Category Archives: Japan
Something More: Kenshin’s Journey Toward Mercy, Bad Catholics in Maoyu, and Dreams of a Christian Japan
This week has been full of great articles involving religion and spirituality! Unfortunately, I may have missed a few – the move from Google Reader to Feedly has been largely snag free, until this week, when I found that their latest update has omitted the search feature. RSS users beware.
Anyway, onto the articles!
Medieval Otaku posts his academic essay on how Kenshin’s journey in the first two OVA’s (Trust and Betrayal/Samurai X) parallel to St. Bonaventure’s steps leading to God in Journey of the Mind to God. [Medieval Otaku]
Lady Geek Girl has a real issue with how the Catholic Church is represented in some series and movies, and uses Maoyuu Maou Yuusha as an example. [Lady Geek Girl and Friends]
Justin notes an emphasis on religion in the Attack on Titan anime as compared to the manga. [Organization Anti-Social Geniuses]
Draggle draws connections between the act of a benediction and this week’s disturbing episode of Aku no Hana. [Draggle's Anime Blog]
Zeroe4 makes a distinction between his “calling to anime” and his dream for Japan. [Zeroe4]
D.M. Dutcher offers reviews of Another and Girls Und Panzer that are directed toward Christian viewers. [Cacao, put down the shovel!]
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As part of the Something More series of posts, each week Beneath the Tangles links to writings about anime and manga that involve religion and spirituality. If you’ve written such a piece or know of one, please email TWWK if you’d like it included.
Something More: Kiba-Cheza-Mary-Jesus, Writing Papal Manga, and Spirituality in Sora no Woto
Medieval Otaku refers to Wolf’s Rain as “essentially a Christian allegory,” focusing particularly on the symbolism of Kiba and Cheza as Jesus and Mary. [Medieval Otaku]
Foxy Lady Ayame digs deep into Sora no Woto, discussing ideas like the spiritual and healing aspects of a festival depicted in the series. [Anime Diet]
Regina Doman blogs about the process of writing Habemus Papam, Manga Hero’s OEL manga concerning the life of Pope Benedict XVI. [Manga Hero]
Zeroe4 discusses the “necessity of hope” on his personal blog, referring to his time in Japan. [Zeroe4]
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As part of the Something More series of posts (formerly Spirituality in the Anime Blogosphere), each week, Beneath the Tangles links to writings about anime and manga that involve religion and spirituality. If you’ve written such a piece or know of one, please email TWWK if you’d like it included.
Something More: Buddhism in Shin Sekai Yori, Homura the Pope, and a Witch’s Familiar
The writers at Anime Diet analyze the first two Madoka Magica movies, and include some great discussion of Buddhist and Christian allusions in the films and series. [Anime Diet]
Speaking of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Nick Calibey points out the similarities between Homura and St. Peter. [A Rather Silly Blog]
Nick also presents a wonderful reflection on whether beauty can be found in media, including in anime like Now and Then, Here and There. [A Rather Silly Blog]
ajthefourth and vucubcaquix do their typically wonderful jobs of analysis, discussing religious allusions, primarily to Buddhism and Christianity, in Shin Sekai Yori. [The Untold Story of Altair & Vega]
Among other things, Draggle specifically points out the ironic role Buddhism plays in the same series. [Draggle's Anime Blog]
Sweetpea discusses the idea of familiars, mentioning her current search for one and giving some examples from anime. [Pagan by the Book]
Hashi interviews Matt Alt and Hiroko Yoda of AltJapan, writers of a new book about yurei. [Tofugu]
Something More: Evil Religion in Shin Sekai Yori, Catholic Context in Angelic Layer, and My Seven Little Deadly Sins
The new season of anime has started! Each season brings with it a series or two that deals with spiritual, supernatural, and/or religious themes. Since these ideas are often used simply as a plot device with little meaning, I tend to ignore these shows. But Shin Sekai Yori may be a little different. And at the very least, it’s getting a lot of attention from anibloggers:
- Highway finds the questions it poses intriguing. [Sushi Go Kart]
- Draggles notes that if it involves “crazy conspiracies with a religious tint,” he’s sold. [Draggle's Anime Blog]
- Alexander notices some strong themes involving growing up. [Ashita no Anime]
- Guardian Enzo compares the series to Noein (<— I definitely agree) and Ghost Hound. [Lost in America]
A couple other bloggers focused heavily on the religious tones. Tsuki noticed that the creators really emphasized Shintoism in the little details as well as the large [Emory Anime Club], while Cholisose also discussed the religious motifs [Sea Slugs!]:
The rituals, architecture, clothing, and beliefs of the characters all appear to draw from Japan’s traditional religions to some degree–namely Shinto and Buddhism. In the society of this story, purity is strongly emphasized, as is the need to cut off ties to all worldly desires and gain enlightenment. The mysterious power people can gain is a blessing from the gods, there is an acknowledgement that spirits play a significant role in this world, and terms such as karma and mantra are part of everyday vocabulary.
In other news…
Charles Dunbar discusses the history Japan’s youkai, and what makes these monsters unique. [Study of Anime]
Sometimes Catholic characters are thrown in to series with little forethought, but apparently that’s not the case for one of Misaki’s opponents in Angelic Layer. [Aliens in This World]
The Christian Anime Review site has a host of new reviews up, including those for the Bakuman manga and Bleach. [Christian Anime Reviews]
Finally, Fillyjonk discusses the relation between the My Little Pony characters as the Seven Deadly Sins (My Seven Little Deadly Sins!) and, more aptly, to the Fruits of the Spirit. [Fillyjonk's progress]
Thanks to Don for the links to the Angelic Layer and MLP articles!
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As part of the Something More series of posts (formerly Spirituality in the Anime Blogosphere), each week, Beneath the Tangles links to writings about anime and manga that involve religion and spirituality. If you’ve written such a piece or know of one, please email TWWK if you’d like it included.
Yuki-Anne in Japan: Updates in Missions and Marriage!
It’s been a long time, but some of you may remember a series of posts by Yuki-Anne, a missionary in Japan. An anime fan and a terrific writer to boot, she last wrote a piece for us after the Tohoku earthquake last year.
Yuki-Anne has continued to be busy with her mission work, but she’s also decided that her current mission is coming to an end this coming Spring. But as all things come to an end, Yuki-Anne’s life reminds us that to everything there is a season (Ecclesiastes 3:1) with another announcement: she’s engaged!
Congratulations, Yuki-Anne!
If you’d like to read all about her recent activities or would like information about how to contribute to her mission work, please download her September support letter.
Light Invades Darkness: The Return
Tokyo Skyline
My Discipleship Training School is now over. After an intense Outreach Phase and Lecture Phase, I am on my way back to Alaska as a new season of my life begins.
Since I haven’t had much of an opportunity to post lately, I will up date you on what happened during Outreach. We started by partnering with a High School ministry called Hi-B.A. during Gospel Team. This was two weeks of hands on work in two different areas of the Tohoku Region of Japan helping with tsunami relief. The next two weeks were spent in the Philippines. We spent most of our time in Olongapo doing local evangelism and helping women get out of prostitution. The next week I was on a team doing a local outreach in Ikebukuro. We also partnered with Cornerstone Tokyo, a church body I am apart of here in Tokyo. After this came one of my favorite outreaches, the Creative Outreach. This outreach involved one week of arts as a means of spreading the gospel in Ikebukuro and Ueno Park. Finally, we went back to Ishinomaki in Tohoku. We did more tsunami relief work and built relationship with the people there. For this trip, we partnered with Tokyo Baptist Church and their satalite church in Ishinomaki. Read the rest of this entry
Nihon kara modottekimashita!
Tadaima!
Now that I’m almost over the jet lag, the summary version of my trip to Japan is that I had a great time, though naturally I discovered some things I’d do differently the next time. I felt very well prepared for the trip, and in general comfortable in this very foreign country. Believe it or not, I credit my anime watching for at least some of this. For now that I’ve seen the real people in the real country, I’m here to tell you that what you’ve seen in anime (at least the more realistic / slice-of-life ones) is all there on display — the crowded but efficient train system, the schoolchildren in uniforms, the fashionable young ladies and smug bishounen glued to their cell phones, the sea of kaishain of all ages in their white shirts and black pants, the little old couples on vacation, the cool modern (or drab depressing) apartment complexes, the row houses, the drink machines (they are everywhere, and I for one was grateful), the modern skyscrapers amidst ancient shrines and palaces. All I can say is that you must go and see it all for yourself!
This side street in Kyoto looks like a street in a slice-of-life anime, only real
Nihon e ikimashou!
On Monday, July 30, I will be leaving for a two-week vacation in Japan. It will be my first time in Asia, though not my first overseas trip. Since I believe there are already some who plan on living this experience vicariously through me, I thought it might be a good idea to post a few of my thoughts both before and after the trip.
My primary reason for going is my interest in the Japanese language, and to some extent their culture. However, I would have gained neither of these interests were it not for anime. So I would say that another important reason for my trip has to do with all the scenes and people I’ve seen in the anime I’ve watched so far. What is this real country really like, out of which this phenomenon called anime arose some 60 years ago? What are the real people really like? Can I say anything in Japanese to a native without getting arrested? Questions such as these are on my mind.
Ready or not, this will be me shortly. Except I’m flying Delta.
Light Invades Darkness: The Search For Hope
I just recently arrived in Tokyo after going to the Tohoku Prefecture for a week and a half with the organization International Hi-B.A. as part of their Gospel Team ministry. Hi-B.A. stand for Highschool Born-Againers, and is an organization that allows high schoolers to meet together and share their faith. Gospel Team (GT) is a ministry that is run by Hi.B.A. every year for two weeks in which Hi-B.A. students and staff are split into teams and sent out around Japan to minister to high school students. YWAM Tokyo partners with Hi-B.A., so all DTS students were placed on teams with high school students.
My team was sent to Tohoku after we finished three days of training camp in Chiba. Our team traveled for eight hours by van to Tagajo, which is right out side of Sendai. We stayed there for three nights as we did manual labor in Ishinomaki during the day. We worked on people’s houses. We shoveled and moved hedoro (contaminated dirt which in our case was full of petroleum and lime from the tsunami) out from under houses, so renovations could start. We also helped with bleaching the inside of the houses to kill mold and pulling up floors, in order to prepare the houses for renovations. Then, we held a barbecue at the end of the last day for the entire neighborhood. Many people showed up and we had a wonderful time meeting everyone. Read the rest of this entry
Spirituality in the Anime Blogosphere: Tsuritama’s Hindu Conch, Tokyo Cathedral Cafe, and Destined to be a Shuu
Mira unpacks the Hindu and Buddhist implications of the conch shell in Tsuritama. [Hachimitsu]
Lacybacula tells us all about a cafe in Tokyo with a unique spin – it’s designed to resemble a Catholic Church [Lady Geek Girl and Friends]
Zeroe4 calls us the “Shuu’s of the world” as he muses on God-given destinies, including his own while in Japan. [Zeroe4]
A Day Without Me provides background on the Angra Mainyu from the Zoroastrian religion in her breakdown of Fate/zero, episode 25. [GAR GAR Stegosaurus]
Jason Morehead appreciates the themes in Haibane Renmei as a meaningful series full of spiritual content. [Christ and Pop Culture]
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As part of the Spirituality in the Anime Blogosphere series of posts, each week, Beneath the Tangles links to writings about anime and manga that involve religion and spirituality. If you’ve written such a piece or know of one, please email TWWK if you’d like it included.
