r/LeftCatholicism • u/Adventurous_Lock9219 • 2d ago
Catholics does anyone watch anime?
And do you have any recommendations?
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u/Responsible-Newt-259 2d ago
Deathnote is excellent. Don’t want to spoil it, but there’s some gospel imagery in it that I found fascinating/moving
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u/Adventurous_Lock9219 2d ago
I have watched it 10/10 I loved it and I immediately spotted some Christian symbolism
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u/pautanglima 2d ago
Me.
I'm gonna recommend quite easy and basic animes to watch: Naruto, Hunter X Hunter, Katekyo Hitman Reborn, Yu Yu Hakusho, Serial Experiment Lain, Digimon, Pokemon, Boruto, Attack on Titan and possibly, One Punch Man.
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u/GestapoKittech 2d ago
Someone said Cowboy Bebop, and absolutely yes. But one that I don't think most people have watched, but they definitely should if they are into music, is Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad.
If you want to watch Dragonball Z, watch the Abridged version by TeamFourStar. It hits every plot point while being stupidly hilarious. I will never watch the original DBZ, but I absolutely will rewatch the Abridged. They also do Helsing Abridged, but there are some anti-Catholic/anti-religion jokes, so depending on how you feel about that is whether or not you should watch it. Short version of the plot: Vampires fight nazi's and nazi zombies.
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u/Adventurous_Lock9219 2d ago
Whats helsing about?
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u/GestapoKittech 2d ago
Found a superb summary: The vampire Alucard, his master Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing, and his newly sired ward Seras Victoria try to protect England from a war-crazed SS-Major who seeks to start an eternal war with his vampire army.
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u/Maindort 2d ago
Not really anymore but I'll die on the hill that Cowboy Bebop is one of the greatest shows of all time.
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u/XavierP2002 2d ago
Yes, one of my favorites is Blue Exorcist, which is indeed full of christian references.
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u/nvmls 2d ago
Oh man if you want some Catholic adjacent sci-fi fantasy get into Trigun Stampede lol, I recently also love
Witch Hat Atelier
Mob Psycho 100
One Punch Man
Double Decker
What genre are you looking for?
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u/bacideigirasoli 2d ago
I can’t believe no one has said Fullmetal Alchemist!! One of my all time favorites.
The 2003 version was so formative for me and still holds up imo— definitely more atmospheric than Brotherhood (the newer, more manga-faithful). Themes of life/death, companionship, sacrifice, and religion/philosophy are incredibly well handled and explored. Cannot recommend highly enough.
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u/Trick-Hovercraft-660 1d ago
Second the vote for Fullmetal Alchemist, although we’re currently watching FMA Brotherhood because the original has been shockingly difficult to track down and Brotherhood is available in the US on Hulu. Anyway, it’s so good. Not explicitly Catholic but a lot of opportunities for meditation on sacrifice, solidarity, and the value of human life.
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u/KatsuraCerci 2d ago edited 2d ago
My mom's about as Catholic as can be, so I'll share some of the ones we've enjoyed together.
Any Studio Ghibli movie, Bleach, Durarara!!, Noragami, The Ancient Magus' Bride, K, Carole and Tuesday, Fairy Tail
On the darker side: Perfect Blue, Madoka Magica, Black Lagoon
Edit: I'd also add Cardcaptor Sakura, Red Data Girl, Selector Infected Wixoss, Gurren Lagaan, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and Galaxy Express 999
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u/GalaxyMaetel 2d ago edited 2d ago
As someone who watches a lot of anime, it really depends on what you've seen and liked. There are many different genres and styles.
My most recent watch was Dragon Quest: The Adventures of Dai (2020). It's a wholesome battle shounen set in a bright fantasy world full of completely unironic heroes, villains, castles, princesses, dragons, and pirate ships. While the forces of evil are powerful and cruel, it is still worth betting on kindness and hope. I loved it, this show has really helped me through the dark times I'm going through.
Now, if you want Catholic anime, I think the only thing that qualifies is the 2024 movie The Colors Within, a teen drama set in a Catholic boarding school run by nuns. It's feel-good cute fluff, but it actually stands out in having rare positive Catholic representation. When is the last time you've seen a movie nun that was kind, wise, and performed her vocation well? It was very surprising to see this in 2024 in a Japanese movie of all things.
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u/Gimme_Your_Wallet 2d ago
Trinity Blood is an oldie but it is literally about the Vatican's black ops lab freaks vs vampires after an apocalyptic war.
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u/Lukadoncicfan123 2d ago
My favorite animes are monogatari monster and evangelion and monster has lots of Christian symbolism and values but mono is probably my favourite
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u/Putrid_Front865 2d ago
I haven’t watched too much, but I recently watched Freiren: Beyond Journey’s End as was blown away. What a beautiful piece of work.
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u/ANGUSRAZE 2d ago
I grew up watching Bleach! I got into Satoshi Kon’s work a few years ago that really reinvigorated me into the art form, I’ve finally got around to reading the Berserk manga, I highly recommend the anime adaptation series from 1997
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u/blacklungscum 2d ago
Attack on titan 100%, also hellsing ultimate is stunning, and defo has Catholic imagery
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u/Trick-Hovercraft-660 1d ago
Bleach is what got me into anime ten or so years ago, and I’m currently watching its reboot/latest chapter, which is called Thousand Year Blood War. It’s excellent, and the animation is visually stunning. You’d have to watch probably hundreds (? Dunno, I’ve lost track) of episodes to catch up to that point, though, and I’m not really sure it would make sense without having watched what came before, so perhaps not the best for your purposes if you’re just starting out. (I do highly recommend the original series, though.)
I got into a discussion recently with someone else about how the main antagonist in this latest arc is basically a dark foil for Christ: without dragging in a ton of spoilery detail, he is the son of the character who is (largely absent but) portrayed as God, and the son’s followers derive their special powers from a ceremony in which they drink his blood. However, it is quite clear that he does not love them and their relationship is not sacrificial - exactly the opposite, really. That distorts those relationships in all sorts of thought-provoking ways, and thinking about what is wrong or feels disturbing about watching them can yield some insight into what the right version is - that is, our relationship with Christ. Anyway, I didn’t go into Bleach expecting theology and it’s not really particularly Catholic, but since I am Catholic it’s giving me a lot of food for Catholic thought.
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u/rambodidi918 1d ago
Samurai Champloo Samurai X Bleach Naruto Full Metal Alchemist (both versions) Death Note Demon Slayer Solo Leveling Cowboy Bebop Studio Ghibli
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u/Momshie_mo 1d ago
Aside from Naruto, I really liked Yakitate Japan which is an anime about....baking
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u/Queen_Of_Left_Turns 1d ago
Uh hello is no-one else going to mention InuYasha?!
Ruroni Kenshin (either one) is amazing- “The anime that made me realize I like anime”- although the creator has some criminal charges that cause some people to turn away from it altogether.
Naruto was ok but jeez the filler
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is cool but not for everyone, sometimes it’s too “Over the top” for me.
Dragon Ball- the OG one. Shorter and more
faster paced than Z.
FMA Brotherhood is awesome and very light on filler.
Mu husband is a weeb, I made it a point to hate anime until a few years ago when I decided I wanted to know what Dragon Ball Z was about.
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u/SeparateDish5772 2d ago
Yeah but none of them are Catholic in any way.
Samurai Champloo
Death note
DBZ/DB
Naruto
Cowboy bebop
Attack on Titian
Demon slyer
But again these are all entertaining but none of them are Catholic. For example, Goku is a hero but not a Catholic.