powers to a set of obstacles or situations and how they react to who they are.
For example, Spider-man is about the life of a man with spider-like powers, who believes he's a joke of fate, but who believes that with his powers come the responsibility to use them to help other people. Whether he succeeds or not and what this looks like depends on who is writing the comic we're reading -- but finding this out is why we read Spider-man.
