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Mari Okada

Mari Okada

Writing

Biography

Mari Okada (Japanese: 岡田 麿里) is a Japanese screenwriter, director, and manga artist. She is one of the most prolific writers currently working in the anime industry. She won the 16th Animation Kobe Award. Okada was born in Chichibu. She was often bullied at school and skipped days to deal with social anxiety. After leaving middle school, she would spend most of her time confined at home. In spite of this, her proficiency at writing helped to get her into high school, although her social anxiety remained a problem. Nobody had high hopes for her, and as she was graduating, she was constantly told that she “wouldn't survive in the real world.” Okada enrolled at the Tokyo Amusement Media School to study games. Through her studies, Okada developed a passion for screenwriting, but found it difficult due to anxieties. Her earliest jobs included creating scenarios for direct-to-video pornography and transcribing interviews for a magazine. It was through this latter job that she met Tetsurō Amino, who asked her to contribute some of her ideas for the plot of DT Eightron. She went on to write the script for five episodes, and the connection with Amino helped in kickstarting her career. Okada pitched an idea for her first original anime, based on her experience. The screenplay was never published, but several elements of it would be used in some of her works. After several years, her reputation within the industry had grown considerably, with the screenplay for numerous successful series. Okada wrote the script for her directorial debut anime film Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms. It was well-received by critics and was awarded the prize for the best animated film at the 21st Shanghai International Film Festival. Description above from the Wikipedia article Mari Okada, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known For

Aria
8.5

Set in the early 24th century against the backdrop of the city of Neo Venezia on the planet Mars. No longer the barren red planet, Mars has been flooded, inhabited and is something of a tourist hub for those looking for rest, relaxation and a gondola ride – the primary mode of travel in Neo Venezia. The Undines are professional gondoliers, tour guides for the people passing through. Akari Mizunashi is an Undine in training and this is a piece of her story.

Aria

2005
Black Butler
7.7

In Victorian London, 12-year-old business magnate Ciel Phantomhive thwarts dangers to the queen as he's watched over by his demon butler, Sebastian.

Black Butler

2008
Aquarion
6.5

Set in the future, a giant fighting machine called the Aquarion is humanity's only effective weapon in the fight against the technologically advanced species called the Shadow Angels.

Aquarion

2005
Basilisk
7.4

The story takes place in the year 1614. Two ninja clans, Tsubagakure of the Iga and Manjidani of Kouga, battle each other to determine which grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu will become the next shogun. The deadly competition between 10 elite ninja from each clan unleashes a centuries-old hatred that threatens to destroy all hope for peace between them.

Basilisk

2005
Nagi-Asu: A Lull in the Sea
7.6

Long ago, all humans lived beneath the sea. However, some people preferred the surface and abandoned living underwater permanently. As a consequence, they were stripped of their god-given protection called "Ena" which allowed them to breathe underwater. Over time, the rift between the denizens of the sea and of the surface widened, although contact between the two peoples still existed. This show follows the story of Hikari Sakishima and Manaka Mukaido, along with their childhood friends Chisaki Hiradaira and Kaname Isaki, who are forced to leave the sea and attend a school on the surface. There, the group also meets Tsumugu Kihara, a fellow student and fisherman who loves the sea. Hikari and his friends' lives are bound to change as they have to deal with the deep-seated hatred and discrimination between the people of sea and of the surface, the storms in their personal lives, as well as an impending tempest which may spell doom for all who dwell on the surface.

Nagi-Asu: A Lull in the Sea

2013
DRAGON PILOT: Hisone and Masotan
7.1

Recently stationed Air Self-Defense Force rookie Hisone Amakasu is chosen by a dragon concealed within Gifu Air Base to be his pilot.

DRAGON PILOT: Hisone and Masotan

2018
Fate/stay night
7.2

Shirou Emiya lost his parents in a fire when he was young and was later adopted by the sorcerer Kiritsugu Emiya. Shirou is drawn into the Holy Grail War summons a female "Servant" known as Saber to protect him and obtain the Holy Grail.

Fate/stay night

2006
Toradora!
8.2

Menacing in appearance but gentle at heart, second year high school student Ryuuji forms an unlikely friendship with classmate Taiga, a tiny girl with a sharp tongue and a tough attitude.

Toradora!

2008
Popolocrois Monogatari
5.0

Prince Pietro is the half-human, half-dragon prince of the kingdom of Popolocrois. After the evil GamiGami tries to take over the Kingdom, a mysterious girl named Hyuu appears in the forest near Popolocrois Castle, which is the beginning of an adventure for Pietro, his witch friend Narcia, and all their friends.

Popolocrois Monogatari

1998
Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day
8.2

Jinta Yadomi and his group of childhood friends have become estranged after a tragic accident split them apart. Now in their high school years, a sudden surprise forces each of them to confront their guilt over what happened that day and come to terms with the ghosts of their past.

Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day

2011
Darker than Black
7.5

Ten years ago, a mysterious spatial anomaly now known as "Heaven's Gate" appeared in South America, shortly followed by the opening of "Hell's Gate" in Tokyo altering the sky and wreaking havoc on the landscape. The real stars disappeared, replaced by false stars. During this time, people possessing various special abilities — called "Contractors" — emerged, each capable of different supernatural feats. Following the disastrous Heaven's War, the United States lost its dominant position as a superpower to a mysterious organization named the Syndicate. The story revolves around a Chinese contractor codenamed "Hei" as he undertakes various espionage and assassination missions in Tokyo.

Darker than Black

2007
The Pet Girl of Sakurasou
7.6

Sorata Kanda, a high school sophomore living in Sakurasou, the den of their academy's problem children, spends his days being dragged around by the strange residents, swearing he's going to escape Sakurasou one day.

The Pet Girl of Sakurasou

2012
Kyo Kara Maoh!
6.9

Yuri Shibuya is an average baseball-loving high school student. One day, Yuri tries to save his former classmate from a group of hoodlums. Turning on him, they drag Yuri into the bathroom and push his face into the toilet. When they flush the toilet, he is transported to another world! Yuri is then taken to a castle and crowned King of the Demon World! Is he going to end up as the leader of the land, surrounded by his extraordinarily handsome lieges or will he make it back home?

Kyo Kara Maoh!

2004
Hanasaku Iroha: Blossoms for Tomorrow
7.2

Ohana is sent off to live with her grandmother, who owns the hot spring inn. Upon arriving, she is put to work at the inn. Thrust into a life where the customers always come first, she struggles to find her place and fit in with her fellow coworkers.

Hanasaku Iroha: Blossoms for Tomorrow

2011
Canaan
6.7

Two years ago, Shibuya was ravaged by a biological terrorist attack using the deadly Ua virus. Maria Osawa was saved when her father inoculated her against the virus, but is left with partial amnesia from the shock. She works as a cameraman when she reunites with a girl named Canaan in Shanghai, China. A gifted assassin with synesthesia, she is under orders from an unknown organization for a yet unspecified mission

Canaan

2009
ANIME MANGA EXPLOSION
N/A

The size of the Japanese animation market was 2,426 billion yen by 2020. More than half of that amount came from overseas sales. The manga market is also expanding, reaching 675.9 billion yen in 2021. Those unique visuals and stories from Japan have struck a chord with fans around the world and are growing into a huge industry. ANIME MANGA EXPLOSION will actively feature major works that are highly recognized by overseas fans and reveal the secrets of Japanese anime and manga creation through the series.

ANIME MANGA EXPLOSION

2023
True Tears
6.1

Shinichiro is a student living in what would be a dream come true for most high school boys, but for him is mostly a frustration. A well liked girl in school named Hiromi has lived in his house for a year along with his family. Her father was a close friend of the family, and when he died they immediately took her in. She is popular and well liked, always smiles, is talented in sports- but Shinichiro knows there must be tears inside her. Having an artistic tendency, he makes watercolours of her and thinks about wishing to ease her tears. Yet he cannot bring up the nerve to talk to her even in his own home. She, too, is quiet and withdrawn in their house, quite unlike at school. Shinichiro is also distracted by teasing from his friend Nobuse for watching Hiromi from afar, a curse of bad luck from a strange girl named Noe, and being forced to perform Muhiga dancing. By helping Noe he hopes to ease his own problems, yet he seems to have difficulty helping himself.

True Tears

2008
Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans
7.4

On a terraformed post-disaster Mars, a group of child security agents rebel against the adults who betrayed them and the oppressive Earth government.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans

2015
Lupin the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine
7.1

She's a thief. A killer. A saint and a scandal. She's whatever you need her to be to get the job done. She takes your breath away to get what she wants. She takes everything else just because she can. It's all in a night's work for the woman called Fujiko Mine. She's the slinky, sultry thread that holds Lupin III's crew together—and this is the heist that started it all.

Lupin the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine

2012
Gosick
7.9

Set in a fictional European country in 1924, a Japanese exchange student meets a mysterious, brilliant girl who only leaves the library to sleep. Her brother, a detective, relies on her exceptional mind to solve difficult mysteries.

Gosick

2011