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
I wish I could look beyond my feelings of "these shows attack my beliefs" like you do my friend. I'm just overly paranoid over everything despite being a massive screw up 😂 I think of they would have had another Christian or Catholic figure on the side of the Drifters, I'd feel a little better. I'm glad you aren't dragged down like I am. Keep it up!
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