Ask John: What Anime Besides Evangelion Use Religious Themes

Question:
Are there any other anime [besides Evangelion] that heavily rely on religious themes and concepts, not necessarily Christian?

Answer:
As religion is a form of storytelling that pre-dates written language itself, it’s natural to expect religion to appear in anime. Many anime fans are familiar with the use of Christian and Judaic imagery in Neon Genesis Evangelion, although Evangelion is arguably not a “religious” anime. In fact, the religious symbolism of Evangelion could easily be removed or replaced without significantly altering the point or primary story or the series. Nevertheless, Evangelion is widely recognized for its religious iconography because it’s one of the very few shows to extensively employ religious symbolism within the context of dramatic, philosophical anime. There are other series that reference religious themes and symbols, but few do so as extensively as Evangelion.

One of the most interesting “religious” anime ever created is certainly Mamoru Oshii’s 1987 OAV Twilight Q Part 2. While the short OAV doesn’t utilize any recognizable religious iconography, the entire OAV is an illustration of the conceit that the universe is merely a toy in the hands of a childish, whimsical god. Although not quite as central to its plot, the Nekojiru-so OAV from 2001 likewise presents a god who performs miracles only to entertain humans, and whom alters the evolution of the universe for his own convenience, with no thought of the effects of such actions on the denizens of the world. The 1985 film Night on the Galactic Railroad also utilizes extensive religious themes and symbolism.

From 1981 through 1983, Tatsunoko Studios produced the Anime Oyako Gekijo, Time Kyoushitsu Tondera House no Daiboken, and Pasocon Travel Tanteidan anime TV series, better known in America as “Superbook: Video Bible.” Rather than wax philosophical on religious themes, these three series were direct anime adaptations of Biblical stories.

Religious symbolism also appears in small doses in countless anime, with varying degrees of seriousness. It’s not coincidence that an angel appears before Motoko Kusanagi at the end of the Ghost in the Shell movie when she evolves to a “higher” state of being. At the opposite end of the spectrum, for example, the Cosmopolitan Cosprayers television series uses Indian, Japanese and Christian priestesses as a gimmick, but makes no efforts to be intellectual or literary.

Christian symbolism seems to appear most frequently in anime because Christianity may be called the most visual of the world’s major religions. The symbolism and iconography of Judeo-Christianity lends itself well to the visual medium of anime. The appearance of Asian religion is much more subtle in anime. From the practice in Zen archery to its emphasis on the unity of spiritual with physical and the harmony of living things, the concepts of Buddhism extensively pervade the Earth Girl Arjuna anime television series. Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro are perhaps the best examples of Shinto religion in anime. As Shinto recognizes divinity within all things, Totoro and Spirited Away acknowledge the spirits of wind and water and trees and so forth.