Ask John: What Anime Series Are Remarkably Similar?

Question:
What is the deal with Rahxephon? I have just finished watching Rahxephon and watched Evangelion a very long while ago and I see why a lot of people say that Rahxephon is very similar to Evangelion. I’m sure you noticed as well. Are there any other anime series that are very similar to another series?

Answer:
Like it or not, Evangelion was, and continues to be, a highly influential, and in a way, revolutionary anime series. Evangelion introduced a level of psychoanalytical depth to anime which had never existed before in any significant degree. Evangelion was also unique for using its characters as representations of the emotional and psychological stress that afflicts all teens. Evangelion introduced a new sophistication into anime because prior to Evangelion no anime had ever been so obviously psychologically and intellectually intricate. There were highly literate and intelligent anime prior to Evangelion, predecessors which paved the evolutionary path that Evangelion widened. It can be said that Evangelion wouldn’t have been possible without the contributions made to anime by earlier works including the Gundam franchise, Akira, Gunbuster, and Secret of Blue Water, just to name a few. And Evangelion may be said to have expanded the possibility for anime which was further stretched by titles like Berserk, Utena, and Gantz. (But Evangelion wasn’t alone. It’s interesting to note that the Ghost in the Shell movie was released just over a month after the first episode of Evangelion aired.)

So it’s inevitable that there are post-Evangelion anime that have been heavily influenced by Eva, but there are arguably few anime titles that don’t exhibit any influence from other, earlier works. It’s fair to make comparisons between Evangelion and RahXephon, but refusing to acknowledge RahXephon as an independent series does a grave injustice to both RahXephon and the potential viewer. But that’s a bit beside the point. The point of this article is to identify anime titles that are unusually similar.

The first and best two examples that come to mind are Sailor Moon and Wedding Peach, and Fushigi Yuugi and Harukanaru Toki no Naka de. Superficially Wedding Peach is merely a clone of Sailor Moon that replaces the lunar theme with a wedding theme. Fushigi Yuugi is the story of a contemporary girl transported to an ancient Asian culture where she is worshiped as a divine arbitrator and surrounded by an entourage of young men. That same description also applies to Harukanaru Toki no Naka de. The Mamotte Shugo Getten television series is often described as a re-telling of Ah! My Goddess with a younger cast because both series are about the lives of a young boy who lives with a maternal and a sensual goddess. Further similarities can be seen among Sakura Wars, Virgin Fleet, and Raimuiro Senkitan. Sakura Wars and Virgin Fleet were both created by video game studio Red Company, which partially explains the similarity. In all three shows, teams of warrior girls use their spiritual power to battle threats to Japan. The fundamental characteristics shared between Sakura Wars, Virgin Fleet, and Raimuiro Senkitan make all three shows virtually interchangeable.

Additional but slightly less closely connected instances of marked similarity between anime shows include the collapsible, enchanted rod wielding sexy exorcists and their ghost busting businesses in 1993’s Ghost Sweeper Mikami and 1994’s Yugen Kaisha, the psychic alter-ego wielding warriors in 1993’s Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures and the 2001 series Scryed. The St. Seiya anime debuted in 1986 and was quickly followed by the very similar Yoroiden Samurai Troopers in 1988 and Shurato in 1989. St. Seiya was bishonen armored warriors with a Greek mythology theme. Samurai Troopers was bishonen armored warriors with an ancient Japanese theme. Shurato was bishonen armored warriors with a Hindu mythology theme.

It’s also easy to accuse “harem” anime comedies and love simulation anime of being unusually derivative and indistinguishable. To some degree the accusation is valid, but stereotyping harem shows and “galge” adaptations obligates most magical girl and giant robot anime to also be classified as derivative. In that case, a viewer who is preoccupied with similarities between anime series or excessively concerned with avoiding derivative shows will have very few anime shows left to watch. Even a single change can radically alter a show. For example, Trinity Blood can be called a horror version of Trigun, but the change from a Western setting to a Gothic horror atmosphere does a lot to distinguish the shows from each other. So the fact that there are many anime series that are extremely similar, or may be rip-offs of other anime shouldn’t necessarily condemn them. Just the fact that an anime isn’t original doesn’t mean that it can’t be entertaining.