Ask John: Are There Any Anime Set in Unusual Ancient Civilizations?

Question:
Anime set in ancient Japan, the European middle ages, or fantasy worlds based on either (or a combination of the two) are pretty common, but what about other ancient societies? Are there any anime set in ancient Rome, Mesopotamia, India, or MesoAmerica? What about anime focused on Native Americans? Or just fantasy settings inspired by these eras? I for one would love to see an anime or manga rendition of any of these ancient civilizations.

Answer:
Historical settings are quite commonplace in anime, as are settings outside of Japan. However, Asia, America, and Europe are the most frequently seen locations within anime because those are the locations which Japanese animators are most familiar with, and the locations that Japanese anime viewers are most interested in. Anime covers a broad range of subjects and settings, and while there are numerous anime set in modern North America, I can’t recall any anime that primarily star Native Americans in a historical setting. There are numerous Native American characters in anime – Dingo in Rockman.exe Stream, Iyek in Wolf’s Rain, and Bora & his tribe in Dragon Ball to name a few. The Kouya no Shonen Isamu television series from 1973 stars cowboys in the American old west, but that may be as close to early Americans as anime gets. Somewhat similarly, there are anime set in Africa, but I can’t think of any titles that occur in ancient African settings. The 1984 movie Shonen Kenya is set in 1941, so not exactly an “ancient” time period. 1992’s World Masterpiece Theater series Daisougen no Chiisana Tenshi Bush Baby is also set in Kenya, but in the even more recent 1964. The Genshi Shonen Ryu television series from 1971 is presumably set somewhere in Africa, but since it’s a Tarzan-style adventure story, it doesn’t depict an organized human society. Likewise, the Jungle Emperor anime is set in Africa, but it occurs in present day, and since its protagonists are animals, the franchise doesn’t primarily depict a human society. Anime in other ancient settings are a bit more easily identifiable.

The 1981, 1992, and 2010 anime adaptations of Osamu Dazai’s 1940 short story “Hashire Melos” occur in a realistic historical ancient Greece. The 1990 Pygmalio television series and 1986 Arion motion picture are mythological fantasy adventure stories set in ancient Greece and loosely based on ancient Greek mythology. 1999’s Alexander Senki television series likewise occurs in ancient Macedonia, albeit an unrealistic, highly stylized one.

The 1970 theatrical film Cleopatra is predominantly set in ancient Egypt. Anime including the Senya Ichiya Monogatari (1969), Ali Baba to Yonjuppiki no Tozoku (1971), and Sekai Meisaku Douwa: Aladdin to Mahou no Lamp (1982) motion pictures and the 1975 Arabian Nights: Sinbad no Boken TV series occur in the ancient Middle East.

1998’s Ramayana: Rama Ouji Densetsu anime feature film is an adaptation of Indian mythology set in ancient India.

Most of the 1982 television series The Mysterious Cities of Gold occurs in South America in 1532.

Finally, on the same topic but reaching even farther back in time, anime television series including Genshi Shonen Ken (1971), Hajime Ningen Giatrus (1974) and its remake, Hajime Ningen Gon (1996), and Wanpaku Omukashi Kum Kum (1975) all depict pre-historic human societies.