Ask John: What Are The Least Common Genres Covered By Anime?

Question:
Anime has an enormous variety of genres: mecha, action, martial arts, sports, romance, comedy, fan service, detective, harem, horror, drama, magical girl, high school, fantasy, shoujo, shounen, slice of life, political, cooking, incest, apocalyptic, military, etc. But religion is hardly touched in anime. There are a lot of religous relevance in many anime, but it is not the theme of those anime. Actually I’d have to say sports, cooking, and religion are the least common genres in anime. what are the least common genres or what genres have not been covered yet?

Answer:
It’s very true that anime does cover a wide array of subjects, although several of the genres the question cites as examples are not really unique genres. For example, “harem” anime can be classified as romance or drama or comedy; “apocalyptic” anime are typically action shows or, in the case of SaiKano, romantic drama. And “slice of life” shows are virtually by definition drama. Trying to identify themes or subjects that no anime production has ever dealt with is difficult because making such an absolute statement requires an intimate knowledge of the content of every anime title ever produced, which is, I think, knowledge beyond the ability of any individual to posses. But an extensive familiarity with anime is probably all that’s necessary to identify genres less popular in anime and guess at themes not yet covered by anime. The realms of cooking, sports and religion are good theoretical points for discussion.

I’ll guess that the average American anime fan probably isn’t familiar with any cooking themed anime series, not because they don’t exist, but because none of the ones that do exist have ever been particularly well known in America. Just a few examples of anime shows that focus on cooking include Mister Ajikko, Chuukan Ichiban! (better known to English speaking fans as “Cooking Master Boy”), Oishinbo, Kakutou Ryouri Densetsu Bistro Recipe, and the current bread baking themed anime series Yakitate!! Japan. However, it is very true that over the history of the anime industry there have been a relatively small number of anime series focused on cooking.

American fans also aren’t often familiar with very many sports anime because there haven’t been very many sports anime titles released in America. However, in Japan there have been far too many sports themed anime for me to be able to name them all. Just a representative sampling includes:

Baseball anime: Kyoujin no Hoshi, Princess Nine, Major

Football anime: Eyeshield 21

Soccer anime: Captain Tsubasa, Whistle, Hungry Heart

Basketball anime: Slam Dunk, Buzzer Beater, Dear Boys

Tennis anime: Prince of Tennis, Aim for the Ace

Boxing anime: Ashita no Joe, Hajime no Ippo, Ring ni Kakero

Volleyball anime: Attacker You

Fishing: Grander Musashi, Tsuri Baka Nishi

Kendo: Musashi no Ken

Horse racing: Midori no Makibao

Anime dealing with religion is a bit more difficult to narrow down because of the difficulty in distinguishing exactly what constitutes “religious” anime and what is merely anime that includes religious references. For example, anime productions including Evangelion, Chrno Crusade, and Angel Sanctuary aren’t overtly “religious” but contain Christian iconography or are based in Christian doctrine. Likewise, the Tenku Senki Shurato anime TV series stars the gods of Hindu religion, but doesn’t promote any particular religious code. As far as I know, there aren’t very many anime that are overtly designed to promote the teachings or principles of a particular religion. The 1997 film Hermes: Ai Wa Kaze No Gotoku and the 2003 anime film Ougon no Hou are both based on the beliefs of Kofuku no Kagaku religion. The 1981 anime TV series Anime Oyako Gekijo is better known in America as “SuperBook,” an anime series that adapts Biblical parables. The 1982 anime TV series Tondera House no Daiboken, known in America as “Flying House,” is frequently considered a “Christian anime.” Although it’s not overtly religious, I’ve always felt that the Chikyu Shoujo Arjuna anime contains and conveys a significant strain of Buddhist belief in harmony between the body, soul and surroundings. And I’m sure that there are other overtly religious anime that I’ve either forgotten about or am not familiar with.

Another genre that I think is extremely under represented in anime is politics, possibly because it’s rather difficult to make a political themed anime interesting enough to retain viewer interest. While there are numerous political themed manga including Nihonkoku Shodai Daitouryo Sakuragi Ken’ichirou (First President of Japan) and Kaiji Kawaguchi’s Eagle, politics turn up as a primary theme in anime quite rarely. In fact, the anime that possibly contains the most extensive illustration of political theory in all of anime is actually a giant monster series, Nankai Kio Neo Ranga. The only other anime titles I can think of that remotely deal with political debate and theory are Jin-Roh, Gasaraki, and the 1996 OAV Sanctuary, all of which, likewise, use politics as a foundation but don’t primarily concentrate on political drama.

It’s easier to think about what genres haven’t been well represented than which haven’t been at all because it’s easier to conceive of something than nothing. In fact, virtually every theme or subject I can think of does have at least one representation in anime. For some time, though, I have been surprised that there hasn’t yet been a genuine hip-hop music themed anime. Especially considering that DJ simulation and musical rhythm games like Beatmania, Pop’n Music and Dance Dance Revolution are wildly popular in Japan, and Japanese rap groups like Dragon Ash and Shakkazombie have adopted urban American hip-hop music styles, I’m surprised that Japan’s anime industry hasn’t yet developed a “DJ battle” or genuine hip-hop anime. (Samurai Champloo doesn’t count because it’s a samurai anime that employs hip-hop music, not a hip-hop anime.)