Page - 46 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 03/01

46 | Theresia Heimerl www.jrfm.eu 2017, 3/1, 45–57 and their screen adaptations is Japan. here we are talking about manga and manga-inspired anime or live-action films, and here both sex and violence exist to a degree that runs counter to Western viewing conventions. this article ex- plores the correlations between the two scandala sex and violence, with a focus on their importance for the embodiments of good and evil: the hero and villain. its goal is to identify potential interrelationships and analyse their dependence on, or independence of, their cultural context. these contexts include religion broadly framed; for this reason, the last section of this article will examine the role played by religion in these potential interrelationships and modes of pres- entation. On the one hand, this article deals with screen adaptations of Marvel and DC comics, all of which take the form of lavishly produced motion pictures or TV series enjoying reasonable to huge commercial success. On the other hand, it looks at film adaptations of manga, a situation that is definitely more com- plex: to begin with, the field is not dominated by just two comparable, market- dominating publishers, but is made up of numerous studios and magazines, the best-known of which, Shonen Jump, publishes manga produced by a variety of publishing houses.1 Likewise, Japan has no clear-cut equivalent of the super- hero genre typical of the screen adaptations of Marvel and DC comics; instead, protagonists with special powers or just extremely sophisticated combat tech- niques in the style of Batman (Christopher Nolan, Us 2005) or Daredevil (Us 2015–)2 appear in several genres. the scope of this is therefore limited to the action genre, with some excursions into fantasy/mystery, as well as to clearly identified male heroes and antagonists. It leaves out mecha, uses very well- known and popular – at least in Japan – screen adaptations such as Lone Wolf and Cub (Kazuo Koike/Goseki Kojima, JP 1972–1974)3 as examples, and, in the case of more recent productions, chooses works that are recognisable to the extent that they have been merchandised outside Japan as well. All referenced works are shonen or seinen manga, i.e. manga primarily targeted at an audience of male adolescents or male adults aged over 18 years4 and hence are highly comparable with the cinema or tV adaptations of Marvel and DC comics cov- ered in this text. 1 see http://www.shonenjump.com/e/ [accessed 25.4.2017]; regarding the manga market, see Köhn 2016. 2 references to comics are always made as follows: title: publisher year(s), writer/illustrator, here: Bat- man: DC 1939–, Bob Kane/Bill Finger; the films mentioned here are Batman begins (Christopher Nolan, Us 2005) and The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, US 2008); Daredevil: Marvel 1964–, stan Lee/Bill Everett and Jack Kirby; the adaptation discussed here is Daredevil, tV series (2x13 episodes, Us 2015–). 3 Konzure Okami/Lone Wolf and Cub: Futabasha 1970–78, Kazuo Koike/Goseki Kojima; live-action motion picture series composed of six films (JPN 1972–1974). The films referenced in this paper are Sword of Vengeance (Kenji Misumi, JPN 1972) and Baby Cart to Hades (Kenji Misumi, JPN 1972). 4 Regarding genres, cf. Brunner 2010; and Bryce/Davis 2010, 34–61.