| Any anime which has the explanation, "Why does it exist? We don't know," may be said to have some existential overtones, though true existentialism occurs when there is never any meaning. That is, if the characters don't know and can't make sense of the world for a significant portion of the show, the show itself could be said to have strong existential themes even if in the end there is an explanation. Note that it is perfectly normal to not understand isolated facts, such as the source of a villain's power, or the reason for an old friend joining Team Evil. In order to qualify as existential, the world has to be absurd or nonsensical. There are shows that straddle this line. As an example, take Melody of Oblivion, whose explanation of the world amounts to "Humanity lost the war against the monsters, yet society is superficially the same." During the arc where Toune is introduced, there is a boy standing on the edge of town day and night, not eating, not drinking, not sleeping. Why is he there? Why don't the villagers say anything? What is he accomplishing? How can he be alive? His incongruous existence is a challenge to the poorly-constructed reality of village life. |
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