Berserk, Cowboy Bebop, & Attack on Titan: Inspiration from Classics

It's been a while, hasn't it? I've been neck-deep in the roller coaster of life and, for the first time in a long time, am just now getting a moment of genuine rest. I fell into a contemplative mood tonight as I thought about why only specific anime appealed to me and, more disconcertingly, why most others quickly bore me.

Confession: I don't abide by the "three-episode-rule". If an anime series doesn't grip me within the first episode, I switch series and never look back... lol. Brash? Impatient? Perhaps...but mostly painfully bored.

I can watch a series to simply occupy my time--giving my attention something to "chew on", so-to-speak. But, it's been surprisingly hard for me to find a series that has me fully emotionally invested in the characters' and their journey. Bearing this in mind, I recently watched Berserk (1997), based on the eponymous manga by Kentaro Miura and it was refreshing--to say the least. Watching this series reminded me of something that I hadn't experienced in a long time. It carried a rare depth that few anime series have as of lately.

Now, yes, I am biased towards the seinen genre overall but--not all of them...scratch that itch as well as Berserk, Cowboy Bebop or Attack on Titan did. I've always been drawn to anime series where the technical aesthetic is as rich as it's philosophical weight: with morally grey protagonists, ideologically alluring villains, and other themes that force viewers to stare into the existential abyss. I've always been someone who sought artistic experiences where form, tone and theme all converged in such a way that new truths were gleaned from each encounter with it.

Make no mistake, I respect everyone's artistic expression. Yet, as everyone co-exists in this creative space, there are creators who's artistry relays emotional realism in such a jarring way that it inspires me to create as well--for example, to write The Seventh Kingdom: Fukushuu no Oukoku. These three classics left me yearning for more layered stories and inspired me to try my hand at creating my own. From this inspiration, I've crafted a series where you don't just get a protagonist on a mission, you get a world that expands. You see an ecosystem that holds a mirror up to our society today, and characters who wrestle with their own imperfection or the weight of the world's dysfunction.

With that being said, I hope that my aspirations for T7K Manga translate just as clearly and masterfully as these classics. At the very least--as the series progresses, I hope that it leaves someone feeling inspired as well.

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-Robbie J. Atkinson