Finding God in Hellsing and Drifters

Greetings, ladies and gentlemen and Happy Easter/April Fool’s Day!  For today’s post, I wanted to start off April on an interesting note that wasn’t related to Autism Awareness (that won’t be until tomorrow).  Oddly enough, this was actually a post I wanted to do for Easter this year.  Granted, it happened to fall on the first day of April, but still, I think it’s worth doing anyways.  So, without further adieu, let’s dive right in.

As many of you know, Easter is an important time of the year for Christians-and if you’re Catholic like I am, it’s an especially important time of the year- as it is the time to celebrate the Passion of Jesus.  For those who don’t know what this is, it’s basically the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.  During Holy Week, Christians honor the Passion of Christ and celebrate His resurrection on Easter.  So with all this talk about Easter and Christians, what does this all have to do with anime? Well, funny you should ask, because religion is often a common topic of discussion in TV and movies.  Western shows and movies discuss religion and its relevance to pretty much anything.  But for the most part, I’m more familiar with the kind of discussion that tends to be prevalent in anime.  From Evangelion to Ghost in the Shell to Devilman Crybaby, the foundations and even history of Christianity get picked apart, discussed, or even told in what Western viewers would call blasphemous.  Of all the anime shows and films I’ve seen, there are two shows that have come pretty close to crossing the blasphemous line:  Hellsing Ultimate and Drifters.

Now I know what you long time readers are probably thinking.  Why would I call a show like Hellsing Ultimate blasphemous when it’s one of my favorite anime series of all time?  And for those who have seen Drifters, you may also be wondering what was so blasphemous about it.  Well, being the long-winded writer that I am, let’s talk about these shows for a minute.  Both Hellsing and Drifters are shows based on two different manga series by Kouta Hirano, and were both later animated and produced by Madhouse Entertainment with the exact same animation style.  We all know the Hellsing plot as it’s the more popular of the two; a vampire named Alurcard works for the Hellsing organization to kill undead creatures and later an army of Nazi vampires.  Drifters was newer but actually had a very fun and unique premise to it, and I’ve actually enjoyed the first season.  Various historical figures called Drifters are sent to a mystical land where the humans and mystical creatures are at war with each other, and on top of that deal with the eminent threat of the Black King and his legion of monsters and Ends (Drifters who have given up their humanity, gaining magical powers as a result).  Both sound pretty straight forward and not having anything to do with religion.  And truth be told, religion is not explicitly discussed in either series, but maybe more so in Hellsing given the Vatican is involved.  So again, where’s the blasphemy?  Well, in many regards, it’s the portrayal of the Church and its teachings.  Both of these series have some scenes that I think many Christians would find very hard to sit through.   And to start off, I’ll talk about Hellsing first since it tends to be more fondly remembered.

Like I said earlier, Hellsing tends to discuss religion to some extent, but only in the realms of portraying the Catholic Church.  And if you’ve seen Hellsing Ultimate, you know that it’s not shown in the best light.  In what I thought was the worst act committed by an anime character ever, Father Maxwell leads and army of Vatican soldiers to attack London shortly after the city was just attacked by Millennium.  Why?  Because London is full of Protestant sinners who need to die…yeah.  I kid you not, that’s Maxwell’s motivation.  I know that most people talk about Millennium’s attack on London given that it often goes down as one of the worst acts committed by an anime villain, and even comparing to what Maxwell does it’s pretty bad.  But looking at the context of it, the Major works on his own accord and can do what he wants; Ft. Maxwell is a bishop, a representative of the Catholic Church.  Watching a Catholic lay man go out and kill people because they’re Protestant could very likely paint the Catholic Church in a negative light, making Catholics look like stuck up hypocrites who’d gladly point and shoot a gun at someone cause they practice a different denomination of Christianity.  Maybe I’m taking it too far, plus you can tell pretty early on that Maxwell is not a good guy.  But for all the preaching I can do on this instance, it’s hard to deny that there’s a little discomfort watching this scene.  And then there’s Drifters.

Drifters has no focus on religion at all.  In a fantasy world, like the one it paints, why would you?  But the big controversy with the show that ties Christianity to it comes from the Ends, particularly with the Black King.  Have you noticed all of the many things that the Ends discuss that he can do?  Like heal the sick and in turn cause illness?  Or the fact that he can multiply food and resources endlessly?  Still not noticing anything?  Well did you notice in one of the later episodes where we get a quick glimpse of the Black King’s hand and there’s a hole in it? Haven’t figured it out yet? ... Well...

IT’S JESUS!!!

That’s right, if you take a look at all the clues they drop throughout the first season, the Black King is arguably Jesus Christ himself.  This was definitely uncomfortable for me to sit through and it almost made me stop watching the rest of Drifters.  But why did I did I finish Drifters?  Come to think of it, why would Hellsing Utlimate be one of my favorites even knowing that it seems to portray the Catholic Church so negatively?  There are some ways I’ve been able to look past these instances, but let’s talk about some reasons that I think why they’re treated so casually.

For one, looking at the religious population of the Japan, there are very, very, very, very few people who practice Christianity.  So obviously, Christianity is not widely practiced.  It probably wouldn’t come as much a surprise that there’s not an understanding of what certain symbols used in the Christian faith really mean, and therefore get lost in translation and often get look at with offense.  In other words, there may not be an understanding that these are important and are treated with respect among those who know their meaning.  I’ve tried to discuss this before in my since-deleted “Anime and Christianity” post.  Now that’s not to say that the Japanese are ignorant or are trying to be mean or offensive cause the fact that they are able to portray it at all shows some understanding.  I just feel like because Chrisitianity is so scarcely practiced that at times some portrayals of it in anime can be taken the wrong way to Western audiences.  That portrayal, for the most part, is actually not all that offensive, at least for those who make the show.

Much like what Westerns do, we tend to miss the mark in representing something we don’t know.  For instance, it would be pretty difficult to have an American filmmaker make a movie about Muhammad without knowing how important a figure he is in Islam and that there are certain customs that revolve around it (like that fact that there is no accurate depiction of Muhammad because its custom that his face never be shown).  More often than not, something like this would be reduced to a fairytale.  That’s what I feel like Christianity gets treated like in most anime, an element for story-telling.  In fact, there’s a famous ancient Japanese Christian convert who is often a character in numerous anime and video games.   So again, it’s not that the Japanese are trying to be offensive; they’re just trying to tell a story.  But sometimes, it’s hard to look past what might be a bad depiction and find that story.  And that leads me to my next point: how do you look past that to find the inner story and message?  Well, for me the answer is pretty simple.  Look for God.  It’s a strange idea, but there’s a reason behind it.  And I actually got the idea from another Christian.

Last year during the release of the live action Beauty and the Beast, there were a lot of Christian groups that were protesting the film after it was revealed that one of the major characters, La Fou, was gay.  One Christian mom made a learning opportunity out of this for her kids when she took them to see the movie.  She reportedly told them to look for God, or that is, look at the actions of the characters to see if it lives up to a Christian standard.  As it turned out, a gay movie character was the last thing that her kids really spotted.  Though this is loosely translating the actually story, I liked how this mom tried to put some faith into what her kids were watching.  And recently, I used this technique to watch and better understand Hellsing and Drifters.  Which leads me to the big question and the whole point of this post:  how did I find God in Hellsing and Drifters?  Let’s first start with Hellsing.

It’s pretty obvious that Ft. Maxwell is very sinful.  But taking out the context of what his position is and looking at what he’s doing, there’s an underlying motive to his actions: he has power and is merely flaunting that power.  Sure, the Major was the first to attack London, but he’s a warmonger and would have attacked the city anyways whether he had the power to do so or not.  Ft. Maxwell only went after the remnants of London after he was given the authority to lead an army.  Plus, we got evidence via a flashback that he had always wanted power and wanted to use it for the wrong reasons.  Him being Catholic or a bishop has nothing to do with it.  His actions are the result of a power grab.  And if you don’t think there are any good Catholics in the series, you clearly haven’t met Ft. Anderson.  One of his shining moments in the series came at his downfall in his final match with Alucard.  He decides to use the Nail of Helena to give him the upper hand in the fight, but before he does that, he states that he wants no more than to be a weapon for God and would gladly give up his humanity to accomplish that.  While I find that Anderson goes a bit too far, one could argue that this scene is a state of faith that many Christians want to accomplish; being completely devoted to God to the point of death…or selling your soul to an ancient relic.  In fact, he even calls out Maxwell during his attack on London, clearly stating that he’s attacking innocent people for the sake of his own power and that he has “turned his back on God.”  So while Anderson may act like too much of a fanatic, there’s some merit to what he does.  I can’t really say the same for the Black King in Drifters.

There really is no way to step around the Black King; no matter how many times you look at the clues and hints, you come to the conclusion that it’s Jesus.  But I try not to look at who the Black King is but what the Black King represents.  Christians believe that Jesus was the Son of God who was perfect and free from sin.  So he’s a pretty special guy.  But for non-Christians, he’s just a guy who found one of the most prominent religions in the world.  In some regards, I think Drifters takes this approach, but does it in a way to show how flawed humanity is.  Think about the Ends for a minute; these were individuals who were once human beings that gave up their humanity because humanity treated them so poorly.  Joan of Arc’s back story drives this point across perfectly and could almost be used a parallel to the Black King (with the theory that he is in fact Jesus).  In some regards, it makes some sense.  Now granted, it does seem very blasphemous for me to agree with this idea of giving Jesus dark human feelings when Christians believe he is beyond those feelings.  But again, keep in mind that there are non-Christians who’ll watch this and probably pick up on this.  The idea behind this is not to paint Jesus in a bad light, but rather show how human beings can give in to their own anger to the point where they give up their very selves.  It shows that all human beings are susceptible to anger and the desire for revenge, even going as far to say that even the most pious of people who you’d never think could succumb to those feelings are not immune to it.  And besides, there is a God present in Drifters, though it’s not who you’d think it is. 

There’s a big good and evil battle going between two powerful people in the series, Murasaki and Easy.  Murasaki can be viewed as God in that he often picks the Drifters, and his entire setting is white.  Easy could be a representation of Satan as she easily convinces the Ends to join her side (no pun intended there), plus her dimension is all black.  Murasaki also appears as a middle aged adult with some pretty dated items like a newspaper, implying that he is far older and wise compared to Easy, who appears as a teenage girl.  So there is a God present in Drifters even though it’s not the God that we’re used to, but there’s definitely a huge power struggle between the forces of good and evil.

So yeah, for as strange and controversial as this post may be, I think it’s something necessary to talk about.  More often than not, I hear a lot in the news at how Christian groups protest films and books on the basis of faith but for the stupidest and pettiest of reasons.  My hope is that by discussing how I look at some shows that many Christians would view as offensive will set an example of how you can be a good Christian and still indulge in stuff that’s obviously not.  So yeah, I still love Hellsing Ultimate, and I’m looking forward to another season of Drifters, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t let faith interfere in enjoying that.  In fact, Jesus founded Christianity on the basis of love and understanding you’re fellow man.  So why can’t we bring this practice in what we watch, too?

So what do you think?  Were there other anime shows and movies that had some religious themes that went a little too far?  Are you a Christian anime fan that has a way of watching shows like Hellsing and Drifters?  And am I the only one who thinks the Black King is Jesus?  Again, apologies in if this post seemed out of left field, but I had this planned for a while.  And so, that end’s today’s post.  Stay tuned for tomorrow when I kick off my Autism Awareness event!

-Hanime on Anime