Light Users in Anime

Author: Zorez Shahzad
Possible SPOILERS Ahead

The Japanese word “Hikari” translates to light. Where darkness is seen as a symbol of death
and destruction, light is seen as a symbol of joy and hope.

Of course, light is symbolized using hope as even in real life, without light we’d all just go blind. This symbolism also gets implemented into the world of anime. In many anime out there, light is seen as the mark of a hero whilst darkness is seen as the mark of a villain. I totally disagree with this analogy! Light is not necessarily good, and darkness is not necessarily bad.

Today, we’ll be taking a closer look at some light users in anime who are good examples of
how light-energy should be implemented into the world of anime.

J. Geil:

Just like every other character in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, J. Geil is quite Bizarre! J. Geil is a very powerful villain who happens to command the power of light. His stand’s name is Hanged Man, and the true nature of this stand is light-based as it is only able to exist in reflective surfaces. Hanged Man has the power to move from one reflective surface to the next making it seem like he exists only in the world of reflections. Hanged Man is J. Geil’s stand and hence, very loyal to him. In this anime, light energy is being wielded by an evil man.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is a very good anime because it strays away from the usual anime tropes and always gives us something new and amazing. J. Geil was a very sick man and only used his light-based powers to commit the vilest of acts. He also happens to be the evil villain who killed Polnareff’s little sister. This man got what he deserved when he died in the most pitiful way possible. Polnareff himself killed this man and avenged the murder of his sister. If we take a closer look, we’ll find out that light-energy is actually not being represented as good or evil in this anime. It is actually the user himself who uses this power to commit the most heinous acts.

Maki Ichinose:

Maki Ichinose is a brilliant swordsman from the anime Bleach. This character is not actually a human; he is a Shinigami. He uses his spiritual energy in the form of light to defeat all his enemies. Maki can use his light powers to attack his enemies, defend himself, or even make himself invisible! Maki is filled with a strong sense of justice and duty. He wants the world to be a just place free from all wrongdoings.

At first glance, this swordsman of justice looks like just another typical and boring light user, but in reality, Maki’s character is quite diverse. Maki starts to hate Kenpachi Zaraki after he kills his captain and takes his place. This hate makes Maki forget all about his sense of justice, and he spends all his life just hating this one man. Maki, thinking that he is on the right track, ends up becoming a servant of Jin Kariya, a quite evil man. Maki believes that Jin can change the soul society and make it a better place, whilst Jin only wants to destroy it. His thirst for revenge really messes up his idea of justice, and he ends up forgetting about who he really is. Maki dies at the hands of his own leader, Jin. Bleach gives us a light user who at heart, is a quite humble man, but ends up slowly forgetting about who he really is.

Pegasus Koga:

Pegasus Koga is the main protagonist in the anime, Saint Seiya Omega. Koga is a very good person who always looks out for his friends. He can make quick decisions and assess any situation quite easily in which makes him a great leader. Koga is a bronze saint who uses the power of light. Initially, Koga had the power of darkness, but later on in the show, he ends up losing his darkness power and light becomes his new cosmo element. Whilst Saint Seiya Omega is relatively not that old, the Saint Seiya series as a whole is quite old and hence, stays true to the symbolism. In Saint Seiya, Light-energy is seen as the sign of good, whilst darkness is seen as the sign of evil. It was believed that Koga’s destiny is filled with misfortune just because he was born with a dark cosmo element.

Maya Yotsuba:

Maya Yotsuba is a character from the series, Irregular at Magic High School. In a world
governed by magic, she reigns at the top with her extremely powerful abilities. Maya, with her light-based magic, is also the head of the Yotsuba family. Her abilities have also awarded her with the name “Queen of Night”. She is both beautiful and strong! She appears to be a bad person at first glance but actually is very good at heart. Maya thinks of Tatsuya (the protagonist) as her own child and really wants the best for him.

Maya’s magic lets her control the distribution of light in an area. The power of this magic is especially amplified in closed/small places. The attack appears as a shower of lasers and can pierce through almost anyone! So far, Maya has only used this extremely powerful ability twice in the show. Just these two demonstrations have proved to us that she is a force to be reckoned with. Maya can seem like an evil person because of how messed up her whole life has been, but she is actually a very good person at heart. Irregular at Magic High School gives us a very rare type of light user who can be a good and bad person at the same time.

Dengu Dinga:

Dengu Dinga is an extremely powerful soul weapon from the Soul Eater series. He is an honorable mention in this list because sadly, this amazing character never made it to the anime! He is only present in the Soul Eater
manga and even in the manga, he only made a brief appearance. Dengu is a relatively tall guy with a lean and muscular body. He cares for his comrades and ready to put himself in harm’s way to save them. His most powerful ability is Rainbow Axe. He turns into a small and powerful axe. This rainbow-based axe makes Dengu quite a formidable force.