I should sit back and just enjoy the series and all the build-up, I suppose, but my anxiety is that the series will conclude without finishing the run of the manga, and I’ll be left out in the cold.  Well, if that’s the case, at least we got to see some real development for one of Attack on Titan‘s terrific characters, Mikasa Ackerman.

This week, Mikasa addresses the remaining squads with a speech that half inspiring and entirely condemning.  The characters, some reticently, follow Mikasa into battle, but with different reasons in mind, and resulting in different consequences.

Art by へび

Note that more than once it’s mentioned that if the troops just stay there, they’ll eventually die.  It’s simply a rational and good idea to take their chances.  There’s also a feeling of guilt – those in the supply depot are trapped and dying, and Mikasa is running into battle by herself, so these elite cadets should at least help, right?  But when reality strikes again, in the form of the ominous giants (and an out-of-commission Mikasa), many of the soldiers begin to crumble, particularly the guilt-driven Jean, who stands frozen in fear while his comrades die.

However, one soldier stands out by being brave, and perhaps it’s a surprising who it is.  Armin uses his best asset, his smarts, and follows Mikasa to assist.  Then he sacrifices his chance at survival to help her.  This is all totally opposite to his actions previous, where he has reacted more poorly than perhaps any other soldier on the lines (not that anyone could blame him).

But a change transpired within Armin, all beginning by a simple, but powerful act on the part of Mikasa, who offers her kindness and forgiveness to him, immediately, as he delivers the news of Eren’s death.

Many of us, Christian or not, are often pushed into changing ourselves because we find something to be a good idea or because we feel guilty because of the way we act.  We might see that we act very poorly to our friends, and out of guilt, we try to change ourselves.  Or we might decide that it’s just rational to have a good attitude, because that’ll get us further in life.

Sometimes these motivators can change us…but it’s grace that offers the most profound and long-lasting impact on our hearts.  When an undeserved love hits us, an open heart can’t help but feel gratitude and sense of urgency to become more than we are.  Sometimes in life, we’ll experience this through others – parents, friends, or even a stranger.  But even if we don’t receive it there, we can find it through another place.

At it’s simple core, the gospel message is about a people fighting against God, and a God that says we are forgiven completely, despite all we say and do to him.  And that, more than rules or guilty or any other compulsion, is what can change lives.  And it does.  So when we face our own giants, we won’t back down, because grace will have changed us inside out.

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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. 

Art by きいじ

As you get older, first bursting into the confusing time of adolescence and then into the world of adulthood, you realize that dreams and reality don’t usually meld well together.  Even for those that pursue their dream relentlessly, the results don’t always match their hopes.

For me, I’ve seen most of my childhood dreams fade away – some because of what you might deem as circumstance (though I would call it divine intervention) and some because of my personal choices.  And though I admit I sometimes feel a sense of loss when I think of what might have been, I’m quickly brought back to reality – to a good type of reality, knowing that I’m meant to be where I am right now, and that I wouldn’t exchange the circumstances of my life for a chance to live the dream.

The older I get, the more I realize how little I know – both of life and of myself.  I thought I knew what I wanted and I thought I knew how the world worked, but God consistently shows me that He knows better.  He holds my past, present, and future in His hands, and the melancholic pains I may feel now will have a different context when I see the results of going down a path I hadn’t intended or wanted.

Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the mundane routines of life, and to even become saddened or depressed by seeing our lives turn into something we wish it hadn’t.  But faith tells us that something great is in store for us – even if it’s not spectacular by the world’s standards – and that God is working through us to do something we might not be able to see right now.  And I believe we’ll see the fruit, maybe soon or maybe on down the road, of staying faithful and trusting that He is bigger than our dreams.

And in a world that seems to exist to crush our dreams into harsh reality, what’s more comforting than that?

In many an anime, an entire angsty arc could have been made of this.  SNAFU, however, resolves the problems by the episode’s end in really the most rational way.  Whatever the two are feeling, they agree to put the past behind, evening the score, as it were, and starting over.

Their relationship becomes a redo.

Art by 刃天

I used to often think about how I’d redo my life.  Even though most of us would probably say that ultimately, we wouldn’t change a thing, because what we did led us to who we are now, my past mistakes were so ridiculous and so fixable, that I dwelt upon them often and really wanted to change them.  All that changed when I became older, married, and had children – but still, regrets remained.

And although I can’t relive the past, I can have a redo – a new starting point.  One beauty of Christianity is this: no matter what we’ve done, no matter where we’ve been, and no matter who we are, God offers us a redo – a chance to start over.  We can have an ugly reputation, but because other believers know what Paul meant when he said was was the worst of sinners, we know that genuine change can happen, even to those who we’d otherwise think could never change.

This redo is focused on one’s relationship with God.  Once pictured like a boy or girl running away in the complete opposite direction of dad’s widespread arms, justification turns that little boy or girl around right into those loving arms.  A complete 180 is occurring, and a fractured relationship is restored.

Bygones are bygones, no matter what hurt is involved.  Just as with Hikki and Yui, the opportunity to start fresh is given.  A believer can now come to the LORD with worries and hurts and sins, knowing that he or she has had a redo that will always lead to forgiveness.

When we make mistakes, a redo can mean the world.  Certainly, I imagine it’s going to lead to honest friendship, at the very least, between Hikki and Yui.  And for you and me, it can mean something even more – a new lot on life, a new heart, and a new way to live.  This redo changes everything.

Lady Saika uses Saiyuki‘s depiction as an example of how Heaven is portrayed in series and film. [Lady Geek Girl and Friends]

Rocklobster points out the problems that the religious may have with Evangelion in his positive review of the series. [Lobster Quadrille]

D.M. Dutcher gives advice to Christian viewers in his review of Linebarrels of Iron. [Cacao, put down the shovel!]

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Special thanks to Don of Zoopraxiscope for the link to the Haibane Renmei post!

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. 

So please, share as much info as you’d like in your comments below.  Give your blog URL(s), Twitter name, Tumbler URL, Facebook link, etc – any information you’d like to share with us.  Let’s connect across mediums and maybe get to know each other a bit better.

I look forward to interacting with you wherever your online presence dwells!

After the training episodes, this one returns the series to the fearsome tone conveyed earlier in the series.  The giants are, at this point, my favorite anime villain ever.  This is how you create a great villain – they make you feel dread and think about the possibility probability that characters you root for can die at any point and any time.  In this way, the series carries a Saving Private Ryan kind of feel, conveying the horrors of this war, fantastical as it is.

In the face of danger and imminent death, Eren remains headstrong, brave, and haughty.  He will not sit idly by, and through flashbacks, we find out a little more of what he and Armin want and what they seek, which is in one word, freedom.

Art by めろ

It’s hard to make this episode into something optimistic or hopeful.  After all, the quest for freedom, and even less than that, survival, is getting squashed completely and easily.

Yet, Eren continues to fight so that he won’t remained confined within the walls of civilization – he wants something more.

I’m reminded of something far less drastic and perhaps more common to anime viewers.  Not always the most sociable of people, it’s easy for us to stick inside our own walls – whether we place them around our home, work, etc. – and not venture out into the world.  I’m not even talking about the extreme cases we think of of when the terms NEET or otaku pop up – I’m only speaking of when we get lazy/bored/scared/etc. and decide to stay in our comfort zone instead of making the effort to go out and interact with people.

For those of us who feel comfortable living this way, we put ourselves in a prison.  And while it may offer safety, comfort, and ease – just as with the lives of the humans before the opening attack – it also keeps us from the possibility of finding more in our lives.  I believe that life is about relationships, and we’re all the poorer for forming less and less intimate ones.  Despite all the pain and hassle of developing relationships, we’re all the more richer for doing so – and all the more freer from our shackles of confinement.

It’s easier said than done to proverbially and literally get out of the house, but it’s almost always worth it in the end.  So go and have dinner with your friend – your digital technology will wait, even if it features titans ready to crunch up all your favorite characters.

Alexander claims that Jesus creates some kind of co-dependency as a savior, which Madoka does not. [Ashita no Anime]

He concludes by emphasizing that God is tyrannical, which Madoka is not. [Ashita no Anime]

I highly recommend you read through Alexander’s series, which is quite thought-provoking.  His tone may be off-putting (I’ll admit, I didn’t comment on a number of posts because I felt too emotional to leave comments due to how Alexander references Christ at times), but it’s one that has led to some good debate.  And as such, I recommend, also, that you read the comments following the entries as closely as the post themselves.

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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. 

A new way to be human
To a new way to be human

I’ve been wavering on Suisei no Gargantia, unsure if I would continue the series.  It’s been pretty to look at, but other than that, I’ve only been captured by certain moments in the show, instead of by the setting, the characters, or the plot in general.  Episode four, however, turned things around a bit, as our protagonist begins learning how to be “more than soldier.”

Ledo begins to search for information, and as he does so, we see his attitude.  He espouses survival of the fittest, the greater above the lesser, and rules over heart.  Ledo finds the ideas of family and friends to be foreign and unnecessary.  He will only help others when it promotes his mission.  And as such, though he fights for the survival of the human race, Ledo’s heart is one filled with selfishness.

But through Ledo’s meeting with Bevel, Ledo comes to see that there is value in kindness and compassion that can’t be measured by his goals.

Humans are at their best when they forget themselves and put others first.  Selfless acts bring warmth to our hearts when we see them on the news, and help bring us happiness and peace when they are personally demonstrated toward us.

I’ve said that our nature is selfish.  It’s what we gravitate toward – this motive to love ourselves above all others.  But we also know that it isn’t right – it isn’t what ultimately satisfies.  Deep down, Ledo knows this, too, as demonstrated through some sort of painful sacrifice, briefly insinuated in this episode, is buried deep in his memory, and by his own selfless actions in the first episode.

I hope (and imagine) this will be a larger theme of Suisei no Gargantia -  Ledo connecting to this loving humanity and he spends time among a people.  And as he searches for a way to return to the battlefront and his home, he’ll find something else as well – a new heart.

The anime really goes into the politics in the countries and explores what it means to be a good leader, the consequences of a bad leader, and the way different leadership styles shape each country. One of the most prosperous kingdoms in the parallel world, which is actually just called Twelve Kingdoms, is the kingdom of En.

That prosperity is due in large part to the kingdoms king, Shouryu, a laid-back, confident former feudal lord. Shouryu is always aware of whats happening in En, rarely loses his cool, shows mercy whenever possible and exacts justice when necessary. Out of all Shouryu’s qualities, the one I noticed the most was his desire to make a place for all of his people. Not just some, not just most, but each and every one.

After squashing a rebellion that had risen up in the kingdom, Shouryu met one man, Kouya, who was insistent on the impossibility of himself fitting into En.

Kouya grew up alone except for a Youma, which is basically a monster, who is his constant companion. After the rebellion, he points this out to Shouryu and tells him to look elsewhere for his citizens, but Shouryu doesn’t back down.

Shouryu: I’ve told you before, I’m here for no other reason than to look after the well-being of the kingdom and its citizens.

Kouya: Well, I suggest you look after someone else then. There are plenty of people who would appreciate it more than I would.

Shouryu: The truth is that I am rather greedy. Given the choice between one million people and one million and one I will always take the latter.

The scene brought me back to the parable of the lost sheep

“What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. ”

Mathew 18:13

Kouya was part of the rebellion against the king of En, but Shouryu still wanted him in his kingdom after the rebellion passed. He didn’t even hesitate. And he didn’t just allow him to come into his kingdom, but wanted him to come and actively pursues him. He is also disappointed when Kouya does not want to come. Even though he got back the entire rebelling region, he still specifically wanted Kouya.

It’s encouraging to know that God wanted me in his kingdom. Not just the missionary that has traveled to most countries in the world spreading the word, or the super-involved church member that can volunteer for everything or any of the other members more worthy than I, but me.

Me also…. despite everything.