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What Does an American TV Writer Think of Anime?
Nobody's mind should be blown mind by this fact; but there is a whole ocean of difference between anime and the kind of programming you'll find on American television. While we here at Anime Vice have been sitting solidly in one particular section of the world's greater pop culture sphere, we're ever curious about getting views on our favorite shows 'from the outside looking in.'
Thus, we've reached out to rising star Andrew Burrows-Trotman, a (North) American TV writer, for some expert perspective on two of the biggest titles this year. Just what would a man versed in network primetime and cable premium content think of this nutso Japanation stuff, anyway? Well, read on...
ANIME
VICE: Getting
straight to the point - - in your humble, professional opinion, which was the
better show? ATTACK ON TITAN or GARGANTIA ON THE VERDUROUS PLANET?
ANDREW BURROWS-TROTMAN: I enjoyed both series for different reasons.
AV: OK. Play it
diplomatic, for now. Let’s take a couple steps
back and come back to that later. Interviewees give better introductions than interviewers, so… just who are you?
ABT: Well, my name is Andrew Burrows-Trotman. I am a
proud Canadian boy that hates cold weather.
I was born in Scarborough Ontario
and raised in a single parent immigrant home by my strict, over-protective
Guyanese mother who kept me indoors to protect me from the rough neighborhood I
grew up in. I spent most of my time watching TV and reading books for lack of
anything better to do (my mother refused
to buy me video games).
I was obsessed with 80's television and, to this day, I can tell
you the time, day and network for almost any show that aired for more than a
season during that great decade of TV.
AV: Yikes. 'Otaku expertise' of a different stripe! Were your friends as into this stuff as you?
ABT: I can safely say I was the only kid in
my projects that dreamed of running a TV network.
Still, I actually began writing mainly to
make friends in school. By conveniently including select classmates in my
creative writing assignments, I made many friends!
AV: Now, about
your work in TV... what do you?
ABT: I write for both film and television, actually, but if I had
to choose between them it would definitely be TV. I love to write in the genres of
fantasy, science fiction and historical fiction and currently have two of my
own original TV pilots in development at different production companies.
AV: And what are these
pilots about?
ABT: Both pilots are drastically different. One is a
period piece set in 19’th century New Orleans that follows the lives of an
ensemble of characters living and working in the legal red-light district known
at the time as "Storyville".
My other pilot, entitled "The
Creation," is a dark genre script about a modern day, Cronenberg-esque
Frankenstein set in the world of regenerative medicine and top secret military
experimentation.
And I am currently writing yet another original, set in the
world of ancient Israel, that follows the lives of various women in the fabled harem of King Solomon.
AV: So were these shows actually your first encounter with
anime? Please tell us they weren't.
ABT: Nah. My first experience with anime I understood as anime started with
classics like AKIRA and GHOST IN THE SHELL. However, my formative experiences with
anime were shows that were 'anime' by a looser definition.
Like everyone else I loved
the 80's TRANSFORMERS show. I can't stress to you how profoundly this show
impacted me. Transformers was never on a Canadian network like other American
cartoons and not being able to afford those classic brown box converters, I had
to twist and bend my black and white TV antennas to get a 'snowy' Buffalo feed, but I still watched every episode even though I could barely make
out the images!
My absolute favorite anime, though... was G-FORCE!
AV: Interesting. So it was
G-FORCE and not BATTLE OF THE PLANETS…?
ABT: Right. We got the original show in Canada, not the 'remake.' I had never seen anything quite like it! I mean, what American cartoon in the 80's would dare have a bad guy wear lip stick and
still be as badass as Zoltar!
I also was a huge fan of DUNGEONS
& DRAGONS, which I only realized years later was co-produced with a Japanese
studio (which probably explains why it was so much better than the rest of the Saturday morning line-up).
AV: So not a total neophyte then. Very good. Now, back to the present - - what’s your take on TITAN?
ABT: I thought it was eerie and disturbing -
- and superior to GARGANTIA in terms of visual
delivery - - but after a while, I tired of the story arc. It is a gut-wrenching
series that makes you empathize with Eren Jaeger. I mean, who wouldn't feel for
a young man having to watch his mother eaten by a giant human?
Still, after setting up the story, I
grew restless with the gory Titan killings. Where is the series headed? How far
can we go, just watching Eren's bottomless hatred for the Titans expressed in
brilliantly-violent battles?
AV: What did you think of the big twist, though?
ABT: Eren's mysterious powers to become a
Titan were an interesting mid-series revelation, but it did nothing to move the
story forward emotionally. I found myself growing more and more curious about
these strange Titans and tiring of the human struggle to
fend them off. I wanted to know the origins and back story of these monsters.
More to the point - - I wanted to know
what I was to take away from this fascinating and frustrating story about
humanity?
AV: And what about
GARGANTIA, then?
ABT: I feel that TITAN
failed to deliver on its great promise and, in the end, GARGANTIA is the
superior show.
GARGANTIA had a complete arc for our
protagonist and great chemistry between Ledo and Chamber. Amy's pet squirrel is
a little bizarre, but I became emotionally involved in Ledo's journey and
wanted to see it through. GARGANTIA had more to say about the interconnected
nature of life than TITAN did. Ledo learns valuable lessons about taking a good
vs evil stance and just how dangerous it is to be willing to die for a 'cause.'
Also, I hope I am not spoiling anything for any readers but...
AV: That was sad, indeed. Now, we're most curious about how these shows compare to what's in your world. Do they pull off, or get away, with
things that would never work on American TV?
ABT: It would depend on whether the shows were being developed as
live-action projects, and if they were for cable or broadcast television.
AV: Put this way - - are there certain things that wouldn't pass a network show's writing room?
GARGANTIA’s tone is ready made for broadcast TV, and there would be very few
adjustments needed (other than losing
squirrels as pets).
For TITAN, it would
definitely be the graphic nature of the Titans attacks. That would have to be
lost so children (and adults) can sleep at night! The attacks can be staged
more implicitly, since everyone knows the Titans are popping the humans in their
mouths like Pillsbury pastries! I also sense an undercurrent of nihilism that
wouldn't sit well with studio execs, so I would write in some more moments of
levity between the soldiers and beef up Eren Jaeger's love life to make it more
palatable.
AV: It is a bleak show, no doubt about it. So where can
people find you online if they want to see what's next for ABT? Are you on the Twitter
or anything?
ABT: I am one of those
stubborn curmudgeons, trying to stem the tide of progress, who has come to the
horrible realization that I must get with the times and get a Twitter account
going. Seeing as I have lots of new projects to promote, I will probably do it
soon, but the just the thought of hashtags and re-tweets is already making me
nauseous. Ugggh!
AV: Thanks for talking to
us today, ABT!
ABT: Thank you for having me! Pet squirrels and rampant decapitations aside, it was fun 'marathoning' both of these
compelling (and seriously unusual) shows. I really want to watch more new anime, now, so if any of you have some suggestions, please hit me with 'em! I'm game for anything.
