You expect a country of Buddhists and Shinto to make a Christian anime?
There’s Evangelion, which is closer to how we Westerners take Buddhist holy texts and say random techno-mumbo-jumbo in our SciFi stories (ex: Stargate).
Similarly, Angel Beats takes the Christian idea of Purgatory except it’s all Buddhist / Zen enlightenment based because Japan doesn’t get Christianity lol.
There is Death Note, where some characters are explicitly Catholic and a few Christian references pop up kind of elegantly. (L washes the feet of Light Yagami for example). I wouldn’t call the plot especially ‘Christian’ otherwise but this does deserve mention as an Anime that at least got the meaning behind the Christian references they chose.
Digimon Season 1 might be the closest thing to Christian. Kids get powers as they invoke the power of Virtues like Courage or Faith. Two Digimon turn into literal Angels and one of the bad guys is ‘Devilmon’, who was weak to the angel Digimon. Season4 has a fallen angel named Lucifer (well… Lucemon. All Digimon have a -mon on the end) who goes evil as well. Season4 is more random / less elegant with the Christian references as Cherubimom and Seriphmon (angels) don’t really represent Christian ideas anymore IMO.
But Season1 Digimon was the closest you’ll get IMO
But this is really rare. Christianity is treated as an exotic religion / weird Character trait more often than not (much like random Buddhists show up in Hollywood to round out a cast or add a bit of exotic flair).
I dunno. Hellsing Ultimate? Irish Catholic priest is pissed off at a Protestant Vampire who works for the Queen in the 1990s… is referencing ‘The Troubles’ too soon?
Obviously not a Christian story given the huge amounts of hyperviolence. But the Christian references were at least kinda-sorta correct…
Evangelion is not Christian, and makes no commentary on religion. The only connection Eva has with religion is that Anno wanted exotic sounding terms, and he borrowed them from Chritianity and Judaism, among a few others. Literally the whole reason there is religious imagery is because Anno “thought it looked cool.”
It’s quite literally more canonically accurate than Dante’s Inferno.
Whether it is accurate or not is not important. The context of the religious imagery and content in Evangelion is purely for aesthetics.
Digimon Season 1 might be the closest thing to Christian.
When I was 13, the one Saturday morning that my fundie Christian mother decided to make an appearance before noon, Digimon season 1 was playing on the TV when she walked in. As soon as she’d seen three seconds of it, the whole channel was banned on Saturdays before noon (and I didn’t have cable, so there weren’t any other Saturday morning cartoon channels worth watching), all anime was of course summarily banned, and I got a talking to about Pokemon and Digimon being “satanic.”
It was about three years later on slow-ass DSL that I discovered Kazaa had anime. It took like two days to download a 23-minute episode, but by god I downloaded so fucking much anime that way. It was easier to sneak that than the TV in the family room.
I’m going to second this opinion. You’re not going to find an anime that’s Christian in philosophy/religious doctrine. There are a decent number that use Christianity as a motif or setting however. Chrono Crusade is maybe the closest you’ll get. Or you can go the Maria-Sama ga Miteru direction, which takes place at a Catholic girls school (but all the characters are lesbians, and it aired in an era when the Catholic Church was very anti-LGBTQ so…)
Edit: Kids on the Slope has Christianity (or rather, being a Christian in Japan) as a minor theme, and it’s historical fiction so it might be one of the most accurate portrayals of Christianity in anime.
Chrono Crusade is maybe the closest you’ll get
Chrono Crusade is a Miko x Yokai adventure story except the Miko is a Nun and the Yokai is a “Demon”.
Mikos are known to use archery to defeat Yokai. No wait, its a nun and westerners use guns, right? And they meet all kinds of Yokai… like good yokai, bad yokai, friendly yokai. No wait, western culture doesn’t have Yokai, they call them Demons. So good demons, bad demons, friendly demons…
Nothing wrong with that :-) Switching up the setting is fine but its not especially “Christian” in theme.
Anime treats Christianity about as seriously as it treats Buddhism or any other faith, which is to say not at all. There are comedic takes like Saint Young Men, some exorcist stuff like Vatican Miracle Examiner and the priest character in Ghost Hunt, and occasionally someone will take a look at the history of Christianity in Japan (for instance, the Christians Arc at the beginning of the third season of the original Rurouni Kenshin). If you’re looking for something that’s Christian in philosophy, you aren’t going to find it.
I can think of 3;
Panty and Stocking: Angels sent from Heaven fight ghosts and demons
Gabriel Dropout: Angels sent from Heaven learn about human life by attending high school.
Ghost Stories (watch the dub): Highschoolers fight ghosts and demons through the power of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
If those count, we should also toss in Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan, Heaven’s Lost Property, Blue Exorcist, and Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne.
Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Probably the most biblically accurate show of all time.
Those were definitely some crazy looking angels.
What does a Christian anime mean? Are you looking for anime bible stories or something new using Christianity as source material? Because Christians don’t normally like the second one so bible stories are the only option. And there aren’t any anime bible stories.
There’s plenty of Christianity-as-a-source-material media out there. The obvious example is the Narnia series, but LotR was also highly inspired by Tolkien’s faith. Many pre-20th century Western works are based in Christianity (when the world was less secular). It’s fallen out of favor recently so most Christian works that make it big are Evangelical, like the Left Behind series.
As another comment mentioned, there actually is a Bible stories manga/anime, but it’s pretty old.
Christian in what sense?
My first thought as well. There’s a lot of anime that uses Christian imagery and symbolism, but I wouldn’t call Bible Black a “Christian” show.
Actually, the show I’ve seen that had the most Christ-like themes was the first season of Vinland Saga. I haven’t gotten around to watching the second season yet.
Second season of Vinland Saga is even more Christian, if you’re wondering
Kawaii Mecha VeggieTales…hmmm…time to become a one person “Christian” anime studio
There are some priests and crosses in Castlevania, does that count?
In the Beginning is an anime that follows the Christian old testament up through the birth of Jesus.
There’s also Superbook about 2 kids and a robot who time travel to bible times get involved in the biblical events.
This is what I thought the OP meant.
Saint Oniisan is about as Christian as you can get.
Mamoru Oshii studied in christian school and in his personal works of the late 80 and 90s he exploits many religious and philosophical themes. His surreal ‘Angels Egg’ full of biblical symbolism. Also his full length ‘Ghost in the Shell’ movies are definitely fulfilled with christian motives.
I’d also recommend Satoshi Kon’s ‘Tokyo Godfathers’. It is wonderful Christmas story with Dickens motives and wonderful Kon’s visuals.
In my opinion, Yasuhiro Yoshiura’s ‘Eve no Jikan’ have obvious reminiscence. I mean, androids as a persecuted minority with digital limbs above their heads is quite literal.
While Watanabe’s "Sakamichi no Apollon’ not christian per se, religious background of two of the main characters plays big role in plot.
And, speaking about elephant in the room, ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’.I mean, Devilman Crybaby is without a doubt. Not exactly sure if that’s what you’re looking for though.
Lol
I’m disappointed no one has mentioned “Christ for arms” yet
Saint young men or Maria-sama
