Western vs Eastern Storytelling - What's the Difference? (A General Overview)

oh by the way I made a subscribe star page the link to it will be in the description down below I've added a few reward tiers that I'm hoping you might find intriguing some examples include access to new videos up to 48 hours before release helping to choose topics getting credited in future videos and a private stream and okay on to the video Western versus Eastern storytelling what's the difference Oh television comics novels video games modern cinema one might think differences between writers and the stories they tell would rest on the typical factors often spewed

out by critics pacing plotting characterization etc but even the average audience participant lightly can't help but notice a clear and distinct difference between Western and Eastern media differences so distinct in fact that they've created their own niches amongst consumers probably three of the most recognizable of these niches in the West are anime fandoms kung-fu enthusiasts and the j-horror lovers while it's true that all three are industries like comics or animated television shows are here in the West each tends to be separate from the general consumer and each tends to appeal only to a certain demographic

but why even when a piece of Eastern media manages to break into the Western mainstream and attain mass appeal from general audiences these works are distinctly different from the media produced in the West yet when you break it down both tend to utilize the same tropes a word which here means a significant or reoccurring theme or motif for example we can see with movies like lower the rings and the sorcerer and the white snake that Western fantasies are just as likely to have brave warriors battling monstrous entities as Eastern fantasies and we can see from

The Hunger Games and Battle Royale or the likes of Apocalypto and the War of the arrows that we even have similar media with similar premises yet still the differences remain highly apparent so what is it that makes Eastern storytelling so noticeably different from Western storytelling on the surface there are several notable differences let's take a look at two works that help create the foundations of each style the Odyssey and the Journey to the West each work involves a central protagonist embarking on a quest each quest involves a long arduous journey with plenty of interesting adventures

and each work involves heavy divine intervention the Odysseys quarrelsome Greek gods and the journey to the West's rather numerous heavenly deities the first major difference is also probably the most recognizable and can be summed up in one word nakami nakama is a term that usually tags with Japanese anime in short this refers to the group that the main character usually leads for example in the show Dragon Ball Z's son Goku would be the hero and the Z fighters would be his nakama another example would be goblin slayer where the title character would be the leader

and the priest is high elf archer lizard priest and dwarf shaman would be his nakama in Journey to the West the main character is the great monk Tripitaka aka Tang Xuan Chang with Sun Wukong The Monkey King pig Zi the greedy pig monster and Sandee the mischievous River spirit being his nakama now it could be technically argued that the Odysseys leading man Odysseus has a nakama too since he is the leader of a great many soldiers and I suppose that would be technically correct given that despite the belief that dicamba refers to a group of

close friends culturally it's more accurate to describe a nakama as a group of people working together to accomplish the same goal so in essence a squad of soldiers would be nakami to one another and so Odysseus's men could count as his nakama too however here's why that wouldn't fit narrative Lee speaking each member every nakama is special and unique they tend to have skills and fleshed out personalities they either support or a contrast with the lead character so more than a crew of nameless soldiers they tend to fall into a trope called the five man

band while the archetypes a number may vary the core members are the leader the Lancer the smart guy the big guy and the chick or the heart if he want to be more politically correct and boring and you're the type of person people tend to ignore at parties the leader is the main hero the Lancers the heroes contrast the smart guy is in charge of knowing things the big guy is of course a team's muscle and the chick helps keep the balance quelling aggression keeping up morale and making sure the team stays together now compare

this to the Odyssey where Odysseus has a following of soldiers but no special companions it's just Odysseus alone with a group of men who follow him at sworn duty rather than a sense of companionship or rivalry in fact by the end Odysseus is alone having lost all of his men but their losses are treated more like ways to ramp up the sense of danger for Odysseus rather than for character drama in contrast the loss of even one member in journey to the west' would be a heartbreaking experience the audience develops a special connection members of

a nakami because they tend to be fully developed characters while the only one in the Odyssey meant for the audience to connect with is Odysseus the second biggest is probably a lesser-known trope but likely still recognizable to the anime faithful enemies becoming companions Dragon Ball Z and even the original Dragon Ball are famous for this since most of Goku's friends were enemies at one time even his first friend Bulma introduced herself by shooting Goku in the face but this is also a fairly common trope the series yuu-yuu hakusho has used que llora meshy team up

with two demons he a and Kurama two demons he previously battled he also teams up with longtime school rival Kuwabara and yes this trope also exists in Journey to the West Tripitaka gets monkey King as a freebie but pig Z and Sandee start off as enemies with monkey and Tripitaka first encounter them it's only after a vicious battle and some divine intervention that these enemies eventually become companions now contrast this to the Odyssey Odysseus encounters many enemies throughout his long journey home but none of those enemies become his companion as is common with western protagonists

Odysseus remains the lone hero with tertiary characters existing for a singular purpose or treated more like fodder for drama and tension there's never a part where Odysseus fights and befriends a Lotus eater and Polyphemus doesn't become Odysseus as rival only to join forces later to escape the clutches of Charybdis and Circe doesn't become the spunky magical girl who constantly insult Odysseus while secretly pining for him it just doesn't happen and these appear to be two distinct differences between how Western creatives right and how Eastern creatives right however neither difference is unique to eastern writing most

western television shows have a cast of characters surrounding a main lead for example scrubs the medical drama D stars dr. John Dorian who is then supported by a colorful cast of characters with intriguing personalities while what might not classify their relationship as nakama per se other Western shows like 24 and NCIS have their respective casts fall securely beneath Anna comma umbrella the expendables trilogy is a perfect example of nakami appearing in western media with Barney Ross acting as a lead and the remaining cast acting as his de , also old enemies becoming companions isn't exactly

unique to eastern media either at least not anymore with one of the coolest examples being Deckard Shaw from The Fast and Furious series a Western Bourne movie franchise Shaw entered the scene as an antagonist but later allied himself with the main crew the movie Hobbs and Shaw wouldn't have been possible without the essential change of heart but if tropes like these don't make the definitive difference between the two styles then what does the answer might be found in the difference between cultural philosophies but what does that mean exactly well and because storytelling has changed and

evolved over the centuries it could mean a number of things for example a good place to look for modern differences would arguably be Death Note on one hand the original anime / manga series is so respected in a door due to its intriguing concept clever writing and powerful characterization that it became one of the few Japanese works to skyrocket into the American mainstream on the other hand due to its popularity we now have a Western adaptation thinks in Netflix now quality aside there were some significant changes done to death notes story that gave the film

a distinctly American feel even if I were to compare the Netflix live-action movie to the Japanese live-action version of Death Note a viewer might still notice that one film has a more American Western structure and the other is more noticeably Japanese and yes that's regardless of a cinematography or the fact that the actors are clearly speaking different languages one of the first noticeable differences is how the two cultures seem to portrays smart protagonists the character of light Light Yagami in the Japanese version is defined by his high intelligence and the same could technically be said

for the Netflix's version of light light turner for western audiences but that's where things change lanes into common American cliche see when it comes to intelligent high school protagonists in Western media there seems to be only one dedicated mold the awkward nerd Netflix's light Turner was considered highly intelligent at least by the movie standards but he was portrayed in the only fashion modern Western writers can portray a smart high school protagonist he's physically weak he is socially awkward he's a coward who eagerly walks away from his ambitions the moment things get tough he acts out

of submission wanting to give people what they want rather than acting out of dominance working to impose his will on the world and recreate it in his own image and he's willing to throw all caution to the wind because a girl paid the slightest bit of attention they are commonly written without masculine traits or any sense of real confidence in comparison modern Japanese works allow smart protagonists to fall into several molds one might point out the reclusive the ugly super nerds also referred to as NEETs not in education employment or training a very lowly person

in Japanese society while these characters may be nerdy when pertaining to their standard obsession with some form of chosen media their reservoir of knowledge in the height of their intelligence is usually relegated to their said obsessions in other words they aren't necessarily smart and are often even characterized as foolish or stupid for wasting their lives and not working to achieve their potential the next kind is the brainy nerd these types are usually lacking in muscle but are hyper competent in various technical skills they are usually accompanied by a device like a laptop or a robot

this category of intelligent protagonist is pretty close to the American high school nerd archetype knowledgeable likely has good grades and eagerness to please socially awkward and not particularly handsome or beautiful though they are prone to being portrayed as cute if you're into that sort of thing so in short this is where light Turner would likely be sorted except without the hyper competence light yagami would fall under this next category the top student I'll come back to this in a bit but in Western media the popular kids are often stereotyped as athletes and cheerleaders and they

maintain their popularity through sheer physical achievement they're not necessarily smart in fact they're quite often portrayed as exceptionally stupid but in Japanese media the most popular student tends to be the top overachiever the student who makes the top grades is a ranking member of the student council while also being athletic has some level of social competence and is physically attractive so light yagami isn't alone here he's joined by the likes of Kurama from YuYu Hakusho Seto Kaiba from Yukio angel from Angel Beats and pretty much every guy who's ever genetically pushed up his glasses to

summarize light Turner's intelligence places him on the bottom of the social ladder in Western society while Light Yagami intelligence places him at the top of Eastern society why might that be this specific example is only surface level but I wanted to point it out because it also feeds right back into a core philosophical difference between the East and the West to better illustrate what I mean let's move away from Japanese media and head right back to the arena of Chinese cinema in the sequel to eat Mon our hero faces off against a monstrous British boxer

named twister ape Mon used the style and finesse of Wing Chun against twisters aggressive boxing techniques an overwhelming boot strength this match perfectly highlights a route difference between the philosophy of the West and the philosophy of the East and this match between hitman and twister is not an isolated event a similar match takes place in Jet Li's fearless a somewhat historical movie which follows the story of martial arts legend who young Jia he eventually faces off against a Western fighter called Hercules O'Brian and again dislike with Iman who yangjia must used a skill and finesse

of wushu to defeat the overwhelming power of O'Briens sheer brute force and this difference isn't just relegated to movies it's consistent with historical events as well one of the most notable events being the rival of the black ships the black ships were actually an attempt by the United States to once again open trade with Japan after over 200 years of relative isolation politics and reasons aside this code of isolation left Japan to its own ends which meant it was left with its status quo of tradition Perry's arrival was so earth-shattering because with him came great

technological advancements and the unyielding muscle of Industry the arrival of Western influence was such a sharp and crucial change for Japan that it would help spark a war between the Shogunate and its desire to preserve tradition and the Imperial loyalists with their desire for change so how does this all fit together in the west light Turner's intelligence placed him at the bottom of the social ladder while athletes and cheerleaders are typically placed at the top due to physical achievement in the east like egg Ami's intelligence alone earns him respect raising his status on the social

ladder keeping in mind that his physical capabilities Tennison fighting are only really showcased once each throughout this series from what we see in how the other students in adult revere light most of his popularity stems from his intellect when eat mana hui young gia face off against the Western fighters it's a battle involving the spiritual discipline of Chinese martial arts versus the physical discipline of Western boxing also note that the greatest eastern fighters are often portrayed as gurus respected more for the wisdom they gained through their practice of martial arts while the greatest Western fighters

are portrayed as skilled athletes respected for their physical capabilities with intelligence and wisdom being a bonus if present at all and if anyone has seen fearless who young gia was a great fighter but only delivered the change of the world that would make him a legend after achieving spiritual harmony aka achieving enlightenment this calls back to the ideals of Buddhism and Confucianism both religions that heavily influenced the East and which both center around finding one's personal path to enlightenment or adhering to ideals such as humane miss and filial piety you see hints of this when

looking back at kung-fu movies mastering martial arts isn't really the goal it's more of a vehicle towards self-improvement a way to balance one's mind and body now compare this to Catholicism a religion that dominated the West while self-improvement is also a goal in the center lies a central conflict in the form of hell and Satan the eternal adversary who cheats at cards one is driven to do good with the consequence of eternal damnation and torture should they fail to resist Satan's constant temptations now compare the Eastern philosophy to the American action movie where main characters

use combat gunplay and the occasional car foo to squash the bad guy whatever happens over the course of the movie whatever the main character goes through everything is done to come out as the dominant force in the story's overarching issue to stop the terrorists to save the beautiful damsel to get revenge against the guy who killed your dog but again what does this all mean exactly and more importantly what does this all have to do with storytelling one of the core differences between a Western story in an eastern story is how the west and the

east view the role of conflict let's go back to the Odyssey and Journey to the West the Odyssey is the story of Odysseus overcoming various obstacles to eventually return home before the suitors steal away both his wife and his entire kingdom in the journey to the west the journey being referred to in the title isn't a journey to defeat a great enemy rescue damsels or topple an empire the journey is a pilgrimage begun by a Buddha to deliver his sutras to the land of the south aka Tang China where the people have become greedy and

hedonistic well that might sound like a pressing conflict the story doesn't present it as one these may have grown sinful but they aren't holding anyone hostage they aren't trying to carry out a nefarious plot that put a timer on the heroes there's not an evil ancient prophecy foretelling some great calamity that will befall the world if these people don't receive the teachings of Buddha it was just an instance of Buddhas seeing some troubled people and wanting to rectify that in other words there is an overarching problem but no overarching conflict the structure developed by the

German novelist Gustav Freytag now known as Freytag's triangle is one of the most recognizable structures for Western storytelling it begins with exposition to set the scene then an incident to spark the story's conflict then were led to the rising action a complication then we reached the story's climax then a reversal a fortune followed by the falling action as the conflict dies down leading finally to day no ma now let's look at one of the most recognizable Eastern storytelling structures Kisho tenketsu Western and Eastern stories feel so different from each other because it isn't just about

what tropes they use or how they develop their characters they are written with completely different techniques and are different right down to the foundation and this difference has become more blatant as each style developed over time with emphasis on physical capability and over aggression being the top value traits and Western hero's traits that are well suited for the Western story structure key shootin katsu is a four-part structure key the introduction paints the setting show development a part that provides a small change and adds detail which leads into the next act 10 the twist a major

unexpected development this is where the climax would be finally ketsu the conclusion this is where any dangling plots are tied up in the story heads towards its ending here's a quick example key introduction a father finds that his family needs more food and goes out to the grocery store show development wife tells them to take a can of pepper spray since it is a dangerous neighborhood at night 10 twists father returns home to find family murdered ketsu conclusion father finds killer still in the house pepper sprays his eyes and manages to defeat him the last

shot ends with the police arriving not the happiest of stories but while there are things that appear like evidence of a central conflict if you look closely there isn't one here how this story might go if you told it using Freytag's triangle or adapting it for a Western audience exposition introduced the family the father and the bad neighborhood setting inciting incident the electricity goes out rising action father hears his wife scream followed by a gunshot complication wife is murdered by an intruder children have been taken hostage man is a loan shark come to steal enough

money to repay a loan the wife had taken out without the father's knowledge climax father faces off against the intruder while trying to keep children alive reversal a fortune one child gets shot possibly dies falling action father summons the last bit of his strength of finally overpower the intruder it's the gun and shoots the man in the head Dana MA intruder is dead the police arrive a child who was shot is taken to the hospital for possible recovery and the story ends with the Sun rising while the father and the remaining child look on Western

plots are built off a central conflict whether it be in fighting off a home invader trying to romance a special someone before they're arranged to be married or trying to find that perfect summer adventure before school starts next week in other words the pacing and overall structure tend to be far more aggressive than the eastern structure and this is a tradition that hails back to the plays of ancient Greece the structure of a Greek tragedy was traditionally set in one place over the course of one day and set with one main plot a formula perfectly

portrayed by the infamous oedipal Rex exposition chorus sings of Oedipus king of Thebes who defeated the Sphinx and Mary Jocasta the widowed wife of the murdered King Laius now Thebes has been stricken by various misfortunes a curse from the gods inciting incident Crayon brother avada puces wife Jocasta returns from the Oracle of Delphi and delivers the gods ultimatum that the misfortune of Thebes will continue into the murder of liya says been discovered and punished rising action Therese yes the blind prophet of Apollo reluctantly reveals that Oh Oedipus is both Liza's murderer and committing incest tensions

grow between crayon and oedipal since it was crayon who suggested that they'd listen to Teresa's in the first place Jocasta explains that a prophet foretold Elias was destined to die by his son which didn't happen since he and Liars had their son killed coincidentally there was a similar prophecy told that a Winnipesaukee TLAs father and mary his mother liest was murdered near the Oracle of Delphi she points this out to argue that prophets aren't always to be trusted Oh Oedipus unfortunately recognizes the location and begins to doubt his own innocence since the physically capable oedipal

haven't to have killed a bunch of men at that exact spot around that exact time thing is a surviving servant from the time said it was a group of robbers who killed bias and not a single man then to further discredit the power of prophecy Polybus Huerta puces father has died of natural causes and not by the hand of a wet abyss at this time what APUs celebrates at the power of prophecy isn't as absolute as they once thought complication messenger reveals that colobus said Merapi are not yet abysus parents and that they took a

min after herdsmen two rescued him from the woods climax Jocasta knowing that Liars had left her son to die in those same woods realizes that oedipal was in fact her son reversal of fortune Jocasta hangs herself falling action or what of his blinds himself and leaves Thebes in exile since he had indeed killed Laius his father and married Jocasta his mother Dana MA one of us goes into exile and Creon succeeds him as king neat and tidy one day one location one plot stemming from one central conflict so how would the story of a wet

abyss Rex look have run through the key show tenketsu formula step 1 let's remove the central conflict from the equation which means the plagues of Thebes are no longer in play key introduction Oedipus is the respected king of Thebes after solving the riddle of the Sphinx life is good despite a widowed versus dark brooding past show development Teresa's line prophet of Apollo has passed but in his dying words reveals that liest the previous king of Thebes who people believed had been killed by robbers was actually murdered by o Oedipus Oedipus projects the accusation and vows

discover the true identity of liasons murderer Jocasta once wifed Elias now married to Oedipus dismisses these concerns by saying that Laius was prophesized to be murdered by his son but was killed by robbers a messenger appears to deliver the news day King paulibus father of oedipal has died one of us is relieved because the credibility of prophecies have been challenged twice one when liest supposedly died at the hands of robbers and then when King palabras died of natural causes since just as lieth was destined to die by his son o Oedipus was destined to kill

his father paulibus 10 twist messenger reveals that o Oedipus had been adopted by palabras who Oedipus had been found in the woods Jocasta and Mayas had left their son to die in those same woods due to the prophecy a surviving servant who had witnessed Isis murder reveals that lieth was killed by a single man at that same location o Oedipus had killed a group of men during the darkest times of his dark past every prophecy had come to pass a what of us had killed his father and married his mother ketsu conclusion Jocasta hangs herself

in shame and oedipal plucks out his eyes and flees into exile he shortened ketsu is a writing structure absent of inherent conflict while conflict can certainly be present in a story written in this style it isn't necessary in other words this formula allows a writer to Center the story around other elements this is probably why the slice-of-life genre where the topic of the story follows a character or characters as they go around an ordinary day has more or less been dominated by anime and manga and those trying to emulate its style it might also be

why the beach episode has become a well-known staple and anime culture because when a central conflict exists as the absolute center of your story every major element must connect to that conflict in some way in effect your characters villains twists and turns become vehicles for the plots progression for example the city of Thebes has been cursed by plague how is this resolved terrorists have taken over a building filled with valuables in order to steal them how is this resolved an evil oppressive Empire has taken over the galaxy far far away how is this resolved with

the key shoten ketsu story structure conflict along with other elements can become a vehicle for something else a hero has devoted his life to slaying goblins despite the job being lonely and beneath most adventurers what drives a man to do this a hero reaches power beyond measure becomes a powerful anomaly within his own universe how does he deal with this and how does the world deal with him a young prodigy finds a notebook that can kill anyone whose name is written inside how does he react of course it could be argued that each of these

anime series has a deep central conflict with Death Note reaching legendary status due to the driving cat-and-mouse conflict between light and El but what might happen if the central conflict were taken from Star Wars the central conflict being that the Empire was an oppressive tyrannical force whose constant push for absolute dominance in the galaxy caused them to create a super weapon known as the Death Star and in turn caused the rebellion to steal plans Alvin said Death Star which caused the Empire to pursue the rebels which caused the notable rebel agent Princess Leia to send

a call for aid along with the Death Star plans to a small desert planet where an old ally lived which then caused the Empire to destroy the home Luke Skywalker which pushed him into action in other words the central conflict in the original Star Wars is the tyranny of the Empire replaced a tyrannical Empire with a just one and without the tyranny any rebellion would likely be less powerful it probably wouldn't build a powerful super weapon like a Death Star unless their hand had been forced by a dangerous hostile power and without this conflict Luke

Skywalker may have lived out his days on a lonely desert planet in short the story falls apart now let's take a look at Death Note the conflict that the series is known for involves the mental clash between the great detective L and Light Yagami the killer with a god complex but what would happen if L never existed light still takes possession of the Death Note but there's no one in the world that could challenge its exceptional intellect the story would definitely change but the central premise would have been the same what would a genius with

a god complex do with the power of life and death lights could have encountered faceless leaders of shadow governments he could have gone up against terrorist organizations who used code names and the same goes for each listed example diehard would be nothing without Hans Gruber's takeover of Nakatomi Tower but gubbins lairs story could still exist without goblins because in Calvin's lair the focus actually isn't the goblin slaying it's the character of goblin Slayer it's the world they live it and how the world reacts when there's a hero like goblin Slayer who doesn't idolize glory or

gold a hero who combats the troubles of the common people when he doesn't have to or can pursue greater things that's the true story of goblin Slayer and despite the intriguing story of Oedipus there would likely have been no story at all had the gods not cursed land of Thebes the plague sparked the investigations the plagues brought o Oedipus - forced to reassess his hand and spill his secrets there would be no question to the murderer of Laius and Polybus as death would have simply been both a relief and a sad occasion for Oh Oedipus

but no revelation or connection to the events of divine prophecy the great tragedy will have likely never been realized again the story would fall apart and finally the story of one punch man is not the conflict between his enemies own self-absorbed elite heroes that inhabit the world its saitama's own internal struggle dealing with his power his loss of humanity and his place in the world so taking everything into account may be a more accurate description to expose the difference between these two styles wouldn't necessarily be that one has conflict and the other one doesn't but

rather Western stories are suited to explore the external struggle while Eastern stories are suited to explore the internal struggle and this isn't to say that one style is good in the other bad and it isn't even to suggest that one structure is better than the other and of course there exists quite a bit of overlap and there will always be exceptions to every norm but when you look at the way Western and Eastern philosophies developed and how their cultures developed around them it becomes a little easier to see why creative works from the east feels

so alien to an audience used to Western media why popular Eastern properties are so often remade as suited Western audience we can explore an answer to the question what were they changing in the first place what's so different about a piece of media from halfway across the world on the surface they appear similar they have heroes villains romances in action like Western works - leather also lies something exotic about the writing then you look at Eastern philosophies that emphasize internal struggles and you look at the structure of Western religions like Catholicism and how one should

always be ready for the external threat posed by an eternal adversary the power of progress versus the respect for tradition strength of body versus the strength of mind then you notice how powerful our goal the development of culture and the respective worldviews of the East and West play into the development of a story how writers write and what the audience's expect to see because in the end from politics to our values to the stories we tell our culture's and the differences therein broaden the possibilities of creativity beyond one simple guideline or even the most powerful

imagination and that is a beautiful thing [Music]