Religiöse Motive im Anime: Zwischen Göttern, Geistern und Maschinen

As part of the “Fürth feiert Vielfalt”-festival (April 24 to May 10), Jan Gehm, research assistant specializing in Christianity at the Bavarian Research Center for Interreligious Discourse (BaFID), will give a lecture on the topic of "Religiöse Motive im Anime: Zwischen Göttern, Geistern und Maschinen".

Anime has long been popular not only in Japan but also in Germany, where series such as Dragon Ball Z, Pokémon, and One Piece have shaped entire generations. However, behind the dynamics of battles and adventures often lie themes that are deeply religious and philosophical: faith and doubt, creation and hubris, nature and technology, and identity and humanity. The lecture shows how narratives ranging from gods, nature spirits, and demons to AI visions and cyborgs deal with big questions about meaning, creation, and responsibility. Using exemplary works, the lecture shows which religious motifs—explicit or implicit—are conveyed and what lies behind them.