Religion in Anime and Manga!

No heated discussions about religion and god in this one.. some people believe, others dont... reason I've come to make this thread is, I've noticed alot of the good animes and mangas today take place in religious terms.... Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, Kaitou Saint Tail, Akuma na eros.... aswell as several of the other shows out there all have a light vs darkness elements in it... Personally Im not a believer, but I love the animes, they always take unexpected twists and turn out to be total wonders to the end!!! christmas is also often celebrated aswell as other holidays in these adaptions....... how heavy do you think religion in itself impact anime and manga? <3

Oh yeah; technically old good ones like DBZ and Yu Yu Hakisho and Full Metal Alchemist (both 2003 and Brotherhood) did as well. And if you played Tales of Symphonia for the gamecube or PS3 then youd know about that too.

I noticed Religion is always seems to be a topic in some way shape or form in games and anime from Japan.

And it's usually in a bad way XD

That be true, Key XD

I have something that is directly religion,

This anime is about jesus and Buddha sharing a apartment together and going about life around others,

Its quite interesting,

Saint Young Men,

Actually I remember reading that Osamu Tezuzaka (AKA: the literal god of anime and manga) made a manga adaption of Buddha's life. I don't recall the actual title though but a quick search of Osamu Tezuzaka's work will find it.

I believe its simply titled Buddha and I have heard of it myself, have yet to try it out though,

If it has a comedic aspect to it like saint young men I may very well read it,

I read the Saint Young Men manga, and it was great. Hilarious. See there's nothing wrong with taking a little jab at religion when it's all in good fun, but other media just do it for the sake of satire, and obviously it's taken badly, especially in some occasions when it's just uneducated banter :/

Yeah I agree, Key. TBH I was iffy when I saw this thread made but I see we're talking like adults here (smart ones)
I'll take a look at that Yu. I might hunt down more of Osamu's work.



I swear if this thread was made on MO the amount of sheer hate in it... ugggg. Scary thought.

this topic kind of brings to mind the saga in Gurren Lagann where rosieu is met and how the village is run as if it were an old medieval church town, praying to the "face gods" [aka gunmen] and drawing lots to decide who to banish from the village.

It's important to understand that Japanese history is riddled with religious and spiritual weight. Also, eastern philosophies often have some sort of linkage to spirituality that works in duality with them. It's also notable that the later Westernization of Japan, particularly the introduction of Christianity to the country, had a heavy impact on the political, social, and cultural views of the country's people.

It wouldn't be too far to say that these things have heavily inspired Japanese culture and subculture, particularly in media portrayal. It's heavy, deep material that can be drawn from easily. Mythos within mythos, so to say.