Akudama Drive and Religion

While it isn’t necessarily one of the main themes of the show, Akudama Drive deals with the theme of religion in multiple ways.

The first example of religion being shown in the show is the Shinkansen, the holy train that the people of Kansai pray to. Its holiness stems from it being the only connection to Kanto, which is treated as the holy land or paradise, and the people worship the Shinkansen because it represents the path to that paradise. The Shinkansen station itself is akin to a temple, with the buttons to access the train being hidden behind Torii gates. Torii gates themselves are the gates that separate the mortal world from the world of spirits, commonly found at temples. Accessing the Shinkansen requires stepping into the world of divinity, separating it from mortals.

The executioners also deal with religion as they stand as the arm of Kanto within Kansai. The Boss of the executioners is the only one in Kansai we ever see directly communicating with Kanto, and she does it in a room reminiscent of temples. She kneels in front of artificial faces, submitting to her rulers, her gods. The executioners then follow her commands, and therefore follow the will of Kanto. The executioners are fanatics to their mission as it is their divine purpose.

Kanto itself is an artificial god, an amalgamation of likely millions of people and a supercomputer. Kanto wishes to become truly immortal, to truly become god. It trying to fuse with the siblings could be viewed as a parallel to Adam and Eve consuming the fruit of knowledge, though reversed as Kanto forces the siblings to consume it.

Swindler is Jesus, it is incredibly unsubtle; she gets crucified by the unjust authorities and becomes a martyr for a cause that topples the current regime.

There’s a bunch of other possibly religious imagery: The executioners headquarters that Courier topples could be viewed as the tower of Babel, an artificial attempt to reach god. The executioner light swords evoke the visuals of the branched sword in the vaguest possible way. Doctor’s entire god complex. The story itself is very Gnostic, with Kanto being the demiurge.