Pre-Production - Anime Writing Research

In my research into writing/creating an anime I looked into what the key differences are between western cartoons versus the Japanese Anime writing styles, the main differences I found is that Anime typically focuses on Emotions, empathy for the main character and being relatable to the audience is a large factor in what makes a good anime. Western animation seems to have a more scientific approach.

The key points I took from my research was the following

• A meaningful conflict is established. - The King has caused many wrongs and cheating his own people out of their last breaths to fuel his own hunger for power, he must be stopped.
• The characters are likeable, or at least not boring. Each character in The Last Breath has interesting personalities,  Arthur is a gifted fighter and noble hearted, yet just wants to make clothes, James is mysterious and all ways cheerful but inside is a different story, Riku is a powerful fighter yet kind hearted and loyal.
• There are characters the audience can "root for" or easily relate to. The trio of main characters all have story hooks which the audience can relate to such as James showing aspects of depression, Riku - not being accepted by their family and Arthur Trying to do the right thing in a world where people put their head down and hide from problems.
• The characters seem enough like real people, and not emotionless robots or too-perfect heroic archetypes 
• The world generated for the story to take place in is interesting by itself. Medieval fantasy setting with magical willpower abilities. Aspects from different cultures represents different locations in Axia
• The reader knows that everything that happens has a purpose, and is going to build up to something really important in the future. There will not be much "Filler" Episodes, where nothing of use comes from watching it
• Watch an episode, by the end of it, you should have a really strong desire to see the next one. If not, the anime might have a problem sustaining viewer interest. Each episode must end with a reason for the viewer to want to watch the next one.
• When watching it, you shouldn't feel like you really struggle to care or to sustain focus; a good anime or any good story pulls you in, you don't have to work very hard to stay interested in it or immersed in the vision of it. Not too much dialouge or vice versa, lots of fight scenes without any character development.

"But magic, or advanced technologies, have to work according to some kind of system of rules that are always consistently followed in the universe of the show." - https://reelrundown.com/animation/5-Hallmarks-of-Good-Storytelling-in-Anime

In terms of the magic of The Last Breath I feel like a rules system would need to be in place, whilst not like the magic in things like lord of the rings, Harry Potter etc. in The Last Breath people can manifest their Willpower to strengthen their body and weapons in a fight, the amount of willpower they can manifest depends on how many "Breaths" have been given to them. 

1. Emotional Appeal
2. Logical Consistency
3. Originality and Uniqueness
4. Moving the Plot Forward
5. Thoroughness/Closure

Kohei Horikoshi

I decided to research Kohei Horikoshi as my chosen Anime Writer, his work My Hero Academia is on of the most popular Anime at the moment and what I like about the show is how he portrays characters, each character has his or her own personality, whether its a busy body, massive anger issues or even  self loathing, each character is not defined by one personality type, the angry guy is also kind hearted in his own way, the busy body doesnt want to let any of his friends down and the self loathing guy may hate himself but cares deeply for others.