While I realize you don't follow the dub, consider the the first Pokemon movie. One of the major themes was that violence doesn't solve everything, and smack in the middle of the movie, you get some pretty trite dialogue out of the characters (such as James looking at the fighting Pokemon and muttering, "I was prepared for trouble... but not like this," a la anti-drug commercial).
actually, I did follow the dub until about three years ago, when I finally got access to the Japanese episodes. Not only that, but I do still hear about what gets changed in the English version (particularly through Dogasu's comparison site).
I can see what you're saying, and I do sometimes think I'm overdoing it.... still, a deep and moving story is something I've wanted from the start. I want to be able to have drama without it seeming half-assed, overdone, empty, and/or forced (the last part being rather ironic to say, considering I actively strive towards such a thing in the first place ^^'). Though, I have come up with a number of dramatic scenes that I think could work, so maybe I'm alright. Though, dialog's not something I've worked on too much, so it would help me to know how much is too much.... when the length and content of the dialog is acceptable, if not perfect, and when it just drags out or divulges too much, thus me asking about subtlety.
Even though I've been searching for a theme, I don't think I've ever radically altered any of the major events of the plot to try to expand on said theme or in order to shoehorn one in (at most, I'd try to alter characters' attitudes and minor actions to fit in with it.... resulting in my whiny, homesick protagonist from the script -_-). I know it's possible to just think of the events for a plot, but themes still seem to be an essential for practically any story.... some apparently come later in the planning, some crop up naturally, but they're there all the same. I keep looking at the events planned in my story, and try to figure out what could be there.... problem is, my basic idea of what the central theme could be is constantly changing, and I still don't have a consistent personality for the main character because of it. Perhaps several authors don't even have a theme in mind, and it's just something that a reviewer claims is within the story later.... still, I get the feeling that knowing my theme could help me, especially when the events in the middle of the story are still rather fragmented (hell, a theme could probably help me come up with new events... there's also the aforementioned protagonist and me unable to come up with a consistent personality).
But I guess, for what it's worth, one thing I've always wanted to do with my doujinshi is provide a rather tongue-in-cheek outlook of the Pokemon franchise in general, especially the
serious business I was talking about earlier. Maybe this could be an example of a concept, perhaps even a theme, which I could consistently run with (don't get the wrong idea, though.... I said "tongue-in-cheek", but it's not meant to be an outright parody. Pokemon are still treated in a serious light, but I often portray characters having normal lives that don't revolve around the creatures 24/7. For that matter, having the protagonist not take an interest in Pokemon raising has to be one of the few consistent traits I've had with him).
