Mahouka Koukou no Yuutousei Episode 4 Discussion

theGodde said:
the vast amount of "New York Times Bestsellers" I've read came across like bad fanfiction. If there is one thing that I would say most modern writers are lacking, it is a passion for the medium. I read these books and I feel like I'm watching a novice writer describe the movie they're watching. A lot of modern writers don't seem to understand that books and movies have different writing conventions. I often feel like I'm reading a bad movie script that was paraphrased into a story. So to summarise the general problem I have with many modern authors is the lack of experience reading actual books. Steven King himself said that television was the worst thing to happen to the writing world.

When it comes to anime, I would refer to the Hollywood effect - it's become all about money, loss of artistic integrity, etc. etc. Whenever I see an anime that takes risks, it is often lacking in vision and script quality. A recent example would be Jouran: Princess of Snow and Blood. A show with a new and unique concept where the main arc wrapped up 4 episodes in and the rest of the story was a meandering and unguided mess. Going back to last year another potential masterpiece was Akudama Drive. However the world wasn't properly set up so a lot of the stakes felt contrived, bordering on nonsensical at times.
I can't say I follow much manga or LNs. However the jump manga Spy X Family gives me hope that new and unique stories can still be told.

Overall, I would say that there are many unique stories still being told, however many of the more firmly established media industries are beginning to feel the dead weight that has built up over time. Many industries (especially hollywood) need to begin to reinvent themselves again. Experiment and return to their roots.

which is why I was trying to argue that mahouka had enough narrative to set up good characterisation. But there just wasn't any.

While I would agree that each episode informs us on a different facet of the bebop crew's characterisation, strictly speaking there are many episodes that could be removed and have no affect on the plot. Take the Alien spoof, where spike leaves something to rot in the fridge and it evolves into a sentient being that starts picking off the crew. Or the cowboy episode, where some rich guy poses as a real cowboy bounty hunter until he's scared off by the dangers of the bounty hunting profession. Neither episode add anything to the main plot, but you could argue they are essential in informing us of the characters.
While you have correctly identified the main theme of cowboy bebop, the plot is Tarantino esq gangster story. Spike is roaming the galaxy on the Bebop in search of his love, Julia; meanwhile Vicious is scheming mercilessly simply to amuse himself while he waits for a final confrontation between him and Spike.
Most of the episodes add little to the main story, which is why it is somewhat difficult to identify, but this is part of the charm of the show. The absence of main plot adds to the themes of the story.

As for narrative, I use the word story interchangeably with the concept you're talking about. I suppose what we both mean in a sense is the experience of the show/media. The "overall package".