Magic represented by 2D patterns in anime and manga
Since quite a few years back, it's been quite commonplace in fantasy anime and manga to represent casting magic as some kinds of 2D circles or geometric figures with patterns, possibly multiple ones, as in the image on the right (Frieren). I see this idea used in almost all – if not all – anime and manga now.
It hasn't always been that way though. Older anime and manga used other and different kinds of representations, say from blinking stars (image on the left, Majokko Megu-chan) to smoke, or even just sound effects.
I'm just curious: does anyone have any info or links to share about how this "2D representation" came about and why it's become so popular? Cheers!
9 replies
Okay, so magic geometry, circles and runes have a long tradition in the West, for example in what is commonly called hermetic magic (think alchemy, circles, pentagrams, etc.)
From this we get the tropes of Geometric Magic and that evolved into Instant Runes.
In regards to chronology:
Anime and Manga has increasingly relied on western magical themes as it found new audiences in the west and also because hermetic magic is as exotic to east Asians as shamanic magic is to Westerners.
But more importantly, as the medium moved into mass production and pop-culture, the budgeting for especially anime (who used to be way more handcrafted) became tighter in regards of time and money. Animation studios looked for easy ways to animate, The best example of this is the mouth on the cheeks (because for talking, they only had to redraw the mouth, not the entire head of a character) but also many character-details and very intricate magics had to be replaced with something that was more animation-friendly.
Now, magic circles are REALLY easy and quick to animate, while also looking really intricate and complicated at the same time. It's an easy way to "suggest" detailed and intricate effects without using up your animation-budget for things that are not as relevant.
This is why the industry started to increasingly use "cheap" but good looking animation-techniques like magic circles. Games picked it up from there because it was a useful tool to show area of effect for spells and later this became a case of cross-pollination as anime in turn started to become more computer animated and lean more on game graphics, that had already proven successful in game animations.
So there you go.
The first really big one that I remember doing that was Fullmetal Alchemist
Oh gods no, this shit goes back at least into the late 80s early 90s. Ah! My Goddess does it, Slayers does it, Silent Möbius does it too. At the time these effects would be used more for their historic value rather than cheap animation, but they're the tiny stones at the start of the landslide.
I bet anime pulls a lot of its visual inspiration from games especially JRPGs. Can't think of any examples off the top of my head but I've definitely played games where a magic circle appears at the feet of the caster.
There's also a magic circle in the background of the original Dark Magician card in Yu-Gi-Oh!, which I think goes back to the late 90s. There's also a magic circle in the original Yu-Gi-Oh! anime in the seal of orichalcos season which would have been the early 2000s.
I'd hazard a guess it showed up in a lot of Squaresoft's games a lot, around pre Final Fantasy 7 era.
No answer here, just noting that this would be a really interesting Media Studies or MFA capstone project or thesis. Or long-form YouTube (or alternatives, you know what I mean!) mini documentary.
I would think the circular designs are a reference to the binding sigils from the Ars Goetia (Lesser Keys of Solomon). Occult magicks use circles to bind and control. According to occult lore, when you can write the true name of a angel/demon, you can bind and control them.
It's actually more accurate to the fantasy genre's real-world roots in ceremonial magic used in Kabbalah, Hermeticism, Druidism, and Wuism.
My guess is it's super easy to animate, but also provides really intricate details from any angle. Something 3D might not look good from every angle.