Anime: Is it evil or am I paranoid?

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Antonio_022

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I am what most people call a Cath-Otaku. (Meaning Catholic-Otaku). I love the anime/manga world and i have no intention of leaving.
Just recently, I came across a bunch of people (significantly, catholics) say that anime is “EVIL!” or “SPAWN OF SATAN!”. If these were atheists, i couldve easily ignored them but these were CHRISTIANS…

I have no idea how to feel about this. One part of me says to listen to them and one HUGE chunk tells me not to. I cant watch any anime properly without these thoughts popping up and my head keeps aching everytime that part of me suddenly goes all “ANIME IS EEEBBILL!!”

Please help me…
God bless
 
Anime is an art medium, with no inherent moral properties. It cannot be either good or evil. The individual works must each be judged of their own accord.

There are several factors to consider when it comes to anime:
  1. It is a created by a culture that is largely Shinto, somewhat Buddhist, and very minimally Christian (and mostly Catholic of that). Most Japanese consider our religion to be a curiosity, at best. It is often used to give a show a Western flair, much in the same way they idealize the display of Victorian-era English elements in many shows. As such, there are often gross misrepresentations (even if unintentional) that display the Church in a bizarre or even negative light.
  2. It has very little concept of Western ideas of morality. Culturally, they view nudity, sex, religion, and occult differently than Westerners. A demon in an anime is not meant to be the same kind of demon as the Christian understands it. Christmas is not the birth of Christ to them, it is a couple’s holiday, much akin to Valentine’s Day. It is not unusual to find high schoolers sexualized in some way (even in shows not labeled for 18+ viewers). Catholic sensibilities will often find trouble encountering and reconciling these elements.
  3. There are often times very adult themes tackled in anime. Off the top of my head, shows like Neon Genesis Evangelion, Full Metal Alchemist, and Now and Then, Here and There all tackle serious questions relating to personal responsibility, death, morality, and many other difficult questions. The animated nature of the genre lends itself to younger viewership in Western cultures, but often times these younger viewers are not prepared to deal with the questions brought up in shows like this.
I’m sure others will chime in with more considerations. It is best to check into the rating on an anime before you dive into it, and when you first watch a show, explore it with a critical mind and eye. If you encounter elements that trouble you or don’t hold up to moral scrutiny, it’s okay to stop watching. Nobody is going to take away your otaku card :).

That said, if you don’t run into anything that is morally troubling, enjoy. People that want to marginalize as evil an entire medium of art are woefully out of touch.
 
epiclotus said:
Anime is an art medium, with no inherent moral properties. It cannot be either good or evil. The individual works must each be judged of their own accord.

There are several factors to consider when it comes to anime:
  1. It is a created by a culture that is largely Shinto, somewhat Buddhist, and very minimally Christian (and mostly Catholic of that). Most Japanese consider our religion to be a curiosity, at best. It is often used to give a show a Western flair, much in the same way they idealize the display of Victorian-era English elements in many shows. As such, there are often gross misrepresentations (even if unintentional) that display the Church in a bizarre or even negative light.
  2. It has very little concept of Western ideas of morality. Culturally, they view nudity, sex, religion, and occult differently than Westerners. A demon in an anime is not meant to be the same kind of demon as the Christian understands it. Christmas is not the birth of Christ to them, it is a couple’s holiday, much akin to Valentine’s Day. It is not unusual to find high schoolers sexualized in some way (even in shows not labeled for 18+ viewers). Catholic sensibilities will often find trouble encountering and reconciling these elements.
  3. There are often times very adult themes tackled in anime. Off the top of my head, shows like Neon Genesis Evangelion, Full Metal Alchemist, and Now and Then, Here and There all tackle serious questions relating to personal responsibility, death, morality, and many other difficult questions. The animated nature of the genre lends itself to younger viewership in Western cultures, but often times these younger viewers are not prepared to deal with the questions brought up in shows like this.
I’m sure others will chime in with more considerations. It is best to check into the rating on an anime before you dive into it, and when you first watch a show, explore it with a critical mind and eye. If you encounter elements that trouble you or don’t hold up to moral scrutiny, it’s okay to stop watching. Nobody is going to take away your otaku card :).

That said, if you don’t run into anything that is morally troubling, enjoy. People that want to marginalize as evil an entire medium of art are woefully out of touch.
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Great post!

Honestly, what I see in most anime, including Adult Swim (cartoon network time slots meant for older teens and adult fans) isn’t too far off from what I see on many other shows on Nick or Disney.

The only anime I have a problem with it the pornographic anime. Yes, for those that don’t know, there is a LOT of anime porn out there.
 
Antonio_022 said:
I am what most people call a Cath-Otaku. (Meaning Catholic-Otaku). I love the anime/manga world and i have no intention of leaving.
Just recently, I came across a bunch of people (significantly, catholics) say that anime is “EVIL!” or “SPAWN OF SATAN!”. If these were atheists, i couldve easily ignored them but these were CHRISTIANS…

I have no idea how to feel about this. One part of me says to listen to them and one HUGE chunk tells me not to. I cant watch any anime properly without these thoughts popping up and my head keeps aching everytime that part of me suddenly goes all “ANIME IS EEEBBILL!!”

Please help me…
God bless
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Some of it most certainly appears to be. The Evil One chooses the art medium (drawings, music, movies, books) as a preferred way to make itself present in a way that appears innocuous - wolves in sheep’s clothing. And he is very skilled in doing this. Very much.

As for your not having any intention of leaving the manga world, Christ requires that you be willing to leave behind all worlds for the sake of the kingdom. Perhaps your vocation is not to become a Trappist hermit, but nevertheless it is a timeless truth that “where your treasure is, there will your heart also be”.

So live your life peacefully, but be ready to renounce to anything that you may perceive as moving you away from Christ and from the Kingdom of Heaven.

I can imagine the anime world is quite wide…there must be all kinds of styles, etc. If there are some that ring a bell in your soul, why not just set them apart. After all, we truly need very little in this life to be happy…all else is caprice 😃
 
As a fellow Anime enthusiast I say ignore them. I have heard the same thing recently I was told by a friend of a friend who is a fundamentalist that I was going to hell for watching Anime. I told her that it wasn’t up to her and that only God can decide if I go to hell or not. But seriously just ignore them they don’t know nothing.
 
Ignore them. Fundamentalists will criticize anything and everything as being “of the devil”. Catholics are not always immune to this mindset, either.

However, I think you would do very well to listen to what epiclotus said upthread. Anime has some confusing, non-Christian stuff in it, and it is best to understand and think about what you are viewing. On the other hand, you will also find Japanese shows still emphasize the importance of family and other important things in a way that American shows no longer do. They also don’t feel the need to ridicule Christianity, since it is not a major cultural force in Japan. So I’d say be careful and think about what you’re watching, but don’t let people scare you away from the many beautiful series that exist. 🙂
 
Usually the “[insert media topic here]-is-always-evil” argument boils down to “Stop liking what I don’t like!”. I know nothing about anime but like any other art form or entertainment, it could be either good or bad. Use common sense and judgement, avoid what you don’t think is good, and don’t worry.
 
Some anime is very good. Some anime I would say is undoubtedly evil.

What they both share is they are both easily exposed to children. (cartoon medium lends itself to kids). Take that as you will. Some anime that started pornographic, like “Fate: Stay Night” turned into watered down syndicated forms for a broader audience. Could anyone interested in said anime have it act as a gateway to porn? I imagine so.

And the popularity of “One Piece” is like fork in the brain.
 
I think epiclotus has some good advice that u can follow.

Other than that, I don’t think there’s much more to say that hasn’t been said already, but I would like to add that, if u aren’t already, please make sure to spend some time learning and understanding your own Catholic faith. Don’t be afraid to open up that Catechism/Bible or to stop by EWTN’s TV station, or the online site (EWTN.com) where u can view some good programs or articles that can help bolster your faith, and make u more knowledgeable and wiser when making decisions about some of the tougher issues in life that you’ll come across in your daily life.
 
Iie! Anime wa waruijanai! No not ALL anime is evil. There is even a small Catholic organization in Japan that has made a very respectful Passion anime called My Last Day.

youtube.com/watch?v=SzTBvFZa7M0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

They have uploaded it here for all the world to see for free.

Now, yes many titles warrant your discretion and of course hentai should be completely avoided.

An aside here, I have struggled with question myself. I love Evangelion but it definitely has its share of fanservice. So what to do? Personally, I either avert my eyes or laugh at it how ridiculous it is. Point is, use your head. If something doesn’t feel right or becomes a near occasion to sin, don’t watch it! Stuff that is blasphemous or is all just blatant fanservice is to be avoided. Dragonball Z, Sailor Moon. Fushigi Yugi, and Full Metal Alchemist, for example are probably fine. Girls Bravo, Ikki Tousen or High School of the Dead not so much. Oh, and if you haven’t read the manga, Yotsuba &! yet you are missing out! Same mangaka as Azumanga Daioh.

Hope that helps somewhat. Ja matta!
 
I just wanted to add that, while there are some anime out there today that are fun and engaging, a lot of current offerings are much more questionable than in previous years. While I’m in no way an expert on the anime industry, I think this is because the studios have consolidated many of their shows to appeal only to the narrow audience of Japanese otaku. This audience has very specific tastes, and those don’t generally jive well with Catholic sensibilities.

Again, that isn’t to say there are no current shows that avoid these pitfalls, but you will have to be more discerning about current material than stuff produced even 5-10 years ago.
 
I’m curious, OP, what -you- think may be evil about it. Maybe delving down into what’s worrying your conscience might help figure things out.
 
epiclotus said:
  1. It is a created by a culture that is largely Shinto, somewhat Buddhist, and very minimally Christian (and mostly Catholic of that). Most Japanese consider our religion to be a curiosity, at best. It is often used to give a show a Western flair, much in the same way they idealize the display of Victorian-era English elements in many shows. As such, there are often gross misrepresentations (even if unintentional) that display the Church in a bizarre or even negative light.
  2. It has very little concept of Western ideas of morality. Culturally, they view nudity, sex, religion, and occult differently than Westerners. A demon in an anime is not meant to be the same kind of demon as the Christian understands it. Christmas is not the birth of Christ to them, it is a couple’s holiday, much akin to Valentine’s Day. It is not unusual to find high schoolers sexualized in some way (even in shows not labeled for 18+ viewers). Catholic sensibilities will often find trouble encountering and reconciling these elements.
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Excellent post.

To quote the late Michael Crichton, Japanese culture has developed largely “without the influence of Jesus or Freud”, so that has to be taken into account.

And “anime” is a very heterogeneous group: it ranges from the G-rated (World Masterpiece Theater) to “adult and artistic” to “overtly sexualized / pornographic”. As the Protestant apologist J.P. Holding puts it: rather than “stay away”, “learn to discern”. 👍
 
I feel your pain OP! I enjoy many of the more nerdy things in life and sometimes feel alone because so many nerds out there have fallen into the traps of Atheism, Paganism, or worse brain dead apathy (aka “Agnosticism”). Part of me feels this is because so many people who enjoy such things feel they can’t because it is somehow “un-Christian”. I would echo the above statements to use discretion. Not everything is appropriate, especially given that much of it is marketed to adolescent boys with raging hormones. However, I would like to point out that:

J R R Tolkien was Catholic
C S Lewis was Anglican
Many, many stories/games, especially Fantasy type, have redemptive Good vs Evil, heroism and even Christian undertones

Given this, I would say that Anime is perfectly fine! Just be careful not to make anything an idol or let it lead you to sin. Nerd out, OP! See you in San Diego (nerd inside joke)!

p.s. I’m told the Jesuits at my local Catholic High School use to play a mad session of D&D!
 
I used to watch a lot of anime as well. I agree with the above posts, it’s just a medium, not inherently good or bad. There are many examples of “bad” anime just as there are “good” anime.

Examples of good anime
  • There are some anime that promote peace and respect for the earth, such as many of Miyazaki’s movies. When I was a kid, watching Nausicaa helped me control my temper. However, pls. note some Miyazaki movies have a pantheist kind of thinking (which is consistent with Shinto belief). As long as you be mindful that pantheism is inconsistent with our faith, I think it’s ok to watch.
  • In the 80s there were at least two Bible-based anime that I’m aware of (the Flying House and Superbook). As far as I can recall, the shows were pretty close to the biblical stories. Superbook has been remade into a CG animation series by the 700 Club (no, I’m not a fan of the 700 Club).
Examples of bad anime
  • There are many anime that are not classified as porn yet they objectify women. Of course Hollywood does this too.
  • Many anime are very violent. Again, Hollywood does this too, though I think anime can be even more violent.
  • There are many anime that are somewhat disrespectful of Christianity. For example, they will feature aliens disguised as nuns or whatever. In the series Evangelion, the enemies are “angels” (though not the same way we Christians/Catholics view them).
 
amoremseram said:
I used to watch a lot of anime as well. I agree with the above posts, it’s just a medium, not inherently good or bad. There are many examples of “bad” anime just as there are “good” anime.
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As someone who is in Japan and is an anime fan as well, I agree with you.
  • There are many anime that are somewhat disrespectful of Christianity. For example, they will feature aliens disguised as nuns or whatever. In the series Evangelion, the enemies are “angels” (though not the same way we Christians/Catholics view them).
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It’s a case of “it all makes sense in context.” The Angels (shito ‘apostles’ in Japanese) in Evangelion obviously aren’t the spirits nor the apostles of Christianity but are well, monstrous life-forms that are ultimately revealed to be somehow related to us human beings.
 
epiclotus said:
Anime is an art medium, with no inherent moral properties. It cannot be either good or evil. The individual works must each be judged of their own accord.

There are several factors to consider when it comes to anime:
  1. It is a created by a culture that is largely Shinto, somewhat Buddhist, and very minimally Christian (and mostly Catholic of that). Most Japanese consider our religion to be a curiosity, at best. It is often used to give a show a Western flair, much in the same way they idealize the display of Victorian-era English elements in many shows. As such, there are often gross misrepresentations (even if unintentional) that display the Church in a bizarre or even negative light.
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In fact, modern Japan is really highly secular (in a few circles you even see a negative attitude towards religion in general - something not helped by the blossoming of weird cultish “New Religions” like Aum Shinrikyo). And I would put it as ‘Shinto-Buddhist’. For much of history, Japanese Buddhism co-existed with what we now call Shintoism in a syncretized form before the Meiji government in the 19th century started to forcibly separate the two.
Christmas is not the birth of Christ to them, it is a couple’s holiday, much akin to Valentine’s Day.
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Personally I think the West is really to blame for this highly secularized-view of Christmas. :cool:
  1. There are often times very adult themes tackled in anime. Off the top of my head, shows like Neon Genesis Evangelion, Full Metal Alchemist, and Now and Then, Here and There all tackle serious questions relating to personal responsibility, death, morality, and many other difficult questions. The animated nature of the genre lends itself to younger viewership in Western cultures, but often times these younger viewers are not prepared to deal with the questions brought up in shows like this.
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It really boils down to a difference in attitude towards manga and anime. Here in Japan, comics and animated features don’t have the stigma of being ‘kids’ stuff’ like they are in the West: there are, simply put, different manga and anime which target different age groups.
 
patrick457 said:
It’s a case of “it all makes sense in context.” The Angels (shito ‘apostles’ in Japanese) in Evangelion obviously aren’t the spirits nor the apostles of Christianity but are well, monstrous life-forms that are ultimately revealed to be somehow related to us human beings.
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Yes, you’re right (actually Evangelion is one of the series I like) and taken in isolation, it seems like it’s not significant. But as an anime fan you have to admit there are plenty of examples of quasi-Christian imagery/terminology that recur in anime and manga (and some Japanese video games like Bayonetta), as though they find our images/terminology exotic and fascinating.

I don’t think the anime/manga studios are doing it maliciously, but at the same time the way they use these images is definitely without any reverence. Personally, I don’t find it offensive, though I can see how some people might.
 
amoremseram said:
Yes, you’re right (actually Evangelion is one of the series I like) and taken in isolation, it seems like it’s not significant. But as an anime fan you have to admit there are plenty of examples of quasi-Christian imagery/terminology that recur in anime and manga (and some Japanese video games like Bayonetta), as though they find our images/terminology exotic and fascinating.

I don’t think the anime/manga studios are doing it maliciously, but at the same time the way they use these images is definitely without any reverence. Personally, I don’t find it offensive, though I can see how some people might.
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They do find it fascinating, just as we find random buddhist and shinto imagery fascinating. I used to see random yin-yang symbols all over for purely aesthetic reasons, and people never seemed to have anything more than the most basic idea of what they meant. We think ninjas and samurai are cool, but how much do most Americans really know about their history? Likewise, anime has a tendency to throw in Westernized or psuedo-Christian elements simply because it’s weird and foreign. They’re not usually trying to make fun of it, whereas if you see Christian elements in an American show, it’s often to ridicule us.

I will say that some series use Christian imagry and ideas properly. There’s Trigun, which was actually written by a then-Catholic (not sure if he still is), and therefore focuses on Christian themes like forgiveness. There’s Haibane Renmei, which isn’t a Christian series, but uses a lot of Christian/Western symbolism- most notably angels and halos. There are other Christian elements throughout, and one of the main themes is, fittingly, that people can’t really forgive themselves until they have been forgiven by someone else. I liked it. 🙂

Most series that use Christian symbolism have no clue what they’re doing, similar to Evangelion. However, it’s not mean-spirited and doesn’t really hurt us in any way, so I don’t see much of an issue. Besides, Evangelion had much bigger problems than not knowing what a cross symbolized. 😉

EDIT: So apparently yin and yang is a Chinese thing. I think my ignorance only strengthens my general point that many Americans have no idea what anything from Asia is or means, despite how “cool” we think it is. :o
 
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