Description: The mutual imbrication of the profane and sacred worlds in anime, along with the profound reciprocal relationship between 'Eastern' (Japanese) and 'Western' (chiefly American) culture in the development of the anime artistic form, form the twin narrative arcs of the book. One of the most significant contributions of this book is the
Brief description: Katharine Buljan was awarded a PhD from the University of Sydney in 2007 and is a scholar and visual artist/animator. Carole M. Cusack is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Sydney. She is the author and editor of numerous books and the editor of The International Journal for the Study of New Religions.
Review Quotes:
An insightful piece of research that addresses the complexity of the proposed topic from a useful historical and transcultural perspective. This is recommended reading for those interested in both Japanese animation and a heterodox approach to religious studies.
Reading Religion
The book is a good concise survey of anime in Japan and beyond, and it definitely encourages us to take such popular culture works seriously and to question the supposed barrier between serious 'otherworldly' culture like 'religion' and everyday, even superficially frivolous productions like still and animated cartoons. Religion, anthropologists understand, does not only dwell in churches or other official religious spaces, and there are no sharp and impermeable lines between the various domains of culture.
Anthropology Review Database
Opens the door for scholars interested in the connections between religion and anime, and helps to define the field of religion and popular culture to consider elements of popular culture once dismissed.
BASR Bulletin
This is a very good book that explores an enormous number of anime and provides a useful overview of how anime's fun-filled fantasy format appeals to modern sensibilities. I have test-marketed this book in my courses on Japanese religious life, and found it both accessible and interesting reading for undergraduates.
Religious Studies Review
The book opens the door for scholars who are interested in the connections between spiritual and religious traditions and the development of anime and manga in Japan. The reader can gain a greater understanding of how the verisimilitude of religion and fictive worlds helps to create temporary or lasting perceptions of reality with associated beliefs and practices among audiences.
Religion and the Arts