W@ku Work, a company that provides employment support for new graduates specializing in the anime industry, is currently holding the second phase of its “Anime Writer Training Course” starting in April 2021, and will welcome writer Maeda Hisashi for a special lecture on May 1 to explain the skills and career steps necessary to work as a writer.
The “Anime Writer Training Course” is a seminar that has been held since April 2020 with the aim of training young writers who will be the future leaders of information transmission in the anime industry. Current writers and media professionals have been conducting the monthly classes.
The second phase started in April 2021. Through a total of 12 months of curriculum, students will be able to learn comprehensively about the work related to writing in the animation industry, and special guest lecturers from each area will give special lectures.
The “Special Lecture #1” to be held on May 1 will feature writer Maeda Hisashi as a guest lecturer. Maeda Hisashi was born in 1982. He has been active as a writer since he was a university student and has done many interviews and writings about otaku culture in general, including anime, anime songs, manga, and light novels.
As for books, he edited and wrote “The Complete Works of Akahori Satoru”, a book about the work of Akahori Satoru, a screenwriter, novelist, and manga author, and was in charge of the composition of voice actor manager Naya Ryosuke’s book “Producing Voice Actors”.
He was involved in the special exhibition “Newtype 35th Anniversary Anime Chronicle” held from 2020 to 2021 as a collaborator and was a regular contributor to the radio program “Mimori Suzuko and Anison Paradise!” which aired from April 2016 to March 2021. He has been in charge of the animation section of the Japan Otaku Awards since 2007, and his other activities are diverse, and he is commonly known as Mae-Q.
In the first half of the lecture, the students will learn about writing in the animation industry from various perspectives by introducing the guest lecturer’s career and the work he is currently involved in.
In the second half of the lecture, the guest lecturer will give feedback on the preliminary assignments made by the regular students to deepen their understanding of what kind of writing is desired for the job.
The “Animation Writer Training Course Special Lecture #1” will be held on May 1st from 3pm to 4:30pm at Puzzle Asakusabashi 2F Cafe Space. The fee is 3000 yen for adults and 1500 yen for students. Only regular students of the course will be able to submit advance assignments.
Special lecturers will include editors from anime magazines and producers from anime advertising companies. In addition, Anime! Anime! editor-in-chief Okimoto Shigeyoshi is scheduled to speak at the event.
