May 21, 2020
The term Sekai-Kei comes from the study of Anime and Manga in Japan. The term typically comes from a desire to put a name to specific styles of storytelling. The word itself translates to “World-Type” as in a story that envelopes the world. As explored by Stefanie Thomas in her thesis, Sekai-Kei as Existentialist Narrative [Thomas.2014], the definition for Sekai-Kei largely comes into prominence in a post-Neon Genesis Evangelion [Anno.1995-1996]world. Thomas presents some of the arguments from Maejima Satoshi, author of Sekai-kei to wa nani ka: Posito-Eva no Otaku shi [Satoshi.2010] (roughly translated to What is Sekai-Kei? Post-Eva Otaku History) [Thomas.2014:10]. During his research, it was noted that Gainax Co-Founder, Okada Toshio gave a definition for Sekai-Kei in response to what was being referred to as ‘Post-Evangelion syndrome’, stating that a story that could be consider Sekai-Kei would involve the character’s “own inner problems end up drawn along the same line as a world-scale catastrophe, such as a war” [Thomas.2014:12]. Gainax being the studio responsible for the creation of Neon Genesis Evangelion.
In simpler terms, a Sekai-Kei plot is one where the protagonist’s own problems are mimicked by the state of the world. A failure to resolve said problems will result in the destruction of the world. In the case of Neon Genesis Evangelion, both the anime and the manga [Sadamoto.1994-2013], the sekai-kei element is shown primarily through the three main characters, Shinji, Asuka and Rei, although many other characters also contribute to this. Shinji suffers from abandonment issues and an inferiority complex, Asuka develops issues relating to her confidence, body image, and feelings of inadequacy when shown she’s not as special as she thought she was, and Rei struggles to understand emotion and her own identity considering she is in fact a mass produced clone, to simplify their situations as much as possible. By the series climax, the characters inability to deal with their own emotional problems, especially in the case of Asuka and Shinji, results in the complete annihilation of life as they know it, as human instrumentality is enacted. The ending film, The End of Evangelion [Anno.1997], does compound this, as while a part of Instrumentality, Shinji does begin to confront his own emotional issues, with his breakthrough causing instrumentality to end, and the Earth to return to something resembling normality.
If we compare this to DC Crisis Events, you can see some form of a pattern. Especially in regards to Zero Hour [Jurgens & Ordway.1994], Infinite Crisis [Johns & Jimenez.2006] and Dark Nights Metal [Snyder & Capullo.2018]when it comes to my study. Dark Nights Metal, the most recent Crisis Event, has the protagonist as Batman. The events of the story has Batman and the rest of the Justice League confronted by evil alternate universe versions of Batman who plunge the Earth into darkness in order to appease the Dark Lord Barbatos. The plot is ultimately resolved by Batman facing his faults and admitting problems. Working together with his teammates and even the Joker. Batman’s breakthrough, especially regarding working with others, saves their world. Infinite Crisis uses this in a few different ways depending on who you view as the protagonist. If looking at the Trinity, Wonder Woman, Batman and Superman, their problems regarding trust (Batman), misuse of power (Wonder Woman) and not living up to your potential (Superman). Through the story, all three of these characters confront their problems in various ways, resulting in them saving their reality from being torn into pieces by Superboy-Prime. Superboy-Prime could be seen as a protagonist here especially when you consider the tie-in material. Superboy-Prime is distressed and feels neglected by life given the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths [Wolfman & Perez.1986]. He feels hard done by and angry with life and makes it his goal to return his world into existence. He does not grow or move past his emotional problems, and as a result his world is not restored.
Zero Hour has perhaps the strongest ties, but also takes the idea of Sekai-kei further into the world now being represented by the comic. The protagonists, varied in number here, have all failed in their personal quests, largely revolving around past regrets and losses. At the point where the majority have given up, the villain essentially wins and restarts time. Destroying the panel layouts of the page. Time itself and their whole world in terms of physical media. Once time is restarted, the characters begin to work past their problems and manage to restore the world to some semblance of normality.
While the Sekai-Kei is primarily a Japanese term, it’s interesting to try to consider Western storytelling using Eastern terminology.
Johns, G. & Jimenez, P. (2006) Infinite Crisis. DC Comics: Burbank.
Jurgens, D. & Ordway, J. (1994) Zero Hour: Crisis in Time. DC Comics: Burbank.
Neon Genesis Evangelion. (1995-1996) TV. Directed by Hideaki Anno. [DVD] Gainax: Tokyo.
Sadamoto, Y. (1994-2013) Neon Genesis Evangelion. Kadokawa Shoten: Tokyo.
Satoshi, M. (2010) Sekai-kei to wa nani ka: Posuto-Eva no Otaku shi. Softbank Creative: Tokyo.
Snyder, S. & Capullo, G. (2018) Dark Nights Metal. DC Comics: Burbank.
The End of Evangelion. (1997) Film. Directed by Hideaki Anno. [DVD] Gainax: Tokyo.
Thomas, S. (2014) Sekai-Kei as Existentialist Narrative: Positioning Xenosaga within the Genre Framework. [Thesis]Ohio State University. Ohio.
Wolfman, M. & Perez, G. (1986) Crisis on Infinite Earths. DC Comics: Burbank.