Ask John: Why Do So Many Anime Have Post-Apocalyptic Settings?

Question:
From Akira in 1988 to brand new offerings like Innocent Venus in 2007, why are so many series, movies and OAVs based in post-apocalyptic settings? Does this incredibly morbid mindset among Japanese animators have anything to do with the horrific legacy of the devastation visited upon Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War Two?

Answer:
I feel like I covered a topic very similar to this one in the recent “Ask John” article titled “Why do the Japanese Seem to Love Destroying Tokyo so Much?“, but I’d like to attempt a discussion of the precise circumstances suggested by this question. I do believe that I’m treading a thorny path by making anthropological generalizations about a foreign society which I only have limited, second-hand familiarity with. For that reason I need to stress that my answer is only a personal hypothesis.

America is now more than 200 years old, and the principles of the American war for independence and the Civil War still have a tremendous influence on contemporary American psychology and identity. If singular historic events from a century or two ago sill have so much impact on daily American society, it’s easy to assume that equally traumatic national events from a mere 60 years ago still have a significant influence on contemporary Japanese psychology and social identity. In a psychological sense, present day Japan is a post apocalyptic society. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki may have only struck two Japanese cities, but their psychological impact devastated the entire nation.

America was founded upon the principles of independence, pioneering spirit, and the idea that success could be attained by pursuing it. That philosophy appears again and again in American film in the guise of the lone hero, the renegade, or the idealist that values his/her own values above peer pressure or oppression. John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Sylvester Stallone – they all epitomize the American cinematic spirit of indomitable independent spirit. The frequency of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic settings in anime including Fist of the North Star, Akira, Aika, Yokohama Shopping Log, Stellvia, Skygirls, Wolf’s Rain, Sunabozu, Gilgamesh, Evangelion, Nausicaa, Kakugo no Susume, Blue Gender, Appleseed, Wind Named Amnesia, and countless more may be a Japanese illustration of the way the atomic bombings, combined with the older Japanese philosophy of karmic rebirth, continue to circulate through modern Japanese psychology and culture.

The combination of ancient Buddhist belief in a cycle of death and rebirth, and the inescapable psychological impact of the WWII bombings may largely account for the frequency of apocalyptic settings in anime, but I don’t think that post apocalyptic settings in anime are entirely a psychological examination of the WWII bombings. Note that the possibly most famous of all post-apocalyptic anime, Fist of the North Star, made its manga debut just two years after George Miller’s tremendously influential post-apocalyptic action film The Road Warrior. While post-apocalyptic anime like Nausicaa and Giniro no Kami no Agito use their setting to present an ecological warning about the danger of unchecked urban and technological advancement and human greed, anime like Violence Jack, Kakugo no Susume, and Fist of the North Star have used their post-apocalyptic settings as a justification for plentiful action and excitement.

Furthermore, post-apocalyptic imagery in anime is not always morbid. The post-apocalyptic worlds of Yokohama Shopping Log and director Junpei Mizusaki’s short anime film “Hidamari no Shi” (one fifth of the anthology film Zoo) present their post-apocalyptic settings as peaceful, idyllic times free of the conflicts of the past. Stellvia illustrates its post-apocalypse as a period of universal peace and cooperation. So, in reality, the depiction of post-apocalyptic settings in anime is not limited to just destructive anarchy. In some cases post-apocalyptic settings in anime are more idyllic than the presumed immediate past.

I suspect that it’s this versatility which partially accounts for the frequency of the post-apocalyptic trope in anime. The post-apocalyptic setting is plausible, but at the same time allows for immense creative freedom. An apocalypse allows screenwriters to begin a story with a completely blank slate – a believable world which viewers can relate to, but one that doesn’t have to adhere to the conventions of anime set in the real world. Memories of WWII have undoubtedly merged into and defined the identity of modern Japan, so that influence assuredly inspires modern Japanese artists and writers. But the reason for the frequency of post-apocalyptic imagery isn’t just limited to reflection of WWII. This recurrent theme is also based in older Asian religious belief. And it’s also used frequently simply because the post-apocalyptic setting is a fascinating and inspiring image for viewers, and a complex and useful literary device for authors and artists.