A Safe Anime List For Born-Again Christians

Hi! I’m Nostalgia. I grew up in the church, but I also grew up watching anime on TV. In middle school, after finding out the media was made in Japan, I took a deep interest in the country and their other forms of entertainment. This blog, Chromatic Dreamers, was created in 2021 when I pursued my childhood band dream and created a rookie Jpop/anime cover band with the same name, and we went on to perform at a couple anime conventions and a big Japanese festival. I say all this because around New Years 2023, I finally understood the depths of my sins and the condemnation I deserve, and finally understanding the true gospel in my heart, I was born again, and I couldn’t look at many things the same way. You can read my testimony over here.

For a long period, I avoid all secular media, and opted to indulge mainly into Christian books and sermons to pursue a deeper relationship with God, along with apologetics and exposing videos to correct false doctrine and become more aware of the spiritual battle around me. One of my greatest endeavors was digging deep to find Japanese Christian artists as I wanted songs that had the same Jpop progressions and orchestration that I’ve loved for over 15 years, but didn’t want lyrics that promoted depression, pride, or anti-Christ ideas. Honestly, it was hard even finding 5 Japanese Christian artists, but with enough time and perseverance, I found 10, then 25, and my current Ultimate Japanese Christian Music list now has over 100 artists!

Since I was born again, I wouldn’t say that I’ve avoided anime completely, but I’ve definitely been more cautious of the themes I expose myself to. A lot of animes promote a lot of pride, especially when the main character has certain powers or abilities, and characters often put their hope and trust into these people. ‘God’ never shows up to help, and is even spoken badly of. As for a personal issue, I’ve struggled with lust and dirty fantasies beforehand but it felt like my mind was wiped clean when I was born again, and I wanted to keep it that way. My cousin/roommate was eager to show me his favourite show, Meishoku Tensei, and while I was willing to look past the sorcery aspects of the show considering the majority of animes have similar elements, I just had to get up and leave when an explicit scene came on screen. I really didn’t want those kinds of images in my head. So trust me, I understand the struggle.

Back to the topic of magic and sorcery, as a kid, I didn’t think it was real, nor believed that witches had power, so shows like Cardcaptors, Sailormoon, and Mew Mew Power was whatever. There were also countless Western shows with these themes like Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Fairly Odd Parents, and Wizards of Waverly Place, so you really do become numb to it. But now that I understand how much God despises witches and mediums (even calls them an abomination), and how these people are getting their powers and knowledge from demons and unclean spirits, and how new agers and others are trying to manipulate the world or become gods throught this sort of power….I don’t even want to entertain or support the idea. Magic is essentially saying you’d rather go to another source and do things your way, than to rely and trust in God with your life. Anime in general teaches us to be independent and fully capable, but the bible desires that we depend on God and wait for Him to provide for us and deliver us.

I’ve written lots of articles on this topic such as Is Anime/Japanese Music Safe For Christians and Anime Tropes That Made Me A Better Christian, but I realized I didn’t make a list like this yet. I probably tried to stay more in my niche (Japanese Music) and let other Christian Otakus handle it, but I took a look recently and was quite disappointed by the recommendations. When I would search Reddit threads, I would see posters asking for safe series, just to be recommended shows like Full Metal Alchemist (mocks ‘god’ and the church, promotes alchemy/sorcery), and be told that ‘there’s nothing wrong with magic’. Honestly, if you asked me 5 years ago, I’d probably be saying the same things as them as I would watch anything that would catch my attention, but I understand what these seekers are looking for now.

I think a good anime can actually be really encouraging for the soul. We often get to know more about the characters backgrounds, which help us to be more compassionate and merciful with people we don’t know well, we get to learn a lot about courage and endurance when facing adversity and struggles, we get to learn more about teamwork, unity, forgiveness as series usually have a group of main characters working towards the same goal, and they can often teach us about hope, faith, and patience when we desire a better future. Compare this to Youtube that had brainrot videos and lots of drama/gossip, sitcoms that don’t teach anything of value, and movies that have the darkest themes to keep people engaged, Hollywood as a whole is essentially operated by the devil so…I’ll pick anime over the bunch. But just like any medium, even if the majority seems bad, there can still be some gems that changes your life for the better.

Themes That Would Eliminate A Show On This List

I am quick picky and strict with this list because I know there are many that will look past certain topics just because the show is generally possitive, but I got you! Any shows that paint God/angels in a bad light and Satan/demons in a good light is off the table (Fullmetal Alchemist, The Devil Is A Part-Timer, D.N.Angel, etc). Promoting magic or parterning with demons while playing the good guy is also disqualified (Sailormoon, Jujitsu Kaisen, Little Witch Academia, Inuyasha, etc). We knows shows about pop idols is not as innocent as it seems and takes worship rightefully reserved for God alone (Love Live, Oshi no Ko, Uta no Prince-Sama). I was never into the isekai genre, but shows that focus on reincarnation is not something to entertain (Re:Zero, ‘Reincarnated as a….’). I’ve done my best to avoid shows with fanservice or sex scenes, but romance and relationships is a part of life, so I apologize if a small suggestive scene I’ve forgotten about comes on screen, but I’ve done my best to spare you from that and keep it PG.

I’ve also avoided countless other shows that appear to be light hearted and fun, or even have some wonderful main characters that we could learn valuable lessons from…but there are elements which I still wouldn’t want to promote. For example, “SpyXFamily” has a pretend/adopted family comprised of 4 characters who keep their lives secret and lie to another. One is a CIA agent, which is fine, but the rest include an assassin, mind-reader, and a psychic (dog). “HunterxHunter” has a cute premise, a young boy who desires to become stronger and goes on a huge adventure and faces lots of adversity to one day meet the father he never knew…but the characters all use nen (aura/chi) to gain powers and some use them in dark or perverted ways, to manipulate and even kill others. “Fruits Basket” would honestly be such a lovely show to recommend as the sweet and pure hearted main character is a girl who sees the good in others and her kindness changes those around her, even healing the hearts of those who were traumatized and ostracized….but I can’t look past that the series focuses on 13 people in a family who transform into animals of the Chinese zodiac and have certain quirks or abilities due to a curse.

I’ve seen “Studio Ghibli” pop up on a lot of these threads. I’ll be honest with you, I never got into their movies or music. I tried to watch “Spirited Away” as a teen, but I was so bored and found the imagery kinda weird and creepy. Turns out, the studio as a whole tends to implement a lot of Shintoism or Paganism themes, and I know for a fact they have various characters like demons and witches too. I also haven’t watched nor plan to watch older classic animes like Astroboy, Doraemon, Crayon Shin-chan, Mobile Suit Gundam, Neon Genesis Evangelion etc, so I don’t have an opinion on them.

I have given exceptions to shows that include things that are a huge part of Japanese culture and thus is almost unavoidable. If you didn’t know, Japan has always been a monocultural country, and their culture is rooted in Shinto and Buddhist customs. So while slice-of-life shows are some of the safest categories for Christians as they are based in reality, their reality includes things like festivals, shrine visits on New Years and having a small shrine at home for dead relatives, or gifting loved ones good luck charms for exams or big events. But outside of these customs, the characters don’t show any interest in religion, and spirits never talk or interact with the characters. Another big part of Japanese culture is shared baths. It is customary to be completely nude (no clothes or bathing suits allowed) if you are using a public bath house or onsen/hot spring. Characters will often have deep and honest conversations here, but animes will usually make the water cloudy and use certain angles to avoid revealing anything. It is also customary for Japanese people to put their hands together and say “Itadakimasu” before eating a meal. It is a form of gratitude for anything and anyone that went into making it, but know that it is more a habit and sign of respect than a serious spiritual prayer to a god for them. Another common trope is the summer beach episode…you know what? Let me just share my Culture Shocks article for common things you’ll see in almost every anime.

I’ve divided this list into 3 categories: Pure/Lighthearted, Deep/Thought Provoking, and Heavy/Fictional. I’M ONLY RECOMMENDING ANIMES I’VE PERSONALLY WATCHED AND VETTED. Some I watched ages ago, but I did a quick Google search to ensure it was as clean as I recall it being. I haven’t watched as many anime as others as I didn’t have the internet for many years of my youth, and I became a workaholic in my 20s, and obviously, in recent years, I kinda fell off. SOOO, if there’s a series you think should be here, leave it in the comments below, along with your reasons why you think it is safe for Christians and worth the watch.

Pure and Lighthearted

This list includes animes that anyone in the family can watch and enjoy. They are usually slice-of-life series, meaning there is no powers or supernatural elements, just kids doing things at school (clubs, bands, sports) or pursuing their dreams. This category also includes most romance/romcom series, but I made sure they don’t go beyond things like hand holding or kissing (Japanese people are pretty shy and reserved. It sometimes takes multiple episodes just for one to confess that they like the other, and lonfer for them to become boyfriend/girlfriend). This is great if you’re new to the genre, or just looking for something light hearted to enjoy after a hard day at work.

Superbook

If there’s any anime that is safe for Christians, there is no better bet than Superbook. The Superbook is the bible, and these two kids are drawn into the book to witness accurate representations of the stories in the bible, and they ultimately come out of it with a new understanding of God’s laws and why it’s important, things like obedience, kindness, courage, and forgiveness. This show was made for kids, so you have nothing to worry with this one.

Do note that there is a newer, 3D, Americanized verion of the show, but you can watch all of the original anime series for free in this Youtube playlist. There are a few other Christian animes worth checking out, like “My Last Day“ which is 10-minute video about Jesus’s crucifixion, which I’ve watched a couple times already. There are also a few I haven’t watched yet like “The Flying House” which is apparently a sequal of sorts to Superbook, and “In The Beginning: The Bible Stories“ made by Osamu. All of these can be found for free on Youtube!

Haikyuu

I can’t think of a single person who has watched this series and didn’t like it. I personally avoided it for a time as my anime friends were fanboying over characters so I thought it’d be kinda sissy. And while I loved sports, I sucked and hate volleyball, so I didn’t think I’d be interested, but boy! This series is really funny and will have you on the edge of your seat during matches. The show stars a short kid who desired to be great at volleyball after seeing a game on TV. In middle school, he did his best to train, but had to join the girls team as there was one, and when he convinced some friends to join him, they sucked and lost their first trounament game. But now he’s in high school and can pursue his dream seriously….but his greatest rival from the team that destroyed him previously is also trying out. Don’t worry though, they learn to put their differences aside for the sake of the team. The show has many loveable characters with different strenghts and weaknesses, and it is a great motivational anime too!

Other Sports Animes

I personally haven’t watched many sports series beside Haikyuu, so I can’t recommend much on this list, BUT for the most part, sports are usually a slice of life so there shouldn’t be magic and other dark things going on, and the guys are usually too focused on the gold to even date and do questionable things. Sports animes tend to be quite motivating and promotes values like team work, compassion, courage, perserverance, and forgiveness (especially when someone costs them the game). So if you want something a little more exciting, but still easy going and safe, it may be worth checking out those series.

There are two that I did watch before I was saved that I will pre-warn you against. “Free!!” is actually a pretty good series with an interesting plot and character growth…but it is a swimming anime, so there will be boys in swimsuits. Personally, that means nothing to me. I’m not turned on by looks, let alone fictional abs, but it may be a problem for someone else. And “Yuri On Ice!” which also had a pretty good and motivating story of redemption, but what was once assumed to be a deep friendship between coach and student, later becomes an official homosexual relationship. Another series to be warned against is “Prince of Tennis” as it does in fact have characters with supernatural powers.

K-On!!

This is literally one of the cutest and sweetest animes out there, while also being really funny and relatable. It features a group of girls in their high school’s music club. The main character is a beginner at guitar but picks it up pretty quickly and they become a band. It has lots of light hearted humour, and small moments of growth as they grow as a band and prepare for performances. The songs as well are really light hearted and sweet, one is even called ‘light and fluffy time’ (Fuwa Fuwa Time). Any drama is resolved pretty quickly, and the girls get along really well.

Sound Euphonium

If you love music and big bands, Sound Euphonium may be right up your alley. This show features a girl who plays the Euphonium, which is similar to the tuba. Having moved to high school, she joins their band class with hopes of competing and doing well….but lets just say, the group needs a lot of work. They haven’t won a competition in years and some of the kids are just there for fun. Luckily, they also get a new music teacher/director who leads. Despite his handsome face and innocent looking smile, he’s not here to play games. If they are serious about not just competiting, but performing in marches and other events, they need to get their act together. If you haven’t been in a music group before, drama is to be expected, as some people seem to hold the group back, others are really talented but can be kind of cold and harsh, and there is bound to be envy when you don’t get the solo you wanted. but at the end of the day, if you want your group to win, you learn to humble yourself, to let things go, and to do your best despite your feelings.

A Place Further Than The Universe

This anime has the same cute and fun vibes as K-ON!, but with some heart touching and sad moments as well. Our main character is a girl who lacks any motivation to do anything, she has no dreams or goals, and envies girls that do. She bumps into a girl who is trying so desperately to go to Antarctica (highlighting as some may read the title and think it’s an isekai or spiritual series), and is even hoping to find people to go with her. Her classmates not only mock her dream, but plant seeds of doubt saying it’s impossible or ridiculous. The two end up joining together and taking this dream seriously. While they usually wouldn’t allow kids on an expedition, they make an exception fora group of youth. What makes this show so touching? I don’t want to spoil anything, but the girls mother went to antarctica and disappeared, so she is eager to possibly find her and learn more about her mom.

Ore Monogatari (My Love Story)

This is one of the cutest and funniest romcoms out there. The series starts off with these beast of a high schooler. I say beast because he is actually huge, strong, and unusually hairy….but he is a sweetheart. Loves to help people, even though they flee from him. One day on the subway, he helps a girl who was being harrassed by others, and the two develop a crush on each other. Welll, he thinks its one sided and that she is interested in his much hotter best friend, but she does genuinely like him. She is really shy, but also makes small efforts to get to him. Obviously, being twice his size, and also dealing with others opinions on their relationship, we get the following series of events.

Bocchi The Rock

If you want a musical series that is a bit more serious and has cooler music than K-ON! but is still really funny and light hearted, check out Bocchi The Rock. Our main character is a super duper shy girl. She was inspired to play guitar and becomes super talented, but is too scared to show anybody. She desires to be cool so she can make friends, but has extreme social anxiety and just can’t break out of her shell. By chance, a girl from another school was desperately looking for a guitarist for a gig that evening as hers dropped out, and she found Bocchi with her guitar in a park. The series then goes on to show her experience talking and making friends, becoming more comfortable on stage, and even surviving her first customer service job!

Azumanga Daioh

If you’re looking for a light hearted funny show that is truly a slice of life with the most random female characters and quirky teachers, one that doesn’t even require you to pay much attention as there is no ongoing storyline, this is your show!

A Sign of Affection

This series is about the romance between a deaf college girl and a mature, well-travelled man. Not being able to communicate with their mouths, they have to rely on sign language, writing, emotions, lip reading, and creativity. As I did some searches to recall the premise, they all confirm it’s a wholesome romance where they take their time getting to know each other and develop in their relationship. The patience and understanding in their scenerio is something we can all learn from.

Hamtaro

This was one of my favourite anime series that I grew up with on TV, so I’m throwing it in for the adult anime fan who is trying to find an adorable and positive cartoon for their children. Hamtaro features a hamster named hamtaro and his owner, a young girl. While the girl goes to school and has her own slice-of-life experiences, Hamtaro sneaks out to hang with his hamster friends from around town, and they go on their own adventures. There’s no powers or anything, just hamsters trying to build things or fix a problem.

Kids On The Slope

This anime is one of the more unique music series I’ve watched, and on my Music Anime list, I gave it a 10/10. It’s realistic, the jazz music is great, and it has an interesting plot and characters. I won’t say much as the music speaks for itself, but the main premise is about a pretty lonely guy who is great at playing the piano with sheet music, but learns how to improvise and just have fun when he starts playing with a jazz band.

Kimi ni Todoke (From Me To You)

This is one of the most popular romance animes out there, and for good reason. The main character is a super sweet and shy girl, and it doesn’t help that she looks like a famous Japanese horror character. Like most girls, she falls for the most popular guy in school, but unlike the trope where that guys can be a jerk, this guy is actually very sweet and gets along with everyone. While it is hard for her to socialize, she shares her admiration for him in the first episode, and she is very honest and open about her true feelings to everyone. The series shows her story as she emparks on new experiences and her general positive outlook on things. If you think “Sign of Affection” is a slow-burn romance, this one will test your patience haha. By the end of season 1 (25 episodes), the couple shares their feelings but aren’t officially dating yet, and by the end of season 2, they hug…..yup, not a single kiss. Season 3 apparently came out years after, but I have yet to watch, but I can guarantee you, it is probably one of the most innocent romance animes and shows you may ever watch.

Cells At Work

This anime is as the title says, ‘cells at work’. It turns the cells of the human body into human like characters who all have their own tasks to do to keep things running, and it’s both funny and educational. I didn’t finish the series, but based on the premise of the show, there’s no romance, and everything is within the realm of science and realty. When a virus comes in, the white blood cells jump into action to take it out and protect the other cells. When the body is wounded, we see the platelets, the cutest bunch of ‘kids’ who can be very very slow, but are united to fixing the problem. If you’ve been out of school for a while, it’s easy to become negligent of all the things going on inside you, but a show like this can certainly help you appreciate the word God has put into creating us and sustaining our bodies.

Deep and Thought Provoking

This list includes animes with likeable and/or relatable main characters , along with positive overall themes like compassion, forgiveness, redemption, and loving your enemies. However, it may focus on darker topics like depression, bullying/abuse or death/grief. It may also include some supernatural elements like time travel, but the characters themselves don’t have powers and/or it doesn’t promote and praise powers.

A Silent Voice

A silent voice is a movie that has touched man, and I think has a good lesson for young Christians as well. The show starts with the main character, an elementary school boy, and a sweet deaf girl in her class. He starts bullying her, even to the point where he pulls out her hearing aids and throws them out the window (and trust me, heaing aids are expensive!). Despite this, she is kind and generally minds her business, but he still picks on her, and she eventually changes schools. While the other students often laughed along, they now make him the outcast. The boy then goes on to develop immense guilt, and by the time he grows up, he is contemplating suicide, but first, he wants to apologize and finds her to make amends. The show goes on to show their once shaky relationship became authentic friendship, and it is really sweet seeing him learn sign just to communicate wit her. A true forgiveness and redemption story.

Orange

This series is really touching and will make you rethink how you handle your friendships. In this anime, we are introduced to an older group of friends who lost someone to suicide and live with that guilt and pain. They decide to make a time capsule with letters to their past selves hoping that in another timeline, their friend would live. I think this show really pushes us to pay more attention to our friends, to invite them, comfort them, and be willing to sacrifice to attend to their needs. Even if your friend blows up and pushes you away, you must never let go, especially if you know they are going through something. We really never know when would be the last day we see someone, and they may be smiling at you just hours before.

Erased

Erased is considered a mystery show, but I think it’s much deeper than that. Similar to Orange above, the main character knew a classmate who was one of many girls murdered in the past. He is given an opportunity to go back to his pre-school self, but with his present mind and memories. The girl is often alone and is considered weird by the other kids, but knowing what will happen, the main character makes an effort to be her friend and protect her so she wouldn’t be murdered. His mom and friends join in his efforts. We find out her mother is also abusive and neglectful, so this is the first time she is treated with kindness and has friends. I won’t spoil the end for you, but it is another show that really makes us think about the loners around us, and how much they need to experience God’s lovingkindness.

Detective Conan

If you’re a big fan of shows like Law and Order or Criminal Minds, then this is an episodic murder mystery show for you. You can even play along by keeping track of clues and witnesses and see if you can guess right. On top of the constanty mysteries is the biggest mystery which I assume has yet to be resolved. The main character, which was an up and coming teenage detective, was poisoned and turned into a little kid. He still got the smarts and deduction skills, but obviously, no one takes him seriously. His best girl friend’s dad is a detective, a really sucky one that no one hires. In an effort to explore and find a cure for himself, he ends up following this detective and ‘helping’ him solve mysteries in the meantime. The show has over 1000 episodes and is still ongoing. I’ve only watched up to about 200 in my teen days, but besides the whole ‘murder’ concept, it is a pretty PG show.

Gokusen

There is a drama version of this series which I certainly like more, but the premise is the same. We have blooming female who has accomplished her dream of becoming a teacher, but she ends up at an all-boys school, and with the dumbest, rudest, and most violent group of the bunch. Most teachers would run away in fear as these kids are not afraid to rebel and attack any teacher who looks at them the wrong way, but not this lady! In fact, despite her cute face and smile, she’s actually much tougher and scarier than them. Her parents died in a car crash when she was young, so she was raised by her grandpa who is the boss of a yakuza/gang, and she learned the ways of the trade…she just doesn’t plan to take over as the boss and instead, wants to be a teacher like her parents. The henchman of the home are like friends, and even family to her, and while they may be considered scary by the public, they never do anything in the show that would make us think they were bad people. In fact, as this teacher learns to handle her students who don’t mind stealing, lying, and ganging up on people, the teacher passes on valuable lessons like forgiveness, playing fair, and being honest, values she learned from her grandpa and those in her home. While everyone else gave up on what would be considered the ‘trash of society’, this teacher who has been around much rougher men, is patient, sees their good sides, and even defends them when the principal is quick to blame anything and everything on them. And eventually, by gaining the trust of her students, they lose their aggression, desire to study and get good jobs, and heal parts of themselves that was broken. As a Christian, it reminds me a lot of God being kind and merciful on us when we were sinful and disgusting, and how that love transforms us with time.

Girls Band Cry

A lot of band animes have come out in recent years, and I can’t include a few as some have darker or worldly stories, and one is even a boys love (I didn’t know when I clicked on it, the music was relaly good though), but this is one that is definitely deeper than K-ON! and Bocchi The Rock, but doesn’t go into sinful or sexual territory. However, it is about a girl who has a lot of anger in her heart as she feels neglected by parents and was mistreated at school. She moves by herself into Tokyo and comes across the guitarist of her favourite band, who wrote a song that has given her the will to live. Through a serioes of events, the two form a band and eventually get more members. Through the series, we see quite a bit of drama, amongst their own band as they all have their struggles or insecurities to over come or because the main character always thinks she’s right when pushing others to do things they don’t want to do, but also, the main character ex-friend becomes the main singer of the guitarist’s ex-band, so there is extreme rivalry as they try to climb up and become more popular.

This show isn’t all positive and light-hearted either, but I think it is very real. As a Christian, I think this show does a good job at showing us why holding on to these bitter emotions isn’t good, and teaches us to be more honest with our emotions, crying if we need to. There were also some surprising twists in the show, such as her hating her parents, but then sheher older sister helps her understand them, and she herself comes to realize how much she is actually loved, and how much they desire to support her. They are paying for her apartment in Tokyo afterall. Additionally, while her ex-friend really comes off as the villain at first, we find out it’s really not as she’s not as evil nor is she trying to attack the main character personally, as we are led to assume. So by the end of the season, the main character was able to release a lot of her negative emotions a, have a better dynamic with her family, and have a healthy rivalry with the other band. How we get there is what makes this series worth the watch.

Assassination Classroom

Despite the name of this show, no one is actually killing and dying here. I watched this show twice, both before and after being saved, and it is still super funny, and made me cry at the end both times. Here’s the premise. This series takes part at a pretige school, but the focus is on this class which includes the dumbest or the rejects of the school, kids who are not considered good enough to be part of the normal campus, and is instead, hidden far in the woods, away from everyone else. And whenever they do interact with their peers, they are mocked and humiliated. At the start of the series, we are introduced to this classes teacher, a big, yellow squid, looking creature who is pretty much untouchable, both cause of speed, and cause weapons don’t work against him. The CIA has asked this classroom to kill him with these special weapons that would only hurt the teacher (ex rubber knives that won’t stab a human but would make his tentacles snap off if it even touches him). A bit of spoiler just so you won’t think he’s an actual unbeatable alien: he was a regular human being, but was experimented on and is now the unique squid teacher.

Through the episodes, we see a somewhat wholesome dynamic between the class and the teacher, as the teacher greatly cares about their education, trains them in their unique talents, builds up their self-esteem, depends them when the school is clearly against them, and prepares them for adulthood with wisdom and encouragement. And on the other side, having this world-saving mission greatly motivates these kids who felt they had nothing to live for, and they grow in wits and strength too, but eventually, they do come to really love their teacher who has their best interests at heart, and they desire to save him instead. We also get to learn about most of the characters backstories which helps us grow in compassion and understanding, and there are other scenarios that help them learn and grow. So if you’re looking for something more interesting and deeper than a slice-of-life series, but not so dark or heavy as the next category, I think this is a great show to check out.

Dr. Stone

My cousin/roommate really likes this series and has always recommended it to me. Another friend from high school also said it was her favourite show, and she was never that big into anime, so it was on my radar…but I assumed it was based on alchemy like Fullmetal Alchemist so I wasn’t interested in it. But in December 2025, on a ride to get groceries, the opening played in my cousin’s car as he was testing me on openings (I know theme songs for shows I didn’t even watch. I’m a Jmusic blogger afterall haha). He then recommended it again and shared a bit more on what it’s about. I asked if there’s any magic or sorcery, and he assured me it’s just about science, so I started watching it soon after. The last season has yet to come out, but I am really enjoying it so far! It has also given me a greater appreciation for this world God has created for sure!

The premise of the shows is that, one day of the blue, our current world gets petrified. Every single human has been turned to stone and over the next 3000+ years, the world resets to it’s natural habit. No more buildings, no more electricity, no more devices. Just nature. The main character breaks out of his stone, and finds out a natural remedy to help others break out of the stone. He lacks the tools and ingredients right now, but he does plan to restore everyone. There are other stronger or smart characters who wants him dead because they want to create their own utopia where they can be in control of the world, or they don’t want to restore adults who they consider corrupted, but the main character wants to restore everyone, good and bad. He may put all his trust into science, but he does genuinely care about people. There is a hint of spirituality in the show, but in a natural way. For example, characters born after the petrification in this natural world think anything unseen is sorcery, but the main character assures them it’s just science tricks. There is even a moment where they wonder if it was gods will to get rid of humans, and if so, the main character believes he’s going to hell for going against that, but the topic never goes beyond a short discussion. I at least appreciate him having that view instead of believing he is a god or special hero.

As a Christian, I’ve learned seeing how certain things like soap, clothes, batteries, and rubber are made from the raw ingredients of this earth. I’ve definitely grown a greater appreciation for nature. I’ve already dwelt so much on how people thousand of years ago, especially in bible times lived, but this show has definitely given me more insight and even some motivation to learn these classic skills. Additionally, I really love how the show allows us to see the value in various characters. While the main character is certainly a genius, he doesn’t have the same craftman skills as this old guy to make and shape glass. And while he knows the ingredients to make bread, he doesn’t know how to make it nice and fluffy like the professional chef, nor how to make food that would last for a half-year journey on the sea. Speaking of seas, he relies on this rich boy who was fascinated in minature ships and knows how best to make a life-sized one. He also knows how to captain a ship and navigate the seas. Additionally, the main character is not strong in anyway, so his best friend who is great at hard labour can cut down the trees and do the heavy lifting for his projects, and others who are more skilled in fighting can protect him from enemies. I assumed this other girl would just be another useless side character, but she’s great at crafts and small details, she even made their hot air balloon from scratch! It really is a team effort and I love that many people are seen as valuable, as we too should see each other in the body of Christ.

Your Lie In April

This series was a huge hit with musicians and normies and for good reason. The show explores themes of trauma as the main character a young boy, was pressured by his mom since youth to be the perfect pianist and was even abused. She would mentally manipulate him saying that if he does well, he could heal her terminal disease. At one point, he losses it and after saying some harsh words, she passes away not long after. Being riddled with guilt and trauma, he can’t really hear notes and struggles to play the piano. But one day, he is met by a breath of fresh air, a girl who plays the violin freely. She is certainly talented and expressive, but she doesn’t follow the strict rules placed on her by sheets or judges. She encourages the boy to be her partner, and we see how their dynamic brings new life to him. Despite the name, the show doesn’t promote lying or anything, and rather, is focused on a secret, and that secret is what leads to an end that causes most people to cry.

Heavy and Fictional

This list includes animes with a variety of characters who aren’t exactly good or pure, but they are relateable and understandable human beings, and are great at showing how some people can look good on the outside but are evil on the inside. They may also feature heavier themes like war and crime, but we can see how these things affect others or humanity as a whole. The show may not directly teach positive values and morals, however, the story will help you understand why God commands certain things in His word (ie, love and forgive instead of seeking revenge). Powers or magic may be involved, but the show reveals why these things are negative or toxic.

My Hero Academia

This series takes place in a world where everyone has powers and unique abilities, except a small minority, including the main character, Deku. Despite his weakness, he desires to be a hero, and always jumps in to help people, even his classmate who bullied him. He was noticed by the greatest hero at the time and he passed his power onto Deku. We then follow the main character as he goes to hero school and learns to control his new powers, while also overcoming his insecurities. Additionally, we are introduced to many criminals and villains who want to destroy this class, the city, or the world. We get to hear about their backgrounds and trauma, and while some characters have compassion on them and desire to save them, the show never paints evil as good, and justice is still pursued despite hearing their stories. There is no witchcraft or anything like that, just superpowers. And there is some fan service, but it is mild and not frequent.

Attack On Titan

If you want a show with action, suspense, an amazing storyline, relateable and amazing characters and so much more, this is the show to watch. There’s so much to say, but I really don’t want to spoil anything for anyone who chooses to check it out. It’s one of those shows where, even when you’re finally catching up and understanding what is going on, another twist or piece of the puzzle comes in, and you have to keep watching. Unfortunately, while I prefer to watch finished series, one of my cousins who doesn’t normally watch anime checked this one out on Netflix and had to show me the first episode to get my reaction…and since, then, I’ve been hooked. Since it’s been such a long wait between seasons, I would rewatch the first season and see all the hints and foreshadowing that I didn’t notice the first time. I’m someone who can only keep track of 5 or so main characters if there is a crowd, so I didn’t even notice someone until they became relevant, so the rewatch value is great as I could start paying attention to what they said or did earlier in the show.

So what is this story about? Well, to put it simply, our main characters live inside of these walls. They are the last of humanity, and there are 30 FEET TALL MAN-EATING GIANTS (aka titans) outside the walls. In episode one, an even bigger titan kicks down the wall, causing other titans to come in and they cause a lot of destruction in the main character’s hometown, one even eating his mother. That leads him to joining the military where he learns how to fight and kill these titans. But as the story goes on, a small spoiler for the first season, we find out these titans were once humans, and some can turn into them at their will and utilize their powers. But knowing that only creates a lot more questions, for you and the characters in the show. And trust me, it’s not easy. Unlike other shows where characters are excited to fight, everyone here is a normal human, terrified, frozen at times, but they have to face their fears if they want to save humanity. Sadly, many end up getting eaten by them in the process.

I consider this anime safe for Christians because there’s no suggestive content or fan service (At most, I guess *technically* the titans are naked, but they’re so ugly and dumb that you would never look at them in that way), there’s no magic or spirituality (only a supernatural thing due to genetics. I have to wonder if titans are an equivalent to the Nephilim in Noah’s time), and no one is trying to play or be god. (The topic comes up, but even when someone is told they could be like god, they reject it and acknowledge they are just human). The only individual in the show who could somewhat be considered a ‘god’ is simply a girl with a tragic backstory. She lived a life of misery and oppression, both before and after gaining titan powers. And even after her death, she continues to serve others, never considering her own wants or desires. If anything, I appreciate this show for saying there’s nothing wrong with being normal, with not being anything special, as many animes focus on power, and they fight or compete to be the best and be praised as such, or to be a king of sorts.

This show also allows you to dwell on a lot of real life topics and questions, the biggest being war: Who is right or wrong? Who has the right to decide who lives or dies? Along with how innocent people get caught up in these conflicts, causing more pain, anger, and war for generations to come. It also showcases persecution, and how people who reject the regime, who can’t be controlled, or who others are scared of are treated less than human. It talks about propaganda and brainwashing, and makes you wonder if people can be blamed for their actions if that’s all they’ve been taught from their youth. Along with various other topics like betrayal, resentment, forgiveness, guilt, growth, redemption, self-sacrifice, and the value of human life regardless of our race. Additionally, how our beliefs shape and drive us, and how important it is for people to have dreams or hope for the future.

While it is certainly gorey with lots of death and bloodshed, if you’re an anime fan already, it’s not unbearable in anyway. They don’t fantasize bloodshed and they actually show how tragic and heartbreaking it is. These people fight not because they enjoy it but because they want the killing and war to end. And even if you’re not an anime fan, war and death is a part of life. The Israelites fought in countless wars, and bloodshed is what Jesus had to suffer on the cross. It’s not a topic to be avoided, nor should we turn our eyes away and be ignorant of how many people are killed around the world daily. We should always be mindful and pray for our Christian brethren who are being persecuted and killed around the world too.

It’s easy to take our simple, free, and comfortable lives for granted, but as i rewatched the last 2 seasons recently, it made me want to enjoy God’s beautiful and vibrant world more, to pray more for those who are facing wars and persecution, and to have even more compassion on people as we really don’t know their backstories or the burdens they are carrying. As I heard in an audiobook recently, sometimes the most evil people just weren’t loved enough. In this show, you’ll get to see the various reasons why people fight. Sometimes it’s for revenge, sometimes they just think it’s best, some want to die a hero, some are told it will change things for the better, others are pressured due to their governments or families, and some really didn’t have a choice. Peace truly is a blessing, and this show will make you really greateful you don’t have to live through the hell others face everyday.

Death Note

This show is a mystery-based thriller where the greatest detective tries to take down the greatest mass murderer of all time, and both individuals think they are on the side of justice. The premise of this show is that a high school student who is the smartest of his class and well liked by peers (and girls) finds a notebook, and it claims that ‘whosoevers name you write in it will die’. He didn’t believe it at first, but after trying it out and seeing it work, he freaks out. And more so when the shinigami (death god/reaper) reveals himself. Most people would stop here, riddled with fear and guilt, but he chooses to believe he was divinely chosen to rid the world of evil doers, and goes on a spree, killing any and every criminal. The greatest detective notices this anomaly and is quickly able to deduce he is likely the culprit…he just can’t prove it with evidence. It doesn’t help that the murderer’s dad is a detective on the same case and greatly defends his son as well. In an effort for the murderer to ‘prove his innocence’, he joins the investigative team as well…and the detective doesn’t mind as he would rather keep him near to surveil him and hopefully get a confession.

I decided to recommend this anime for a variety of reasons. One is the concept of justice, as humans like to follow their own heart and believe they are doing what’s right, but it is clearly very wrong in God’s eyes. Two is cause the show paints evil and darkness the way it should be painted, in a wicked and disgusting way. We see what was initially a ‘good kid’ turn into a corrupt, prideful, and mentally insane character due to power. He even goes on to manipulate others to do his will, and would kill innocent detectives or witnesses to save his own butt. And three is because we get to see how the world’s view can change when they see evil taking over. In the beginning, many condemned the murderer and was rooting for the police, but after years of seeing criminals drop dead, many start to align and support the murderer, whether out of fear or adoration. Others just accept the new reality or remained ignorant. But ultimately, at the end of it all, true justice and morality wins.

Digimon

This is one of my favourite animes as it was my true introduction to Japan and Jmusic, taught me many valuable lessons, and inspired me to pursue my true childhood dream job. And when it comes to Christianity and morality, it actually encouraged me to be more of a light to those around me. Unlike Pokemon where their world has replaced regular animals with Pokemon, this show takes place in a world just like ours, but there are ‘Digital Monsters’ who live in the Digital World. And because the digital world is very connected to ours through phones, laptops, and the internet, when things are a mess over there, it can cause problems in our world as well. If anything, you can very well think of it as the spiritual world having an effect on our world, even if most people are blind the war going on.

Every season features a different group of kids and different circumstnaces or rules, but I’ll focus on just the first two as everyone should start there. We start off with a group of chosen children or ‘Digidestined’ who get sucked into the digital world, and they are quickly joined by their Digimon partners who have been waiting for them. It’s not long before random wild Digimon start to attack them, and we learn that these cute baby Digimon can evolve into much stronger Digimon temporarily, often through the lovely traits these children show such as love, friendship, kindness, sincerity, courage, hope, and light. In fact, later in the series, they each have a crest with these names, and can reach higher evolutions if the fight with these traits. We even see a single dark evolution when a kid, feeling prideful and trying to force his Digimon to evolve with anger and impatince, causes a dark evolution where the Digimon is both ugly and uncontrollable. When the Digimon reverts back, the kid learns his lesson and never wants to risk that happening again. Now, these kids don’t want to fight, they actually want to go home to their mommies and sleep comfortably in their beds, but it becomes clear that they can’t go back until their mission, which is to stop the most evil Digimon causing havoc in the digital world, and eventually the real world, is dealt with.

The show doesn’t promote Darwin’s evolution theory or anything, the root word “Shinka” can refer to any transformation or change…and considering they are ‘digital’ monsters, that makes sense. What I also find a cute quirk of the show is that ‘Digimon don’t die, they are reformatted’ which is true for real data. However, the show definitely has some spiritual influences and themes as the Digimon themselves can be based on anything, from animals and bugs, to plants and random objects (poop, garbage cans), to angels and demons, to other mythical ideas like vampires, ghosts, and witches, even characters based on bible characters like beelzebub, leviathan, and lucifer, along with other religions like the Jewish Kabbalah, or the Chinese Zodiac. But what I like is that, if the Digimon is based on an evil or scary thing, like demons, vampires, ghosts, and witches, they are defaulted as a virus Digimon and enemy. In Season 4, Lucimon (based on lucifer) comes on looking like an angel of light and gets the trust and hope of all the Digimon in an area to win an election, but once he gets into power, he reveals his true evil, manipulative, and destructive side. The humans in this show never have their own power, and are probably some of the most realistic kids you would ever watch. They also grow immensely throughout the season, growing in bravery, humility, and learning to work together despite their differences.

One feature I find especially intreresting as a Christian is the concept of dark gears and chains. Some evil Digimon created these tools that would cling or inject into other regular Digimon and make them act crazy or do evil things. The chosen children understand that these Digimon are victims and not the real enemy, so instead of trying to destroy them, they actually try to save them and turn them back to normal (similar to demon possession, eh? We wrestle not against flesh and blood…). Some enemies are sane, but were manipulated or forced into working for the villains, but thanks to the compassionate touch and hope of these kids, they end up changing sides, and some even sacrificed themselves to help them. And as for the real enemies of the show, they are destroyed without any remorse. Justice is served for all the pain they’ve caused, and light is restored to the their worlds.