Many anime challenge the notion of the autonomous self. Eastern philosophies, particularly Buddhism and Shinto, depict the self as a fluid node in a vast web of relations. Neon Genesis Evangelion famously dissolves personal boundaries in its climax, with the Human Instrumentality Project threatening to merge all souls into a collective ocean. The terror and longing evoked by that scenario speak directly to the Buddhist idea of anatta (non-self) and the Shinto sense of being one with the spirit world. In Land of the Lustrous (Houseki no Kuni), the gem-based characters physically and psychologically fragment and reassemble, questioning identity and memory. The message is often that suffering arises from clinging to an isolated ego, and healing comes through recognizing interdependence—a theme reinforced by the constant teamwork and found-family narratives in shonen anime.