Focusing on the roles of apocalypse in post-World War II Japanese science fiction, Apocalypse in Contemporary Japanese Science Fiction explores how apocalyptic science fiction has served as a coping mechanism for major socio-political changes. Moving from the history of apocalyptic tradition in the West to modern Japanese apocalyptic science fiction in manga and anime as well as novels, Motoko Tanaka shows that the apocalypse mirrored the devastating changes that created serious discontinuity in the Japanese national identity from 1945. This book focuses on the roles of apocalypse in postwar Japanese science fiction for its target audiences, and explores the ways in which apocalyptic ideology has changed since the end of World War II, revealing how apocalyptic science fiction reflects and copes with major socio-political changes, especially the devastating changes that created serious discontinuity in the Japanese national identity from 1945. The book discusses the history of apocalyptic tradition in the West and in Japan, then moves on to examine modern Japanese apocalyptic science fiction in manga and anime as well as novels.
