Living through Death in Anime

Abstract

The focus of this project is to analyze how Japanese culture view death through anime. In aid of that goal, the project also provides some background information on traditional Japanese myths as well as the two dominant religions in Japan of Shinto and Buddhism. The project looks at several different anime, like Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (2007) and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (2009), to analyze the different ways that the theme of death is represented. To focus the discussion on death, this project only discusses anime characters that have passed on having a death or near-death experience but continue to exist. The main interest of this project is how these characters continue on and interact with their living counterparts. One reason this is an important topic is the study of anime is a relatively new field, and a goal of this project is to add to that budding conversation.