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[Verger]

Being the culturally-illiterate guy that I am, I can say without a doubt that I've never seen another form of media other than Japanese manga/anime/games that almost always rely upon so much of the characters talking to themselves internally and pausing the action to hear every character react in their thoughts to the situations.


The only movie I can recall that did this in the West to such great extents was David Lynch's "Dune" (1984), which was a "unique" film...


So why is so much (or almost all?) Japanese media so reliant upon this literary technique?

 

[Slurmp]

For better or worse: It helps explain things.

 

[GhostWriter24]

A lot of Japanese anime/drama violate the "show, don't tell" rule pretty blatantly.

Have to accept it.

It helps explain things?

A character telling the audience precisely how he/she feels lends nothing to the imagination of the viewer. It comes off as a bit clumsy.

 

[plasmawave]

There are shit tons of inner monologues in comic books too.
Or narration doesn't count?

 

[ghostjoke]

Doesn't it save animation money to just have a still image with inner monologues?

 

[CheesecakeRecipe]

A lot of Japanese anime/drama violate the "show, don't tell" rule pretty blatantly.

Have to accept it.


A character telling the audience precisely how he/she feels lends nothing to the imagination of the viewer. It comes off as a bit clumsy.

Or, alternatively, it gives them a much deeper look into the mind of a character beyond whatever they say and do on the surface.

It can absolutely be used too much though.

 

[Verger]

Doesn't it save animation money to just have a still image with inner monologues?

I hadn't considered that. But doesn't this happen in their Live-Action films as well?

A lot of Japanese anime/drama violate the "show, don't tell" rule pretty blatantly.

Have to accept it.


A character telling the audience precisely how he/she feels lends nothing to the imagination of the viewer. It comes off as a bit clumsy.

Yeah, that's a good rule and I wonder why they violate it so often and so blatantly? Why do we need every characters reaction to events?

 

[Modest Mauser]

The whole "show don't tell" concept doesn't seem like a big thing in a lot of Japanese media. Obviously I can't speak for Japanese art as a whole, but it definitely doesn't seem to be a thing in lot of manga/anime/video games from Japan, at least not in any of the popular media that makes it over to the west.

Maybe just cultural differences? Would love to hear a Japanese person's opinion on this difference between writing styles.

 

[plasmawave]

I hadn't considered that. But doesn't this happen in their Live-Action films as well?

Yeah, that's a good rule and I wonder why they violate it so often and so blatantly? Why do we need every characters reaction to events?

As far as I know, inner monologues in live action movies are much much rarer.

 

[Uncle_Classy]

Doesn't it save animation money to just have a still image with inner monologues?

Twitching still has to be animated.

 

[Mr_Appleby]

Probably the same reason they have ...!


Which is just an externalized unvoiced interior monologue, really.

 

[Ganhyun]

Maybe because in their own way they are trying to give some realistic grounding in the anime for whoever is watching?

I mean, do you not sometimes internal monologue to yourself about things? I do, and I figured if I do it, others probably do too.

 

[hey_it's_that_dog]

Doesn't it save animation money to just have a still image with inner monologues?

This has been my assumption. They could either use subtle facial animation to express some kind of subtext or they can pan slowly over a still image while the character explains their every thought and emotion in painstaking detail. I guess the latter is a lot cheaper.

As a side effect, It also makes things far more digestible for people who have trouble reading other people.

 

[Dr.Acula]

This is pretty common in Western books.

 

[Valkerionseven]

Most western media outside stage plays/books got rid of soliloquy decades ago, in turn having one or a couple characters explaining things/making stuff obvious for the audience. Both are fine for me but there is something missing having a character's entire personality/thoughts aware to the entire cast... but there is something silly about internal side comments as well even though we are all actually making them in real life.

 

[- J - D -]

Worked for Shakespeare, still works for Japanese cinema. A lot of it I feel is attributed to Japanese cinema still writing and acting as if for a stage play, so that's why you still have such frequent use of internal monologues and over-acting, which was a necessity to get things across to a viewing audience at a play, many of which are unable to closely observe an actor's face from a distance.

 

[Squire]

Monologuing isn't a manga thing, it's a comic thing in general.

 

[Coffee Dog]

Comics straight up abuse internal monologue. It lends itself very very well to the format.

 

[birthday-suit]

I love it.

 

[NCR Redslayer]

There are shit tons of inner monologues in comic books too.
Or narration doesn't count?

Narration is pretty different because it tells from different perspective unlike the Main character, unless it Is the main character.

Also, how we are suppose to know the MC Is visibly Crazy unless we hear his most inner thoughts?

 

[Lucumo]

Wasn't there a thread complaining about this not too long ago? It mentioned games like Witcher 3 and Wolfenstein: New Order.

/edit: Here: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1081253

It's more talking to oneself but that's pretty much the same (except actually even worse).

 

[timetokill]

...

 

[plasmawave]

Narration is pretty different because it tells from different perspective unlike the Main character, unless it Is the main character.

Also, how we are suppose to know the MC Is visibly Crazy unless we hear his most inner thoughts?

I disagree.
http://wordofthenerdonline.com/2012/02/comics-how-do-they-work-inner-monologue-part-1/

If they really wanted to they could show those narration through pictures as well.

 

[teruterubozu]

Internal dialogue is pervasive in Japanese fiction. All the great Japanese literary writers like Kawabata, Mishima, Soseki, Endo, etc - all relied heavily internal "to be or not to be" dialogue.

 

[John Dunbar]

Narration is pretty different because it tells from different perspective unlike the Main character, unless it Is the main character.

Also, how we are suppose to know the MC Is visibly Crazy unless we hear his most inner thoughts?

i don't like think it's that different if it's an omniscient narrator. both are just the easy and often lazy way to tell the audience stuff.

 

[AuthenticM]

They save money on animation and drawing.

 

[Verger]

Narration is pretty different because it tells from different perspective unlike the Main character, unless it Is the main character.

Also, how we are suppose to know the MC Is visibly Crazy unless we hear his most inner thoughts?

Talking to themselves out loud is pretty much saying "I'm crazy"...

Worked for Shakespeare, still works for Japanese cinema. A lot of it I feel is attributed to Japanese cinema still writing and acting as if for a stage play, so that's why you still have such frequent use of internal monologues and over-acting, which was a necessity to get things across to a viewing audience at a play, many of which are unable to closely observe an actor's face from a distance.

I agree that it can be a great tool if used right.

But it seems a lot of Games/Anime and Manga from Japan straight up abuse it and use it almost all the time...

 

[teruterubozu]

Internal dialogue is pervasive in Japanese fiction. All the great Japanese literary writers like Kawabata, Mishima, Soseki, Endo, etc - all relied heavily on internal "to be or not to be" dialogue. It's a cultural thing. You can even see it in today's writers like Murakami.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

Maybe try reading books some time.

 

[Angry Grimace]

A lot of Japanese anime/drama violate the "show, don't tell" rule pretty blatantly.

Have to accept it.


A character telling the audience precisely how he/she feels lends nothing to the imagination of the viewer. It comes off as a bit clumsy.

Japan is a different culture

Perhaps they don't follow the same literary conventions of your culture

Just sayin'

 

[DemiMatt]

Doesn't it save animation money to just have a still image with inner monologues?

Skipping lipsync saves a good amount of work and can shave off days from a production budget!

 

[Haly]

Manga - Static image with strict deadlines and grueling work hours, so they need to condense. You can't really keep this (mildly NSFW) kind of storytelling up for long in a weekly serial.

Anime - Very often exists solely to sell manga/books, so it inherits their tendency towards narration. Original material isn't cheap.

Games - Inherits a lot of habits from anime. Also, when you ditch the expediency of narration you will get very long, drawn out and frequent cutscenes, which is its own kind of problem.

 

[VanillaCakeIsBurning]

I like it a lot. It's a different technique to showing a character's thoughts. Often the information voiced are things you can't get from someone wincing or making some kind of facial expression or body motion.

Like with all techniques, it can be used very well or poorly.

 

[Hyun Sai]

Frank Underwood does this all the time in House of Cards, doesn't feel out of place.

 

[teruterubozu]

Frank Underwood does this all the time in House of Cards, doesn't feel out of place.

Frank Underwood talks to the audience, not to himself. He breaks the fourth wall.

 

[Verger]

Maybe try reading books some time.

I assume you're being facetious. But in a non-visual entertainment then yeah, you kind of need as much introspection into the characters as you can get since you have no way of visualizing them aside from the writers words.

With visual media, you have a completely different game of again the "Show not Tell" and removing unnecessary expositions that can drag things down.

 

[Tomat]

The internal monologues were some of the best parts of JoJo.

 

[zelas]

Doogie Howser is really big in japan.

 

[Hyun Sai]

Frank Underwood talks to the audience, not to himself. He breaks the fourth wall.

Fair enough. What about Elliot in Mr Robot ?

 

[HideyoshiJP]

In addition to what has been said regarding lipsyncing cost savings, differing cultural literary standards, and the basis in comics, part of it may have to do with Japanese people being more reserved, and therefore their thoughts and intentions may not be immediately obvious. Just a guess, anyway.

 

[Verger]

I think there's a difference between "Narration" (Frank Underwood, or Stand by Me) and Soliloquy monologues "in the moment". At least to me it "feels" different.

 

[VanillaCakeIsBurning]

I'm trying to imagine Death Note without all the internal monologues and I think it would have been a worse product without them.

I can't agree with the hardcore proponents of "show, don't tell" when they completely ignore context and created effect.

 

[NCR Redslayer]

i don't like think it's that different if it's an omniscient narrator. both are just the easy and often lazy way to tell the audience stuff.

It was more of a joke, but now I believe Samurai Jack is the best anime.

The internal monologues were some of the best parts of JoJo.

Although I never understood why Araki had to have his characters explain everything that's happening, I don't mind it.

 

[ghostjoke]

Twitching still has to be animated.

I recall an ep of Gintama which took place at a bar/kiosk and the entire thing was just the outside of said bar/kiosk with characters talking.

It's always gorgeous to see a Ghibli film where there's always some minor little bits going on in background while characters are talking.

Skipping lipsync saves a good amount of work and can shave off days from a production budget!

Ghost in the Shell had the ingenious idea of having people communicate without even speaking. Dolla dolla bill y'all, or yen yen bill y'all - doesn't sound as good.

 

[RockTurtle]

Japan has faces of random guests during TV shows to show the expressions while things happen.


Different cultures follow different mantras for entertainment.

 

[DemiMatt]

Ghost in the Shell had the ingenious idea of having people communicate without even speaking. Dolla dolla bill y'all, or yen yen bill y'all - doesn't sound as good.

Yeah, they did a good job being smart with their animation. They had a lot of good mono shots & sequences, and went limited when they needed to.

 

[Xenoboy]

If I'm reading this right, isn't this exactly what JD does all the time in Scrubs?

 

[george_us]

This made Attack on Titan unwatchable for me. Literally every time something mildly significant happened, a character would break out into an internal monologue. It was obnoxious as all hell.

 

[hey_it's_that_dog]

I'm trying to imagine Death Note without all the internal monologues and I think it would have been a worse product without them.

I can't agree with the hardcore proponents of "show, don't tell" when they completely ignore context and created effect.

Death Note is about two geniuses trying to outsmart each other, right? When a story is heavily mechanistic, it makes more sense that they'd need to rely on that sort of exposition.

 

[Almighty]

While it can and is overused sometimes, I personally like hearing what the characters are thinking every so often.