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Sunday, 19 May 2024

Blavatsky, Manga, Anime and Video Games

I'm not really that familiar with Japanes Manga and Anime, but who hasn't noticed the rise of popularity of this cultural export since the 1980s? With the success the Helena Blavatsky character in the Fate/Grand Order video game, I noticed a surprising amount of Theosophy-inspired characters, features and themes. Besides the basic eastern base of spiritual traditions, I notice that there is also a Japanese interest for western Victorian Gothic ideas, along with early western science-fiction, giving rise to the steampunk genre. Although there has been some academic study of religious influences in manga/anime, I don't think that there has been much research into Theosophical influences in the genre. Therefore this humble post proposes to sketch out some brief, rough notices of some of the more obvious instances that I've encountered, in a very informal way, which I think would make for some fun and interesting academic research.
 
1- Fate/Grand Order  is a free-to-play Japanese mobile game, developed by Lasengle (formerly Delightworks) using Unity, and published by Aniplex, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan. The game is based on Type-Moon's Fate/stay night franchise, and was released in Japan on 29 July 2015 for Android.
 
Figurine. That pet critter is Olcott
Young swimwear figurine


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Special Winter Outfit
 Cosplay Portrayals
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Blavat Sky
Blavatsky seems to have developed a fairly solid fan base. Some prominent successful merchandise include, a figurine, and a young beach swimsuit figurine. She has a special Winter outfit now.

2- There is also a character named Blavat Sky, a fortune teller and diviner at the Sphere Music Hall meetings from Kuroshitsuji or Black Butler is a manga written and illustrated by Yana Toboso.
 
Koudelka Iasant

 
 
 
3-  Koudelka Iasant, main character in console role-playing game developed by Sacnoth and published by Aruze Corp in Japan and in the United States and Europe by Midway Games in 2001. In 1888, when Koudelka was nine years old, she was found in London by Mrs. Blavatsky, a renowned medium for the spirits. She raised Koudelka as her daughter, helping her hone her skills until she passed away in 1891. 
https://shadowhearts.fandom.com/wiki/Koudelka_Iasant
 
Dietlinde Eckhart

4- Dietlinde Eckhart is a kind of evil Blavatsky, based on woeful pop culture WW2 conspiracy theories. She is the main antagonist in Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa. She is a German-born, soft-spoken woman with radical visions for the future of her troubled country.
https://fma.fandom.com/wiki/Dietlinde_Eckhart 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fullmetal_Alchemist_the_Movie:_Conqueror_of_Shamballa 
 
Marianna Blavatsky
5- Another evil Blavatsky, Marianna Blavatsky is the villainess of Return to Castle Wolfenstein. The game was the long awaited re-imagining of the video game Wolfenstein 3D but actually, the game restarted the franchise. It would be followed by the 2009 sequel Wolfenstein.
https://wolfenstein.fandom.com/wiki/Marianna_Blavatsky 
 
Anna Bonus Kingsford

 
 
 
6- Theosophist Anna Bonus Kingsford appears in A Certain Magical Index, Toaru Majutsu no Indekkusu,  a Japanese light novel series written by Kazuma Kamachi and illustrated by Kiyotaka Haimura, a manga adaptation by Chuya Kogino began serialization in Monthly Shōnen Gangan since April 2007. J.C.Staff produced two 24-episode anime series between 2008 and 2011. An animated film was released in February 2013. A 26-episode third season aired between 2018 and 2019. Several spin-offs and other adaptations have also been made, including several video games.  
A Certain Magical Index, Toaru Majutsu no Indekkusu
https://toarumajutsunoindex.fandom.com/wiki/Anna_Kingsford  
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Certain_Magical_Index
 
Bad Castelvania Saint Germain
7- The Count of Saint Germain has gained popularity in pop culture versions, which extends to Japan. Count Saint Germain (San Jeruman)  is a character in the Castlevania animated series. He is a mysterious man investigating the events of Lindenfeld and its priory. 
https://castlevania.fandom.com/wiki/Saint_Germain_(animated_series)
 
Good Code:Realize Saint Germain
8- Count Saint-Germain from Code: Realize − Guardian of Rebirth is an otome visual novel video game developed by Otomate for PlayStation Vita, released in 2014 in Japan and in 2015 in North America and Europe. The game features a steampunk aesthetic and a cast of literary and historical figures, including Arsène Lupin, Abraham Van Helsing, Victor Frankenstein, Impey Barbicane, and Count Saint-Germain, an affiliate of the Kur who is currently working as the deputy head teacher and advisor of the History and Culture Research Club at the high school, while under the assumed name Sanjome. 
https://code-realize.fandom.com/wiki/Saint-Germain
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code:_Realize
 
9-Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor, Roku de Nashi Majutsu Kōshi to Akashikku Rekōdo) is a Japanese light novel series written by Tarō Hitsuji and illustrated by Kurone Mishima. Fujimi Shobo has published twenty-four volumes from July 19, 2014, to November 17, 2023, under their Fujimi Fantasia Bunko imprint. A manga adaptation with art by Aosa Tsunemi has been serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's shōnen manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Ace from March 26, 2015, to June 25, 2021, and has been collected in sixteen tankōbon volumes. An anime television series adaptation by Liden Films aired from April to June 2017. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akashic_Records_of_Bastard_Magic_Instructor
 
Yu-Gi-Oh! Atlantis

10- A fictional Atlantis with Theosophical colorings is featured in season 4 of Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, created by Kazuki Takahashi,
https://yugioh.fandom.com/wiki/Atlantis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu-Gi-Oh!_Duel_Monsters_season_4
 
 
 
11-Atlantis is a prominent setting in the Shin Getter Robo manga series.
Shin Getter Robo Atlantis
Shin Getter Robo is a manga series by Ken Ishikawa from 1996 to 1999. It serves as an interquel between the Getter Robo G and Getter Robo Go manga.
https://getterrobo.fandom.com/wiki/Shin_Getter_Robo_(Manga)
https://getterrobo.fandom.com/wiki/Atlantis
 
 was adopted by Blavatsky after her surviving famy, feared her latent psychic power, abandoned her in London. Under her tutelage, Koudelka honed her sk Edit10-10- Atlantis Dragon
The Boy and the Heron
 
 
12- Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron features a golden gate, a symbol of which Through the Gates of Gold by Mabel Collins gives a mystical example.
 
13-
Bleach Hell Arc
Bleach And Theosophy: Tite Kubo's Hell Arc & Blavatsky's on Hell
pontos fathom podcast episode 21. 
the resonances between Kubo's return to Bleach manga with his newest Hell Arc & Madame Blavatsky's diagrams of Hell from Theosophy
 

Cosmic horror-manga-style

 
 
 
14- H. P. Lovecraft is popular is Japan, so there may be related Theosophical elements in the various Lovecraftian manga sagas.
 
Neon Genesis Evangelion-Four Adams
15- I would imagine that Neon Genesis Evangelion,  a Japanese media franchise created by Hideaki Anno, is based on Kabbalistic concepts influenced by Blavatsky's spiritual evolution ideas.

16-
Captive Hearts of Oz is a modern Oz shoujo style manga series, featuring the characters from L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz, published by Seven Seas. It is written by Ryo Maruyu with artwork by Mamenosuke Fujimaru. 2017. 
Dorothy Gale – along with her beloved dog, Toto – alongside a trio of fascinating new companions, and a mysterious young man known as "Zero," must follow the Yellow Brick Road on her journey to escape Oz and some of its less than friendly denizens, the evil Witches. Yet even though all this seems to be happening for the first time, Dorothy feels as if they have all met before... Buried secrets and conflicted romance await Dorothy as she travels through the wonderful land of Oz!
 
17- Sailor Moon 
Sailor Moon  Bishōjo Senshi Sērā Mūn,  Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, the Japanese mass media juggernaut began as a manga series written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. The series follows the adventures of a schoolgirl named Usagi Tsukino as she transforms into the eponymous character to search for a magical artifact, the "Legendary Silver Crystal". She leads a group of comrades, the Sailor Guardians, as they battle against villains to prevent the theft of the Silver Crystal and the destruction of the Solar System.
Theosophical elements 5, 10 Sailor guardians - ancient astrological planets, reincarnation, dark, dead aspect of the moon, Star Seeds, ancient cosmic evolution war, mysterious magical mentor cat youtube.com/watch?v=9Qz0az tuxedounmasked.com/does-sailor-mo

18- Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun
is a Japanese manga series written by Iro and illustrated by Aida, which results in their conjoined name 'AidaIro'. Kamome Academy is famous for its rumors regarding its Seven Wonders and supernatural occurrences. Nene Yashiro, a girl who wishes for a boyfriend, and a first-year high-school student, summons the Seventh and most famous Wonder, "Hanako-san of the Toilet", the spirit of a girl who allegedly haunts the bathroom and can grant wishes for the right price. Upon summoning her, Nene discovers that "Hanako-san" is nothing like the rumors say; Hanako-san is a boy. With a turn of events, she is spiritually bound to Hanako and becomes his assistant, helping him destroy evil supernaturals and change rumors in order to maintain the balance between the spirit world and the human world.
Shin Megami Tensei 
Gnostic-themed franchise consists of multiple subseries and covers multiple role-playing genres including tactical role-playing, action role-playing, and massively multiplayer online role-playing.
Tensei Shitara Suraimu Datta Ken That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime
In Tensura Vol. 15, the character Ciel states: 'I am Ciel, a Manas, or a Theosophical Core, and the unifier of all Skills. I exist within the soul of my Master, Rimuru-sama'
Use of the Psychic in Manga and Anime - Eri Izawa
10 Best Occult Anime, Ranked According To MyAnimeList

Best Magical Girl Anime
 
PS - Notes on feminine portrayal in Japanese popularity culture
first time I think that I've posted an image of FGO Blavatsky without cropping it, due to the issue of female representation in anime, which is part of a growing problem related to many complex social factors 
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