Help me with my Bachelors-Thesis on Manga

[Yora]

I am currently in the middle of plannig my bachelors thesis in cultural studies, and just one week before my supervising tutor goes on a four week trip to japan, we realized I have to come up with a far less complex subject, my original one was good enough to make a doctor with.

Staying within the subject of portrayals of religion in mangas, I'm now looking for a few more mangas that would make good examples for a compairison.

So far, I am set on using the manga of Neon Genesis Evangelion (this whole thing is a massive goldmine! :smallbiggrin:) and Vinland Saga, which has a couple of interesting discussions between pagan warriors and a christian monk.
But since I pretty much read only seinen mangas, I have a rather limited overview of what else is out there. I would like to have a range of very diffierent mangas about different subjects and aimed at different audiences.

Every recommendations are wellcome, all I really require is that it's a japanese manga in which either religion or mythology does in some way make itself noticable.

[Prime32]

I suggest reading tropes like this one (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AnimeCatholicism).

I'm not sure how much help you can get at GitP with the rules on this. I'll just say that Berserk's depiction of religion can vary between Shown Their Work and completely random within the same panel, and Franken Fran's is amusing. Also, aren't there manga versions of the Bible and the life of Buddha?

[kamikasei]

Also, aren't there manga versions of the Bible and the life of Buddha?
Yep (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddha_%28manga%29), first thing that came to my mind.

I believe there's also a manga called Jesus. It's... not exactly a sober and scholarly work though. I suppose the genre would be Christsploitation.

There's always Hellsing and other vampire-fighting manga - though they generally don't so much feature religion as include the Church and/or priests as a faction.

[Kato]

Hm... first thing that'd come to my mind is Angel Sanctuary. Thoughit is much more Fantasy than a religious debate (short conclusion: humans, demons and angels are all bastards)

and god is some evil super computer who finally decides to erase creation

Less controversial and much, much lighter, Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne has some links to Christian religion but very superficial.

Not a manga but if you get your hands on a review of the story of Final Fantasy Tactics background that's something you could definitely use. Of yourse i has nothing at all to do with Jesus or anything but with a complety different made up religion *cough*

I'm sure there are many more but I fail to recall anything where it's not just a sidenote... maybe I'll be back later.

[Yora]

Reminds me of one of those one shot mangas, in which a female jesus reincarnation fights an evil circus director. I should include that one as a site note. ^^

[Tengu_temp]

Saint Young Men (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SaintYoungMen). That is all.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Just as a warning on Neon Genesis Evangelion, in case it's not obvious to you: while its religious imagery is interesting and well-researched, it is fundamentally special effects. The story itself is more like a combination of Arthur C. Clarke, Sigmund Freud, and Ultraman. Christian and Kabbalistic symbols are added to lend some literary weight to the apocalyptic plot and setting, not to make any particular commentary on religion.

Or, as Hideaki Anno said, "We added it because it looks cool."

[Yora]

Yes, which also makes it a really fascinating example. However, under closer examination, the story has a really heavy load of religious content, it just isn't christian theology.
But though the imagery is really just decoration, it is in fact a deeply religious story about the nature of the self and the meaning of choice and identity, but going into that is complex enough to make a PhD.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Yes, which also makes it a really fascinating example. However, under closer examination, the story has a really heavy load of religious content, it just isn't christian theology.
But though the imagery is really just decoration, it is in fact a deeply religious story about the nature of the self and the meaning of choice and identity, but going into that is complex enough to make a PhD.

Agreed. I'd call it more psychological or philosophical than religious, but when you get into "the nature of the self and the meaning of choice and identity", those can really kind of overlap.

[Yora]

In our department, we are quite open with the terms. You don't have a lot of religion in the media or anywhere in public in Europe, but people are still thinking about the same questions they always have. If people would call it religion is mostly irrelevant.

So if there are mangas about the nature of existance or the meaning of life, that don't have any reference to any religious traditions, those would be good material as well. (Though probably quite hard to spot if you're not studying it.)
Ghost in the Shell is a really good example for this.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Oh, and how about a story where the Ultimate Power is evil and destructive, and came about as a result of mankind's wish to have a higher power to blame/cite as a reason for their problems? Berserk (manga, not anime) comes immediately to mind. This is also a minor but important plot thread in Fate/Stay Night as Angra Mainyu's (yes, the one from Zoroastrianism) backstory, which becomes a lot more of a focus in the sequel/sidestory Fate/hollow ataraxia.

Oh, and there's Nyarlathotep in Persona 2 Innocent Sin, but I don't think that has a manga adaptation and he might have been trolling anyway.

[Yora]

Since I've been planning to read Berserk for years, this might now be the perfect opportunity.

[Brother Oni]

There's another manga by Shirow Masamune called Orion, which essentially follows buddist/shinto themes, but converts them into a sort of working magic technology system.
I'm not so sure it's suitable for your thesis though as while the mechanics of the world is very intricate, the plot isn't anywhere near as deep.

I can't think of anything that might help, mostly because they fall under the Hellsing depictions of religion (ie imagery for different factions) and that in-depth depictions of the indigenous religions aren't very common.

[Nerd-o-rama]

I can't think of anything that might help, mostly because they fall under the Hellsing depictions of religion (ie imagery for different factions) and that in-depth depictions of the indigenous religions aren't very common.

The first Hellsing anime would have made a lot more sense in terms of religious and political background if it happened in the 19th (or even 18th) century instead of the 20th. Which given that it's a story about Dracula...

[tensai_oni]

Getter Robo Go is very big on themes of transcendence and Nirvana, prevalent in buddhism.

I'm completely serious.

[Lord Seth]

Just as a warning on Neon Genesis Evangelion, in case it's not obvious to you: while its religious imagery is interesting and well-researched, it is fundamentally special effects. The story itself is more like a combination of Arthur C. Clarke, Sigmund Freud, and Ultraman. Christian and Kabbalistic symbols are added to lend some literary weight to the apocalyptic plot and setting, not to make any particular commentary on religion.

Or, as Hideaki Anno said, "We added it because it looks cool."I don't know about it being "interesting and well researched." One of the producers (not Hideaki Anno, can't remember which one) pretty much said they didn't know that much about the subject and it was, as Hideaki Anno said, just thrown in to make things seem more mysterious and they might have rethought the choice if they knew it was going to be shown to people more familiar with Christianity (e.g. people in the US). It's not really so much researched as it is them tossing in a bunch of "buzzwords."

[Nerd-o-rama]

I don't know about it being "interesting and well researched." One of the producers (not Hideaki Anno, can't remember which one) pretty much said they didn't know that much about the subject and it was, as Hideaki Anno said, just thrown in to make things seem more mysterious and they might have rethought the choice if they knew it was going to be shown to people more familiar with Christianity (e.g. people in the US). It's not really so much researched as it is them tossing in a bunch of "buzzwords."

They put a respectable amount of thought into the Angels and what they represent, individually and as a whole, at least. Especially if you listen to Kaworu's blathering about free will, the contrast of the Fruit of Life and the Fruit of Knowledge, etc. The whole story hews, albeit very, very loosely, to parts of John's Apocalypse as well. In other words, the writers probably only read Genesis, Revelations, and some random New Age books on Angelology and Kabbalah, but they did read something and kept it reasonably consistent.

The crossplosions, though, yeah, those are just to get attention.

[Yora]

I think Evangelion is constantly underestimated when it comes to this, and Annos often quoted comment isn't helping much. It's not a christian story, but there's really a huge amount of stuff going on that goes much deeper than giant robots fight monsters from space.
I mean, this scene (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqkOOKwFcG4&feature=related) alone is pure gold! :smallbiggrin:
This is not popular religion in the way of practices or mythology, but the search for meaning. There are two big lines of thought when it comes to the research and study of religion as a social phenomenon (we're not doing theology, it's actually much more sociology). Structuralism defines something as religion when it matches a number of criteria as for example believe in a higher being, initiation into a group, or rituals (though there are lots of different oppinions which criteria it should be). It's what people do, and how they do it. Functionalism instead asks which reasons people have to participate in the penomenon and what they hope to gain; it's about what things mean to people. Both approaches are valid, and I think it depends mostly on what you research which one you should use to decide what things are relevant and which are not. Under structuralism, communism has nothing to do with religion, as it lacks pretty much any aspect that define religions, but under functionalism it adresses pretty much all the big issues that religions do as well. Outside of academic circles, almost everyone has structuralist ideas what religions are. Functionalist issues are more commonly refered to as spirituality or a bunched in with philosophy in general. But in our department, we cover the whole range.
Personally, I have always been highly in favor of a functionalist approach because the studies dealing with structuralist issues don't interest me that much. And under a strucuralist approach, who cares for Evangelion? It has the names and symbols, but it's not a social group defined by shared believe that engage in communal rituals. But if you look at is functionalistic, then it's a work about people having questions about life, the self, and death and searching for answers. That's spot on.

And despite their claims, they did a lot of research. They include things that nobody recognizes as christians, because even most christians don't know that it has been part of christianity for a very long time, but either has stoped being seen as relevant in the last couple of centuries, or has always been exclusive to theologicans or christian philosophers.
For example, the Black Sea Scrolls are actually real and where a huge discovery, but really only meaningful for historians and theologicans. But no, there were no records about the first impact and prophecies about the second and third. At least not in those scrolls that have been made public. :smallwink:


There's another manga by Shirow Masamune called Orion, which essentially follows buddist/shinto themes, but converts them into a sort of working magic technology system.
I'm not so sure it's suitable for your thesis though as while the mechanics of the world is very intricate, the plot isn't anywhere near as deep.
I heard about it yesterday for the first time when I read an intreview with him in which he mentions that it's one of his works in which he gave religion a bigger thought. But since I never heard of it and it's probably quite obscure, I think it might not be such a great candidate.

I can't think of anything that might help, mostly because they fall under the Hellsing depictions of religion (ie imagery for different factions) and that in-depth depictions of the indigenous religions aren't very common. And that's not really neccessary. If people chose to use religion as window-dressing without giving it a second thought, that's still quite relevant for the subject. That's religion put on the same level as fantasy, you could write entire papers on that alone.

[Eldan]

The first Hellsing anime would have made a lot more sense in terms of religious and political background if it happened in the 19th (or even 18th) century instead of the 20th. Which given that it's a story about Dracula...


Hmm. Take the plot of the OVA (vaguely) and make a few replacements, then put it in the thirty years war or after. Could actually work. The protestants are using bound vampires they dug up somewhere in Germany, Eastern Europe and the Ottomans counter with digging up Vlad the Impaler and building an undead army, and France decides it has enough and attacks them with the support of catholic Paladins.

Edit: sorry about the off-topic.

[Brother Oni]

I heard about it yesterday for the first time when I read an intreview with him in which he mentions that it's one of his works in which he gave religion a bigger thought. But since I never heard of it and it's probably quite obscure, I think it might not be such a great candidate.


I don't think it's that obscure - it's been translated by Dark Horse Comics and a quick Amazon check shows that it's both available and has been reprinted at least 4 times in English.
It is very hard going though - it took me a couple years and some study into various religions (Buddism and taoism mainly) from when I first read it, to get my head around the mechanics in it.



And that's not really neccessary. If people chose to use religion as window-dressing without giving it a second thought, that's still quite relevant for the subject. That's religion put on the same level as fantasy, you could write entire papers on that alone.

There's an anime which I can't remember the name of, which essentially is a fantasy world but with sci-fi elements. The female protagonist is declared a heretic by the ruling religious authority, which is just a mouthpiece for the sci-fi aliens actually in charge of the world.
I'll see if I can remember what's it called and whether there's a manga of it.

Edit: the anime was called Scrapped Princess, which was developed from a light novel form. A manga which has the same world and themes, but not plot, also exists.

[Sanguine]

There's an anime I've been watching recently, I don't know if it's an adaption of a manga or if it has been adapted into one. Okay I looked it up, it started as a series of novels, that was adapted into a manga, and then after that it was adapted into the anime I am familiar with. It's called Demon King Daimao, religion seems to be a very strong theme throughout the series. Though not real-world religion; at least I don't recognize any of the names. The entire world appears to be part of a huge theocracy, though a second smaller religion does exist without any visible persecution. Maybe a third as well, I have trouble keeping all the names straight.

Anyway the world is ruled over by the clergy of the dominant religion. Oh and god's a supercomputer, both of them. Our main character wants to become the head of this religion so he can make the world a better place. To this end he's transferring to some big fancy boarding school or university I'm not sure which. As part of the entrance to the school you have to be examined by this magic bird thing that tells you your destiny. It proclaims the main character is the reincarnation of the Demon King, the man who nearly destroyed the world long ago. The story than gos through his attempts to deny his destiny, each one only cementing his identity as the Demon King in peoples minds, and his eventual disillusionment with the current social order.

I give two disclaimers. First, I haven't finished the anime yet. Second, there is a ridiculous amount of fan service.

[0Megabyte]

Hmm... it's not exactly the same, of course, but Serial Experiments Lain throws a little bit of religion in there. Along with pretty much everything else.

Might be a good place to look too.

[Brother Oni]

Another suggestion on the imagery front: Blue Exorcist (Ao no Exorcist).

The lead protagonist is the son of Satan, who pretty much appears in his typical evil 'destroy the world' role. To combat his influence, there is a Catholic Church inspired organisation that fights back his minions and demons.
The former head of the organisation adopted the baby as a protagonist as a baby and raised as normally as he could - when he's murdered, the protagonist swears to become an exorcist to avenge his human foster father.


Spice and Wolf has noticeable elements behind all the economics - you have Horo who's a pagan harvest deity with her waning worship by the villagers, the encroachment by the 'Church' who seeks to stamp out any paganism, and you basically get the idea (I don't think I can discuss this aspect any further without running foul of board rules).

[Nerd-o-rama]

I think I'm learning more about academic religious studies from this thread than I'm actually contributing. Fascinating stuff, Yora.


Hmm. Take the plot of the OVA (vaguely) and make a few replacements, then put it in the thirty years war or after. Could actually work. The protestants are using bound vampires they dug up somewhere in Germany, Eastern Europe and the Ottomans counter with digging up Vlad the Impaler and building an undead army, and France decides it has enough and attacks them with the support of catholic Paladins.

Edit: sorry about the off-topic.

Vlad the Impaler?

On the same side as the Turks?

I really don't think they thought this brilliant plan through...

[Eldan]

Hey, if Dracula can fight for Hellsing...

Make it Austria-Hungary, maybe.

[Forum Explorer]

Witch Hunter Robin is close to perfect for what you want. I'm not sure if its a manga but it is an anime which focuses on a modern day inquisition and the church as well as the true nature of what the witches are.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Hey, if Dracula can fight for Hellsing...

Make it Austria-Hungary, maybe.

Hellsing!Alucard works off of Defeat Means Friendship, so I guess it could work, since the real Vlad Tepes was killed in battle with the Ottomans.

[Akiosama]

I would say two things in regards to this idea to be careful of...

1) Just remember that the writers are just that, first, writers, not necessarily historians. Just like with stuff like The Da Vinci Code, they're often going to take what they want and leave the rest, and even, perhaps, change it to meet their needs.

and...

2) Remember that you're reading a translation of the author's original work, not necessarily the original work, unless you're reading the original Japanese manga. Just like watching dubbed anime, the translations are a) someone's interpretation of the author's original words, and b) factoring in other qualities, such as bubble space and text layout (the manga-equivalent of trying to sync the lip movements to the dialogue in anime), and both of these can change what the author was trying to say, especially if there are multiple levels to the author's meaning. In fact, unless you're truly fluent in Japanese (and even then, given what I learned in high school about imagery and symbolism), chances are that nuances of the text could easily be lost.

That in mind, there are some other sources of 'religious stories' being adapted for manga use...

Oddly enough, Bastard!! uses some religious themes late in the story - mostly calling upon the backstories of some of the various archangels - though I can't say exactly how accurate their use is.

Kaitou Saint Tail is very similar to Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne in the religious regards. You'd think that they were written side-by-side given all the similar themes between the two.

In my experiences, the use of religion, and mythology in manga/anime are tend to be very loose and are probably not great sources of accurate representations. What it tends to do more, though, is to get one to go out and look up what the real information is, and can, in that way, be kind of inspirational and interesting.

But I can say the same for things like "Assassin's Creed" (which draws somewhat on historical events and people) and Brat-Halla (http://brat-halla.com/) (which draws on Norse mythology) as well.

Good luck on your thesis!

My 2 yen,

Akiosama

[Partysan]

Since I've been planning to read Berserk for years, this might now be the perfect opportunity.

Just commenting, while Berserk is a work you probably should read, it's a seinen manga again. Of course the stuff for an adult audience is generally more likely to tackle questions of a philosophical/religious nature, but you were saying you only had read seinen manga and wanted to branch out.

I might come back in a few hours and make some suggestions, I just need to leave and go shopping before it's eight.

[Yora]

1) Just remember that the writers are just that, first, writers, not necessarily historians. Just like with stuff like The Da Vinci Code, they're often going to take what they want and leave the rest, and even, perhaps, change it to meet their needs.

and...

2) Remember that you're reading a translation of the author's original work, not necessarily the original work, unless you're reading the original Japanese manga. Just like watching dubbed anime, the translations are a) someone's interpretation of the author's original words, and b) factoring in other qualities, such as bubble space and text layout (the manga-equivalent of trying to sync the lip movements to the dialogue in anime), and both of these can change what the author was trying to say, especially if there are multiple levels to the author's meaning. In fact, unless you're truly fluent in Japanese (and even then, given what I learned in high school about imagery and symbolism), chances are that nuances of the text could easily be lost.
While true, I'm not doing this for the first time. :smallwink: I've been studying these things for 8 semesters, and I picked this topic because it has been pretty much my field of specializations. With only 4 semesters Japanese, I usually read english translations, but check the original for key terms. There are quite a number of suprises hidden there.

Just remember that the writers are just that, first, writers, not necessarily historians. Just like with stuff like The Da Vinci Code, they're often going to take what they want and leave the rest, and even, perhaps, change it to meet their needs.
You could say that this is the subject of my paper. :smallamused:

[averagejoe]

Yep (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddha_%28manga%29), first thing that came to my mind.

The Phoenix series by the same guy was actually the first thing that came to my mind.

My (admittedly limited) understanding is the Wolf's Rain anime is a retelling of a Shinto creation myth. Dunno if the manga (which came after the anime) is different, but it may be worth checking out.

[Yora]

Hehe, Phoenix was going to be the third manga for my original concept. :smallbiggrin:

But I really should give Buddha a try, it's a completely different approach than in all other mangas I have in mind.

[Akiosama]

Heh - just making sure, Yora. I've seen a lot of people get huffy about The Da Vinci Code, for example, and it's not all that accurate. It got me to look up a bunch of things, though, as did Shinseiki Evangelion, and that was almost more interesting than how the authors actually used it.

Good luck with your Thesis - If I think of anything else, I'll be sure to post.

My 2 yen,

Akiosama

[13_CBS]

Some manga that deal with religion:

Pilgrim Jäger : A historical(?) manga set in Europe, 1521 AD, during the Protestant Reformation. As with most manga (or at least the ones I've encountered), this manga's more focused on justifying supernatural spectacle with religion—though the Catholic Church is heavily featured (the two heroines do fortune-readings, perform street acrobatics, and do odd jobs to collect money to pay for their Indulgences—that is, paying off their sins), the manga is more about the intrigues started by the last prophecies of Girolamo Savonarola (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girolamo_Savonarola) and various historical European Renaissance figures running around with magical powers (Michelangelo, for example, has superhuman strength, and he is the most mundane of the supernaturally-empowered humans in the series). Nonetheless, it does feature western religions more than a lot of other manga do.

Since you're studying NGE, I'm assuming that other non-manga-but-adapted-into-manga sources are also okay, so I would recommend To Aru Majutsu no Index (aka A Certain Magical Index). Index features a greater variety of religions and belief systems, such as the Anglican Church, the Russian Orthodox Church, Japanese Christians, and Aztec theology, along with the requisite Catholic Church and a great big helping of sci-fi in the form of psychic powers. As with Pilgrim Jager, religion here is again more of a justification and contextualizing tool for various magical powers than the true focus per se of the story, but nonetheless how some of the characters regard people not of their religion make up much of their characterization. (This series has a sister manga series in the form of To Aru Kagaku no Choudenjibou, aka A Certain Scientific Railgun, but as that focuses more on the sci-fi aspect of the setting you can safely ignore it.)

I've heard of this one series called Saint Oniisan, featuring Jesus and Buddha taking a vacation on Earth in the guise of mortals. I haven't read it myself, unfortunately, but it might contain something of interest.

It might be worth mentioning Shingeki no Kyojin. Religion gets all but a footnote in this post-apocalyptic manga about the last remnants of humanity, trapped inside the world's only human-populated city, struggling to survive against endless hordes of man-eating giants...but I say that it's worth mentioning because of the footnote's rather unique perspective on religion. Long story short, the main character is on trial for a certain reason, and various representatives from various factions (mostly subfactions within the military, plus some civilian groups) debate on if and how the main character should be punished. One of the civilian representatives yells an accusation at the main character, who muses that the fellow is a prominent member/leader of some odd group that treats the city's colossal walls as sacred relics. From the context you can tell that it's a religious organization, but the main character, who grew up in a post-apocalyptic world, has never been exposed to such a thing before, and so his reaction to the man's religion-based arguments is worth noting.



As for other manga...well, I think the other ones I know of have already been mentioned, deal with the supernatural in a non-religious sense (i.e. have Brash Young Hero(tm) defeat Generic Monster From Japanese Mythology(tm)), or deal with fictional religions and mythology (i.e. Naruto and Bleach).

(P.S: I should note that all of the manga mentioned above are quite good, especially Shingeki, and I recommend to you all that you read them anyway >.>)

[readsaboutd&d]

Its an anime film, not a manga but Angel's Egg is a real goldmine of religious symbolism. Its creator, Mamoru Oshi was actually planning to become a priest at some point so the symbolism is really well reserched though rather ambiguous. See this (http://eigageijutsu.blogspot.com/2010/04/angels-egg-simbolism.html), this (http://guriguriblog.wordpress.com/2009/05/30/angels-egg-we-all-have-an-egg-to-carry/), this (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/bbs/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=23294) and this (http://www.jonzaremba.com/words/angels_egg.html) (those are all spoilers but Egg isnt really about plot anyway).

[Yora]

I love Oshiis Ghost in the Shell movies, and this man just loves symboism like nothing else. :smallbiggrin:
Unfortunately, I don't want to branch into another medium, but still thanks.

[Yora]

Back with an update and a question you could help me with:

I am now writing about Evangelion, Vinland Saga, and InuYasha, which all are from roughly the same time and aimed at a similar audience. Instead of breadth, I picked rather similar mangas and go for the details.

One interesting idea that I had when reading one authors theory of genki (fitness, health, activity, passion) was that characters who are concerned with spiritual matters almost never seem to be very genki and genki characters almost never seem to have interest in spiritual things.

In Vinland Saga, the two spiritual characters are Canute and the monk, who are both almost catatonic and very quiet.
In Evangelion, Shinji, Rei, and Gendo are the same. Asuka is very lively, but the source of that is anger and pain and she doesn't reyll want to understand anything. Misato can be very disciplined when under pressure, but her completely irresponsible behavior when not at work seems to me like her way to copensate for the hopelesness of her work and the knowledge that she will probably fail. Kaji is a notable exception, but a single case does not negate an average rule.
InuYasha isn't particularly spiritual at all, but the three religious characters in the first 70 chapters are a very old priest, an old miko, and a rogue and con man who exploits the trust people have in him because he's a buddhist priest. On the other hand, Kagome, InuYasha, and Shippo are very genki, but don't show any spiritual inclination.

Now my question is if your experiences with "advanced shonen" mangas matches that. Do you know of other mangas that I could quote as additional evidence for that claim, or do you think that this is only the case for these three mangas without any overall pattern?

[13_CBS]

Back with an update and a question you could help me with:

I am now writing about Evangelion, Vinland Saga, and InuYasha, which all are from roughly the same time and aimed at a similar audience. Instead of breadth, I picked rather similar mangas and go for the details.

One interesting idea that I had when reading one authors theory of genki (fitness, health, activity, passion) was that characters who are concerned with spiritual matters almost never seem to be very genki and genki characters almost never seem to have interest in spiritual things.

In Vinland Saga, the two spiritual characters are Canute and the monk, who are both almost catatonic and very quiet.
In Evangelion, Shinji, Rei, and Gendo are the same. Asuka is very lively, but the source of that is anger and pain and she doesn't reyll want to understand anything. Misato can be very disciplined when under pressure, but her completely irresponsible behavior when not at work seems to me like her way to copensate for the hopelesness of her work and the knowledge that she will probably fail. Kaji is a notable exception, but a single case does not negate an average rule.
InuYasha isn't particularly spiritual at all, but the three religious characters in the first 70 chapters are a very old priest, an old miko, and a rogue and con man who exploits the trust people have in him because he's a buddhist priest. On the other hand, Kagome, InuYasha, and Shippo are very genki, but don't show any spiritual inclination.

Now my question is if your experiences with "advanced shonen" mangas matches that. Do you know of other mangas that I could quote as additional evidence for that claim, or do you think that this is only the case for these three mangas without any overall pattern?


(Warning: there may be spoilers for certain manga series ahead)

Some shounen manga that support your hypothesis:


Shaman King: Though the manga is supposed to be about various people using various supernatural spirits as partners or even tools for combat, only a certain number of these spirit-wielding characters are calm and stoic, and they are the more spiritually-inclined ones. Hao, the main villain, was once a powerful Shinto priest/magician, and at that time he was quite calm. Yoh, the main character, is part of a long-running line of Shinto priests, and compared to his friends he's quite laid back (though when there's fighting to be done, he's every bit as determined to win as any shounen action hero). Yoh's family is fairly muted and calm as well.


Kaibutso Oujo (aka Princess Resurrection): I'm not certain that this counts, but the spider-goddess Nakua has an icy and aloof personality.

Nagasarete Airantou: This is bit of a flip flop case. The reason why it partly belongs here is because two of the three women in a priestess family are noticeably less energetic than the third (and indeed the rest of the cast). Of the mother and the older sister of the family, the former is simply gentle and motherly while the latter is a prankster who likes to play tricks through convoluted plans and schemes. The reason why this manga belongs in the other category will be discussed later.

Soul Eater: The character Justin Law (I think that's his name) is a priest and is also relatively calm and collected...most of the time. He's also insane, though, if I recall the character correctly, and has quite the bloodthirsty grin when in battle.


Some shounen manga that contradict your hypothesis:

Yosuga no Sora: One of the secondary characters is a young priestess who is also quite genki.

Double Arts: The female lead is a young female nun of an undescribed but aesthetically Christian religious order. Though she's not as hot-blooded or bombastic as the male lead, but if I remember the character correctly she's also not muted or stoic—she'd be better described as being “upbeat” or “compassionate” than “calm” or “quiet”.

Onikirisama no Hakoirimusume: The main character is from a family of priests (or at least, his father is a priest and his home is a temple), but both he and his father very energetic.

Nagasarete no Airantou: As I mentioned, the family of three priestesses have two characters who are relatively more muted and one who is not. The one who is not is energetic as the rest of the cast (which is to say; very).


Long story short: it really could go either way. I suspect that the overall personality of relatively spiritual characters really depends on what sort of character the writer is going for, and the writer's perceptions on the subject matter. Characters who are associated with spiritual occupations (priests, priestesses, monks, nuns, etc.) sometimes have their occupation primarily as an excuse to have fantastical powers and fantastical enemies to use them on, though at other times they have their occupation because it adds to whatever other role the author wants for them to have. Or, those characters might be calm and stoic because that's simply how the author perceives holy men and holy women--I suspect that the calm, meditative image that Buddhist monks usually project has something to do with this.

As for characters who otherwise deal with or think about spiritual matters, I suspect that they are calm because it helps make the subject matter be taken more seriously. A goofball character talking about serious, "What is the nature of man" issues without coming off as spouting nonsense may be more difficult to write about, for example.

To make a serious judgement, though, you may have to compile a colossal library of data on this subject. There may be significantly more manga characters who are calm and serious and care about spiritual matters than manga characters who are genki and care about spiritual matters, but I'm not sure if you can say that with any real certainty unless you went through every manga that has characters like that and wrote down which characters were like what.