Animes that use scientific knowledge

Today, with the range of animes created, we see that there are anime of various types. In this article, we will address a specific case, animes with concepts of physics and chemistry. We will talk about three specific animes: Fullmetal Alchemist, Aldnoah Zero, and Boku no Hero Academia.

This article was submitted through our form by someone nicknamed Naruto Olavo. Thank you very much to the author of the article; we reviewed and added some extra information for the reader. I hope everyone enjoys it.

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Synopsis: A very famous anime with 2 versions, the most recent and complete with 64 episodes that tells the story of 2 brothers who lose their mother and try to resurrect her with alchemy; everything goes wrong, and one loses an arm and a leg while the younger one loses his body. The two embark on a long journey in search of the Philosopher’s Stone to recover their bodies while a gigantic conspiracy unfolds in the country. If you haven’t watched this masterpiece yet, watch it! 

The first one is an anime that has alchemy as its backdrop; this was a predecessor of modern chemistry, but it encompassed other sciences as a whole, where it was the union between the scientific and the religious. There are reports that this science emerged in the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia.

Its goal was to transform any metal into gold, the elixir of long life; they would achieve this with the Philosopher’s Stone, which was one of the reasons for so much study, the creation of humans artificially. This way of practicing science soon crumbled, as it was hermetic and esoteric; it was not like chemistry and the sciences today, where knowledge is available to anyone.

In the alchemist world of Fullmetal, there is a law that governs all alchemy: if you want to obtain something, you must pay an equivalent price. This law is very similar to a statement by Antoine de Lavoisier that became a phrase everyone knows, “in nature, nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed.” This implies that you cannot create something from nothing; you need something that gives rise to it or serves as a base, nor can you completely destroy something.

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Synopsis: An apparently cliché superhero anime but with a great story and among the most popular shounen today.

Many of the powers present in this anime are explained by their holders in a scientific way, as in the case of Bakugou explaining his explosions due to a substance he produces and controls its ignition and explodes. Or in the case of Shouto, where his individuality allows him to create ice on one side and flames on the other; this can be explained as his ability to extract heat from one side and thus become cold, he will steal the heat from the moisture in the air, thus condensing the water on his body and at the same time solidifying it. With this absorbed heat, he can release this energy on his other side.

In a battle between Shouto and Midoriya, in their final clash, Shouto decides to use his other half, the hot side, along with his cold side; in this, they engage in combat and finish the battle with an explosion. Professor Aizawa explains that the air that had been cooled was heated all at once, causing this explosion. An explosion is basically a production of gas in a short space of time; the air expands, causing an explosion.

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Synopsis: It shows the political and war tensions between humans living on Earth and others living in space. The anime is great and has one of the best soundtracks I have ever heard in my life composed by the myth Hiroyuki Sawano.

Inaho in this anime stands out for being an intelligent and strategic character; in most of his battles with mechas, his mecha presents inferior technology. He wins by being smart. In one of several episodes, he uses logic.

He is fighting against a Martian Kataphrakt in which he uses electricity to defend and attack others; he reaches his terrestrial Kataphrakt, and his opponent tries to use electricity, and he says, “electricity flows from higher potential to lower; your bolts will not hit something with the same electric potential as you.” He uses scientific knowledge to gain an advantage over his enemy, according to which, for there to be a flow of electric current, there must be a difference in potential.

Other animes that use scientific concepts

In the three animes discussed, we can see that there are many other scientific concepts to be studied. Not only in these three animes but in many others. To conclude, let’s provide a list of animes that use science as a basis:

• Red Garden;
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• Chikyuu Shoujo Arjuna;
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