History AuthorTract / AnimeAndManga

* Franchise/{{Gundam}}

** Shows/movies set in the Universal Century also tend to be extremely loud and repetitive about how [[AdultsAreUseless adults are wicked/complacent corrupters]] and only through children/teens/the younger generation will anything good be accomplished.

* The final Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion film, ''3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time'', the final act is a particular long one against ''Evangelion'' itself. The central theme of the final conflict comes down to whether there actually needs to be more Evangelion.

* ''Anime/CodeGeass'' has been (and still is) accused of being an anti-American Author Tract. When asked about the subject, director[=/=]co-creator Goro Taniguchi's [[WordOfGod response]] was "I know some authors have political messages in their works, but that wasn't my intention; I just wanted to tell an entertaining story." Later, when asked again, he responded "You mean America and Britannia are exactly alike? I had no idea!" In case anyone's confused, it wasn't a "Well, duh" statement -- it was more along the lines of: "The US is currently led by an Emperor with WTF-curls who believes that all men are not created equal?"

** ''Karma'', the 4th (or 5th, depending on the localization) volume of ''Phoenix'' series is largely built around Buddhist themes, discussing Karma and reincarnation at length and lamenting the corruption of the Buddhist faith by political interests. The later ([[AuthorExistenceFailure and sadly, final]]) ''Phoenix'' story ''Sun'' does something similar with Shinto.

* Another Creator/ShojiKawamori piece, ''Anime/MacrossZero'', mixes spectacular mecha battles with the seemingly-opposite message that ''all'' warfare is inherently evil. It's set on an island that's a mostly-primitive Eden, inhabited by [[NobleSavage innocents]]. The [[MagicalNativeAmerican shaman/priestess]] freaks out over the arrival of UN forces to defend the island, saying they're possessed by evil spirits that are prophesied to destroy everything. [[spoiler:For the first half, this is played as "silly superstitious witch doctor". But by the end, you realize that she's ''[[CassandraTruth absolutely right]]''. The island paradise gets tac-nuked into a wasteland, and only her HeroicSacrifice keeps the entire world from being obliterated.]]
** Technically, ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'' shows that she was only half-right. [[spoiler:It was the alien ''Zentradi'' who wound up destroying most of the Earth and its people, and it's ''human'' culture that leads to the end of the war]].

* The works of Creator/SatoshiKon have running themes of subjective reality, realism vs. idealism, and the dangers of obsession. In ''Anime/PerfectBlue'', ''Anime/ParanoiaAgent'', and ''Literature/Paprika'' also deal with themes of sexual abuse.

* The works of Creator/SatoshiKon have running themes of subjective reality, realism vs. idealism, and the dangers of obsession. In ''Anime/PerfectBlue'', ''Anime/ParanoiaAgent'', and ''Anime/Paprika'' also deal with themes of sexual abuse.

* The manga ''Manga/YuGiOh'' has the main theme of friendship - namely, that it can overcome anything and is better than working alone. This is all well and good, except that Kaiba insists on working alone and has achieved quite a lot for it - namely, his own company and is able to provide for his little brother. Situations where friends can be poisonous don't tend to be shown, and while support makes it easier to win with high stakes, players in real life can't give one another hints. Similarly, manga-ka Takahashi said in an interview that he believed Jonouchi / Joey's casual attitude towards games was stronger than the philosophies of the other characters, which makes sense more in real life than in ''Franchise/YuGiOh'' where losing a game can actually cause people to die.

* ''Anime/EarthMaidenArjuna'' starts out as a fast-paced mature MagicalGirl series. Then it quickly veers into ''very'' heavy-handed ecological preaching. Tolerable, because the animation is freaking sweet, because Theresa is really badass, and because Juna's transformation is [[RuleOfCool damn cool]], but the storyline is still {{Anvilicious}} to the point of being distracting, and full to the brim of ''very'' bad science about why ScienceIsBad.
* ''Manga/FairyTail'' wants to remind you that friendship is powerful and good. And that your friends are important. And that they make you strong. And you can't lose with friends at your side. And that even the impossible is possible with friendship. etc. Nearly every battle has at least one character proclaiming this, and sometimes even pointing out that the reason that the villain is losing is that they lack such friends. Note that while it is extremely common for Shounen series to preach the importance and power of friendship (and ''Fairy Tail'' in particular can get away with the fact [[EmotionalPowers powerful feelings like friendship can actually fuel magic]]), both fans and detractors of ''Fairy Tail'' can agree that the series takes it a little too far sometimes and it's almost like Mashima doesn't want us to forget that ''Fairy Tail'' is made of these good friends.
* Creator/HiromuArakawa's ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' also promotes an anti-revenge message. But it's a bit less {{Anvilicious}} here.

* This isn't Creator/IsaoTakahata's only film containing an example: there's also ''Anime/PomPoko'', which spends a lot of time establishing the negative impact industrialization and city expansion have on local nature [[FantasticAesop and its resident supernatural creatures]].

* ''Manga/TeamMedicalDragon'' was written by Akira Nagai, a practicing doctor -- and the manga basically centers around a maverick (but exceedingly skilled) cardiac surgeon and his team fighting against bureaucracy and corruption in the Japanese health services. It's particularly jarring when you realize that all the protagonists are incredibly good-looking compared to most of the antagonists, who are practically [[{{Gonk}} caricatures]].
** The issue with the looks is somewhat taken care of in the live-action version, with the antagonists having a fair amount of attractive people, and Dr. Asada being the only one pointed out to be good-looking.
* Most of Creator/HayaoMiyazaki's movies have at least one segment that preaches the importance of respecting and preserving nature. That is if the plot itself isn't completely built around the {{aesop}}. Miyazaki often protests that he does not make films with the intent of sending messages, he just makes them to entertain and [[MoneyDearBoy for profit]]. Fans have a hard time believing that given his [[http://www.ghibliworld.com/news.html#3103_02 criticism about capitalism and globalization]].
** Additionally, a few of his films contain an anti-war message, which makes sense considering he grew up in [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII the 1940s]].
* Creator/OsamuTezuka did this occasionally. In ''Manga/BlackJack'', Tezuka often criticizes the current state of the medical establishment, lent some weight by the fact that he was trained as a doctor before becoming a manga artist. His science fiction stories, including ''Manga/AstroBoy'' often discuss the dehumanizing effects of modern society technology, but counterpoint it by showing all the good that can come of modern technology. ''Karma'', the 4th (or 5th, depending on the localization) volume of ''Phoenix'' series is largely built around Buddhist themes, discussing Karma and reincarnation at length and lamenting the corruption of the Buddhist faith by political interests. The later ([[AuthorExistenceFailure and sadly, final]]) ''Phoenix'' story ''Sun'' does something similar with Shinto.

* Another Creator/ShojiKawamori piece, ''Anime/MacrossZero'', mixes spectacular mecha battles with the seemingly-opposite message that ''all'' warfare is inherently evil. It's set on an island that's a mostly-primitive Eden, inhabited by [[NobleSavage innocents]]. The [[MagicalNativeAmerican shaman/priestess]] freaks out over the arrival of UN forces to defend the island, saying they're possessed by evil spirits that are prophesied to destroy everything. [[spoiler:For the first half, this is played as "silly superstitious witch doctor". But by the end, you realize that she's ''[[CassandraTruth absolutely right]]''. The island paradise gets tac-nuked into a wasteland, and only her HeroicSacrifice keeps the entire world from being obliterated.]]
** Technically, ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'' shows that she was only half-right. [[spoiler:It was the alien ''Zentradi'' who wound up destroying most of the Earth and its people, and it's ''human'' culture that leads to the end of the war]].

* ''Manga/FairyTail'' wants to remind you that friendship is powerful and good. And that your friends are important. And that they make you strong. And you can't lose with friends at your side. And that even the impossible is possible with friendship. etc. Nearly every battle has at least one character proclaiming this, and sometimes even pointing out that the reason that the villain is losing is that they lack such friends. Note that while it is extremely common for Shounen series to preach the importance and power of friendship (and ''Fairy Tail'' in particular can get away with the fact [[EmotionalPowers powerful feelings like friendship can actually fuel magic]]), both fans and detractors of ''Fairy Tail'' can agree that the series takes it a little too far sometimes and it's almost like Mashima doesn't want us to forget that ''Fairy Tail'' is made of these good friends.
* ''Manga/YamadaKunAndTheSevenWitches'' can sometimes be a bit heavy-handed with its YouAreNotAlone message, to the point that the misery of most characters doesn't last more than a few panels until they see a helping hand reaching out, usually due to the titular protagonist's ChronicHeroSyndrome. Surprisingly, the series' message about the value of friendship isn't that heavy-handed (though still present), given that Yamada tends to befriend the people he helps ''after'' he helps them, so the CentralTheme isn't really about helping your friends as much as it's about helping people in need.