Summary
A medium for limitless imagination, the Japanese representation of animation takes on many forms and containsendless worlds and realities. Anime, through its creators, gives shape to the various concepts and brings them to life in the most thought-provoking manner while preserving its most essential trait of entertainment. This stands the same forthe supernatural genreand, even more, supernatural anime with mythological origins.
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These anime, through captivating storytelling and eye-catching animation styles, delve deep into the world of the otherworldly, drawing inspiration from various mythology and folktales from all around the world, ranging from Greek mythology to Japanese yokai folklore. They combine all of these to create compelling tales where the lines of the natural and the supernatural blur. In this reegard, here are some anime that explore unique supernatural mythologies.
10Saint Seiya: Knights Of The Zodiac
Saint Seiyafollows Seiya, a young boy forced to go to a sanctuary in Greece to obtain one of the ‘Cloths,’ which is the bronze cloth of the Pegasus constellation and a protective armorworn by the 88 saints of the goddessAthena. Upon obtaining this, Seiya becomes one of the saints of Athena, sworn to protect the Goddess and the Earth from evil forces.
The series draws inspiration directly from Greek mythology and, through this, presents viewers with the grand battles and fights of these Saints, Seiya, especially with each of these Saints representing a different constellation of the Zodiac and their ability to embody its legend.
9Rage Of Bahamut
Adventure is never too little in a world where humans, demons, and gods coexist and mingle. The series, set in the magical land of Mistarcia, showcases a variety of gods from Greek and other mythological sources, with the titular character referencing a Babylonian deity.
Following the near destruction of the world two thousand years ago by the black-winged dragon, Bahamut, the three factions, the humans, gods, and demons fearful of their extinction, join forces and seal away the dragon. The key to the seal is split apart and given to each faction. After two millennia, Bahamut is at risk of being released, and once again, the world threatens to fall into chaos and destruction. The world’s fate now lies in the hands of a young girl named Amira and her two bounty-hunter friends.
8Blue Exorcist
A seemingly ordinary human society riddled with spots and specks of the supernatural. Blue exorcist takesinspiration from theologian mythologyinvolving several religions and the history between these religions and Satan, a figure present throughout the history of the world’s fables, legends, and even scriptures.
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The series follows Rin Okumura, the central who, through the death of his adoptive father, discovers he is the son of Satan, the highest demon of hell and a descendant of Gehenna, a catholic term used to reference the demon realm in the series. Burning with hatred for his biological father, Rin becomes an exorcist of demons like his adoptive father to get revenge against Satan.
7Kamigami No Asobi
Kamigami no Asobipresents a mix of thetypical high school tropeinfused with Greek mythology featuring major gods of Olympus like Hades and Dionysus and even features gods from Egyptian and Japanese mythology like Anubis and Takeru. The story focuses on Yui Kusanagi, the daughter of a shrine priest who coincidentally meets Zeus, the king of all other gods.
While trying to amend the problematic relationships between the divine entities and humanity, Zeus creates an academy for the gods in a separate world and chooses Yui to be its teacher to have her teach the gods the essence of human emotions within a year.
6God Of High School
The God of High Schooltakes martial artsto an entirely new level but also incorporates mythology heavily from many different cultures, mainly about the legend of the famous Monkey King, also known as ‘Son Wukong,’ the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox and even the Greek gods of Olympus, using the' Charyeok' power system, also known as Borrowed power.
The series follows the central character, Jin Mori, a high school student and martial artist who registers for the nationwide ‘God Of High School’ tournament, a competition to select the best fighter in Korea and have any of their one wish granted. However, while the series showcases genuinely epic battles, the story drifts into a grander overarch down the line.
5Noragami
Noragamiis set in modern society when deity worship is not as prominent as it used to be. This is more evident in the central character’s life, Yato, a minor Shinto god. Much less famous than his colleagues, Yato finds himself lacking in worshippers and a ‘regalia,’ a divine weapon possessed by gods.
Yato sets out to become a more prominent deity after a fateful meeting between him and a human girl, ‘Hiyori.’ Set on becoming more famous, Yato must also help Hiyori regain her humanity with the aid of his newly acquired regalia, Yukine. The series explores thematic tropes of love, sacrifice, and revenge but also has its influence from Japanese Shinto mythology, hence the references to Shinto gods in the series.
4Fate Series
TheFatefranchise has produced some of the best battles in anime alongside its breathtaking animation. Another striking feature of the franchise is its mythological influences and inspirations. The franchise combines every available mainstream legend, myth, and folktale to create a captivating tale of wonders embedded in a magical game of war.
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The entire series is based on the Holy Grail War. This battle commences every few years between mages and their servants to have a wish granted by the Holy Grail, the most potent magical entity capable of granting any of the master’s wishes. These servants, however, are selected from humanity’s long history of Heroic spirits, which could range from the Legend of King Arthur from Camelot to Alexandre the Great. The Holy Grail War is determined throughthe might of these legendsat the behest of their masters.
3Castlevania
The Netflix anime series builds a tale of horror and action upon the haunting myth of the first and most powerful vampire ever to exist, Dracula Vlad Tepes. The series, influenced by many sources, including the popular game franchise of the same title, showcases a bloody battle between the forces of good and evil, with the stakes being the extinction of the human race.
The story starts with the tale of Dracula Tepes, a vampire lord who eventually comes to hate humans after his wife is burned to death at the hands of the church in accusation of being a witch. Driven mad with rage and anger, Dracula declares extinction on the world and, starting from the city of Wallachia, plunges the world into chaos and darkness. As his assault drags on,a group of warriors band togetherto end the vampire lord’s reign of terror.
2Blood Of Zeus
Blood of Zeusdirectly references Greek mythology, focusing on the gods of Olympus, especially exploring the fragile relationship between the King of the gods and his wife, Hera. The series is a visual spectacle of blood, rage, and power following history as accurately as Greek historians portray it.
The story focuses on Heron, a young man who discovers that his biological father is Zeus, the king of gods. Heron’s existence becomes a trigger for Hera’s wrath as a result of her husband’s infidelity. In her rage, Hera demands the head of the bastard son, thus causing a civil war among the gods and putting the nation on the brink of destruction.
1Record Of Ragnarok
Another Netflix adaptation,Record of Ragnarok, features a battle royale between the Gods and the strongest heroes of humanity, combat tournament to determine the elimination or preservation of humanity. The series is strongly influenced by Norse and Greek mythology, showcasing some of the most influential figures of the two.
The series starts with Brunhilde, a Valkyrie of the gods who stands her ground after they decide to wipe out humanity and proposes a combat tournament between the gods and the Earth’s strongest humans in history. Inrepresentation of the Gods, Zeus sees this as an exciting opportunity to display the might of the gods once again. A clash between the most powerful humans in history and the gods of the cosmos, whichever side emerges victorious will rewrite the halls of history.
