fast, though they usually don’t appear in the same series ing youngsters training and caring for exotic creatures as full-sizeOpen mecha, but there are exceptions. A(or in somenim cases machines) that would bee pitted against each other in combat. Th e monsters are usually Modern Powers smart but not sentient, and have not only special pow- Examples: Aquarian Age, Blue Seed, Gatekeepers, ers, but the ability to grow in strength and eventually JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Maburaho, Magic User’s Club, “evolve” into a more powerful form with proper care. Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto, Mai-HiME, Read We won’t even get into the possible implications of Or Die, S-Cry-Ed, Tokyo Underground this being a genre that involves cute anime critters in “Modern powers” is what we’ll call a genre of anime cockfi ghts. that involves characters gaining special powers and try- Anyway, pet monster anime is a close relative of ing to cope with them and live normal lives in spite of sports manga. Training monsters and having them fi ght being confronted with whatever dangers those powers is treated as a sport of sorts, and much like a typical bring to them. In eff ect, it’s superheroes without the sports manga (such as Hikaru no Go or Prince of Tennis) spandex or secret identities – though not a few heroes pet monster anime often revolve around a young boy in thisn genre fi nd it preferable to keep their powers starting out as a novice and becoming a master, growing secret from the world at large. Th e antagonists these and learning along the way. heroes face might be some kind of monsters only they can deal with, fellow power-users, or perhaps a shadowy Samurai organization that’s putting one or both of those to use Examples: Dagger of Kamui, Peacemaker Kuro- for some nefarious purpose. Or the special powers could gane, Rurouni Kenshin, Samurai Champloo, Samurai just be another part of their everyday lives. Deeper Kyo, Samurai Shodown Modern powers settings usually involve one specifi c Japan’s feudal era can be compared to the Wild kind of special power, which is expressed in diff erent West, insofar as both have been highly romanticized in ways byditio diff erent characters. If the campaign concerns fi lms and other media to the point where the fi ctional characters with elemental powers for example, each image of the setting has taken on a life of its own. characterE would have control over a specifi c element, Live-action samurai titles range from Akira Kurosawa’s and each would further develop his or her own ways of masterpieces to feudal soap operas to gory sword action, using that power to do diff erent things. Just becauseSample two and fileanime has put its own unique spin on Japan’s fun- characters use water-elemental powers doesn’t mean house mirror image of its history. their abilitiesic will be all that similar; one might rely on Some samurai anime play up deadly sword fi ght- big blasts of water to attack, another might use piercing ing, similar to live-action movies like Zatoichi: Th e Blind attacks with tiny droplets, and a third might not attack Swordsman, presenting fi ghts with razor-sharp swords, at all, n but use water to defend or heal. Th e GM should where human lives are cut down like so many blades defi ne the nature of the power and in general terms of grass. Th e heroes of this kind of story tend towards what kinds of Abilities can be used to represent it. extremes of either being mostly non-combat characters, Magic and Sorcery are obvious possibilities, but nearly or being so skilled that most opponents simply don’t anything is possible. have a chance against them. Others opt for more drawn- out fi ghts, whether with ki powers becoming involved, Pet Monsters or simply through over-the-top superhuman characters, Examples: Beyblade, Digimon, Dragon Drive, allowing for battles to be more along the lines of Fight- Medabots, Monster Rancher, Pokémon ing anime (see above). Pokémon’s success, in Japan, the U.S., and else- Th e feudal Japan of samurai anime and movies is where, is undeniable. Th e video game spawned a long- often about as indeterminate as “Medieval Times” or “Th e Old West” is in the movies we have here. Th at is, runninglectro anime, a manga, a card game, and an endless array of merchandise. It also led to others to try their they’re set not in what we believe was the reality of his-

hand atE what would become a genre of its own, featur- tory, but rather a mythical setting that grew out of that history. Th at said, “samurai” as a genre has lots of room 8 for the diff erent eras of Japanese history. Th e SengokuO (Warringpen States) period Anime is an obvious choice since it has many Science Fiction opportunities for confl ict, but even the stable times of the Tokugawa Shogunate One thing that’s sometimes overlooked is that while the have room for swinging swords around. storytelling style remains distinctly anime, many sci-fi anime As Rurouni Kenshin aptly demonstrates, series are based in a premise that seems like it came out of the the Meiji Era, which brought about the tradition of “hard” science fi ction literature. If you’re thinking end of the feudal system and unprec- about having a science fi ction campaign, consider looking to the edented contact with the West, can make likes of Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Phillip K. Dick for for a fascinating setting – while sub- inspiration, and then adding a bit of anime fl air to spice things E stantially reducing the need to deal with up.

the complexities of feudal society. It’s up lectro to you to decide how much you want to invest into using historical details in creating your own there are plenty of possibilities for just about any type campaign setting. of adventure imaginable. Th is is doubly true when the player characters are traveling around in a spaceship; Space Opera diff erent planets, space stations, etc. allow for massive Examples: Black Heaven, Crest of the Stars, Dirty changes of scenery on a regular basis, and with them Pair, Divergence Eve, Galaxy Angel, Galaxy Frau- the chance to meet new NPCs and encounter new lein Yuna, GeneShaft, Infi nite Ryvius, Irresponsible problems to solve. Captain Tylor, Kiddy Grade, Lost Universe, Martian In terms of “cool stuff ,” vanilla space opera includes Successor Nadesico, MeltyLancer, Outlaw Star, Sol space ships, space fi ghters, and other types of high Bianca, Star Blazers, Stellvia, Tenchi Muyo!, Vandread, technology. How of a tech level really varies, but there’s

Xenosaga no upper limit per se. Of course, space opera animen Anime has a long tradition of space opera, over- tend to gloss over details like radio transmissions tak- the-top sci-fi with lots of spaceships fi ring laser beams ing time to travel or how spaceships create artifi cial at each other. It goes without saying that spaceSample opera gravity, file even as they have an eminently recognizable ic anime owes a lot to sci-fi TV shows, but the style modern ramen shop using the same methods as today of storytelling – which heavily emphasizes human out in space. Mecha also appear in anime space operas relationships, even in the midst of a war – is distinctly all the time; some series are wholly based around anime. fi ghting in big mecha, while others include them asE yet If the campaign is action-oriented, it pays to take another type of war machine. pains to pay attention to the balance of the diff erent Aliens are a distinct possibility, but in no way aditio types of action. Space opera can potentially involve necessity since nations with nothing but humans are ship-to-ship battles, dogfi ghts between space fi ghters quite capable of getting into confl icts. When aliens and/or mecha, human-scale skirmishes, and the occa- do appear, they tend towards extremes of appearing sional brawl. Each of these requires diff erent skills, and mostly human or oddly inhuman – though most aliens player characters that specialize in one stands a good in anime are still humanoid in their general shape. Hu- chance of being bored if the others dominate the game man-looking alien races open up the possibility of cute too much. alien girls, and even some inhuman races might some- Th e genre lends itself to many diff erent types of times turn out a mostly human-looking alien princess stories and formats. War stories are probably the most as some kind of ambassador or spy. Naturally there’sn common, but freewheeling bounty hunters, spacefar- also the possibility of highly advanced and ineff able ing “super-heroes,” and academy students have all had aliens running around, not to mention extinct ones their place in space opera anime. Likewise, while space who’ve left behind artifacts of their “suffi ciently ad- 9 opera provides options for stuff like cool space battles, vanced technology” that could have a drastic eff ect on works on two diff erent levels: the overall goal of the the relativelyOpen primitive lives of us spacefaring humans. Acampaign,nim and what the player characterse will be doing over the course of each session that draws them close Sword and Sorcery to that goal. Ideally, you should be able to answer both Examples: Arc Th e Lad, Berserk, Dragon Half, facets of this question in one sentence. King of Bandits Jing, Maze, Record of the Lodoss War, For example, in the cliché fantasy RPG campaign Ruin Explorers, Rune Soldier, Scrapped Princess, Slay- the heroes are heading out to fi nd their fortune in the ers world, and while they don’t know it at the start, they’ll Traditional sword and sorcery type fantasy defi - probably end up saving the world by taking out the nitely has a place in anime, cemented by Record of the Dark Lord. On the game session level the player char- Lodoss War, which was in fact loosely based on an RPG acters are a team of adventurers, each with a diff erent campaign. Th e diff erences between anime-style sword specialty, and they use their skills in fi ghting, magic, n and sorcery and the kind that comes in novels at your being sneaky, etc. to do things like kill monsters, raid local book store can be subtle. Magic is fl ashier, swords dungeons, protect villagers, etc., making gains in power can be ridiculously big, elf ears can be ridiculously long, along the way so that when the time comes they’ll be and even less thought is given to depicting a “realistic” ready for the Dark Lord. “Use swords and magic and medieval society. stuff to kill monsters, get more powerful, and eventually Lord of the Rings is well-known in Japan, but con- save the world.” It’s important to think about this stuff sole RPGs – especially the Dragon Quest series – are because in reality a fantasy campaign could as easily far more infl uential as far as anime is concerned. Magic concern soldiers in a war story, or clerks as a shop selling has a way of consisting mostly of discrete spells whose magic items, and the types of player characters, their names are shouted out, heroes tend to fall into distinct goals, and the focus of each game session would be radi- “classes,” and societies are based on a very vague image cally diff erent. of what medieval societies were like, usually rendered a lot nicer than in real life unless they happen to be run Length by a villain. Anime fantasy also often has some comedy Although many gamers are in the habit of keeping mixed in, whether as a relief to a serious story (as in

ic Editio ic a campaign going for as long as possible, it can be useful Scrapped Princess) or the whole point of the entireSample series and filerewarding to think in terms of telling an overall (like with Dragon Half). story with a defi nite beginning, middle, and end. Th ink

Magicn is one of the major distinguishing features of of it in terms of an anime series; there are single mov- fantasy as a genre, and in fantasy novels authors often ies, OAV series with only 2-6 episodes, short TV series try to come up with new and innovative ways for magic with 12-13 episodes, average TV series with 26 epi- to work in the worlds they create. Th ere can even be sodes, and long TV series with 40+ episodes. Similarly, distinct types of magic in the world that operate under your game can be a one-shot, a “mini-campaign” of only diff erent principles and thus have diff erent properties a few sessions, or a regular campaign of whatever length and limitations. Anime can delve into this realm, or just you fi nd appropriate. And like an anime series, if it goes gloss over the details and have generic console RPG over well enough it can be renewed later for a “second style magic. season.” Premise Format Th e genre provides a general milieu, but that’s ul- Another question to consider is that of format; timately just a skeleton of clichés waiting to be clothed what kind of situation are the characters in, and how in fl esh. Just like an anime series, a campaign needs a does it lead them to have interesting things happen? premise. For the purposes of an RPG campaign, a good Th ey could be friends who have strangeness happen in way to work out the premise is to answer the question, their everyday lives, they could be on a journey that will “What do the player characters do?” Th is question take them through danger, or there might even be a war 0 Electro 1 going on. A campaign needn’t follow the same format Family all theO way through;pen it’s not at all unusual for anime Anime characters to have their normal lives disrupted and an Human beings are defi ned in part by their expe- epic quest begin over the course of a series. riences as part of a family – or sometimes their lack Agency: The PCs are part of an organization that thereof. Th emes of family often come through in anime hires its services out to various clients. in the form of strong contrasts between characters who Duty: Th e PCs have a job or similar obligation have a loving family and those who have too long been that leads them to adventures. alone.

Everyday Life: Th e PCs have a relatively normal E lifestyle of some kind, which happens to include the Friendship odd adventure here and there. School is the most obvi- Friendship is an important and powerful themelectro ous place for this kind of campaign. in anime – and often in real life for that matter. Often Quest: Th e characters are out on an adventure. a character that has never really known friendship is Th is may be a real quest for something, evasion of a shown some unconditional kindness and aff ection and pursuing danger, or even aimless wandering. it changes the way she looks at the world. On the other War : Th ere is a war going on, and the PCs have hand a character to whom friendships are a basic and been caught up in it somehow, whether as soldiers, natural thing is at least as tormented when torn away mercenaries, or simply victims trying to survive. from her friends by circumstances. Th emes Honor vs. Results Like any other form of story telling, anime usually When the competitive spirit is aroused, there are often two types of competitors; those who engage in involves certain themes – underlying ideas that the n story is intended to convey to the audience. Deciding the competition for its own sake, and those who do on one or more themes for a campaign can help guide whatever it takes to win. Th e “weakness” of sentimen- the GM in determining what kinds of adventures/epi- tality and fair play is contrasted with the eff ectiveness ic sodes are appropriate. Below are some of the more of a “victory machine.” Anime being the way it is, how- common themes found in anime. ever, in the end those who act purely for victory fi nd Samplethemselves file falling behind those who act by following

Destiny their hearts. E Are our lives played out as written in the stars Love above, or is destiny the sum of a person’s own choices? ditio Changing the destiny of one’s birth is never impos- Love – romantic and otherwise – is an extremely sible, but takes a kind of deep motivation to do so. A common theme in anime. It is a source of both character that believes that destiny cannot be changed strength and weakness, and every worthwhile love in may have some powerful and tragic personal reason to anime is one that is hard to come by. think that way. Unrequited love is also a very common theme One way in which the theme of destiny comes into in anime. Not everyone who falls in love has the play is with the notion of “breeding.” Anime often fea- good fortune to have that person return his or tures characters that come from respected families and her feelings. Tales of unrequited love are often come off as being “refi ned” human beings. Sometimes portrayed tragically and/or nobly; the lover mayn this idea is celebrated, but frequently it’s contrasted be lost in despair or even driven to do something with the opposite extreme in the form of a character terrible, or could turn those feelings into something who’s a “nobody,” but who has the ability to strive as an honorable, however unfulfi lling. individual and persevere against trials that a seemingly 11 more qualifi ed character of good breeding would fail at or not even attempt. Open AnimeTh e Valueme of Life Surprising at it may seem, in anime mercy is often held up as one of the virtues of true heroes. Life is inherently valuable, because as long as someone is still alive they can aspire to something better. For that rea- son many heroes avoid killing even enemies unnecessarily. At the farthest extreme is a hero who, in spite of be- ing incredibly pow- erful, refuses to kill except in the direst need. Th is road is not an easy one, but in the long run it is not wholly thankless. Rurouni Kenshin, Trigun, and Galaxy Frau- lein Yuna all feature this type of main hero, someone who would rather make friends Gender out of his or her enemies than corpses, no matter what the cost. Characters like this will often have the Attack What does it mean to be a boy or a girl? In anime Restriction Disability. more often than not we are shown that neither is better On the other hand anime often reminds us of the than the other – they are two diff erent roles, and step- preciousness of life the hard way. We are made to wit- ping outside of them means stepping outside of normal ness good people, innocent lives, being cruelly, unjustly society. Sampledestroyed. file People of abject innocence, people of amaz- ing potential, and people who, in their own way, are Humanity struggling just as bravely as any hero, can all be snuff ed When non-human characters come into play, out by cruel fate. In part this is just a good way to make whether because of supernatural or technological ori- a villain become truly villainous in the eyes of the audi- gins, the question of what it means to be human arises. ence, but it also brings this theme home. If someone isn’t human, does it mean they cannot love a person who is, or is love something above such trivial Th e Fate of Mankind concerns? A number of anime series have at their core a sort of philosophical dialogue. One side says that human- Sacrifi ce ity is fl awed and must be either corrected or destroyed, On both sides of the Pacifi c we love tales of self- and the other says that humanity may be fl awed, but sacrifi ce. Heroes are often forced to give up what they is also a thing of limitless potential that should exist want in favor of what their duty demands. Not only unconstrained. Someone who questions the validity of mere material comforts, but love, happiness, and even human existence and has the means to enforce his or their very lives can all wind up on the chopping block of her twisted will is likely a natural enemy of the heroes, righteousness. Anime calls us to appreciate the honor of whether a well-meaning alien force, someone bend on sacrifi ce, even as it shows us just how hard it can be. revenge, or simply a madman. 12 Electronic Edition 12 Electronic