A Literal Interpretation Of Slice of Life

So I was thinking of the Slice of Life Genre, and how due to most conventional laws of fiction use SOL as a synonym for a Gag/Comedy Series.

However I was thinking of a Literal Genie look at it, as literally a slice of the life of your average Ordinary High-School Student, not the "average" guy with exaggerated traits, not Arthur Dent, a literal regular Japanese teenager in his second year of high school, he doesn't "rebel" against society as a Delinquent or a Hikikomori, He's not an Otaku, he's not the Class Representative, the "loner", the Bishonen, or even the Dogged Nice Guy and his childhood friend, his interests are hidden in his room like a normal person who puts on their masks for society.

However from here I have problems deciding how the rest should go, as originally I had ANOTHER idea, which revolved around the Imagine Spot of the repressed main character. The two ideas were so similar I was wondering is I should merge them.

The first original idea went along like normal, in which the MC wakes up and goes to school.

And that's it no credits, no opening theme, no Animation Bump, the "opening sequence" as you can call it is simply his MP 3 player, the "theme" being whatever topped the Nico charts, the "Opening" is just him walking to school, then he sits down for class, maybe he waves and says a few pleasantries to familiar faces but the lesson begins and it's about seven minutes of of class condensed.

No music, no Early-Bird Cameo, no "Loyal Best Friend", no "Wacky Teacher", no "Meet the Romantic Lead", he sits and we watch him learn while the camera does different angles as it progresses, around the same as most Anime if a point is needed.

Then we have lunch break (Eyecatch), then we watch some more classes and he goes home, sometimes he may do his homework, sometimes he hops the train to Akihabara, maybe this time he'll buy something, and sometimes he goes on 2ch, after that we watch him study while he listens to music (Ending Theme), then he goes to sleep.

However what I wanted to do was ALSO not do the generic "Life is dull and boring, this society is so repressed! ANGST!" but rather everything is appropriate, it's not primary colors or bleak and washed out. Rather it's normal it's a "Slice Of Life", colors look as they do it real life and the sky is...an actually sky.

The main draw though is the MC inner musings, sprinkled throughout the episode, which show his contemplations on life and meaning and the society they live in, looking at the criticisms their country receives and wondering if the foreigners are justified in their accusations. HOWEVER! As a subversion I wanted to show how the MC also frequently thought about how he thought, or rather that he thinks too much, that he sees too much symbolism in everything, that he spends more time thinking about abstract concepts than actually doing anything significant, to show kind of an inner struggle that is both dismissed and exploding in his mind, as the dismissal creates more turmoil which only reinforces the dismissal, creating a paradox while he takes notes on math.

In contrast though I wanted his musings to build and expand to the point of spilling over, in instances in which he "looked away from reality", events which mark significant points in the series, called as such often due to the absurdity of the situation and his Refuge in Audacity reaction to it.

The second idea though is a mixture, while it retains most of the elements from the original idea, it also makes it more mental in a sense.

I was partially inspired by an episode in Malcolm In The Middle, where Malcolm represses all his feelings, ending in a peptic ulcer induced by stress. It reminded me of how Japanese society works, in how one should master self-control in order to better society and succeed in life. While I don't want the MC to just get a disease from it, I DID want to show what happens along the lines of such a thought process.

The main differences lie in that this one would have more characters and conventions, being a tad more silly to showcase the reactions of the MC, though not to comedy levels. For instance there would be music but it's in his head.

During his walk to school the screen divides like in a comparison video, one shows what's really happening, him walking to school, while the other shows what he wants to happen, his repressed urges that have only become more extreme as time has gone on. So while he walks to school he smacks the Christmas Cake Bakery owner on the ass, smacks the foreigner with a trash can lid, swipes the drink from some construction worker on his way to school, and gives a Bright Slaps to the Ojou while simultaneously groping her before propping his legs on the desk. Did this happen? No. But it's what he would've done had he not repressed his urges.

Here the main draw is the contrast, in reality he is calm, silent, and polite, yet while he deals with people we see his Imagine Spot, which almost directly contradicts his spoken words and expressions.

For example in one scene he is asked to stand and answer the question, which he answers incorrectly. He doesn't like the teacher, but he wouldn't know that, so while he the teacher corrects him, all while being condescending, his words are overlapped onto flip-flops of "Reality" and the "Imagine Spot" in which he takes the pen in his hand and stabs out the teacher's eyes, slamming his head onto the desk and walls before throwing him through the window, all while classical music plays (an idea of mine) in which the music, coming from his mind or an outside source, directly contradicts the situation to showcase how demented he is.

Another one would be where he meets an annoying Kogal from his school, whom he imagines beating over the head with a nearby pipe, crushing first her skull, ribs, legs, and which that point he tosses her into oncoming traffic, the music being supplied by the department store's PA system.

In addition to these, rather than interrupt someone, he politely listens until they're finished, instead when the screen switches to him we hear his mental ravings rather than speech.

An example would be when he (MC) helps the Girl's Softball Captain with equipment (SC).

SC:Thanks sooo much for helping me with this, all this stuff is such a pain to put away!

MC:It's fine. GOD you're so HOT! Look at those THINGS they're like FREAKING F CUPS! I just want to put my HEAD between those and BANG the living DAYLIGHTS out of her!

SC:It's terrible though, the team is so unmotivated this year! I just wish they could pay attention and actually practice!

MC:Mmm. NOBODY CARES BITCH! The team SUCKS anyway, they've always SUCKED, they SUCKED last year too! The only thing they're good for is SUCKING, it's the only thing ANY woman is good for! In fact, it's what you should be doing RIGHT NOW, ya damn COW!

SC:Ne, you understand what I'm saying right!

MC:Of course.The only thing I understand is that you TALK TOO DAMN MUCH! DAMN, BITCHES like you really are only good for CATTLE aren't they!

And so forth, like when he imagines a intense sex scene with the Student Council President while she chides him on his lazy habits, with scenes like that having heavy rock playing in the background.

The main problem is the "looking from reality" parts have a different impact and atmosphere when compared to the "reality-mind" scenes, which occur more often. For example one of the first important points in the story is when he notices that one of his "acquaintances" is missing from class, and from his observations on her behavior from the last few days, along with analyzing the few facets of her personality he knows, he concludes to go to the hospital after school, his predictions being horrifyingly correct, discovering her latest attempt at suicide almost succeeded.

At this point he embraces her while she lies in her hospital bed, asking her to start a relationship, which she does accept in a mix of shock and delirium. Here it counts as the "First time I looked away from reality" being something like a scene straight out of a shoujo manga, and in the other one the first time he's not imagining it. What I worry about here is that while option two is better structured, option one would have more impact when stuff actually happens.

So thoughts, feedback, criticisms?

edited 10th Sep '10 9:40:57 PM by WORLDTree

Adding those kinds of violent imagine spots sounds like an easy way to divert focus away from being a rather unique slice of life, and into debates from anyone following the work as to whether the character is some kind of repressed sociopath, or a massive douche despite being restrained, or whether that's normal behavior.

All I'm saying is that if you're going to have his fantasies be that crazy, you either need to have only a few that are so over the top, or be a lot more subtle about it if you don't want to stir up that kind of controversy. Which in its own way could be perfectly ok.

Kind of reminds me of Onani Master Kurosawa.

Well funny you mention that series, as that was what partially gave motivation to THIS series, as I liked how in that one, the twist was that the character learned to grow out of his stupid habits and become a good person, and as such the point was that he was a sociopathic nutjob, it'd just people didn't know he was, and gradually he should get better a la Character Development.

Still one, or two, one, or two...

Your idea is almost identical in premise to the webcomic I'm developing - especially the half of it involving the Indulgent Fantasy Segues - except the main character is actually Japanese instead of just an anime fan.

However, by no means does that mean you shouldn't go through with it. You're a very good writer.

However, if you decide not to (I noticed this seemed to be a pitch for a TV production) do you mind if I use a few of your ideas? I'll credit you, of course.

edited 12th Sep '10 4:31:28 PM by Wheezy

Well the character is Japanese...

But hey this is really one of those "what if" ideas, you could use it if you want, just share the porfits and tell me if it gets big!

EDIT: Hmmm, do you mean the Otaku dream girl, I think I read that thread, but hey we could be writer-writer-artist combo!

edited 12th Sep '10 4:58:54 PM by WORLDTree

Interesting story premise: an Ordinary High-School Student decides to pretend his life is a story. As he goes about his day, he narrates what is happening, using various tropes ('oh, here's the Early-Bird Cameo'). Meanwhile, what's really happening is basically completely normal.

... And his Inner Monologue is epically hammy and over-dramatic.

And all extremely violent and SEXUAL!

Imagine you made a meat pie using still-living rodents. Imagine you carefully took a slice of it as not to kill the rodents.

That is a literal slice of life.

It annoys me when people use literally incorrectly.

It is more literal than what "slice of life" normally means. If you want to be really literal, you might be able to trace the etymology of "slice" or "life" back a bit further.

I don't like it when "literally" is used to mean something like "extremely", but I think here it's being used in a more correct way. It's just that literality is relative, and here the obvious literal meaning is a bit more literal that the one being used.

Hey we could be writer-writer-artist combo!

I very well may take you up on that.

I'll take that as a yes.

That's great, because not only do I need a co-writer, I need someone to push me along so this never joins my already massive pile of artistic Vapor Ware.

So, first of all, read this, and tell me what you think of it. Those are the absolute the basics you need to know going into this, and if you have any criticisms on that premise - no matter what they are - it would help to voice them.

If you don't want to derail this thread, PM me, contact me on Devart if you have a page, or post in that other thread I linked up there.

edited 25th Sep '10 8:46:21 PM by Wheezy

"It is more literal than what "slice of life" normally means."

You're just using it to mean more normal. Where in the expression "slice of life" does it mention anything being normal? The only thing this has in common with the expression is it involves life, and what fiction doesn't?

Right now, my browser is showing an ad for Dexter. That is a literal slice of life series.