We all like certain types of anime for different reasons. Some people like the “epic” anime that boasts 150 episodes. Some like the shorter, more defined anime, and some like random anime that doesn’t really end or begin. Me, I prefer the random and the defined anime. I’ve tried to flesh out these anime story types to better explain:
Linear
Linear storytelling begins at a defined point and ends at a defined point on a set time/plot line. It doesn’t matter where the story starts, it simply matters that it ends and that there are defined points along the line.
Flashback Linear style is wherein the anime begins at the end, or near end, and then flashes back either to the beginning or middle of the story and picks up from there. A prime example of Flashback would be Afro Samurai.
Then there’s the Point A- Point Z model wherein the anime starts at the beginning and treks all the way through to the end, passing through all the subsequent points in between. Gankutsuo would be an example of this model of linear.
The Combo Platter of the linear style is just that – a combination of the two. Starting at Point A, the story goes directly to Point F, but then flashes back to Point B-E and onwards to Point G. Repeat as needed. Many popular anime are the Combo Platter: Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Escaflowne, Evangelion, etc.
Radial
Radial Style could be described as a wheel spoke. At the center hub is the central idea, plot or character. Episodes of radial anime will reach out beyond the central hub for that episode but will always return to the hub. Each new episode is a different spoke on the wheel.
With Radial Style, the plot line never moves forward. Instead, this type can serve to define characters, moments,or highlight specific action. Slice of life anime are often Radial Styles.
Random Anime is a radial style. Even though the anime may seem random (true randomness still does not exist outside quantum theory, BTW), it still comes back the central idea, group of friends, or place. Two excellent examples of Random would be Azumanga Diaoh and Cromartie High School.
Not to be confused with Spiral Style, Radial doesn’t hold with formulas. Each episode will at least have a different setting, or a different mini-plot, or a different group of characters.
Spiral
Imagine a world where nothing seems to end. You wake up, go to work, do what you do everyday, then go home. Next day, same thing. But imagine that every day, something a little bit different happens during your routine. You still end up at home, but your life is changing, very slightly, every day. That’s spiral style.
Never ending anime like Yugi-oh, Pokemon, and Naruto have the same formulaic layout: Run around, find out something new, fight. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Infinity.
There may be an end, but you can’t really see it since you’re spiraling around the curves so often. You’re not ending up exactly where you were but you’re not making any real head way either.
Is there a style of storytelling I left out? I figured these three main styles would cover what most anime adhere to, whether consciously or not. Which style of anime storytelling do you prefer?
I don’t think there’s a storytelling left out. As for which I prefer. I’d that would have to be radial and linear.
Definitely, the one I like least is spiral. Mainly because things so rarely get solved.
Imagine watching Kanon if it were a spiral anime – we would have never found out which girl that poor boy ended up with…
Or worse, Onegai Twins – those three would still be whining about “One of us is a stranger, but the other is family.”
Eh your definitions seem to be a tad off. Take your “spiral” for instance, as the plot progresses, does it not increase in scale and magnitude? A spiral structure seems to suggest that.
@Kidan, I loathe never ending anime. Since I’m a sci-fi fan, I’m no stranger to book series that never seem to end (Damn you Piers Anthony and Robert Jordan!!!!) It seems like every time I think a series of anime or books will end and my pocketbook will finally get a breather, in come another round of episodes/ books. I can almost smell when an anime series will spiral on forever and have learned to avoid them.
@tj han. Good point about the scope and magnitude. Think of Inuyasha; that did seem to get a bit grander as it went on…same as Bleach and the like. Thanks for pointing that out!
@David – Oh most definitely. I’m real big into Star Wars EU and there’s no stopping those books anymore. Of course the spiral anime do make for mindless fun, because you don’t have to keep track of the storyline like you do in linear animes. Any episode you happen to drop in and watch, you can pretty much catch on what’s happening.
Also, I just noticed a typo. In the paragraph beneath the spiral, the last sentence reads: “That’s radial style.” When it should read: “That’s spiral style.”
This is a cool post. I don’t think you missed any story types…as far as I know.
I like linear the best.
Radial is alright every now and then…and spiral is alright every now and then as well…depending on how it’s used. I really liked Yugioh and Pokemon since it wasn’t like they had plots that NEEDED to get solved. Inuyasha was crap, though…even though it did have an ending, it was more spiral than anything else, IMO.
Hey – the above comment (”I hate never ending anime…”) was by Rachel, not me.
Rachel – You must be logged in under my account, LOL!
I like linear, particularly what you named the “combo platter.” The style of storytelling used in Naruto, Bleach, and so on can get sort of tiring, mainly because it’s repetitive, which makes it boring and predictable after a while. The only shows like that that I can stomach are magical girl shows.
I dunno if this is necessarily different from linear, but I picture this version of linear are more of a mountain graph – there’s an overall A-Z plot, but there are a few random episodes in between for comedy, general break, character development, etc. Examples would be Cowboy Bebop or Trigun where the main plot actually shows up on a fairly regular basis, but it’s not in every episode.
Examples in the first two examples would be helpful, like you have in the spiral example. Is the radial example like Azumanga Daioh?
One of the more interesting plots I’ve seen was in RahXephon. Linear with a twist: The story starts “in the middle” and you go crazy trying to figure out the who, why and how.
Of course there’s the “reset” variant. Thru some event, everything rewinds to the beginning. Like the first season of Sailor Moon, Magikano and Mai Hime for example. Frankly, I consider this laziness on part of the scriptwriters.
@DKong, spiral makes me queasy @_@. I couldn’t even have a brief affair with that style of storytelling. (Spiral and I did try and make it work, but after a few days, I had to end it.)
@David, whoopsie! I used your ‘puter for a sec and didn’t realize you were logged in! lol, my bad.
@griever, AD is indeedy radial.
@ordance11, lol, lazy screenwriters? Really? Can’t be true, look at Eva, wait….
I think this post might have been a little more helpful to The-Me-Who-Has-Never-Taken-Any-Literature-Classes-Beyond-High-School if you had actually listed anime examples for each style besides the Pokemon and Naruto ones you gave. Based mostly on my imagination, I’d say I like Flashback Linear, Combo Platter and Radial.
@Asuka, sorry, I was having a conversation inside my head when I wrote this, and forgot that people can’t read my mind. That sadly happens all too often. I went back and inserted a few examples. Thanks for the tip!