Turning Angels in Devils: The Portrayal of Christianity in Anime
Level of Education of Students Involved
Undergraduate
Faculty Sponsor
Jennifer Prough
College
Christ College (CC)
Discipline(s)
Theology, Humanities, Japanese Studies, History, Visual Arts
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Symposium Date
Spring 4-24-2025
Abstract
Although Christian characters and themes appear fairly frequently within western media, this occurs less so with Japanese media. The population of Christians in Japan has remained fairly consistent in the past century, occupying approximately one percent of the population. For centuries prior to the Meiji Restoration (1868), Christianity was made illegal by daimyō Hideyoshi. As a country with few Christian—as well as a history of Christian persecution—Japanese media tend to have a more surface level understanding of Christianity, if Christianity is even referenced at all. Popular Japanese media (particularly anime, the focus of this research) tends toward the aesthetic use of Christianity, but within those uses, as well as the more significant uses of Christian characters and themes, we can observe the underlying cultural attitudes toward Christians and Christianity. These cultural attitudes, outside of the aesthetic, tend toward negative portrayals and thus a general negative perception of Christianity, although the extent of negativity broadly correlates with the level of power an individual or entity has within the Christian hierarchy. For instance, laypeople exist on the spectrum of somewhat sympathetic yet naïve victim characters to abusers, while supernatural entities like angels exhibit broader levels of corruption and debauchery, if their corruption does not extend to wanting to destroy humanity. While it remains unclear if the negativity of these portrayals exists as purposeful decisions by the stories’ creators or unintentional happenstances, they reflect the persistence of negativity toward Christianity from the time of Jesuit missionaries and the anti-Christian edicts of daimyō Hideyoshi.
Recommended Citation
Koppang, Micah, "Turning Angels in Devils: The Portrayal of Christianity in Anime" (2025). Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 1468.
https://scholar.valpo.edu/cus/1468
Biographical Information about Author(s)
Micah Koppang is a senior Spanish major who, both in their Spanish studies and anime viewing, finds the depiction of what is considered “foreign” to be fascinating. As a Christian themself, they always noticed a peculiar pattern of how Christianity was depicted in anime and used that as the jumpstart for their research. Micah plans to get a master’s in library science and become a public librarian, working to build community and promote learning.