This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Doktor von Eurotrash: Isn't this the same as the "butterfly=soul" symbolism, which is certainly western (Greek has the same word for "soul" and "butterfly")? I think it needs to accommodate non-Japanese examples and just generally conflate the "rebirth" and "soul" symbolism, since they are so closely linked.
What about those purple butterflies that are a manifestation of evil? I can name at least three anime with them, do they belong here?
Ronka87: I'm going to cut the emphasis on the use of the trope in Anime since pretty well everyone does it; butterflies are a common representation of death and renewal the world over. I know most of the examples are from anime, but I think it might be because of the description's insistence that it's mainly a Japanese thing.
