Insights into Writing and Japan with Kianna Shore
This article was originally featured in the October 2024 issue of Connect.
Chantal Gervais (Tokyo)
It seemed like a scam. Kianna Shore received a message via Twitter from an unfamiliar user. She opened the message with trepidation. It asked about interest in authoring an unannounced Blade Runner comic series. Hesitant, she answered. It was no scam. The message was genuine, and after several discussions about world-building, Shore was asked to submit a writing sample. Although the opportunity came to her unexpectedly, it was built on the hard work she had already put in, marking the start of her next challenge. “I try to create worlds and stories that can only be told by me.”
“I try to create worlds and stories that can only be told by me.”
Born in Busan, South Korea and adopted into a family near Dallas, Texas, Kianna Shore has been telling stories since she was young. “I would write for fun, join in online RPG’s, and dabble in some fanfiction, but it wasn’t until university where I thought writing could be a thing.” Shore attended Boston University’s School of Global Studies and received her MFA Screenwriting degree from UCLA. During her time at Boston University, Shore took a speculative script writing course. A speculative script is a script written outside a studio or production company about an established series. It is used to pitch not only an idea but also the writer’s ability to craft a story with action, structure, and dialogue. “I realized that a spec script is basically fanfiction that industry pros might actually read. It was my turning point in my life as a young writer.” With school behind her, Shore went on to work on webseries, Stage Fright and Chicken Girls as a staff writer. Her next project had her working with Riot Games on Ruined King: A League of Legends Story.
Blade Runner: Tokyo Nexus was officially launched during San Diego Comic Con in late July 2024. A few days later and on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, Shore hosted a launch event of her own at C/NE in Meguro, Tokyo.
One of the first things Shore spoke about when asked about writing for Blade Runner was the pressure and worries about stepping into such an acclaimed franchise. Almost everyone at the launch knew the Blade Runner franchise somehow. Even Shore herself remarked on how she had written papers during her Masters program on the franchise. Shore felt deeply and wanted to do right by fans, but she also wanted to make Tokyo Nexus stand out and shine as its own creation. “A great story moves me. For me, a story can be as sharp and witty and unpredictable, but if I don’t care for the characters, it will not stay with me forever. . . “
It was here in this belief she decided that, while Blade Runner had been innovative for its era in 1982, she wanted to steer clear of the prevalent 1980s science fiction tropes that often fetishized Asian culture and reinforced misogyny. “In my story it was important to me to give such characters power and a chance to develop their own agency.” Some personal experiences Shore drew from to combat this were her identity as a Korean-American, and living as a foreigner in Japan. “I definitely know about the foreigner experience in Japan — but also feeling like a foreigner in your home country.” The lead character, Mead, is Korean-American much like Shore herself; and her partner, Stix, is African-American. The beginning line in Tokyo Nexus reads, “The nail that sticks out gets hammered down’’. A classic Japanese idiom. This accurately describes the two lead characters and experiences Shore can relate to. After the audience is introduced to Mead, they are quickly able to put together that she follows the rules but her moral compass ultimately comes first. Leaning further into this discussion, Shore mentioned a scene that particularly stands out in the first issue of Tokyo Nexus,
“. . . Mead is walking down the streets of Tokyo and sees a man getting arrested. She contemplates the false utopia around her, wondering what lies beneath the surface. How much had to be lost in order for this version of Tokyo to be in its current state? It makes her and hopefully the audience wonder how much are we willing to sacrifice for peace?”
Another important topic to Shore was the concept of techno-orientalism. Specifically in North American media and science fiction, techno orientalism is the trend of imagining Asian cultures in a hyper technological society. “I wanted to show that Japan is not living in 2050, despite what all the TikToks and reels might be saying.” Shore swings for the fences and hits right back at this idea with a car chase in the second issue. The mention of Blade Runner and cars quickly brings an old tweet to mind. Next to a picture of the infamous cyber truck, a tweet on X said that ‘Cyber trucks are what Blade Runners would have driven’. It is rare to see even a Tesla driving down Tokyo streets, let alone a mammoth cyber truck. “I wanted to find a common car in Japan that would be difficult to track. . .in my universe, everyone uses a Kei car.” Opting for the ordinary, Shore grounded the narrative in reality and stripped away another layer to techno orientalism. Juxtaposing both Eastern and Western spheres of media, Shore wanted to bring these worlds together. “Science Fiction is supposed to be an envisioning of the future, a potential possibility. Naturally, how America views the future in its science fiction, especially from the 1980s, is vastly different than 2020’s view of the future. Even though I am an American writer, I wanted to be in conversation with and honor the current landscape in Japan.”
“I wanted to show that Japan is not living in 2050, despite what all the TikToks and reels might be saying.”
Nearing the end, Shore took audience questions. What was collaborating with an artist like? Shore explained that the setting, story, characters, and plot were all her creations, and because of this, she felt she needed to be more hands-on with the artist in the beginning. Writing for TV or comics? Shore said “There’s so many layers to writing. Creating something out of nothing. Forging bonds with readers. . . Even our ancestors made up stories about the stars, trying to understand the world around us. Storytelling really is so very human of us.”
“Even our ancestors made up stories about the stars…”
The last question of the day was simple and was what everyone wanted to know. What’s next for Kianna Shore? Keeping the audience on their toes, she shared that she had recently submitted a middle-grade novel to her agent, and has been working on a script for a Korean-American revenge movie. Comics, novels, movies, what can’t Shore do?
“I think the spark for me is having something to say or a theme to explore. It can be inspired by something I witness, a philosophical concept, or even just a fleeting emotion I want the audience to feel.”
Where to buy Blade Runner: Tokyo Nexus
Chantal is the Entertainment Editor of [CONNECT] magazine. She is always on the lookout for the newest seasonal snacks and the weirdest gachapon she can find. Her hobbies include napping, talking about the Dune series, and accidental karaoke nights.
