#Christian Anime

[animepopheart]

And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

“My Last Day,” Jesus Film (CRU)

[beneaththetangles]

One of the most charming series of the summer 2024 anime season is Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian. The title gives you the basic setup—tsundere speaks of her adoration for the MC in Russian, which she assumes no one understands (wrongly of course)—but the quality of the voice acting, animation, and characterization has been excellent.

And now, y’all have a chance to read the full array of light novels from which the show is adapted!

We’re giving away volumes one through 4.5 of the series—all the LNs currently released of Alya by Yen Press! That adds up to five volumes in total as it includes a volume 4.5 as well. And it’s so easy to enter!

1) LIKE this post 2) REBLOG this (though make sure to tag us so I can be sure to see it!) 3) Double your entry by COMMENTING below: Which language do you wish you could speak?

Here are the other rules:

You must be following us to enter

We’ll accept entries up to 11:59 p.m. ET on July 24th

International entries are welcome

BtT staff are not eligible

Spam and contest accounts are not eligible

[jpploveschrist777]

[animechristi]

Suzume: Preparation for the Gospel

I place this in Mary's hands for her to bring to Jesus

Mark 15:16 “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to the whole creation.’”

First, for those who haven’t seen the movie

a.) Background: Suzume is a 2023 anime movie written and directed by Makoto Shinkai. While it’s his third collaboration with musicians Kazuma Jinnouchi and the Radwimps, if my research is correct, it’s his 7th feature film. In other words, he’s no stranger to movie making. If you haven’t seen it or Shinkai’s other films, I’d say it’s worth a watch here’s the trailer.

b.) SPOILERS, it’s the nature of an analysis, nothing personal. If you don’t want them then go watch the movie.

c.) Premise: Like many of Shinkai’s other movies, Suzume adds a supernatural layer onto your average adolescent story. In this case, it’s an evil spirit called “the worm” that lives under Japan. Whenever it breaks into our world through certain portals – called “doors” – it causes devastating earthquakes. These doors are usually located in abandoned urban areas, e.g. the entrance door for a shutdown school, or the door of a Ferris wheel carriage at an abandoned theme park. Thankfully these gates have been kept shut throughout the centuries by a group of “Closers” who travel throughout the country shutting any gates that may pop up. Par for the course this “closing” takes the form of a spell and then using a physical key to close the door.

Our heroine, Suzume, starts the movie by unknowingly removing one of the two keystones in Japan that help keep the worm from entering our world. Luckily a young Closer, named Souta, has come to town just in time to help her closer the door. The keystone, called Daijin – a spiritual creature in the form of a cat – decides Suzume has given him a vacation, and after turning Souta into a chair and deeming him the new keystone, our feline friend takes his leave.

The rest of the movie is Suzume and Souta traveling across country to close more doors, return Souta to a human state, and get Daijin to return to his post as a keystone.

Freed from Keystone duty, Daijin takes the form of a mischievous kitten.

Second, what’s our take on all this?

Seems pretty pagan, isn’t this a Christian analysis Mr. Blogger?

Of course! And as you’ll all recall Vatican II states that “Whatever good or truth is found amongst them [those who have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God] is looked upon by the Church as a preparation for the Gospel” (Lumen Gentium 16). Neither is this anything new since the phrase preparation evangelica comes down to us from Eusebius writing in the 4th century.

So how does Suzume fit into this?

I suggest the events of Suzume mirror key points of salvation history and thus prepare viewers to understand the Gospel. AND I HAVE MANY EXAMPLES!!

St. Paul preaching at Athens appealed to the mindset of his listeners. There weren’t many converts but that’s more from there own complacency than his own method.

Gospel Parallels

a. Need for a Savior

Halfway through the movie – once Suzume and Souta have gained the assistance of the other keystone guardian, named Sadaijin – we are offered this reason for all the trouble they’re going through: “to set right what has been wronged by human hands.” But what we later find out is that Suzume and Souta aren’t enough by themselves to resolve the keystone issue. They need help, and it needs to be spiritual a.k.a. divine. This is a great way to highlight the fittingness of the incarnation. Man needed to make reparation to God for his original sin, yet man was also incapable of doing precisely that. Thus, God became man so that He might do what we ourselves couldn’t do.

b. Willing self-sacrifice

Especially poignant to the story is Souta realizing he’s become the new keystone and he’ll be deprived of his human life to remained forever a keystone guardian against the worm. While you could view Souta’s sacrifice as a Christ-like one, I don’t think that does justice to the rest of the movie. His sacrifice is noted, especially by his grandfather, but it’s also pointed out that he didn’t actively will to be a keystone. Instead, he merely resigned himself to the role Daijin forced on him. The key here – no pun intended – is that it is only when Suzume proclaims that she’ll willingly offer herself up as a keystone in place of Souta that Daijin changes his mind, helps free Souta, and takes up his role as keystone once again.

This helps viewers understand that Jesus’s Passion wasn’t simply a matter of gritting His teeth and accepting divine punishment from His Father. Rather, Jesus willingly offers Himself out of love. Christ is very explicit about this when He says: “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again” (Jn 10:18).

It was in the context of the last supper, at the beginning of His Passion, that Jesus taught his disciples what self-gift, i.e. what true love of God and neighbor is.

c. Nature and Grace

Related to this previous point is how Daijin agrees to help Suzume after she explicitly expresses her willingness to be a keystone in place of Souta. Curiously enough, Daijin doesn’t force Suzume to keep this promise. He doesn’t even mention it. He simply responds by to it by helping her free Souta. The Gospel parallel is this: God doesn’t simply override our wills to accomplish His plan, but desires to work with us.  

Another example of this mystery is how at the beginning of the movie both Suzume and Souta think Daijin is running around opening doors for the worm, but in actuality he is guiding them towards the open doors so that they can close them. He’s trying to call them to a greater service but they don’t understand and so think he’s mischievous and malevolent. Does this not call to mind God’s words in Isaiah “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways” (Is 55:8).

d. Acts of Prayer

The formula that Souta recites to close a door references the hills and rivers of the land as gifts from the gods and how people have enjoyed life on this land but now the Closer offers those all back to the gods. Acknowledging that everything in life is a gift is not just a Christian notion, although Paul clearly articulates it one (1 Cor 4:7 What do you have that you did not receive?)But going beyond our life being a gift from God this formula shows how we are called to offer everything back to our Creator not because He’s greedy and demands it but because it helps us – in the movie it literally keeps a destructive spirit out of our life!) What comes to my mind are the beautiful words of one of the Prefaces for Mass: “For, although you have no need of our praise, yet our thanksgiving is itself your gift, since our praises add nothing to your greatness but profit us for salvation, through Christ our Lord.”

Suzume, having learned from Suota how to close a door, activates the key in her hand. If this looks intense, then know that prayer is just the same since by it we fight against the evil spirits who seek the damnation of souls.

e. Healing of memory

Finally if I can offer a more affective example it’s when Suzume meets her younger self and we finally see her internal resolution to all the emotional trauma she’s been dealing with. But I would argue this is done in an incarnational way. It’s not just don’t mentally. The movie doesn’t just have her visit here old house, or find her old notebooks. It doesn’t even pretend she’s talking to herself in her mind. It has her literally going back in time and meeting her younger self (I did say Shinkai was a fan of this stuff).

Nowadays, it’s very common for people to openly talk about their trauma, but often it’s presented as something that can’t be overcome. But this isn’t the Christian approach. Rather, it is precisely by allowing Christ to be King over all parts of our life – as well as all parts of our past – that we are no longer under the terror or fear of what has happened to us. And this isn’t accomplished by just imposing principles anachronistically. Instead, it’s by finding where and how Christ is working in that moment just as little Suzume actually encounters her older self on that cold snowy night.

Final verdict?

To close, I’ll once again recommend Suzume, but more importantly I encourage you to think about any connections you see in our culture that point to our life of faith in Christ. Don’t be afraid of being too geeky by talking about these things with friends – with respect to time and place of course e.g. not in the delivery room. My point is until we act as if our Christian faith has an influence on how we read, watch, and listen to the world around us, then we won’t have the influence on the world that we should as Christians.

One of the reasons why Mary was so effective in converting the Mexican people is that every part of her dress pointed to some native symbolism which informed the Mexican people of her role and status as the mother of God.

[prokopetz]

It's that time of year when Tumblr celebrates Easter by posting pictures of crucified anime characters, and inevitably somebody in the notes will pop up to helpfully explain that crucifixion imagery has no cultural significance in Japanese media because Japan is only about 1% Christian, which bugs me because it's completely wrong.

It's true that in the majority of cases, crucifixion in Japanese cartoons isn't meant to be conveying any specific theological message, but something Western audiences are likely to miss is that a large portion of those random crucifixion scenes are referencing Ultraman.

Ultraman's creator was a devout Roman Catholic who explicitly intended the titular hero to read as a Christ figure, and consequently, various Ultramen have been crucified on multiple unconnected occasions throughout the franchise's history. Crucifixion scenes in Japanese cartoons are often directly name-checking particular crucifixion incidents from Ultraman, right down to emulating the compositions and camera angles of specific shots. It's like an especially morbid version of the Akira slide.

The upshot is that, while it's true that the inclusion of gratuitous crucifixion scenes in Japanese cartoons typically has no (intentional) theological message, stating that they have no cultural significance is incorrect. A large chunk of the Japanese viewing audience are going to see them and immediately go "hey, that's an Ultraman reference".

Anyway, as an image tax, have a shot of four crucified Ultramen miraculously resurrecting a fifth Ultraman by shooting laser beams out of their hearts:

[areyouscaredyet]

im not particularly religious but i think it’s very cute that Trans Day of Visibility and Easter are on the same day this year :)

its no question that something like this could be triggering or upsetting to a number of queer ppl given the current sociopolitical climate, so i want everyone to remember that u are loved! Regardless of what u or others believe, there are ppl who will love and support you always. Give yourself patience and treat yourself with care!!!

happy and peaceful TDOV everyone!! And Easter to those who celebrate :D

[vmkhoneyy]

“People are inherently terrible” no!!! Have you ever seen a child wait for their friend while they tie their shoelaces? Have you ever known someone who would bring hurt squirrels and rabbits and mice to the nearest vet just so it doesn’t suffer? Have you seen someone grieve? Have you ever read something that hit your heart like a freight train? Have you looked at the stars and felt an unexplainable joy? Have you ever baked bread? Have you shared a meal with a friend? Have you not seen it? All the love? All the good? I know it’s hard to see sometimes, I know there’s pain everywhere. But look, there’s a child helping another up after a hard fall. Look, there’s someone giving their umbrella to a stranger. Look, there’s someone admiring the spring flowers. Look, there’s good, there’s good, there’s good. Look!!!!

[bebx]

Behold!! Moo Deng, the famous baby pygmy hippo from Khao Kheow zoo in Thailand

Sources: thecinesthetic & shirtsthtgohard on X/Twitter

[meguminmegumin]

https://myanimelist.net/news/60388581?onetime=002a0140263383b1c93186fb04692a2022e9ad1502a3e2323725b814904d4355

[stil-lindigo]

the fox god.

a comic about a trickster.

--

creative notes:

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all my other comics

store

[cinematicmasterpiece]

blood tea and red string (2006)

[animepopheart]

A while ago, I saw an article in The Baptist Standard that mentioned Beneath the Tangles. I was so happy to discover the site, but I was at work, didn't think to bookmark it, and forgot where to find it. Forward to today, where I happened upon your Tumblr with a link to your site. It's a wonderful, crazy, random happenstance (or is it?)!

OH! Thanks for writing. I don't know if I'd ever seen that article before! It also mentions Kaitlyn Ugoretz, who's been a friend of ours, and Jolyon Baraka Thomas, who also studies Japanese spirituality. Very cool!

So glad you connected with me! I post anime-style art here while our @beneaththetangles account is the one that's actually part of our site and posts our articles. I hope you'll follow there as well!

[beneaththetangles]

The Messianic Dynamic in Madoka Magica

Madokami–excuse me, Madoka–and Christ are often compared with each other in discussions about Puella Magi Madoka Magica, which is no surprise, given the overwhelming number of parallels between their ultimate acts. At the same time, other posts have pointed out the ways in which Madoka does not make for a good Christ figure. So who is right? Well, both of these readings are missing something important, and that something is actually a someone. There is another person in the story who is absolutely crucial, and without whom not a single magical girl could have been saved: Homura. 

Homura and Madoka together form a more complete image of Christ than just Madoka alone. But it’s not a simple question of summing up their positive traits and adding them together. Instead, it’s their dynamic, and not just their complementary characters, that creates a Christlike image. Let’s discover how their intertwined sacrificial love brings about that glorious ending. 

(Read More)

[jpploveschrist777]

John 10:27

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:”

King James Version (KJV)

© COPYRIGHT JOHN PAUL PERRY

#christianart #art #theelementals777 #arts #cartoons #cartoon #christiancartoon #christiananime #christianmanga #animeart #anime #manga #christianartist #cartoonist #christiancartoonist #amen #jesuslovesyou #artist #fyp #feed #explore #christianarts #sketches #ocs #originalcharacters #originalcharacter

[harlepinyo]

assclass save me from my dreaded exams

[prokopetz]

Honestly, this whole "Luce & Friends" thing could be a positive development. Superbook hasn't aired for thirty years, and we're about due for another generation of kids whose understanding of Christian theology comes principally from officially licensed anime.