Common Themes in Anime: Opposition

I'm sure that many of you have noticed, but a lot of anime are more than mindless entertainment. They are works of art. There are many common themes in anime, so I thought that it might be a good idea to start a series of threads covering some of them. Perhaps one of the most common themes in anime is that of opposition. By this I mean showing contrasts, opposites.

Take for example, Wolf's Rain -

Spoiler:

the world is on the verge of the apocalypse, it is more or less dead. We are presented with an image of hopelessness, of darkness. The humans are not presented in a good light. Opposing this are the wolves and the girl, Chesa (am I remembering the spelling correctly?). The wolves present raw emotion, instinct. They are symbols of freedom and hope. They are searching for "Paradise", a place of happiness, of roving pastures and forests where game is plentiful and life is easy.

So, what do you think of this theme. Is there a movie, series or OVA in particular that stands out to you? If so, how? What do you feel is the message that the creators are trying to get through, and do you think that they did a good job?

Feel free to skip include spoiler tags.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

... Nobody cares to add anything to this?

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Hmm, this covers a LARGE expanse of anime. The extensive range of anime this can cover seems intimidating to me to really address, for fear of leaving anything out.

I mean, for almost ANY good story, one needs conflict; and there are only a few ways in which conflict can be manifested. One of the more common types is "opposition," as that can make story-writing easy when the author can basically pigeonhole the characters into simple hierarchies that is very convenient for humans to do(good vs. bad).

I think I'm starting to ramble right now, but before I go off on a complete tangent, I just want to say that I think the reason why this thread is inactive is because the topic is too generic.
I could make reference to the Buddhist-in-a-Catholic-School conflict that is in "Maria-Sama ga Miteru ~ Haru," which covers only one or two episodes; or I can draw in the apocolyptic visions from Texhnolyze, wherein the bad guys win, and the protagonist is left all alone in a dead world. Or I can make reference to the fact that there seems to be a complete lack of conflict or opposition in the ARIA series.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Mucknuggle

Feel free to skip the spoiler tags.

Please don't, okay

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I wasn't talking about conflict packrat. . .

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Mucknuggle

I wasn't talking about conflict packrat. . .

Sorry. I just see "opposition" as a still generic sub-genre of "conflict." See my second paragraph.

Also, I really wish I could contribute more topically to this thread. I really do. Its a good subject. I just have no idea where to start. =\

EDIT: Oh! I've got a great idea where to start. There is a one episode OVA about Hijikata Toshizou(will be uploaded, and was subbed and torrented by The Jolly Roger), which I do believe very strongly is the guy who the movie "The Last Samurai" is based upon.

So, for those that have seen it(the ova), what are your thoughts on the motives for Hijikata's opposition to the Imperial uprising?

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?