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There are many authentic mystical aspects in anime. Ghost Hunt, XXXHolic, Rental Magica, and Fighting Beauty Wulong are four examples. I will review the video game that was made from Fighting Beauty Wulong as soon as I can locate a copy. Few of the really interesting supernatural animes get to the USA on DVD or TV. Looking for fansubed anime on websites like Veoh and YouTube is a good way to get acquainted with new anime. Many times themes cross over between gaming, anime and, well, witchcraft.
I don’t mean the green faced broom carrying kind. I mean modern, Salem Massachusetts style Wicca. Instead of LA’s penchant for Scientology, and Quabalah over here in New England Witchcraft is a popular religious choice. Magick when intended as meaning the essence of Wicca, is spelled with a “k” to distinguish it from stage magic’s illusions.
Anime seems to be a unique media for obscure magickal information. The supernatural themes in some anime is actually well researched and presents high philosophical concepts in a humorous way. Harry Potter, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer can’t be mistaken for Wicca, but you could give those series some credit for making a new generation of young people interested in the world of magick.
Of course it isn’t possible to get a good understanding of Japanese culture by watching anime. You also can’t expect to understand Shinto by watching anime either. You can get a a little taste of it all though, and begin to approach understanding. In fact these four anime make relevant messages along with all the jokes and screwing around that you expect to see.
Ghost Hunt is special because a global approach to exorcism is implemented. There is a Chinese magician, a Buddhist Monk, a Japanese Miko, a Catholic Priest, a psychic and a woman who is a medium. Wouldn’t it be nice if here in the USA you could put these masters of various kinds into a room without having them kill each other? Let alone have them work together and use their interlocking skill sets to solve problems. What a concept. The characters have been switched up to reflect modern life rather than being in a past era or an alternate world.
The anime is about the Shibuya Psychic Research Center (SPR) and Mai Taniyama, the obligatory anime high school student. In her dreams the young president of SPR Naru guides her as she begins to manifest her precognition and clairvoyance. In real life many people find that some of the most accurate predictions that are made have come to them in dreams.
Naru is an onmyoji which is a term for ‘magician’. He uses many paranormal skills such as exorcism and summoning spirit familiars. There is a Buddhist monk called “Bou-san” (Monk-san) from Mt. Koya, who lives in a shrine and is also a bass player in a band. He has the most effective abilities against ghosts.
From what I understand Shinto Miko (priestess) are usually raised in a shrine on family property (like Kagome from Inuyasha) This Miko is the daughter of a wealthy doctor who turned the former family shrine into a community hospital. All that’s left of the Shinto influence on the land is a sacred tree which bestowed on her the ability of hearing the spirits of trees and influence over nature. She uses sutras, purification rituals and the standard Shinto exorcism incantation, “Rin pyou tou sha kai jin retsu sai zen”.
What is most unusual is the character John Brown who is a nineteen year old Catholic exorcist priest from Australia who speaks Japanese with a Kansai accent. It stretches the imagination that there could be a teen age Catholic priest, let alone an exorcist. The translations from Catholic rituals to Japanese and then finally to English is rather sketchy. His means of exorcism is spraying Holy Water and reciting exorcism texts.
In Rental Magica the series relies on an indeed obscure magickal (and dangerous) text. The Lesser Key of Solomon (I have had it on my shelf for twenty years) contains descriptions of how to invoke the seventy-two demons. At the end of each fan-subbed episode there are footnotes! The pentagrams are described and explained. Someone went to a great deal of trouble to make this anime authentic, even if not reccommended for practice, magick.
The anime takes place in a magician dispatch service called ‘Astral’. A boy named Itsuki Iba takes over the family business employing magicians and other supernatural beings in order to send them out to help those who need magical assistance.
XXXHolic is one of the most interesting anime that I’ve seen. A beautiful and voluptuous woman who is never without her tiny silver pipe has a shop that ostensibly grants wishes. The series seems to dwell more on wrestling with higher thoughts than granting wishes. The themes all seem to have a moral. One such theme is the concept of hitsuzen which has no direct translation into English. It is said to be interpreted as referring to “inevitability”, destiny, or fate. However I think that “what is meant to be” is closer to the meaning.
Fate implies something that is predetermined and inevitable. But, hitsuzen is the idea that an action is inevitable because without it, inter-related events in the future could not come to be. Therefore all decisions and actions are related, and ‘there are no coincidences only hitsuzen’. Everything and everyone is connected by time-space. Or it could be a more pro-active form of the Butterfly Effect concept.
The episodes are not only beautiful, but the layers of meaning stay with you unfolding their Zen-like petals with time. There are the invisible nightingales that only appear as shadows sweetly singing in moonlight. The series gives you a little window into the depth and beauty of mythology, religion and culture that we can only begin to interpret from our arm chairs thousands of miles away.
In Fighting Beauty Wulong Mao Ran was of Chinese decent and was raised in Japan. In the anime Mao Ran uses several techniques of energy breath work that were researched and presented in both a fun and informational way. It makes a good introduction to the crossover between Chinese martial arts and energy healing work. She was trained in the secret martial arts of her family by her grandfather. Her grandfather signs her up to participate in martial arts tournaments between female martial artists called “Prime Mat”. She uses a variety of spiritual and marital techniques including Chi Gung and Tai Chi. It is all carefully explained in the series, and gives you a sense that someone cared about what they were saying, even though “It’s just a cartoon”.
The practice of Japanese Reiki energy healing, and Qigong or Chi Gung as it is sometimes called are related. Breathing exercises, hand positions and postures are used for spiritual healing. Inherent in the philosophy is that humanity and nature are inseparable. Moving Chi or Ki the orgone or etheric energy of people and nature can be used to heal or to protect. Many times in the anime Mao can’t bring herself to attack her competitors becase it has been so ingrained in her that she uses her Chi for defense only. Her struggle between the demands of her grandfather to compete and her internal battle make the anime interesting.
In addition to the spiritual practice of Qigong there are martial arts applications too. Taijiquan, or Tai Chi is a martial art based upon the principles of internal Qigong. Historically it was practiced extensively in Taoist and Buddhist monasteries as an the healing side of the martial arts. Benefits of martial Qigong practice are widely known in East Asian martial traditions and popular culture. The traditional teaching methods of most Qigong schools descend handed-down in the teacher-student relationship like in this anime.
Concepts, such as peaceful coexistence, hitsuzen, spiritual healing and esoteric magick aren’t something you come across on TV. Certainly not on the American made cartoons that are on Adult Swim on Sunday nights. It’s too bad that American television and movie producers underestimate the intelligence of their audiences. It is even more of a shame if they aren’t…
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