Writers aren't generally employed by studios. The writer for Virgin Soul, Shizuka Oishi, has mainly written for live-action TV dramas up to this point; this is her first anime work.
Yeah, I read about that just recently. Interesting choice, and the sort of thing I'd love to see more often.
There's a sort of myopic interbreeding you get in the anime writing circles where they'll just continuously recycle the same things over and over with minimal thought, with the most variation being subversions or novel weaving of existing tropes. Going
outside of that community seems to produce more interesting results.
Miyazaki had it right when he talked about the lack of real-world observation among anime producers. Or even just media consumption outside of anime, for that matter.
Honestly I will say that a lot of the quality in the show can be attributed more to the director than just the writer. He definitely has a unique vision of what sort of stories he wants to tell in anime, and he actively seeks out writers to team with who aren't traditional anime writers. Sometimes it works out better than others, but I think it's hard to argue that Tiger and Bunny, Bahamut Genesis, Bahamut Virgin Soul, Asura, and even his Saint Seiya movie, are not exactly the sort of things people expect from character interactions in anime. They feel more like serial dramas or stage productions.
Funny thing, I actually wrote credit to the director in a previous draft of the post. I don't mean to downplay their contribution, of course, as their hand is clearly on display in everything the show is and does. The writing, however, still remains a standout point for me, as that's something that just wouldn't be possible without someone who knows how to make characters seem like people and not just thin caricatures or plot devices.
Easier for me to appreciate, at least, because I have actually done fiction writing quite a bit but have never directed an animation, so, yeah. Maybe one day, though...