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Throughout Ergo Proxy and main character Re-L’s investigation, you see a fair bit of the anime series ravaged world. From the inside of the domed cities to the ruined exterior beyond, much is shown off in Ergo Proxy, but little is explained. While how the world got destroyed is barely touched on, the philosophical concepts explored in the plot can give you a pretty good answer.
A major part of what made Attack on Titan so popular was its world. I mean who couldn’t get behind a world where giant, naked, genital-free humanoids are trying to eat the rest of humanity that has holed up behind a wall? It is a terrifying and original concept as well as one that is well executed. The upcoming second season also promises a little more explanation on how the world got the way it is as well.
Not unlike Attack on Titan, Seraph of the End presents another interesting world. However, instead of giant cannibals, Seraph of the End uses a monster that is a little more played out – vampires. In this series, all adults over a certain age died from a virus. Afterwards, when the world is only comprised of children, the vampires rise and promise to take care of them in exchange for blood. Naturally, as the children grow and realize their independence, it doesn’t go down so well.
The story in Trigun actually isn’t truly a post-apocalyptic world. In this series, humanity left the Earth that it ruined and actually ended up on another planet. So while everything may look ruined and rather run down, it is actually just the slow colonization process of a new process.
Wouldn’t it be great to have some sort of super power? That is what From the New World is about. A small portion of humanity one day developed the ability to move objects with their mind. Naturally, a few irresponsible people were in that mix and decided to use their new powers for less than reputable means. The rest of humanity, feeling threatened, then began the rumblings of war with this new spot of evolution. Yet, even though the telekinetic people created their own society, when they start to advance their powers, the world may be rent asunder once again.
While Toppa Tengen Gurren Lagann tends to focus on other things, like giant robots fighting, there is no denying that the world it is set in is in a bad way. Most normal humans live in underground villages where it is safe from the beastmen that roam the surface. It is a shame that the anime didn’t go into more how the world got the way it was rather than the characters trying to fix it.
You apparently can’t have giant mechs without a world in deep peril and many, many buildings to destroy. Apparently the future Tokyo in Neon Genesis Evangelion never runs out of buildings to smash or angst to explore. Still, even if Tokyo is constantly being trashed, a world with giant mechs is still a wonderful one.
Ah, the original post-apocalypse anime. Fist of the North Star is like Mad Max, but with more exploding headings and Bruce Lee-esque screaming. Fist of the North Star is a long and slightly repetitive series, but it is one that shows you a lot of its world. Not only do you get to see gangs of interesting, terrible people as well as those versed in a variety of martial arts, but it is all set in an utter wasteland. It really is like the Mad Max of Japan.
There are few anime worlds more interesting than Gargantia. First you are introduced to a universe where humanity is exiled to space and lives in a constant state of war with a particular species of alien life. The only reprieve for soldiers is the dangling carrot of a utopia where they go to relax and breed. However, when the main character is flung out into space, he lands on a planet that is all water and where humans live like Kevin Costner in Waterworld on fleets of boats that take the place of land. On top of that, due to the civilization that came before, there is like another world under the water, too.
It is like a science fiction sightseeing tour.
Finally, taking the number one spot on this list is Akira. It is a classic and if you ask the older set of anime fans, likely one of the films that introduced them into the genre in the first place. Not only that, but in the 1980s, there was a big boom in action and post-apocalyptic movies. For anime, Akira was one of the first to embrace the setting. It set science fiction genre on fire and has influences that can still be seen today in anime.
As for the setting itself, Akira is unsettling with its opening scene featuring a dramatic nuclear explosion in Tokyo. Afterward, the rest of the film is set in the city that is still rebuilding, but is not the same. Now overrun by biker gangs and accented by a secretive, corrupt government. It is a hard place to live, and what really unnerves is that it is not a completely impossible place to imagine.