Idea for an Anime

[Horatio@Bridge]

I was thinking earlier today that there are a lot of cool stories in the Bible, and that it would be really neat if someone would make a tv show or anime about these stories without trying to make them into some thinly veiled Sunday School lesson. I mean, how shonen is this!



David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him."

33 Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth."

34 But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."
Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you."

38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39 David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.
"I cannot go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not used to them." So he took them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

41 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42 He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised him. 43 He said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 "Come here," he said, "and I'll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!"

45 David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands."

48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.

50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.

51 David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine's sword and drew it from the scabbard. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword.
When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. 52 Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath [g] and to the gates of Ekron. Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron. 53 When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp. 54 David took the Philistine's head and brought it to Jerusalem, and he put the Philistine's weapons in his own tent.



I think someone should make a giant-robot shonen anime about David's rise from shepherd to king. Or maybe something like Reign, or Gankutsuo.

[darkblade]

I think this skirts a little too close to religious discussion which is against the rules here but it is worth noting a secular, setting transplanted version of David's story has been done recently in the live action series "Kings".

[Rutskarn]

Okay, I'm going to address this in a fairly non-specific way so as not to ruffle feathers. I could be wrong, but it seems like this could have a little bit of forum-appropriate discussion in it.

Anyway, I think the important thing to consider is that traditionally, anime is about the depiction of the epic. It does what most live action, especially before the CGI revolution, can not--it depicts events too staggering, too mindblowing to be real. It's all about the awe-inspiring.

It's true that many religions have awe-inspiring imagery at their forefront, as well. I guess that's what you're saying--that some of the incredible events depicted in the Bible could well be done justice in the style popularized by anime.

That's really more a reflection on the art style of anime than it is a reflection on anything religious, mind.

[Neon Knight]

Anyway, I think the important thing to consider is that traditionally, anime is about the depiction of the epic. It does what most live action, especially before the CGI revolution, can not--it depicts events too staggering, too mindblowing to be real. It's all about the awe-inspiring.

It's true that many religions have awe-inspiring imagery at their forefront, as well. I guess that's what you're saying--that some of the incredible events depicted in the Bible could well be done justice in the style popularized by anime.

That's really more a reflection on the art style of anime than it is a reflection on anything religious, mind.

...

You have obviously never, ever seen a slice of life series.

[Innis Cabal]

Anyway, I think the important thing to consider is that traditionally, anime is about the depiction of the epic. It does what most live action, especially before the CGI revolution, can not--it depicts events too staggering, too mindblowing to be real. It's all about the awe-inspiring.

This is....plain wrong. Sorry to be so blunt about it but its the truth. There are plenty of anime about things that are 100% Epic.

As for the idea...rather avoid where its skirting, its dangerous territory.

[Athaniar]

It might work, actually, the Bible from Genesis to Revelation (I hope they get the Horsemen right), with awesome angels and demons looking like the NGE angels instead of pop culture's winged angels, of course, and lots of EPICNESS. Goliath could be a monstrous, fiendish ogre.

[FatJose]

What makes anime is location and creator. Are you Japanese and/or do you live in Japan?

[Tengu_temp]

Tell that to Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko.

[averagejoe]

...

You have obviously never, ever seen a slice of life series.

Yes, but these are, in general, less well known by the general US populace. If you look at the anime that pioneered the style and made it big on the international level, they're all pretty epic. Even these days I can't think of any slice of life that might be known to people besides anime fans.

[Horatio@Bridge]

Dangerous? Are you kidding me? There was a Satanist in the OOTS discussion threads talking about how "I'm a Satanist, so I think V should go evil and get away with it. Let evil be GOOD for once" and so-on and so-forth. If he can get away with that, I think we're safe having a discussion of the Bible as freaking literature.

Anyway, my main question is, would an idea like this have appeal if it were done well? And to follow up, is there merit in keeping the religious stuff, exploring David's motivation and faith as a source of his strength? Leaving the question of "which religion is right" and thinly-veiled Sunday School lessons aside, the concept of faith isn't explored much in literature today, and I think it would be interesting to see this examined in something like an anime. On the other hand, the story could be pretty darn cool even without it (see the reference to Kings, or whatever that was).

I seem to remember that there was a comic book based on Indian (the subcontinent, not Native American) mythology. Did anyone read that? What did they think?

Hey, while we're at it, what would be the best way to translate the story? Giant Robot Anime? Historical Romance Anime (Rorouni Kenshin, Reign)? Classics in Space Anime (Gankutsuo)?

[kamikasei]

The Bible doesn't have much coherence as a start-to-finish narrative. The best approach, I'd say, would be to take the most interesting or adaptable individual stories from it and present them each with their own suitable style, in the manner of The Animatrix or Batman: Gotham Knight.

Personally I'd be more interested in seeing The Silmarillion.

[Prime32]

I've seen a Manga Bible before. (and it wasn't a guide to manga)

[Drascin]

The Bible doesn't have much coherence as a start-to-finish narrative. The best approach, I'd say, would be to take the most interesting or adaptable individual stories from it and present them each with their own suitable style, in the manner of The Animatrix or Batman: Gotham Knight.

Personally I'd be more interested in seeing The Silmarillion.

Maybe a set of OVAs, with each one covering one small story? The Bible is largely a set of different stories compiled, after all.

[TengYt]

Question...why Anime and not western Animation?

[Killersquid]

The Epic of Gilgamesh has so much potential to be a Shonen series, its actually quite creepy. Defeat means friendship? Enkidu and Gilgamesh team up to kick ass and take names, Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh goes nuts, the resemblance is uncanny.


Question...why Anime and not western Animation?

Probably because Anime has tropes which are very common compared to Western Animation. A quick trip to TVTropes should explain why. and ruin the rest of your life.

[FatJose]

Tell that to Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko.

Avatar is a loving tribute to the eastern cultures and it's animation but it isn't anime by definition. Anime is a "racial" term for animation. It means specifically Japanese animation in that anime is the Japanese word for animation. Not only that, but the shows that make up anime are so varied that you can't really identify them by "tropes". Sure, America usually only gets a specific genre of anime but there is much more out there. For every action adventure show we get there's two shows about everyday high school drama.

If you were to contrast east and western by art style, Anime is a lot more varied than people make it out to be. This is because not all Japanese people have the same talents and tastes..just like all other people. So anime often does have big eyes small mouths, but it also has heavily detailed and well proportioned bodies and faces, It has gritty and gore splattered series along with cutesy Sailor Moon style shows. There are anime series that could have easily been just normal shows with real people, like Beck. There are shows like Big O that emulate western animation but still are anime by definition.

Avatar is a great show and uses eastern inspired character designs with top notch animation but that isn't what makes it anime. if those guys actually refer to it as anime, they are wrong.

[Rutskarn]

When I wrote that post, I was actually careful to never say "all". Yeah, I'm well aware that there's plenty of anime just as grounded and mundane as, say, As the World Turns.

Innis Cabal: That...is EXACTLY WHAT I JUST SAID. Sorry, I guess I'm not getting where the correction is.

[Prime32]

The Epic of Gilgamesh has so much potential to be a Shonen series, its actually quite creepy. Defeat means friendship? Enkidu and Gilgamesh team up to kick ass and take names, Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh goes nuts, the resemblance is uncanny.
There was an anime called Gilgamesh, but from what I've heard it's a dark and gritty mystery.

Then there's TTGL, with a beastman who later joins the good guys piloting a mech named Enkidu...

[darkninjaoflight]

As you might have guessed it's already been done...by Osamu Tezuka actually!

It was called "In the Beginning: The Bible Stories" focusing on the old testament. They used to play some of the episodes as a treat in elementary school (twas a catholic school) and it wasn't till much later I found out it was an anime (didn't know about it back then).

It had a really really pretty ending theme song, the main thing I remembered about the series.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xI-fP9xL_g


Also there's something called Superbook I've never watched but I think it's an anime where these kids travel time or something and get to be a part of bible stories or whatnot.

[Holocron Coder]

I remember Superbook. It essentially amounted to kids travelling into the bible itself after it fell on a computer keyboard... The purpose was them trying to find their missing dog (for the old testament) and some other reason I can't remember for the new testament.

It wasn't overly preachy that I can remember, but, I was like.. 6 at the time.

[Killersquid]

There was an anime called Gilgamesh, but from what I've heard it's a dark and gritty mystery.

Then there's TTGL, with a beastman who later joins the good guys piloting a mech named Enkidu...

Yeah, instantly noticed the name of Viral's gunmen.

Also, there is Gilgamesh of F/SN, but he is so warped compared to the original.

[kopout]

I seem to remember that there was a comic book based on Indian (the subcontinent, not Native American) mythology. Did anyone read that? What did they think?

I have. there was a copy in the basement of my(UU) church. I read it years ago and I don't remember most of it but it was one of my earliest introductions to Hinduism, so that when I was in history of world civ I knew what he was talking about when we got to India. it probably got sold/thrown out/donated when we renovated the church 4 or 5 years ago.

[Xuincherguixe]

On the one hand, it's not like Anime has been afraid to tackle the issue of Christianity. On the other hand, it's usually some weird take on it. So a straight up version would be a bit weird to see.

But yeah, I could see it work.

Though most of the interesting takes I've seen are the ones that would probably be considered blasphemous.

[Helanna]

Personally I'd be more interested in seeing The Silmarillion.

That would be the most amazing . . . who and how much can I pay to make this happen? And actually be good?

[Horatio@Bridge]

The fact that most depictions of Christianity in anime have been odd takes is one reason I'm interested in a straight adaptation. I have to admit, I'm kind of curious if mainstream Christianity has the same dramatic potential as Gnosticism (Ergo Proxy) or Kabbalah (Evangelion).

Furthermore, I'd be interested to see how a protagonist inspired/motivated by faith could be portrayed. A lot of shows show the evils of faith taken to extreme or used as a false prop of government (Scrapped Princess, that one episode of Gurren Lagann), or have a crisis of faith drive the protagonist (the comic book The Preacher). Touched by An Angel explored this theme a lot, but that show didn't really have the epic punch evidenced in David's smack-talk to Goliath telling about how The Lord is going to destroy him and the whole darn army.

I'm still trying to figure out what form of anime would be the best way to tell the story. I can't figure out how to implement the river stone/sling thing with giant robots, because why in the world would a shepherd have a giant robot? But dang it would be cool if you could figure it out. :-D

[FatJose]

I'm still trying to figure out what form of anime would be the best way to tell the story. I can't figure out how to implement the river stone/sling thing with giant robots, because why in the world would a shepherd have a giant robot? But dang it would be cool if you could figure it out. :-D

David, BlastWyrm herder of a small planet-side colony beyond the third ring defends his village after it is attacked by invading forces led by Goliath the Storm. Using nothing more than the exosuit Blastwyrm herders use to safely care of the great beasts they make their living off of and the equipment attached to it (cutting torch, suction cups, small saw, a whip and a bait launcher) David bravely challenges Goliath who sits in the cockpit of a Military-Restricted Nephilim-Level Melee-Class AstroSuit. Amused by such a desperate attempt to protect his friends, Goliath accepts and does battle with the farmer after ordering his men stand back and watch.
Goliath's Astrosuit is a prototype and there is a small flaw in it's design....:smallwink:

[Xuincherguixe]

... And we're back at being blasphemous again :P

[Innis Cabal]

That would be the most amazing . . . who and how much can I pay to make this happen? And actually be good?

The History Channel.

[UltraDude]

The History Channel.

He was talking about the Silmarillion.

I don't think the History Channel is animating fictional history, no matter how cool.

[Piedmon_Sama]

It might work, actually, the Bible from Genesis to Revelation (I hope they get the Horsemen right), with awesome angels and demons looking like the NGE angels instead of pop culture's winged angels, of course, and lots of EPICNESS. Goliath could be a monstrous, fiendish ogre.

It works better if Goliath is a noble warrior in the Homeric mold (the Philistines were probably a Phoenician people, but there would have been a lot of cross-cultural polination with their Greek neighbors). He wanted to have a single combat in order to reduce the amount of death and lives lost.

There's no reason to portray the Philistines as monstrous, utter villains. The source material doesn't. They're just unlucky enough to be on the losing side of the war.

EDIT: Also, although he's called a 'giant,' I remember from my bible as lit. class that Goliath was likely intended to be about seven feet tall. It would have been huge in the Bronze Age, but still humanly possible. Achilles, Aeneas and others were also described as 'gigantic' in that sense.