In the 2020s, a coup occurred in the Republic of East Asia, which had become the world's most powerful nation, both in terms of the economy and military. Tathagata Killer, from the Army, assumed the Imperial title, establishing the Godom Empire. Through absolute information control in the Empire, the people feverishly welcomed the Emperor, who advocated the idea of a unified world. Once a superpower, the United States of America, its glory long gone, and even the United Nations, could only watch from the sidelines. The planet Earth was rapidly accelerating toward a unified world… by dictatorship.
—Opening Narration
The Mystical Laws (神秘の法, Shinpi no Hou in Japanese) is a 2012 anime movie directed by Isamu Imakake and distributed by the Nikkatsu Corporation and HALF H·P STUDIO. It is the sixth of nine anime movies produced by the Japanese spiritual movement Happy Science, whose plots combine anime with a Japan-centric, blatant form of New Age spirituality, a flawed understanding of history, and the mix of mangled Buddhist and Christian teachings to push a black-and-white rhetoric.
In the year 202X, a Military Coup occurs in the Republic of East Asia, and the country is turned into the Godom Empire. Under the leadership of Emperor Tathagata Killer, the empire begins a conquest to Take Over the World and destroy all religion. Opposing the Godom Empire is Hermes' Wings, a secret society comprised of politicians and prominent figures from around the globe, as well as Shou Shishimaru, a doctor working for Hermes' Wings who finds out he's the reincarnation of the Buddha.
It is based on a book written by the movement's late founder/president Ryuho Okawa, titled The Mystical Laws: Going Beyond the Dimensional Boundaries. He also contributed to the movie's script before his passing. The full movie can be watched in English here
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Tropes:
- 2D Visuals, 3D Effects: This movie really likes mixing in CG with 2D animation. It's especially notable in the Final Battle, where both the spirits and the demons are animated in CG.
- Ancient Conspiracy: Implied by Konohana-no-Sakuya-bime in her explanation of the Spirit World. She explains that demons rule Hell through power and fear and emerge on Earth to drag as many humans down there as possible. Furthermore, devils' means of controlling humans range from making them indulge in their base desires, invoking hatred and anger amongst all people throughout countries and ethnicities, and driving them away from faith by telling them that there's nothing beyond their physical bodies and Earth, driving them to deny the existence of God and the Spirit World. In other words, devils are behind every greedy/lustful desire and anything driven by them (entertainment districts and corporations), every war and conflict, and every atheist philosophy throughout human history.
- And There Was Much Rejoicing: A heartbreaking example occurs in Shou's execution after his death has been confirmed. While Julia, Chief Delani, Bodhi, Leika-Chan/Princess Theta, and the Vegan guards are mourning, the rest of the civilians in the stadium cheer at Shou's death as the announcer chants, "Justice has been served! Glory to His Majesty!" either because anti-Hermes' Wings propaganda has influenced them or the Empire threatened them.
- Apocalypse How: Class 6. Tathagata has used his intellect and skills in science to create the "Ultimate Destruction Weapon," which creates a fireball 400,000 times as hot as the sun's core and throws it behind enemy lines. Leika Chan tried to object by explaining such a weapon could severely affect the Earth's core, extinguishing all life on Earth. However, Tathagata jokingly asks her if she's speaking from experience. As it turns out later on, she is.
- Artifact of Hope: The General tells Shou to find the Symbol of the Savior, a sacred artifact that can put a stop to the Godom Empire's advances for good. However, he also explains that there's not much information about it save for the fact it's located in Lake Titicaca. Later on at the climax of the story, a Hermes' Wings member carries the artifact and throws it towards Shou after being shot by the police.
- Artistic License – Religion: The concept of Buddha reincarnating into a Japanese man to stop demonic advances and lead humankind to a new age of peace is ridiculous considering that actual Buddhist teachings state that reincarnation is a bad thing since it repeats the cycle of desire, hatred, and ignorance. The film states that Buddha was one of the past lives of Earth's god, but still.
- Benevolent Conspiracy: Hermes' Wings is a religious secret society comprised of politicians who oppose the Godom Empire and seek to instill world peace through faith in the Savior and making humans aware of their spiritual heritage.
- Big Bad: Emperor Tathagata Killer, ruler of Godom Empire and the one instigating their global conquest.
- Big Damn Heroes: After Shou defeats the demon possessing Tathagata, Utika and his forces stop the Reptilians on their tracks by reminding them of the Galactic Treaty they tried to use as an excuse to take over Earth and devour its people.
- Bridal Carry: Shou catches Theta in this fashion after he orders the angels to let go of her at her request.
- Captain Ersatz: China is never actually referred to by name in the movie and is instead only mentioned as the "Republic of East Asia". Same for Taipei City and Taiwan, which in the film are renamed "Boubei/Boupei City" and "Nantai," respectively.
- China Takes Over the World: The Godom Empire is a fascistic China that seeks to conquer the world.
- Clap Your Hands If You Believe: The ending sees everyone in the world coming together in prayer to give Shou the power to defeat demon Tathagata.
- Continuity Nod: This movie makes references to a previous Happy Science movie, The Laws of the Sun.
- When Shou meditates under the tree to receive further instruction from Rient Arle Croud, he ends up summoning a UFO from Venus, from which a man named Utika appears. Utika explains to Shou that his people, the Venusians, experienced an age of prosperity under him, which is a reference to El Cantare's first life as El Miore, ruler of Venus.
- The Reptilians who appear in Shou's visions and gloat about invading Earth once Tathagata activates the "Ultimate Destruction Weapon" tried the same thousands of years earlier, in the times of Rient Arle Croud's rule over the Incan Empire.
- Cool Mask: Tathagata wears a white, featureless mask over his face for no apparent reason other than it looks cool.
- Covert Group with Mundane Front: The Earth Doctors organization is actually a front group for Hermes' Wings, a secret society comprised of politicians and influential people who oppose the Godom Empire. Moreover, Godom's board of directors reveals that the secret society in question also covers as a political party and an educational institution.
- Creative Closing Credits: The ending credits roll at the right to show pictures of Shou's further journeys throughout the world to preach his message as the new General of Hermes' Wings and Savior of mankind, unifying the people of Earth with the spirit world they ignored for so long.
- Crucified Hero Shot: After Shou voluntarily turns himself over to the Godom Empire soldiers, Emperor Tathagata Killer has him crucified into a gigantic cross in a crowded stadium with people shouting for his death in an execution by firing squad televised to all citizens of Earth to make him serve as an example of what they do to defectors. One soldier even gloats to Shou's coworkers they will be next after the Emperor is done with him.
- Culture Police: After taking over all of Japan, the Godom Empire prohibits all religions and sends investigators to search people's homes for offending material, executing entire families if they find even one member has a single religious text or object. The Empire constantly monitors the citizens with cameras and bugs to keep them in line, enforces censorship of all media and communications, employs a Secret Police to arrest people for complaining and calling themselves Japanese, and issues a law that will prohibit the Japanese language after three years.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: The Godom fleets invade Japan and take advantage of the Article 9 in the country's Constitution to knock down all Japanese fleets. While Konohana-no-Sakuya-bime sends Yamata-no-Orochi to destroy the Godom air and sea fleets, it's still not enough to stop the Empire's advances after Tathagata Killer counters it by summoning a demonic Chinese dragon.
- Dark Is Evil: Demons in this movie are monstrously evil beings of darkness who cause turmoil by possessing humans into giving into their worst desires, starting wars and conflicts, and in some cases, seek for the destruction of Earth.
- Day of the Jackboot: The Godom Empire starts its conquest campaign by attacking Boupei City and taking over Nantai in three days. Later on, Godom foot soldiers invade Inasa Beach and proceed to detain every Japanese civilian they could find. Five months after successfully invading Tsushima, Kitakyūshū, Niigata, and Okinawa, the Imperial government renames Japan as the "Far-East Autonomous Territory" and Tokyo as the "First Controlled Special Economic Zone." Later on, after Shou turned himself over to the Godom soldiers after failing to destroy the Ultimate Destruction Weapon, the Empire successfully took over India and Western Europe.
- Despair Event Horizon: Tathagata Killer causes a mass-induced one by televising a captured Shou's crucifixion and subsequent execution by firing squad to crush the people's hopes and make them submit to the Godom Empire once and for all.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: In the confrontation between Theta's guards and the Godom Empire soldiers at the Ba Long 06 base, one of the former dies in Shou's arms while defending him. The subsequent wounding of his comrades eventually causes Shou to break down and beg the soldiers to stop shooting.
- Doomed Hometown: Theta explains to Shou that her home planet Vega was razed by a "forbidden weapon". While there were survivors, said weapon affected the crust and the core so severely that the planet started to die. To ensure their people's survival, Theta and her father the King of Vega started a migration plan, eventually choosing Earth as their destination after its God permitted them.
- Doomsday Device: The appropriately named "Ultimate Destruction Weapon" creates a fireball 400,000 times as hot as the sun's core and throws it behind enemy lines.
- Dragons Are Demonic: Tathagata Killer summons a demonic-looking Chinese dragon in response to Yamata-no-Orochi devouring the Godom fleets on their way to Japan. He summons it again to destroy both Shou and Princess Theta after his demon armies were defeated by the spirits sent to protect them, but it's again defeated by Yamata-no-Orochi.
- Earth Is the Center of the Universe: One of the movie's main themes is that Earth is a "planet of love". Moreover, this is why Theta and some of her people emigrated here after their home planet, Vega of Lyra, was destroyed by an unknown weapon. The Reptilians also return to Earth after Rient Arl Croud drove them away in the second film, ready to invade Earth after Tathagata Killer activates the Ultimate Destructive Weapon.
- Easy Evangelism: Leika Chan/Princess Theta switches to Shou's side after realizing he's the Savior and because of Tathagata's willingness to risk destroying Earth just to conquer it. In the end, Shou becomes hailed by all people of Earth as the Savior after he defeats the demon possessing Tathagata and gives a speech about how humans should be united as people of Earth.
- The Empire: The Godom Empire is a militaristic superpower product of Tathagata Killer's coup on the Republic of East Asia's previous government.
- The End of the World as We Know It: This is the Ultimate Destruction Weapon's true purpose as per Demon Tathagata's wishes. Rient Arle Croud also explains that Earth's consciousness also inflicts this whenever the human race gets conceited and disdains the planet as a place for soul-training.
- Face–Heel Turn: Urano, the head chief of Earth Doctors, defects to the Godom Empire and shoots the General to death after the latter named Shou as his pupil and successor.
- Forced to Watch: After Shou willingly got himself captured by the Godoms after his mission to deactivate the Ultimate Destruction Weapon failed, Tathagata Killer televised the man's crucifixion and subsequent execution by firing squad for the world to see, forcing all citizens of the Empire to watch Shou die or otherwise be arrested for treason.
- Gaia's Vengeance: As Shou meditates and prays, Rient Arle Croud tells him that every planet, including Earth, is a living being. He also explains that the moment humans disdain the Earth as a place for soul training, its consciousness will clean it up via natural disasters, like what happened to both Atlantis and Mu.
- The Good King: Theta's father, the King of Vega, is implied to be this as he refused to migrate with her as he vowed to take care of his people on the dying planet until they all left. While both father and daughter made a promise to see each other again, they knew it wouldn't follow through because of the King's advanced age and other Vegans' refusal to leave because Earth was filled with conflict and strife.
- Grand Theft Me: Theta explains to Shou that while her people enter Earth as souls to reincarnate into humans, unpermitted souls "walk in." That means they would enter human bodies and learn how to live on Earth. Moreover, Theta explains that countries without a strict census registry system and which deny spiritual presence are easier to "walk in" on, and therefore she and her people chose the Godom Empire for the meantime.
- Gratuitous Nazis: The Godom Empire's emblem is a tilted swastika on a red background, and the government is explicitly referred to as a "Nazi power" in several summaries, likely because Everything's Eviler with Nazis.
- Invisibility Cloak: Leika Chan's most recent gadget for the Godom military acts as one. They use it to raid all Hermes' Wings offices around the world undetected despite the General's best efforts to reinforce security. Later on after Shou finds out Leika Chan's true identity as Princess Theta, she gives him a special suit with this technology to sneak into the Ba Long 06 base and destroy the Ultimate Destruction Weapon.
- Large Ham: The male announcer who talks up Shou's live-televised execution is clearly giving it his all in making it sound as bombastic as possible.
- Light Is Good: The Spirits are beings of light who help Shou in his journey to defeat the Godom Empire and bring peace to the world once again.
- Make an Example of Them: After turning himself over to the Godom Empire, Shou is crucified and put on display in a crowded stadium, with Tathagata Killer televising his execution live for all citizens of Earth to show what happens to those who dare to rise against the Godom Empire.
- Mentor Occupational Hazard: Shou's mentor and the leader of Hermes' Wings, the General, dies about 30 minutes into the movie when the Godom Empire raids the Hermes' Wings headquarters.
- Middle Eastern Coalition: At the UN meeting to discuss what to do about the Godom Empire, the entire Middle East is represented as one country while averting Africa Is a Country by showing the Ugandan representative talking to his country's people.
- Not Even Bothering with the Accent: The members of Godom's board of directors all have American accents in the English dub, despite being Chinese.
- Omniscient Council of Vagueness: Godom's board of directors, whose purpose is essentially to provide exposition on Godom's takeover of the world and the progress of the Ultimate Destruction Weapon.
- One World Order: Tathagata Killer seeks to unite the entire world under his rule after taking over the Republic of East Asia, no matter if he has to risk destroying the world to achieve such a goal. He comes close to succeeding if it wasn't for Shou.
- Our Demons Are Different: Demons in this movie are depicted as Always Chaotic Evil beings of darkness that spread turmoil by influencing humans to do bad things.
- Propaganda Piece: This film stands out from other Happy Science films not only because of its animation and use of science-fiction elements but also being an anti-Chinese screed that promotes denial of the Rape of Nanking and other war crimes committed by Japan. Furthermore, it also calls for strengthening US-Japan relations, abolishing Article 9 of the Japanese constitution so that the country can go to war with China to prevent the movie's scenario from happening in Real Life.
- The Prophecy: After a Buddhist order saves Shou from being killed by Urano, Chief Delani hails him as the reincarnation of Buddha and therefore the Savior. Then he unveils the urn containing a prophecy that explains that Buddha would be reborn in the East, save the world, and turn the wheel of dharma against the demons. Moreover, it also explains that there's a man in the "Country of the Sun" (Japan) with a lion's roar, whose powers will soar to high heavens, which leads the Chief and his order to meet Shou.
- Psychic Strangle: Tathagata Killer holds Leika Chan by the neck in this way when she points out he's acting like something is controlling him. However, she emits a light wave from her bracelet to distract him and leave the chambers.
- Reincarnation: As Theta explains to Shou how her people come to Earth, she explains that once the God of Earth permits them, they turn into souls and enter female bodies to be reborn as humans.
- Rousing Speech: The UN representatives give a speech to their respective countries to unite and stand up to the Godom Empire's tyranny and fight back. However, Tathagata Killer derides it as foolish and proceeds to crush the opposition anyway upon capturing Shou.
- Say My Name: Julia tearfully cries out Shou's name after his death by firing squad has been confirmed, followed by everyone else mourning him.
- Secret Police: Implied. Five months after the Godom Empire successfully took over Japan and renamed it the "Far-East Autonomous Territory," with Tokyo as the "First Controlled Special Economic Zone," two salarymen lament the fact they can no longer call themselves Japanese. Suddenly, two other men in civilian attire stop to handcuff the former two and take them away.
- Shockwave Stomp: In the Final Battle of the movie, one of the Asuras protecting Shou from Tathagata's demon army stomps the floor creating a shockwave that wipes out the entire army, save for one demon that looked around before disintegrating.
- Sinister Surveillance: When one man at his laptop comments that there are so "many words we can't search" after the Godom takeover of Japan, another man shushes him and whispers that there's a bug before cutting to a security camera turning to the men, implying it can track sound as well.
- Sphere of Destruction: In an explanatory Imagine Spot, the explosion caused by the Ultimate Destruction Weapon is depicted as a sphere-shaped blast.
- Tagline: The English poster for the movie has one, "Truth lies in what can't be seen."
- Trailers Always Lie: The English trailer for this movie tries to downplay the spiritual aspect and instead makes it seem more action-oriented.
- Trailers Always Spoil: The English trailer also features Leika-Chan revealing her true form as an alien princess.
- You Are in Command Now: Shou becomes the leader of Hermes' Wings following the General's death at the hands of Chief Urano.
- You Can't Fight Fate: While Shou's visions allowed him to save the General from the Godoms in the car chase scene, he couldn't prevent the General from getting shot to death like in his vision. When he got visions of the Godom Empire invading Japan and ending in a soldier shooting him while meditating in Izumo, he tried to warn the townsfolk near Inasa Beach, but no one listened to him and the Empire successfully took over the country. His later attempt to disrupt the Ultimate Destruction Weapon failed and he was executed by firing squad just like in his visions. However, Shou was also fated to be the Savior as Rient Arle Croud and his other incarnations revived him by Theta's request, giving him the power to face Tathagata Killer after a Hermes' wings agent gave him the Symbol of the Savior before being shot by a Godom policeman.
- Warhawk: A politician disrupts a Diet meeting at the Emergency Government Headquarters in Japan calling for war against the Godom Empire. The man then yells that the Empire has been increasing its military capacity for over twenty years, recriminating the Diet for their complacency and demanding they take responsibility for their decision not to fight back.
- We Have Become Complacent: The politician disrupting the emergency Diet meeting with demands for war against the Godom Empire chews them out for not noticing the they increased their military capacity for over twenty years and demands they take responsibility.
- Would Hurt a Child: When two Godom investigators find a copy of The Teachings of Buddha while searching a Japanese family's bookshelf, the father attempts to justify they forgot about it. However, the detective reminds the poor sod that all religions are prohibited in the Empire and therefore the offenders and their families should die. He begs the investigators to at least spare his daughter (who may not be older than twelve), but it's implied they will kill her as well.
- Year X: The English dub sets the story in the year 202X.
