Quriverse | Anime Inspired By Real Life

We’ve seen over the years how real life has influenced entertainment. While it can be argued that all forms of fiction are somewhat inspired by real-life events and people, what I want to talk about is how actual real-life events have inspired certain portions, if not the whole story.

While it is clear to the eye that mainstream films and shows have noted how greatly a story based on the life of a famous personality or historical event can create buzz. I wanted to know how anime has addressed this topic, and to my surprise, not many anime take after real-life events or people.

However, I have noticed that anime likes to take inspiration from actual events and people to base the story around it. So, I wanted to talk about anime that was inspired by true stories.

Steins;Gate

So, Steins;Gate follows the story of Okabe Rintarou, a self-proclaimed “Maddo Saentisto,” who has invented a Time Machine, and the story that ensues afterward.

Now that might be an oversimplification of one of our generation’s best anime, but this blog’s main point is to point out the real-life inspiration anime takes. For Steins;Gate, it has to be the inclusion of John Titor into the story. Titor was an integral part of the anime, but did you know he existed in real life too?

Yes, John Titor appeared all over the internet in 2000, claiming to be a time traveler from 2036. They made predictions for the coming years and decades, and while that ended up being debunked. But the way Steins;Gate integrated the whole situation into its story not only did it add intrigue to the already intriguing plot but also gave it a sense of realism, which can be great if you want to engage your viewers for a slow burner.

Yasuke

Yasuke is a 2021 Anime released on Netflix and Produced by Studio Mappa. The story focuses on Yasuke, An African man who served as a samurai during the 16th century in Japan. That much is correct, as Yasuke indeed served the Japanese Daimyo Oda Nobunaga.

However, upon further research regarding the show and the real Yasuke, it seems the show isn’t 100% faithful and can serve false information from time to time. Nonetheless, it does follow the life of a real-life person, so inaccurate or not. It qualifies for this discussion.

However, as your greatest friend, I took it upon myself to watch the show so that I can tell you guys if it is worth checking out. Sadly enough, it is not worth your time. Despite it being only a 6-episode show, it is a hot mess of bad things, and there are a plethora of other good Samurai things to waste your time on. For example, Samurai Cop (1991).

Tetsuko no Tabi

Continuing with the theme of not-so-stellar shows, we have Tetsuko no Tabi. This show is based on a non-fiction manga of the same name.

The show follows Kikuchi Naoe as her boss invites her to accompany him and Hirohiko Yokomi on a trip. What follows is a journey through several trains and going to various places to gather new experiences. As I mentioned earlier, this show is based on non-fiction source material, so everything that transpired in the anime happened to the authors (also named Kikuchi and Hirohiko).

Also, as I mentioned before, having a sense of realism in the story can help keep the consumer engaged. However, I’m not entirely sure if that can also be said about Tetsuko no Tabi, as this show is for a specific audience only.

I doubt anyone who doesn’t have a fascination for trains or has experienced life as a constant train traveler can relate to and enjoy this story. However, I’m none of those two, yet I did enjoy this show quite a lot because this show was a nice change in pace compared to what I usually watch. Maybe I’m just a very nice guy after all.

Mawaru Penguindrum

Not to be fooled by the cutesy look, Mawaru Penguindrum (or just Penguindrum) can be quite a serious show. Penguindrum follows the story of brothers, Shouma and Kanba, whose sister Himari is diagnosed with a terminal disease. Devasted by the news, the brothers are willing to do anything to save their sister, and then they’re informed that a mysterious object called the “ Penguin Drum” might be able to keep their sister’s life.

The show is very heartwarming and just a beautiful story altogether.

While I’m not a fan of the pacing and aesthetics, it is still a show I would recommend.

Anyway, the real-life connection to this story comes from the 1995 Tokyo Subway Sarin terrorist attack, and it demonstrates the effects that it had on several children in the long run.

Grave of the fireflies

Grave of the fireflies is a hard one for me. On the one side, I think it’s an outstanding film that shows the ability of Isao Takahata as a filmmaker, but on the other side, I doubt I’ll ever be able to recommend this to anyone. The movie follows the story of 2 siblings during the heat of WWII.

Now, we all know what transpired in Japan during that time, and I don’t think there’s a need to talk much about it. The story of the children going from place to place just to have shelter and food to eat shows you the horrors of war on a level that no history lesson can.

The saddest part of it all is that the film is based on a semi-autobiographical novel of the same name and the author, Akiyuki Nosaka, wrote this as an apology to his little sister. Truly heart-wrenching.

And for the last one, I could’ve gone with a lot of different anime as there’s no lack of instances in which anime take inspiration from real-life. For example, My Neighbor Totoro, arguably the most impactful anime film ever made from a cultural standpoint, is said to be taken from the experiences of Hayao Miyazaki himself growing up.

That’s it for today, and I must say that I had a lot of fun researching this topic. Sorry if I missed out on your favorite anime and stay tuned for more exciting blogs to @Quriverse | 1st ever interactive Anime community for fans and creators. Sign up and stand an opportunity to get your hands on cool anime merchandise, Netflix premium, Amazon gift vouchers, and more!