Jordan

Mockingjay part 2 has just come out with the last Divergent movie in the line up for release. Write about the top movies that are adapted from young adult novels. How do they stand up in time? Is their target audience broader than young adults? What similarities or differences are there between them? Movies of interest may be the Hunger Games, Divergent, The Maze Runner, Enders Game, The Fault in Our Stars, Twilight…etc.Of course, there are more out now than ever and the list does not need to be confined to trilogies, so long as it is adapted from young adult books.

There are many anime aimed toward children, although only a small number of those are aired on televisions in the West. What are some of these series? Why might they not have been aired on television and instead released on DVD only? There is an Answerman on Anime News Network on "Why are anime still censored?" which could be useful to refer to. Fancy Lala, Creamy Mami, Kaleido Star other magical girl series, and maybe even Tamako Market are some examples that could be considered appropriate for that audience.

The harem genre is a term used for anime that have one guy surrounded by a bunch of girls (usually they have a romantic interest in the main character). Sometimes there are 'reverse harems' where it's 1 girl surrounded by a bunch of guys. Take a look at the history of the harem genre in anime, which series have been popular, why the harem genre is popular/interesting and some of the most entertaining, high quality, maybe even odd harem anime. Are love triangles a more effective system?

Take a look at anime that either were adapted so poorly from the manga or are left incomplete that deserve to be remade from scratch. Kanon 2006 or Space Battleship Yamato are examples of anime that have done this.

Write a list of anime television series which may not have been big cross-over hits like Attack on Titan and Full Metal Alchemist, but probably could work as popular series in this market. Series that come to my mind are Eden of the East, Paranoia Agent, Terror in Resonance (mystery series), High School of the Dead (zombies), Maison Ikkoku, Nana, Usagi Drop, Kaleido Star and other sports anime (soaps), Dance with Devils (fantasy), Sound Euphonium (music)… any others that come to mind may be added, but try to avoid anime-only genres such as mecha, ecchi (too much of it anyway) and magical girls.

Compare the Japanese and Western animation industries. In particular, look at some of the major studios in Japan today and in the West, and compare how they function. How is the work load divided? Is the software used to animate the same? How many series will be created at once? Is the pre or post production sequences done differently? Interviews with anime staff on Anime News Network, Youtube documentaries on Animation production, or information from the Hey, Answerman column may be useful to refer to.

Compare, contrast, give history, information on influence and possibly rank famous mecha anime franchises. Ones of interest may be Voltron, Gundam, Patlabor, Macross, Neon Genesis Evangelion and Fullmetal Panic.

The majority of anime are aimed toward teenagers to young adults, so high schools appear time and time again as a setting. How is the experience of high school portrayed in anime? Is it optimistic, pessimistic or somewhere in between? Does it depend on the genre? Are there any particular titles that break the mold or explore aspects of Japanese high school life in a different way? As a background, some mention of how Japanese schools differ from the West would be useful. A title of interest might be Flowers of Evil.