End is the Beginning: Post-Apocalypse in TV

So we have been talking this week about the millennial anxiety and the End of the World, but what about the stuff that happens after the end of the world. That's right, I'm referring to the Post-Apocalypse.

There seems to be a proliferation of this genre that wants to look at the world after a cataclysmic, "End of Days"-esque event happens. In recent memory, the series Jericho comes to mind, a show about the lives of citizens in Jericho, Kansas after 23 nuclear missiles detonate across the country and leave the world in blackout and disarray. The wonderful, but short lived, Firefly often refer to Earth being a dead planet, devoid of life, which is why we set out into space, another post-apocalyptic theme in popular fiction.

It's no surprise this is such a popular theme. I did some digging into the Book of Revelations, as well as into some other popular scriptures and theories concerning our impending doom, and none clearly state the death of all humanity as we know it. Therefore, there should be this flicker of hope that in the face of such a disaster that a few will survive, and this brings about two thoughts: 1) Will I be one of the survivors; and 2) What will it be like. These two questions, I believe, perpetuate the post-apocalyptic genre as a whole.

We can't talk about the post-apocalypse in television without making mention of Japanese Animation. The proliferation of these themes in Japanese Animation can much be attributed to the anxiety surrounding the bombings of Japan in World War II. The bombs were Japan's own personal little apocalypse and to this day the country still remembers them well. As time goes by, at least one show or movie devoted to these themes come out yearly. The most well-known of these, I believe, would be Akira. Taking place in a post-WWIII Tokyo, Japan has suffered another cataclysmic casualty in the form of yet another bomb. Having rebuilt again, the new Neo-Tokyo is now a hotbed of crime and gang wars and insurrection that cannot be held back. Another less known title was Hokuto no Ken, or Fist of North Star, after yet another world ending disaster, the whole planet has become a desert, and the few people left living, are left impoverished and barely clinging to life. With no order, gangs and other criminals roam the land doing whatever they feel, desecrating life along the way.

It is no doubt that often the picture of these worlds are gloomy at best, with little order or sense of restrictions, but the fact that people can still hang on to life despite how terrible it might be, I believe is a triumph of the spirit that viewers respect. I hope to see more from this genre as the years go on.