„Anime resonates deeply with people's souls“
In her home country of Romania, Dr. Valentina-Andrada Minea was unable to pursue a doctorate in Orthodox theology. She received a scholarship in Germany, where Prof. Hans-Peter Großhans took her on in systematic theology. Her doctoral thesis is titled „Involving Anime in Interreligious Dialogue“. In this interview with Hanna Dieckmann, she talks about her passion for Japanese animated films and series, and what contribution anime can make to interreligious dialogue.
Your research brings together unusual subjects. How did you first come into contact with anime?
Since I was very small, I practiced karate. That was my first real contact with Japanese language and lived culture. It was never just a sport — it was a way of life that shaped my values and helped me define who I am. Through that, I kept asking myself: where else can I find these values? What is this spirituality I'm feeling? These questions stayed somewhere in the background. Then anime started airing on TV, and I began to recognize the same values there. I watched things like Shaman King almost with a kind of reverence. Later, I became more religious, was preoccupied with school, and stopped watching anime for a while.
How did this personal passion find its way into your research?
During my Bachelor's, I returned to anime. I wanted to improve my English, so I chose a long series: Naruto, one of the most successful anime series worldwide. At that point, I was already studying theology, so I naturally watched it through that lens. That's where everything connected. In my third year, I told one of my professors how meaningful anime is, and she encouraged me to write my Bachelor thesis on it. I wrote around 100 pages on Naruto and how people from different religions can find themselves in anime. Then I continued working on topics related to anime and religion — for my Master's thesis, I developed an interreligious catechetical model based on anime. Then I did my PhD on involving anime in interreligious dialogue.
Why is the symbolic language of anime particularly suited to interreligious dialogue?
Anime is watched by lots of people from very different cultures, and all of them find themselves in it in one way or another. Anime resonates deeply with people's souls — and that's what religion wants to do as well: to move something inside them, for the better. So anime creates this shared space where people already feel something, before they even start talking about beliefs.
In your empirical study, you surveyed more than 1,200 anime fans worldwide. Which results surprised you the most?
What really surprised me was that most people imagine God as personal. I expected more people to talk about some kind of abstract force, especially because anime often shows both. But no — people want a God that relates back to them. Another thing I found interesting is that many associate divinity with sweetness and freshness. That stood out to me a lot, because that's exactly what's missing from Christian icons.
Which anime did you select for your theological analysis, and why?
I worked with many anime, usually as examples for different themes or categories. Some were chosen because they deal with very concrete contemporary issues like transhumanism (Persona 3), AI (Vivy: Fluorite Eye's Song), war (Grave of the Fireflies), ecology (Nausicaä), or identity and meaning (Erased, Pet Shop of Horrors). Others helped me explore more theological concepts such as evil or divinity — like those which appeared directly in my survey: To Your Eternity, The Promised Neverland, Sunday Without God, Madoka Magica, and Code Geass. But if I had to name one that works best for interreligious dialogue, it would still be Shaman King — my childhood anime.
How did respondents from monotheistic religions engage with the spiritual frames of reference from Shintō or Buddhism in anime?
Many people from monotheistic backgrounds don't take these elements as literal beliefs. They see them more as a framework, a kind of narrative language. But through that, they still connect deeply with what is being expressed. So even if the surface looks different, the meaning still reaches them.
Can you give a concrete example of how anime has opened up a theological conversation among fans of different religions?
A very clear example is Naruto. In online communities, you see people with Muslim names, Hindu names, Christian names — everyone. And they all empathize with Naruto. They talk about him in relation to their own beliefs. They recognize values from their own religion in his story. And Naruto is exactly about suffering, sacrifice, and transformation. So it naturally opens that kind of reflection, without forcing it.
Why does anime strike a nerve with young people when it comes to existential questions?
Because anime talks about what people are actually going through. Even though it's fictional, anime can be extremely accurate when it comes to personal struggles, social issues, or existential questions. Religion often stayed anchored in forms that worked in the past but are not always translated into today's context. Anime does that translation. It brings those questions into a language people already understand.
Were there critical voices that questioned anime in a theological context?
Some religious groups see anime as something negative, simply because their faith is not explicitly mentioned in it. In academia, there are also people who don't take my research seriously. I had a professor say to other students: "She came to theology to write about Naruto?"
Where do you think this dismissive attitude comes from?
I am a woman, first of all: having such strong interest and curiosity and building something new was unacceptable for them. There is currently not a single female professor in Orthodox theology in my home country of Romania to teach theological subjects. They do not receive the bishop's recommendation to apply for full professorship positions. Some aren't even allowed to start a PhD. That was my case too.
What happened then?
I started my PhD in Catholic theology in Bucharest for this reason. Shortly after, I received a scholarship in Germany. My supervisor, however, retired and didn't let most of his doctoral students finish. Eventually Professor Hans-Peter Großhans took me on in systematic theology at the Faculty of Protestant Theology and helped me with the defense of my thesis. Overall, I found the University of Münster very supportive. My path was not easy, but it was very clear.
What are your hopes for your field of research and your professional future?
I hope my findings will find their way into practice — in theological teaching, for example — and that they will inspire further research. I would like to stay in academia. I love research, and I want to use anime and video games in my teaching.