Messiah in depression: Religion, science-fiction and postmodernism in anime Neon genesis evangelion

Abstract

The article explores the anime-series “Neon Genesis Evangelion” (1995–1996). The work is considered as a cultural product within the science-fiction tradition of the second half of the twentieth cen- tury. It is shown that the complexity of the series consists in how it weaves elements of Shinto and Abrahamic religions as equally rele- vant. Through the use of religious topics, the science fiction work ac- quires inner cognitive logic. The religious in the series is represent- ed on two levels: an implicit one that defines the plot originality, and also an explicit one, when the references to religious matters become a strategy of promoting the series on Japanese and Western media- markets. In order to seize at times controversial and nonconcerted re- ligious symbols, the author proposes to use postsecular framework of analysis and the elements of postmodern philosophy of culture. The author then proposes his own analysis of the product’s narrative us- ing the religious optic of Apocalypse.