Anime / The Rebirth of Buddha

The Rebirth of Buddha (仏陀再誕, Budda Saitan in Japanese) is a 2009 anime movie directed by Takaaki Ishiyama, animated by Group TAC, and distributed by Toei Company. It is the fifth of nine animated movies produced by the Japanese spiritual movement Happy Science, whose plots are essentially what happens when anime and religious films collide.

The movie starts with a teenage girl named Sayako Amanokawa, waking up from a nightmare of being run over by a train, and gets her article about actress Mari Kimura, a news anchor, confiscated for it. Later on, it's revealed she studies journalism to be like Tokuzo Kanemoto, a friend of her father's. But the next day, a news broadcast reports that Kanemoto jumped into an incoming train after his latest report was proven false. From there on, Sayako starts to see spirits and flees from them into the train station. When a familiar ghost drags Sayako into the tracks, she witnesses a trial where Kanemoto testifies and rants about his recent disgrace in front of three judges, who lambast him for his suicide and for denying the Spirit World before sending him to Hell. She then finds herself back on the train's way only for her ex-boyfriend, Yuuki, to save her life.

Sayako walks away back home and has Shunta tune on Mari Kimura's show where she interviews the leader of Sonen Group, Tousaku Arai, who claimed to be the reincarnation of Buddha. He shows off his psychic powers in the middle of an earthquake to save a man from a falling reflector by stopping it in midair. This drives Sayako and a stowaway Shunta to attend one of his lectures for a report, but it goes awry when Yuuki barges into the lecture to pull both siblings out. Their subsequent bickering stops when Shunta suddenly falls ill and they take him to Dr. Amanokawa's hospital. The next day, Yuuki sets up a meeting at the hospital with Mari Kimura and an Australian exchange student named Harry Budson; the former warns Sayako about Mr. Arai's true nature while revealing Shunta's illness was from a curse, and how the TSI's leader, Taiyou Sorano, can cure the boy as he's the real reincarnation of Buddha.

When Sayako asks Mr. Sorano about her power to see spirits after thanking the four for curing Shunta's illness, he reveals that it's because she has a mission. However, Arai, whose powers come from demons, will do anything to stamp her out.

It is based on a book written by the late founder/president Ryuho Okawa, titled The Rebirth of Buddha: My Eternal Disciples, Hear My Words. His son, Hiroshi Okawa, contributed to the script before leaving the movement and becoming one of its most known critics. The full movie can be watched in English here.

The Rebirth of Buddha contains examples of the following tropes:

• 2D Visuals, 3D Effects: Apparently, Happy Science really likes to show off 3D effects in its 2D films. At the end of the movie, several CG angels appear and gather around Taiyou Sorano before revealing his appearance as Buddha before he gives a final lecture to the characters (and the viewers).
• Age-Gap Romance: Sayako used to be in a relationship with a college-aged young man named Yuuki, whom she met after her friends pressured her to date him. However, she broke up with him because of his beliefs and his secretiveness about them.
• Barred from the Afterlife: According to Happy Science teachings, suicide victims become rejected by both Heaven and Hell, living on as earthbound spirits for the time they're supposed to have remaining. Moreover, these ghosts are depicted as bitter demons who possess and kill living people, often in the same ways they took their own lives.
• Call-Back: A bizarre example involving Stock Footage; when Taiyou Sorano gathers strength from his past life as Buddha, the flashback is a sequence of relevant scenes from the second film.
• Creative Closing Credits: The credits roll while showing a sequence of scenes that serve as an epilogue for Harry Budson, Tousaku Arai, and ultimately flash-forward to the Amanokawa family, from which Sayako is implied to have become a talk show host like Mari Kimura in adulthood. Afterward, the sequence stops and starts showing images of Japanese cities as a golden Dharma wheel obscures the view, and the very last shot is a close-up of Master Sorano's eyes.
• Demonic Possession: After saving Sayako from a running train, Yuuki explains to her that suicide victims roam around Earth to possess living people and kill them in the ways they took their own lives. Later on, Mr. Arai causes a mass-induced example by hijacking all of Japan's TV stations to scare the populace into believing there will be a devastating, inescapable tsunami, and the only way they can survive is to obey him. However, this one is foiled by Sayako exposing his evil with the help of Mr. Sorano, resulting in Mr. Arai losing everything and becoming possessed himself.
• Disney Death: Mr. Arai kills Sayako by stealing soul for refusing to renounce her faith in Master Sorano. Even after the man defeated both Arai and the demon possessing him, Sayako's soul vanished to the dismay of her friends. However, Yuuki's heartbroken pleas allow him to reach out to her in the Spirit World and bring her back to life.
• Do Not Adjust Your Set: Mr. Arai and Mr. Komayama break into the NBK building to take over the channel's signal and all other channels in Japan to transmit the latter's "special message" in response to Sayako's recent fame as the girl who stopped a UFO attack. After taking over all channels, Mr. Arai predicts an unprecedented tsunami engulfing the entire country. When the public didn't believe him, he used his psychic powers to trick people into thinking there was a tsunami. Moreover, he tells the news anchor next to him that the only way the populace can survive is to obey him.
• Dragged Off to Hell: Kanemoto's ghost is sent to Hell in his trial after refusing to repent from taking his own life and writing accusatory, derisive articles against religion and God, on top of deriding them as lies to trick people.
• Dramatic Thunder: Dr Amanokawa's declaration that he's an atheist and doesn't need to rely on Sorano to heal Shunta is punctuated by lightning outside. Given the themes of the film, may double as God Is Displeased.
• Dream Intro: The movie introduces its main girl, Sayako Amanokawa, as she's having a nightmare about being run over by a train.
• Driven to Suicide: Tokuzo Kanemoto, a reporter and a friend of the Amanokawa family, jumps into an oncoming train to take his own life after his latest report has been proven false and ruined his reputation. When Sayako witnesses his spirit's trial, the three judges lambast him for doing that and lament his denial of the Spirit World and God throughout his entire life before sending him to Hell.
• Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: Sayako sports these as the demon possessing Mr. Arai guilt-tripped her into proclaiming the man as the real Buddha. However, her eyes go back to normal when she gathers enough courage to defy him and proclaim Taiyou Sorano as the real Buddha.
• Festival Episode: Sayako, Yuuki, and Shunta attend a summer festival at a halfway point in the movie. However, it's foiled by a fleet of UFOs appearing and laying waste to the place.
• Fictional Counterpart:
  • TSI, the religious organization that seeks to spread Buddha's "teachings of the mind" is a fictional stand-in for the real-life Happy Science.
  • NBK, the television network chosen by the Sounen Group to hijack all TV stations throughout Japan so that they can take over the country, is based on the real-life NHK.
• Flying Saucer: Tousaku Arai sends a fleet of these to fly over the city while Sayako, Yuuki, and Shunta attend a summer festival. Needless to say, the saucers start wrecking the place and terrorizing everyone until Sayako uses lotus petals to destroy the UFOs with the help of Mr. Sorano.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: At the start of the summer festival sequence, there's a scene of several masks on a wall, among which rests one modeled after the Hermes mecha's face from the fourth movie.
• Giant Wall of Watery Doom: When Arai takes over all of Japan's TV stations through NBK, he predicts an inescapable tsunami will engulf all of Japan and claim countless lives. Cue a gigantic tidal wave approaching Japanese coasts, driving all people mad and open to Demonic Possession as they try to survive such an event.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Shortly after finding out Tokuzo Kanemoto committed suicide, Sayako sees a ghost behind her friend Mami, who chewed her out for having a boyfriend while she didn't.
• Hollywood Atheist: When Sayako reveals to her parents that it was an evil spirit that caused Shunta's illness, her father, Dr. Amanokawa, rebuffs her as he doesn't believe in spiritual stuff. Moreover, he hates it and asks her if she has gotten into shady religions. However, he changes his ways upon receiving reassurance from Mr. Sorano about the afterlife after the latter cured Shunta's illness, which his best efforts as a doctor couldn't do.

• Kidnapped from Behind: When Sayako leaves home after foiling Mr. Arai's latest attempt to gain followers by hijacking all TV channels and hypnotizing the populace into thinking there is a tsunami, the camera approaches her from behind before fading to black. Afterward, she appears in a crowded stadium with Mr. Arai, who wants her to proclaim he's Buddha in front of everyone, threatening to kill everyone inside if she doesn't comply.
• Mass Hypnosis: Mr. Arai hijacks all TV stations in Japan to predict there will be a tsunami and the only way to survive is to obey him. However, Mari Kimura reveals to Sayako and company that it's an illusion; he is sending psychic waves into those who look at the screens he's in to fool them.
• Mass "Oh, Crap!": After mocking Mr. Arai's prediction of a huge tsunami on NBK only for the newscasters to confirm it's happening and it's going to engulf all of Japan, everyone in the country loses it and panics. Moreover, this also leaves the populace open to demonic possession, which worsens things even further.
• Media Scrum: Ever since she defeated the fleet of UFOs that wrecked the city during a summer festival, Sayako is constantly harassed by reporters who line up to interview her. However, Mari Kimura sets up a press conference for her to reveal the truth of what happened, which the Sounen Group seeks to prevent at all costs.
• No-Sell: In the climax of the film, Mr Arai/the demon keeps throwing his most powerful darkness attacks Sorano in attempts to kill him. But since Sorano is the reincarnated Buddha, it does absolutely nothing, and he just stands there looking stoic as the attacks dissipate.
• Rescue Equipment Attack: An accidental variant is shown when Yuuki and Shunta both barge into the Sounen Group's headquarters to collect Sayako. When the temple's guards corner the three of them, Shunta knocks over a fire extinguisher, causing it to explode and distract the men, allowing Yuuki and Sayako to leave safely while the kid stops to apologize before leaving as well.
• Stock Footage: Taiyou Sorano's flashback to his past life as Buddha as he fights the demon possessing Arai is a sequence of Siddhartha Gautama's scenes from the second film.
• Suicide is Shameful: When Sayako is taken to witness Kanemoto's spirit trial, the three judges in charge of his case lambast the guy for "wasting the one life God has given him" on top of writing accusatory and derisive articles against religion and God. Furthermore, the depictions of suicide victims' ghosts in the film are in line with Happy Science's teachings regarding the act: those who commit suicide live on as earthbound spirits for the time their bodies should have left living. Thereby, these spirits bring desolation to their loved ones, seeking to possess living people and kill others, often in the same way they took their own lives.

• Take That!: The Sounen Group is clearly based on Aum Shinrikyo, which has had a bitter rivalry with Happy Science since The '90s. Moreover, the demon possessing Arai adopts the form of a fat man with long black hair and purple pseudo-Buddhist robes, which is meant to be an unflattering caricature of Shoko Asahara, leader of Aum.
• Terrible Artist: After Yuuki explains to her how the Spirit World works and the nature of suicidal souls by drawing a relevant yet poorly drawn diagram on a napkin, Sayako criticizes his poor handwriting and drawing. Needless to say, Yuuki takes offense at that remark only for Sayako to insist on it.
  Sayako: It's just that your drawings and handwriting are horrible!
  Yuuki: What are you talking about, they're perfectly fine!
• The Topic of Cancer: After Taiyou Sorano heals and exorcizes the demon causing Shunta's illness, a surprised Dr. Amanokawa tries to figure out what happened. When Sorano asks him if he has cancer, the doctor slumps in his chair, revealing he does and at best he's only got six months to live as he voices his fear of dying until he receives a reassurance that there's life after death.
• Title Drop: The very last words of Master Sorano's final speech as Buddha are the movie's title.
• Totally Radical: In the English dub, Harry Budson's speech is full of dated expressions.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Mr. Arai demands Sayako renounce her faith or he’ll kill her and everyone inside the stadium where the live broadcast is being held. Sayako refuses to do it, prompting a shocked Mr. Arai to ask if her faith is really worth more to her than the thousands of innocent civilians that will be killed if she keeps refusing. She says it is.
• "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: During the Creative Closing Credits, the movie plays out several scenes depicting how everyone is doing after the demon behind the Sounen Group is defeated. First, Harry Budson becomes successful at preaching TSI's "teachings of the mind" to children in his home country and Mr. Arai has become a practicing TSI believer while in prison. After cutting to a world map sequence where the Japanese islands start shining, it flashes forward to Dr. Amanokawa and his wife living life to the fullest while struggling with his cancer and showing Sayako and Yuuki as adults, with the former implied to have become a talk-show host like Mari Kimura, then ends with a teenage Shunta snapping photos of them for a "scoop".
• Your Soul Is Mine!: After Sayako declares that Taiyou Sorano is the real Buddha instead of Tousaku Arai, the latter proceeds to steal her soul in response and demand everyone hail him as the real Buddha. However, Sorano shows up to stop him and defeat the demon possessing him. However, Sayako's soul vanished to the dismay of her friends, who mourned her death until Yuuki's pleas brought her back to life.