Hellsing
The Japanese are proud people who have a long tradition of adapting their own rich cultural concepts into the plots of anime. However, anime as a whole has done more than simply given the Japanese a pallet upon which to explore native culture. It has allowed them to play around with foreign concepts that would have been difficult to touch on in another form of media.
For example, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion has to do with Japan suffering under a foreign invader. However, in that framework it actually experiments with a mythos that’s foreign to the Japanese, as well as exploring the ideologies of those who invaded the nation in the storyline. The Geass power itself probably came from a foreign idea.
In Ancient Ireland, the Geis is a type of curse that grants the user a great deal of power in exchange for their life being bound by a specific taboo. Generally a female places the Geis, and the resulting taboo, upon a male. More often than not, the female in question is a goddess. If the recipient should break that taboo, the person will become dishonored or die.
If you change the spelling to Geass and replace the Irish goddess with C.C., you’ll end up with an anime series that’s incorporated a European legend alongside Japanese ones. Not all themes all Western, though. Even within Code Geass, the Chinese Federation plotline explores life within Imperial China.
Even though anime tends to have a great deal of Shinto and Buddhist religious themes, there are some series that are strongly influenced by Abrhamic faiths. Hellsing, for instance, deals with the idea that there is a Holy Order of Protestant Knights that defends against the armies of the living dead. However, the story also grapples to some degree with the split between Catholic and Protestant Christianity. It even has some plotlines that involve the history of fascism in Europe.
Other references might not be so apparent. Some observers, for instance, have commented on how Kyon’s narration in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is similar to that of a Chorus in ancient Greek drama. He speaks with an internal dialogue that ultimately is used to communicate with the audience. Of course, not all situations involving foreign civilization are so important. For instance, in the second light novel of that series, Kyon recognizes a Marilyn Manson song Haruhi is humming.
Anime may always be peppered with a large amount of Japanese cultural points, but the elements of foreign culture are sometimes equally as interesting. One of the most interesting things to look it is the way in which the animators or mangaka might portray a foreign culture. Its often in a different light than what North American fans might see one in!
