In the summer of 2002, I took an anime class at Portland State University. Our final for that class was to write an essay centering around a theme of our choosing that related to anime. Now, I don't think this is the best or most comprehensible essay I've ever written (I got a B+ in the class, and the final was a large chunk of that grade) but I'm posting it up here anyway in case anyone wants to read it. Enjoy!

Some themes in entertainment around the world seem to be universal. People from all sorts of different countries can use these themes in their movies and other forms of media and they will generally be understood by people of different cultures. However, if one looks closely at the reasoning behind these common themes, they may discover that different cultures have dramatically varied rationales behind themes that at first glance appear to be universal. One such theme is found in series that revolve around the fate of mankind. Usually these stories will have two different sides, one defending the human race and the other wishing to destroy it. This happens in both American and Japanese series, but the way the ideas are presented is decidedly different. Three series in which this idea is apparent are Blue Seed, Trigun, and X.

In America, the only really clear examples of this theme can be found in kiddie cartoons. There’s usually a hero and his rag-tag group of friends fighting against some totally evil super villain (often from outer space) who wants to destroy the world for no apparent reason (just about the best reason I’ve heard in an American show was in an episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun in which one alien remarked that his planet wanted to destroy the Earth “because you’re blocking our view” (“3rd Rock”)). In anime, however, the “villain” usually doesn’t want to destroy the planet, but just the people on it, while the “hero” wants to stop them from achieving that goal (I use quotes around “hero” and “villain” because character roles in anime can be incredibly ambiguous). And the “villain” is never just destroying the human race for fun (though some have a good time doing it); there are always reasons, some of which are quite complicated, especially to an American audience unaware of the subtle cultural implications found in many anime. One such idea is that destroying the human race will purify the Earth. Since most Americans know little about Shinto, they don’t realize just how important the ideas of cleanliness and purity are to the Japanese, and therefore don’t see why this is considered to be an acceptable reason for so many characters. In all three of the anime mentioned, however, the “villains” at least partially use the idea of purity as a reason supporting genocide of the human race.

In X, a group known as the Dragons of Earth wants to “give the Earth a second chance” (“X”) at being clean after the planet has been dirtied by the humans. They believe this can only be achieved by killing off humanity. And, of course, that means there’s another group called the Dragons of Heaven who believe that the human race deserves to survive, and therefore they must fight against the Dragons of Earth. It seems interesting that the group representing the Earth are the ones advocating the downfall of humanity, implying that the Earth wants to be purified by ridding itself of those “unclean” humans, while those representing heaven want to just let things play out and hope that humanity will correct their mistakes on their own.

The theme of purity is exceptionally strong in Blue Seed, possibly because it involves a young girl and therefore can play up the miko factor, while the other two series have males as main characters. In Blue Seed, Japan is being attacked by plant monsters called the Aragami, that, you guessed it, want to purify the land by ridding it of humans, and it’s up to a teenaged girl named Momiji to stop them (with a group of trigger-happy teammates to help her, of course). There is purity on both sides of this battle, as is shown when it’s discovered Momiji’s twin sister Kaede is leading the other side, but with the images of Momiji in full, completely white miko garb in the last couple episodes, it seems to imply that humanity isn’t so impure after all, and nature itself isn’t completely harmless, either.

Trigun is a bit different from the other two in that purity, while still present in parts of the story, isn’t really viewed as something that’s all that important. This may be because the other two anime are set in Japan, while Trigun is set in the far future on a presumably English speaking desert planet named Gunsmoke (this name is based off a line of action figures; the planet doesn’t seem to have a formal name in either the anime or the manga). Another difference is that what the “villains” in the other anime feared was going to happen actually did happen; humans have rendered the Earth incapable of supporting life and therefore they must go search for a new planet to live on. In addition to this, they create a new race of beings called Plants, who live inside of what appear to be giant light bulbs and have the job of providing energy, water, and whatever else humanity needs to survive on whatever planet they land on (and, considering they ended up crashing on a desert planet, they end up relying on the Plants very much). The issue of purity comes in when one of the Plants bears a set of twins with the appearance of human children. One of the children, whose name is Knives, learns about what the humans did to Earth, and therefore believes they should all die, rather than just go off and find another planet to ruin. According to him, allowing the humans to immigrate would be like “spreading germs across our healthy universe” (“Trigun”). He’s also concerned about the Plants, as he doesn’t think it’s fair that others of his kind are essentially being used as slaves for the survival of a race he can’t stand. All of this is explained in flashbacks, and the series is essentially about Vash (Knives’ twin brother and the main character) trying to stop Knives as he continues to attempt to carry out his goal of genocide.

Another feature that illustrates the difference between American cartoons and anime is the way the characters view the things that are happening to them. While the hero in American cartoons often views fighting the villain as his duty, in anime both sides of the conflict often view their battles as having to do with fate. This idea is especially dominant in Blue Seed and X, with every volume of the manga of X touting “their destiny was foreoredained” (“X”) as its subtitle. Indeed, all the characters learn early on what side they’re supposed to be fighting for, and accept the fact that they may very well die doing so. In Blue Seed, as well, Momiji learns that she was born to be a Kushinada, and she doesn’t really have a choice as to whether she actually wants this role or not. However, she eventually decides she must follow the plan fate has lain out before her, and she does so while telling herself “I’ll do my best” (“Blue Seed”). Trigun once again differs from the other two in that it not only doesn’t have destiny as an important theme, but also seems to reject the idea altogether. One of the lines that is repeated quite often throughout the series is “the ticket to the future is always blank” (“Trigun”), implying that it’s completely up to the individual to decide their own future, and fate has nothing to do with it.

Anime also often features something that’s mostly relegated to soap operas in America: close relationships between people on opposite sides of the conflict (you’re not going to find evil twins on regular American TV, after all). Both Blue Seed and Trigun feature twins who disagree with each other, and X has Kamui (leader of the Dragons of Heaven) fighting against Fuuma (the Dragons of Earth leader), his best friend (though the manga occasionally implies they may be a bit more than that). There are countless other titles that feature this theme, including Earthian, in which two male angel lovers must go to Earth and decide whether humanity is worth saving, Fushigi Yuugi, where two best friends end up leading different warring countries in ancient China, and the endless brainwashings of Tuxedo Kamen in Sailormoon. This may be done partially because of the dramatic nature of anime. After all, if Kamui had decapitated a random villain at the end of the X movie, it would be seen as a victory; the fact that it was his best friend makes it tragic.

Supporting themes such as the roles of purity and destiny and the use of complex character relationships make anime all the more interesting. They take simple themes such as the future of mankind and combine with it to create a compelling story in which who’s right and who’s wrong aren’t so clear. Though some of these themes are largely cultural, it would nice to see Americans take a hint and create a plot more intricate than evil aliens destroying humanity because they have nothing better to do. If American TV were more complex, perhaps people wouldn’t be so worried about their kids vegging out all day in front of the “boob tube” as their brains slowly turn to mush. Instead, they could be sure that they were learning critical thinking skills early on, and they would know not to accept the world as being completely black and white.

Works Cited

“3rd Rock from the Sun” The Casey-Werner Company, 1996.

“Blue Seed” Takada Yuzo, 1992.

“Trigun” Nightow Yasuhiro, 1996.

“X” manga by CLAMP, 1992. Movie by Bandai Visual, 1996. Picture from X Original Soundtrack.