Christianity in Anime

[Knowname]

II remember seeing some freaky ass stuff in there that made me go, "Dude, what up with that"? Now I've never seen the anime, but if the AMV is any indication, I bet they took all sensitivity to any religion and just THREW IT OUT THE WINDOW!

baseically yes, if you take Ninja Scroll way too deeply that IS what they did I've not seen Ninja Resurrection either but I don't suppose it's any worse than Ninja Scroll. Like you said most shows (american or japanese or european etc.) are based on myths of some kind some how. Well NS does a DAMNED good job of mocking their own religion. I mean the guy goes through test after test killing monster of the day after monster of the day just like all I know of eastern religion, yet, though it's very much interwoven with the myth they've chosen, it's brought about in such a disrespectfull, pointless way! I really don't think some mangaka really take any religion/ political view seriously when compaired with the almighty dollar.

And it's not just that I'm touchy about other religions. I enjoy Ayashi No Ceres because it RESPECTFULLY tells the myth it's based on then DRAMATICALLY re-enacts (mocks) it, NS just, like you say, throws respect out the window. But that's just from looking into it too (maybe MUCH) too much. Excuse my, possibly, naive look at the matter, I'm no religious expert or even a schollar ;p (well maybe schollar) but.

[OtakuMan22]

A- We get enough of that garbage in real life
B- They so often just get it plain wrong and people get misconstrued on what religions are all about.

A) Yeah, we do, but sometimes seeing politicians get their just desserts is rather sadistically satisfying! "There is NO giant evil robot bent on world domina... SQUISH!"

B) Wrong maybe, but it is entertaining! And it also gives people a curiosity and an interest in the original legend.

And as for Ninja Scroll, I can't really remember the religious references in Ninja Scroll AT ALL! I just remember that it had a guy who could change shape, some nasty rock dude, a guy with bees in his back, and some other REALLY fugly people.

But I can't recall religion. Just weird mature stuff. It was like the poster-child for Manga Entertainment (and I think it still is actually!). Of course, this all leads into the concept of "Fifteening" which some of you may be familiar with, but that's another thread.

But Ninja Resurrection, I can see being a REAL thorn in righteous Christian sides. If my inference from the AMV is right, the main bad dude is supposed to be a Christian missionary who's gone HORRIBLY wrong!

Anyone able to back me up on this?

~Otaku-Man

[BasharOfTheAges]

You forgot the best part about having religion and politics appear in anime (as well as literature, movies, etc.). The casting of seemingly 'pure' and 'just' characters in roles as corrupt, greedy, and evil. It shows the often covered-up other side of human nature and grants the viewer the right to question things they used to take for granted.

[EmilLang1000]

Consider also that, for the most part, the Japanese are a FAR more secular society than America - to them, MOST religions, including Buddhism and Shinto are "mythological," or at least are treated with enough doubt or agnosticism that they might as well be.
The Japanese, by nature and tradition, are an assymilative culture; their culture takes aspects of other cultures that are popular and integrates them very easily into their own culture.
Take, for example, the concepts of "God" and "Angels." 100 years ago, you wouldn't have seen either in Japanese culture; yet now, the idea of a single Ruling God, or Kami-Sama, is considered perfecty natural, and many Japanese pray not only to the Kamis, but also to Kami-Sama himself (this Kami-Sama is more like Zeus or Iluvatar of the Tolkien religion - a King of Gods or Father God, from whom all the other gods descend and serve, however); Angels, in particular, have become very popular in Japanese culture, and often human-like beings of incredible power are portrayed as having Angels' wings (Think the Dragons of X, or Wing Zero in Endless Waltz).
Just as the Greek and Roman religions are constantly portrayed in Western shows and movies, so are the Judeo-Christian religions in Japan; this is because, to the Japanese, the Judeo-Christian religions are all at once both exotic and familiar - exotic in that only a very small percent of the populace actually practice the religions, but also familiar because so many aspects of them have become a part of Japanese culture itself.

[HeavyMetal]

Wow. I am impressed that everyone has been so cool when speaking of religion.

Just thought I would chip in some info.

OtakuMan22 did a pretty good job, but Buddhism and Shinto (kami-no-michi) don't via for dominance.

Monotheistic religions are exclusive (in most cases), but polytheistic religions work differently (again for the most part). You can be both a member of a Shinto shrine and Buddhist at the same time.

Over 100% of Japan is in someway religious, because you can be more than one religion at a time.

Of course it is true that Japan is more of a secular society. Religion in such a case is more of something for when you die than a way to live. Outside of few core principle anyway.

Religion in Anime:
It’s all over the place as a large part of any culture. Christianity is certainly not the largest religion in the world, but it is prevalent with some very interesting stories and ideas. Christianity is popular in anime perhaps because it is one of the few religions to advertise itself to others.

I think, as mentioned by others, that the rarity of Christianity in Japan makes it interesting for stories, like Roman and Greek theologies in Western shows.

Fans gone to Far
I too find it silly when a fan thinks they are religious or cultural expert due to a show.

But it is about thinking differently more so than terms of correct or incorrect.

Hell, if there were only one way to view things then there would be only one form of Christianity, one form of Buddhism, etc.

For that matter there are several versions of the same Bible, translation problems from its Latin origin, and it is an anthology compiled from other works, books, and letters to begin with. I often wonder what parts were left out from those other works.

Of course in Buddhist countries, people often find it difficult to see Protestants and Catholics as the same religion since Christians try to convert one another.

My 2 Cents
Personally I like religion in anime...and politics in anime too. It makes you think in new directions from different angels even if it is purposefully skewed. It also gives you hints at meanings in the show, character thoughts, and the show's plots.

If you get tired of philosophy and politics in anime there are plenty of shows devoid for the most of such things. I like to think in new ways, but sometimes a nice DBZ fists of fury hour is nice.

Trigun seems to be a Cain and Able story or perhaps Ramsus and Romulus. (Building Rome - Building a planet.) Which would you think? Or perhaps a combination.

[Tsunami Jones]

I remember seeing an AMV to Ninja Resurrection (that was supposedly the "sequel" to Ninja Scroll wasn't it?), that was set to "Let the Bodies hit the floor".

I remember seeing some freaky ass stuff in there that made me go, "Dude, what up with that"? Now I've never seen the anime, but if the AMV is any indication, I bet they took all sensitivity to any religion and just THREW IT OUT THE WINDOW!

I bet if anyone who was devouted to Christianity and had deep faith and beliefs would scream bloody murder to the people who made Ninja Resurrection.

Ninja Resurrection basically has no connection to Ninja Scroll except for some ninja and a Jubei (Jubei Yagyu compared to Jubei Kimagure or whatever is name is).

And yes, there really is no sensitivity to religion in it. Here's basically what happens:

The son of god is reborn and leads the japanese christians to rebellion. Ninja are sent after him, and Jubei Yagyu beats him down. After having his arms cut of, the "christ" is then RAPED before dying. The end result being that satan is brought into the world to destroy it.

Pretty stupid overall, not just from a Christian viewpoint.

[Dylan's forcelance]

I do not focus so much on the christian history in anime as the christian moral. That is what I care about. I like my anime to be clean. Christians should be able to enjoy anime just like everybody else without ignoring their moral standards. That is why I am happy that there are animes out there that focus on other things besides sex and violence. Take me for example, I like shows like Gundam wing, and Rurouni Kenshin, Pretear, Full metal panic, and Azumanga Diaoh, and Comic party because they suit MY moral standards. Lets keep everyone happy. Ya know?

[OtakuMan22]

Yeah, I can't help but find it very funny that some of Go Nagai's most outrageous stuff was some of the earliest anime that crossed the shores.

Sure he's the guy that gave people the idea of putting the pilot IN the giant robot, sure!

But he's also the same guy that pissed off SOOOOOO many Japanese PTA members, that I bet they still have it in for him to this day! What was it... Shameless High School?

PISSED... OFF... those PTA members. In fact just to rib the PTA even more, he ended the series where the PTA and the Shameless High School students and staff killed each other in a massive battle where nobody won.

It was real poignant, yes, but also one HELUVA way to cheese off the PTA even more!



Sometimes there is genius in sheer insanity!

~Otaku-Man

[Kalium]

I do not focus so much on the christian history in anime as the christian moral. That is what I care about. I like my anime to be clean. Christians should be able to enjoy anime just like everybody else without ignoring their moral standards.

Wow, that's remarkably short-sighted. Expecting something from a culture to which your arbitrary set of morals is as alien as theirs is to your culture to conform completely to your set of 'moral values'. I can't even think of an analogy to exemplify how... odd... this is.

[x_rex30]

Christianity from what I hear is like less than ten percent of japanese population, and a lot of Japanese find things like crosses cool, like we would a buddha statue. So just because someone in Japan is wearing a cross, or some creator adds some form of christianity in an anime doesn't technically mean they are a christian.

Creators are going to make stories about anything they find cool, and if christianity is just something they find interesting for a story they might just add it to there story.