Which of these is more original?

So, I have these characters of mine that I want to use in a script for a web series or TV show, probably animated (either anime-esque or CGI): thing is, I'm wondering which of these would be more original and can be seen as working better?

Idea A: After the End

In a vast dark wasteland humanity's last bastion of light and life is a massive self-sufficient city simply called The City. At the heart of it is The Citadel, some sort of highly advanced megastructure that landed in the wasteland several centuries ago. For a long time the machines and seemingly infinite energy from The Citadel have made things livable and has turned the city into a veritable paradise.

Unfortunately, then a bunch of bizarre monsters (Neon Genesis Evangelion styled Kaiju, to be exact) start causing havoc (and Mind Screw), and the city's defences fight back but prove mostly ineffective. Cue The Citadel activating a group of four 'siblings' with strange powers, and voila!

A mostly dramatic Monster of the Week Action-Adventure series with a Slice of Life breather episode every two or three episodes between all the drama, action and angst (oh, and sarcastic Self-Deprecation and character based humour so the viewers don't die from an overload of melancholy).

Essentially, part Neon Genesis Evangelion, part Power Rangers and part Red Dwarf.

Idea B: Children of the Abyss

The Citadel is a vast alien structure that travels through space, gathering information and samples from various worlds. To this end it uses non-sentient creatures called EGO as well as its sentient 'children' (same protagonists in both versions), who head out on regular missions to various worlds, dealing with both mundane and surreal matters and events.

It's more episodic with a larger number of locales and settings, and much more light-hearted and comedic overall. Probably would be aimed at a younger audience, too, though it still probably wouldn't be 'for kids'.

Essentially, part Doctor Who, part Kingdom Hearts and part Red Dwarf.

edited 28th Nov '11 8:29:22 AM by Eventua

Well, I guess the second idea is more original, but I like the first one more—mostly because I just love Power Rangers. They both sound good though.

I'm curious about which parts of Power Rangers you like in particular, though, because like I said it's only partly similar.

Namely in that it's a Monster of the Week Action-Adventure series with a team of (occasionally squabbling) super powered young adults (late teens to early twenties) as the protagonists. However, bear in mind that the team will probably not get any Humongous Mecha, nor a Transformation Sequence (though one of them will surely try to Invoke both of those, with little success).

Also bear in mind, the 'part Neon Genesis Evangelion' side of things reflects itself in the giant monsters: these things, called ID, are something you usually take down with brains, not brawn. Brains and gratuitous firepower.

Write both of them and find out.

Also, stop using tropes or references to other media as a means of describing your work.

edited 28th Nov '11 11:08:02 AM by Leradny

Hmm.. I guess so.

Also, good point. That doesn't really help suggest either of them are particularly original, hmm.

I like part A, if you do it right. It reminds me of Ergo Proxy - the sealed-off city in the midst of darkness, and the mystery behind the monster attackings.

Idea B sounds like "Star Trek For Kids!" Which I'm totally fine with. I wish there were more action cartoons period, but I especially wish there were more action cartoons aimed at girls or at least trying to tap into the demographic. Avatar The Last Airbender is really the only one lately that has made any kind of stab at it (though they really did succeed, its a model for how action cartoons should be!). Though I still watch them, Thundercats and Young Justice barely even tried, or at least didn't try very well. They had girls in it basically because they had to.

edited 28th Nov '11 12:27:35 PM by NoirGrimoir

Welp, if I just get up the balance of the cast...

The main protagonists (refered to as the 'Four Lords) are all siblings and go down an even two/two split between males and females. There are a group of Rule63-based clones of them running around (sometimes friends, sometimes foes), still an even split.

Signum (Mission Control) is called a 'him', but is so 'meh' and bland (intentional, since he's a computer) that 'he' might as well be called an 'it'. The Citadel is also refered to as 'female', but again, it's a spaceship, sooo... 'it', I suppose.

There's two seperate pairs of reoccuring antagonists/rivals/anti-heroes, both of which have one male and one female. There's also another reoccuring antagonist/anti-hero who's 'male'.

There's a group of four mundane (but still friendly) side-characters with a ratio of (you guessed it) two males, two females.

Lastly, there's a trio of three Power Armour clad female bounty hunters who are (again), sometimes friends and sometimes foes, alongside their male employer/commander.

Sooo...

10 (11 if you count Signum) major reoccuring male characters, 11 (12 if you count the Citadel) major reoccuring female characters.

Intriguing, a slightly uneven split towards women. Hmm.

edited 28th Nov '11 1:05:37 PM by Eventua

I approve.