Interesting. So Masamune was a swords smith in Japan! So the Sephirothic Tree is what the tree thing in Fullmetal Alchemist is! So Kratos was a Greek God!
I’m sure you’ve heard yourself say these kinds of things before. Have you ever wondered how people figured these things out? Well, they probably did some heavy research. Either that or they had the luck of knowing the thing already, then seeing the anime. Do you want to be the next one to figure out the truth of something? Well I’ll give you a few tips on researching to get you started.
TIP #1: Never trust anything
No, I’m not paranoid, I’m merely telling you an important fact that will keep you from making a fool of yourself. Never trust what you find at first. You should be able to find at least one other reference that confirms the first one. If you don’t, then it may not necessarily be true. Always try to find confirmation.
TIP #2: Conflicting facts doesn’t denote falsity
Many references, such as what certain Gods did, etc., are lost in the ravages of time; so one source may say something slightly different from another. Don’t panic and think one of them is wrong. Once again, just try to find yet another source, and see if it agrees with either of the others. Just go with the majority on this one. There really isn’t much you can do about it. If worse comes to worse, just pick whichever one seems to be most reliable.
TIP #3: Online dictionaries can be of huge help
Online dictionaries will not only save you a lot of time page flipping, they may also give you a starting point for your research. Don’t know which mythology or religion the thing comes from? Check a dictionary, and you may get something you can work with.
TIP #4: Online dictionaries are worthless
Yes, I know I’m contradicting myself. While they can be useful for the reason above, online dictionaries are otherwise basically useless. They give small, and very little detailed accounts of what it is you’re looking for. Never use them as main sources; find more detailed ones.
TIP #5: Don’t underestimate the power of pages
Try not to use only the Internet for your research. With books, you are basically guaranteed facts, as well as usually having much more detailed information. While looking through a library of books may take a while, it’ll pay off when you find out what the nine worlds of Yggdrasil are called (something that most internet sites didn’t seem to like to tell me).
TIP #6: Don’t underestimate the power of the Internet
While books are useful, the Internet is an almost necessity when researching. You’ll get through information infinitely faster, as well as being directed to the right information. If you want to use a book, try to find what it is exactly you need on the Internet, using something like Amazon, then find it in your local library. Most of my tips can be applied to both books and Internet, so try to use a mixture between the two.
TIP #7: The Encyclopedia - the most wonderful thing ever created
Encyclopedias are a researchers most treasured source. They allow easy transitions from one subject to another, such as figuring out something mythological, and then finding out some name comes from a real person in history. They often have very detailed information, especially if they are specialty encyclopedias. If you’re looking up mythology, try to use a mythology encyclopedia; you’ll get more and better information from it then from a general encyclopedia.
TIP #8: Not all people are stupid
Ask your friends and anyone else if they’ve ever heard about what you are looking for. It is quite possible that they know something that can be very useful.
TIP #9: Search engines are a good start
Search engines like Google are very useful for starting points. Type in what you’re looking for, and you’ll probably get a good idea of what it is you need to look for. Use this to help in your search in an encyclopedia.
TIP #10: Alternate names are a curse
Sometimes what you’re looking for may have an alternate, less popular name. If so, you may never find it looking for the one you are using. Be aware of the fact that what you’re looking for may be better known as something else.
TIP #11: Languages
It doesn’t hurt to look in a language dictionary. If you think that what you’re looking for is something in Japanese, grab a Japanese – English dictionary and look it up. I highly suggest not using the Internet for this one unless you’re using an Encyclopedia, as online language translators are unreliable at best.
TIP #12: A picture is worth a thousand words, but don’t try it
A picture is one of the hardest things to research, as there’s no real way to search for it if you have no idea of what it is. The best way to search is to describe a basic idea from it in as few words possible, explore the results, then refine your search by adding more words if needed.
TIP #13: Don’t beat it over the head
If you find a ton of information on something, don’t put in everything. You don’t want to bore people to death by explaining the irrelevant past of some God, when it has nothing to do with anything. While you want to put in a lot of information, don’t put in too much, especially if it is unrelated with what you are talking about.
TIP #14: Make the connections
When you find out something, try to connect it to the thing you’re researching. If you’re researching a character’s name, and it turns out they were a place in some mythology, find out more about that place. If it turns out its ruler was a person with a name as another character from the anime, say that. If the place was eventually destroyed, say that. Try your best to make connections. Even if you turn out to be wrong about a speculation, it shows that you’re at least thinking for yourself. Just don’t make it seem as if your speculation is a fact. Say that you think this means this, not that it does.
TIP #15: Don’t plagiarize – mix it up
This is a very important. Don’t copy things directly from your sources. Write it out yourself. Apart from the fact that it’s illegal to plagiarize, it makes a much better result writing yourself, as you’ll have just what you want and what is important. The best thing to do is look at several different sources and write out a mixture using all of them. This will give you a more refined, comprehensive result that will look much more impressive.
TIP #16: Cite your sources
This is a more obvious one, yet still very important. Always say where you got your information. Even if it was just a little idea, or a small point, cite it. This makes you look both smart and professional, as it will be obvious that you know what you’re talking about, since you did your homework by researching.
There are many other things that you may find you need to watch for, but that can only come with your own experience. Different researchers will encounter different obstacles, so don’t think you’re prepared for anything.
And don’t forget, your greatest asset as a researcher is your ability to notice the all-important connections that join the anime with the source. Always be alert when sifting through information. You may find something that will open up a whole new world of ideas pertaining to your topic.
So get out there and research! Good luck!
