Onyx Equinox: Mesoamerican Culture and Mythology Through an Anime Lens

I always looked for exciting classes to take while I traversed my SUNY education, and in 2007 I came across Ancient Mesoamerica. I was enamored that such a college class could exist, and soon found myself diving headfirst into the rise of the Olmecs, the lessons learned from the grand but doomed Teotihuacan and embracing my love of the werejaguar. Never did I think I’d get to relive the highs of that class while enjoying my current favorite form of media expression, anime.

Crunchyroll Originals For All For the first time, Crunchyroll has premiered a number of Original productions like the exciting God of High School and intriguing Power of God during this tumultuous year. As the trailers continued to roll in, I was very surprised to see two of my favorite things, history and anime, intertwine in an interesting way. Onyx Equinox opens with a depiction of life in ancient Mesoamerica. Two young lads sparring in the yard while fellow residents look on or go about their lives. A horn blows, red clouds descend and a man screams that “the sacrifice.. it wasn’t enough!”. The girl who was sparring runs to find her parents, only to discover they are being attacked by the black consuming canine-like monsters!

Her mother tells her to “get to the old stone” because it will protect her. Chaos erupts, people are killed left and right and an important figure (perhaps a shaman, or ruler) sacrifices himself, hoping the Gods would be appeased and save them. Th…