Wow, long-time-no-post. Sorry for those of you who have given me so much encouragement over the Spiritual Bridges series. I don't actually plan when to write about an anime, manga, or video game; I just write about something when I discover it. And it's been a long time since I've discovered an anime with spiritual bridges--last Fall's season wasn't very good in that regard. This Spring, however, is different.
For those that read this series, I want to draw your attention to an anime that's currently airing on Fuji Television called Higashi no Eden (東のエデン), or Eden of the East. It is 11 episodes long (episode 8 just aired this week), to be followed by a theatrical movie later this year. I don't know, as of now, whether the movie will be a concise re-telling or the conclusion to the series. Time will tell.
The first thing to draw attention to is the staff behind this anime. It was animated by Production I.G., famous for their work on the Ghost in the Shell: Stand-Alone Complex series and the Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit series, and many key staff members from those previous projects are involved in this one too. Anyone who has seen either of the previous series will tell you that that's a good thing.
The second thing to draw attention to is the premise of the story. At first, it seems like an animated version of the Bourne trilogy of movies, but it quickly throws in some other elements that differentiate it. For example, unlike Jason Bourne, Takizawa Akira (the lead male, also with amnesia) wasn't an assasin; he was a messiah (small "m"). He discovers that he is one of 12 messiahs in the country of Japan. Each person has been hand-picked and given a simple mission: change/save Japan by any means necessary. In order to do this, they've been given a phone charged with 10,000,000,000 Yen and access to a mysterious woman known as "Juiz" (Portuguese for "judge"), who, for the right price, can even influence the Japanese prime minister.
I'll leave the rest of the story for you to discover should you decide to check this series out, but I wanted to bring it to your attention. Why? Because it's one of the most respected animation companies, comprised of staff members that have their own following, that is brainstorming ideas of possible ways to save the Japanese culture. I doubt they'll come up with any viable solutions, but it illustrates many things that people are thinking about right now. Already, we've seen one messiah who uses his money to create a haven for abandoned elderly people in need of medical treatment and another who thinks that if he can support enough people in becoming NEETs (Not in Education, Employment, or Training), he can force business tycoons to start changing their practices. It's interesting, and it's food for thought. So, if you like this kind of story, check it out. I'm sure it'll be a good way to start conversations, if nothing else.
Follow-up: As the series goes on, we are introduced to many NEETs and even a Hikikomori. Both groups are portrayed in an extremely positive light that highlights not what they are, but what they could become if they were just allowed to use their gifts. After watching the finale, I will unhesitatingly pronounce it the best anime of this season, and recommend it to anyone. We'll see about a Spiritual Bridges post, but as the end of the season is not the end of the story, I'm not sure I can write that post yet.
Showing posts with label Anime. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anime. Show all posts
Friday, May 29, 2009
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Anime/Manga 101: A "What's What" and "How To" Guide from a Christian Perspective - Manga Formats
In the last entry to this series, we looked at Anime Formats, where we talked about anime movies, OVAs, and TV Series. In this entry, we are going to look at Manga Formats. The series is going to be reordered and renamed to the following:
Anime/Manga 101 - A "What's What" and "How To" Guide From a Christian Perspective
I. Anime Formats
II. Manga Formats
III. Genres
IV. Vocabulary
V. Common Themes
The previous entry to this series has been updated accordingly.
2. Manga Formats
Manga is a printed media, rather than its audiovisual counterpart, anime. Therefore, it doesn't suffer from the same time constraints. Though anime always has to be 23 minutes long and broken into chunks of 13, manga can really be as long or short as it needs to be. So, as we talk about manga formats, understand that the numbers are much more approximate than the numbers we used last time.
Manga exists in four major formats pertaining to when and how the manga is published. Most manga exists first in a magazine that can be bought at a convenience store. They are phonebook-sized, quite heavy, and very cheap (from 250-600 Yen apiece for a 300-700 page magazine). The ink that is used is low quality, and the paper is akin to newspaper. After a certain number of chapters are published, they will be collected into a tankoubon (aka. Trade Paperback, volume), which uses acid-free paper and high-quality ink. The number of chapters in each paperback depends on the publishing format. Let's take a look.
Unserialized/ Volumes - This is the rarest type of (popular) manga. It is not serialized in a magazine at all, but is released in whole volumes. Sometimes, these have chapters, and sometimes they just read straight through. Many non-Japanese manga (specifically Original English Language [OEL] manga from Tokyopop) use this format. New Life League Japan's manga series also uses this format.
There is a subsection of this format called doujinshi, or self-published works. This is a wide category that can include fan works from pre-existing series (akin to fan fiction), original manga from popular artists that they don't want to sell in the mainstream, and original works from non-professional authors. However, be careful searching for the word "doujinshi" on the internet. Though it isn't the case in the actual world, a majority of internet doujinshi that's posted is pornographic in nature.
How to Read: in general, series that are published this way tend to be much shorter, often less than five volumes. However, these volumes tend to be spaced very far apart; often up to a year or more. Therefore, it is good to read the volumes as they come out and then re-read the previous one before you move onto the new one. For me, a manga volume takes a little over an hour to read. I often read it in multiple sittings.
Monthly Mangas - These manga, as the title suggests, are published monthly. Many monthly manga magazines exist in Japan, including Shounen Ace, Shounen Gangan, and Jump S.Q. Monthly magazines, because of their release schedule, tend to have much longer chapters than weekly manga. Oftentimes, a chapter is between 30 and 50 pages, though I have seen some that go up to 60. This also means that there are less chapters in each paperback volume. Paperbacks from monthly mangas range between 4 and 6 chapters per volume, and are generally released about 2 months after the last chapter is finished, meaning that the magazines are often 6 months ahead of the books.
Similar to monthly mangas, but much rarer, are bi-monthly mangas. These are exactly the same except for their release schedule.
How to Read: unlike the mangas published in volumes, it is a little bit easier to remember the story from month to month. I would suggest reading these chapters as they come out, and then once every six months or once a year, re-read everything again.
Weekly Mangas - These are manga series that are published every week, with the exception of certain holiday weeks. Some of the most famous manga in history are weekly mangas, including Dragonball, One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, Slam Dunk, Death Note, and far too many more to list. Many weekly magazines exist, but none of them come close to Weekly Shonen Jump, which sells 3 million copies a week in Japan, and is even published in America. Because of their frequent releases, weekly manga tend to be much shorter; usually 15-20 pages. This also means that in their bound form, there are more chapters per volume. Each trade paperback has about 8-12 chapters in it, and they are released much more frequently than the tankoubon for monthly mangas.
How to Read: Read these as they come out. There should be little reason to go back and re-read chapters, as the weekly releases keep your memory fresh. Even if you are only reading these in trade paperback format, the more frequent release schedule makes things much easier. Also, because of the frequent releases, weekly manga tend to be less "dense" in terms of story (with some notable exceptions).
One-Shots - One shots are manga stories that are contained within a single chapter. They appear in both weekly and monthly magazines on a regular basis, usually when one of the regular artists is taking a break. One-shot mangas sometimes operate as a standalone story, and sometimes they are simply pilot-chapters that an artist uses to sell a new idea; if it gets good ratings, they may get an offer to turn it into a series. One-shots are usually a first step into the business for young artists, though establish artists are also known to try out new ideas in this format. Some magazines even hold one-shot competitions. Unlike the other three formats, one-shots rarely make it into trade paperbacks, because of their size.
How to Read: Read it straight through. If you like it, you may want to physically cut it out of the magazine you read it from and keep it in a file.
Anime/Manga 101 - A "What's What" and "How To" Guide From a Christian Perspective
I. Anime Formats
II. Manga Formats
III. Genres
IV. Vocabulary
V. Common Themes
The previous entry to this series has been updated accordingly.
2. Manga Formats
Manga is a printed media, rather than its audiovisual counterpart, anime. Therefore, it doesn't suffer from the same time constraints. Though anime always has to be 23 minutes long and broken into chunks of 13, manga can really be as long or short as it needs to be. So, as we talk about manga formats, understand that the numbers are much more approximate than the numbers we used last time.
Manga exists in four major formats pertaining to when and how the manga is published. Most manga exists first in a magazine that can be bought at a convenience store. They are phonebook-sized, quite heavy, and very cheap (from 250-600 Yen apiece for a 300-700 page magazine). The ink that is used is low quality, and the paper is akin to newspaper. After a certain number of chapters are published, they will be collected into a tankoubon (aka. Trade Paperback, volume), which uses acid-free paper and high-quality ink. The number of chapters in each paperback depends on the publishing format. Let's take a look.
Unserialized/ Volumes - This is the rarest type of (popular) manga. It is not serialized in a magazine at all, but is released in whole volumes. Sometimes, these have chapters, and sometimes they just read straight through. Many non-Japanese manga (specifically Original English Language [OEL] manga from Tokyopop) use this format. New Life League Japan's manga series also uses this format.
There is a subsection of this format called doujinshi, or self-published works. This is a wide category that can include fan works from pre-existing series (akin to fan fiction), original manga from popular artists that they don't want to sell in the mainstream, and original works from non-professional authors. However, be careful searching for the word "doujinshi" on the internet. Though it isn't the case in the actual world, a majority of internet doujinshi that's posted is pornographic in nature.
How to Read: in general, series that are published this way tend to be much shorter, often less than five volumes. However, these volumes tend to be spaced very far apart; often up to a year or more. Therefore, it is good to read the volumes as they come out and then re-read the previous one before you move onto the new one. For me, a manga volume takes a little over an hour to read. I often read it in multiple sittings.
Monthly Mangas - These manga, as the title suggests, are published monthly. Many monthly manga magazines exist in Japan, including Shounen Ace, Shounen Gangan, and Jump S.Q. Monthly magazines, because of their release schedule, tend to have much longer chapters than weekly manga. Oftentimes, a chapter is between 30 and 50 pages, though I have seen some that go up to 60. This also means that there are less chapters in each paperback volume. Paperbacks from monthly mangas range between 4 and 6 chapters per volume, and are generally released about 2 months after the last chapter is finished, meaning that the magazines are often 6 months ahead of the books.
Similar to monthly mangas, but much rarer, are bi-monthly mangas. These are exactly the same except for their release schedule.
How to Read: unlike the mangas published in volumes, it is a little bit easier to remember the story from month to month. I would suggest reading these chapters as they come out, and then once every six months or once a year, re-read everything again.
Weekly Mangas - These are manga series that are published every week, with the exception of certain holiday weeks. Some of the most famous manga in history are weekly mangas, including Dragonball, One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, Slam Dunk, Death Note, and far too many more to list. Many weekly magazines exist, but none of them come close to Weekly Shonen Jump, which sells 3 million copies a week in Japan, and is even published in America. Because of their frequent releases, weekly manga tend to be much shorter; usually 15-20 pages. This also means that in their bound form, there are more chapters per volume. Each trade paperback has about 8-12 chapters in it, and they are released much more frequently than the tankoubon for monthly mangas.
How to Read: Read these as they come out. There should be little reason to go back and re-read chapters, as the weekly releases keep your memory fresh. Even if you are only reading these in trade paperback format, the more frequent release schedule makes things much easier. Also, because of the frequent releases, weekly manga tend to be less "dense" in terms of story (with some notable exceptions).
One-Shots - One shots are manga stories that are contained within a single chapter. They appear in both weekly and monthly magazines on a regular basis, usually when one of the regular artists is taking a break. One-shot mangas sometimes operate as a standalone story, and sometimes they are simply pilot-chapters that an artist uses to sell a new idea; if it gets good ratings, they may get an offer to turn it into a series. One-shots are usually a first step into the business for young artists, though establish artists are also known to try out new ideas in this format. Some magazines even hold one-shot competitions. Unlike the other three formats, one-shots rarely make it into trade paperbacks, because of their size.
How to Read: Read it straight through. If you like it, you may want to physically cut it out of the magazine you read it from and keep it in a file.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Anime/Manga 101 - A "What's What" and "How To" Guide From a Christian Perspective: Anime Formats
In conjunction with the Spiritual Bridges series, I've decided to give a little introduction to the Japanese mediums of Anime and Manga. Why? Because Spiritual Bridges is not simply meant for people who are already fans of anime and manga; it's meant for people who are actively sharing Christ's Gospel with Japanese youth. So some of the people I am targeting with this series might not know how to approach these mediums. I don't know exactly how many entries there will be to the Anime/Manga 101 series, since I plan to alter it based on feedback, but here is what I am envisioning right now:
I. Anime Formats
II. Manga Formats
III. Genres
IV. Vocabulary
V. Common Themes
Let's begin.
1. Anime Formats
Anime exists in three basic formats: Movies, OVAs (Original Video Animations), and Television Shows. Each of these formats is paced differently and needs to be approached differently, just as you would read a short story and a novel in different ways.
Movies - These are the most easily accessible format for anime newcomers. Movies sometimes are released in Japanese theaters, and they always come to DVD. These movies have similar pacing to Western movies; all of the characters and plot points are introduced, developed, and resolved within one to two and a half hours. There are many famous anime movies in existence. Studio Ghibli is the most famous anime movie producer by far, having given us films such as Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and Gedo Senki: Tales from Earthsea. Other famous anime films include Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Ninja Scroll, Beyond the Clouds - The Promised Place, Evangelion 1.0 - You Are (not) Alone, and most recently, Paprika and Tekonkinkreet.
Some anime movies are not as they seem though. Oftentimes, a movie is tied to a television show. Sometimes the movie is a prequel or sequel, sometimes the movie is a gaiden (side story that takes place during the timeframe of the original), and sometimes the movie is an abridged retelling of the show. For the prequels, sequels, and gaidens, you will probably not understand the movie without seeing the original work first. The abridged retellings, though rare, are a good way to preview a series.
How to Watch: Watch anime movies in one sitting. Pay special attention to any flashbacks that are shown, as they almost always are directly related to the conclusion.
OVAs (Original Video Animations) - sometimes called OAVs (Original Animated Videos). These are short series of an undefined number of episodes that are meant to tell a story. However, rather than a movie, which tells the story at the same time, the OVAs are released incrementaly. They often include higher production values than television anime, and they are often much shorter. These are also fairly accessible, since the episode format allows you to take the story in small sections. Recently, there have been some variant and hybrid formats that would fall under the category of OVA. The first is the ONA, or Original Net Animation, which is a series of short episodes streamed online. The second is is a hybrid between the movie format and the OVA format where a series of movies are released to theaters, each following the previous one. Kara no Kyoukai is one example of this. It is a series of 7 hour-long movies that is currently about halfway finished in the Japanese cinemas.
I also want to give a special note here. Oftentimes, OVAs include material that is inappropriate for television, including gratuitous violence and sex. This is not true for all OVAs, as it is simply a format, not a genre, but do be careful when renting OVAs, as it is the preferred format for "adult" series.
And, as before, OVAs are sometimes a prequel or a sequel to a television series. This isn't true for most OVAs, but there are rare exceptions. You should be able to tell these from the back of the box.
How to Watch: It depends on the OVA. If it is a 3-6 episode standalone story, I'd suggest watching one episode a day for 3-6 days. If it is only three episodes, you may even want to watch it all at once. If you are watching the OVA as it is currently being published, your timeframe will obviously be determined by the release schedule.
Television Shows - this comprises the main "meat" of the anime industry. Of the four Spritual Bridges posts that have been done so far, three are from television shows. Anime shows are not like sitcoms or American cartoons, where each episode is separate and can be viewed in any order. Instead, anime shows follow a continuous story from their first episode to their last. When the story finishes, so does the anime (unless a sequel is made). There are benefits and disadvantages to this. The main disadvantage is that anime shows MUST be viewed in order; skipping an episode or two will likely make the story incomprehensible. It would be the same as skipping a chapter or two in a novel. As a compensation, many anime will have recap episodes where a character will review all of the recent events and give their personal interpretation of them. This can help greatly if you happen to miss an episode.
Despite the disadvantages, this format gives a lot of benefits. The reason anime is so popular and powerful is that it becomes like a visual book, with each episode serving as a chapter. Rather than movies, where everything is resolved rather quickly, you may see a character slowly develop in a specific area over the course of ten or twelve episodes. This allows you to really get into their heads and feel each event with them. This relaxed pace makes it so that character development rarely feels rushed. It also allows the directors to throw in small details that create a fleshed-out world.
Television shows, which are aired weekly for their original broadcasts, vary greatly in their length, but there is usually a mathematical format that they follow. Everything is broken down into seasons and half-seasons. A full season is somewhere between 24 and 26 episodes. This is half a year, and allows for one or two breaks so that the network can be flexible with the schedule. Some anime comprise only a half season with 12-13 episodes. Still others go for two seasons, which is 48-52 episodes. Usually, the half-season and season markers (ie - Episode 13, 26, 39) are special episodes with a climax. These episodes also have higher production values, much like a "Season Finale" in the West. Also, if there are any recap episodes, they are likely to occur in the episode after the half-season or season finale (ie - Episode 14 or 27). It's helpful to keep this in mind in case you miss an episode or two. Then, when the final episode rolls around, you know that the storyline is finished. In contrast to American shows, where the show is only really "finished" if it is cancelled, anime usually has it's endpoint in mind from the very beginning of the production.
There are exceptions to this rule, of course. I like to call these exceptions "Interminable Anime", or anime which seem like they will never end. Famous examples of this include Pokémon, Detective Conan (aka. Case Closed), Dragonball, One Piece, Bleach, Inuyasha, and Naruto. For example, at the time that I am writing this, Naruto has 287 episodes, 4 OVAs, and 5 movies. The story isn't anywhere close to being finished yet. (Special Note: I will probably never cover an Interminable Anime in Spiritual Bridges. I just don't like dealing with them)
That being said, many great anime exist in Television Show format. DVDs usually include 2-4 episodes, though in America, boxsets are becoming increasingly popular.
How to Watch: It really depends on the show, whether you are watching it as it is aired or whether you are watching it on DVD, and how long the show is. If you are watching it as it airs, then you will obviously watch one episode every week. If you are watching it on DVD, approach it like you would approach a book. Very few people that I know read a book through in one sitting, or even in a few dedicated sittings. They usually take a chapter at a time and slowly work through the book until they are at the end. Treat anime the same way. Watch an episode (23 minutes long) and then go about the rest of your day. Over time, you'll eventually get to the end. If it helps, think of half-seasons like novels in a series. Watch 13 episodes, move on to something else for a while, and then come back. Unless your viewings are so far apart that you can't remember the previous episode, the more time you spend with an anime, the more you'll grow to appreciate it.
[With Interminable Anime, you really have to watch it as it comes out. Otherwise, your backlog becomes too large.]
That's all for today. In our next episode we'll look at genres (update: this will be part 3). I'll help you to understand why one show has pink cat-dogs and the next has 20-meter-tall robots hacking at each other with swords.
I. Anime Formats
II. Manga Formats
III. Genres
IV. Vocabulary
V. Common Themes
Let's begin.
1. Anime Formats
Anime exists in three basic formats: Movies, OVAs (Original Video Animations), and Television Shows. Each of these formats is paced differently and needs to be approached differently, just as you would read a short story and a novel in different ways.
Movies - These are the most easily accessible format for anime newcomers. Movies sometimes are released in Japanese theaters, and they always come to DVD. These movies have similar pacing to Western movies; all of the characters and plot points are introduced, developed, and resolved within one to two and a half hours. There are many famous anime movies in existence. Studio Ghibli is the most famous anime movie producer by far, having given us films such as Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and Gedo Senki: Tales from Earthsea. Other famous anime films include Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Ninja Scroll, Beyond the Clouds - The Promised Place, Evangelion 1.0 - You Are (not) Alone, and most recently, Paprika and Tekonkinkreet.
Some anime movies are not as they seem though. Oftentimes, a movie is tied to a television show. Sometimes the movie is a prequel or sequel, sometimes the movie is a gaiden (side story that takes place during the timeframe of the original), and sometimes the movie is an abridged retelling of the show. For the prequels, sequels, and gaidens, you will probably not understand the movie without seeing the original work first. The abridged retellings, though rare, are a good way to preview a series.
How to Watch: Watch anime movies in one sitting. Pay special attention to any flashbacks that are shown, as they almost always are directly related to the conclusion.
OVAs (Original Video Animations) - sometimes called OAVs (Original Animated Videos). These are short series of an undefined number of episodes that are meant to tell a story. However, rather than a movie, which tells the story at the same time, the OVAs are released incrementaly. They often include higher production values than television anime, and they are often much shorter. These are also fairly accessible, since the episode format allows you to take the story in small sections. Recently, there have been some variant and hybrid formats that would fall under the category of OVA. The first is the ONA, or Original Net Animation, which is a series of short episodes streamed online. The second is is a hybrid between the movie format and the OVA format where a series of movies are released to theaters, each following the previous one. Kara no Kyoukai is one example of this. It is a series of 7 hour-long movies that is currently about halfway finished in the Japanese cinemas.
I also want to give a special note here. Oftentimes, OVAs include material that is inappropriate for television, including gratuitous violence and sex. This is not true for all OVAs, as it is simply a format, not a genre, but do be careful when renting OVAs, as it is the preferred format for "adult" series.
And, as before, OVAs are sometimes a prequel or a sequel to a television series. This isn't true for most OVAs, but there are rare exceptions. You should be able to tell these from the back of the box.
How to Watch: It depends on the OVA. If it is a 3-6 episode standalone story, I'd suggest watching one episode a day for 3-6 days. If it is only three episodes, you may even want to watch it all at once. If you are watching the OVA as it is currently being published, your timeframe will obviously be determined by the release schedule.
Television Shows - this comprises the main "meat" of the anime industry. Of the four Spritual Bridges posts that have been done so far, three are from television shows. Anime shows are not like sitcoms or American cartoons, where each episode is separate and can be viewed in any order. Instead, anime shows follow a continuous story from their first episode to their last. When the story finishes, so does the anime (unless a sequel is made). There are benefits and disadvantages to this. The main disadvantage is that anime shows MUST be viewed in order; skipping an episode or two will likely make the story incomprehensible. It would be the same as skipping a chapter or two in a novel. As a compensation, many anime will have recap episodes where a character will review all of the recent events and give their personal interpretation of them. This can help greatly if you happen to miss an episode.
Despite the disadvantages, this format gives a lot of benefits. The reason anime is so popular and powerful is that it becomes like a visual book, with each episode serving as a chapter. Rather than movies, where everything is resolved rather quickly, you may see a character slowly develop in a specific area over the course of ten or twelve episodes. This allows you to really get into their heads and feel each event with them. This relaxed pace makes it so that character development rarely feels rushed. It also allows the directors to throw in small details that create a fleshed-out world.
Television shows, which are aired weekly for their original broadcasts, vary greatly in their length, but there is usually a mathematical format that they follow. Everything is broken down into seasons and half-seasons. A full season is somewhere between 24 and 26 episodes. This is half a year, and allows for one or two breaks so that the network can be flexible with the schedule. Some anime comprise only a half season with 12-13 episodes. Still others go for two seasons, which is 48-52 episodes. Usually, the half-season and season markers (ie - Episode 13, 26, 39) are special episodes with a climax. These episodes also have higher production values, much like a "Season Finale" in the West. Also, if there are any recap episodes, they are likely to occur in the episode after the half-season or season finale (ie - Episode 14 or 27). It's helpful to keep this in mind in case you miss an episode or two. Then, when the final episode rolls around, you know that the storyline is finished. In contrast to American shows, where the show is only really "finished" if it is cancelled, anime usually has it's endpoint in mind from the very beginning of the production.
There are exceptions to this rule, of course. I like to call these exceptions "Interminable Anime", or anime which seem like they will never end. Famous examples of this include Pokémon, Detective Conan (aka. Case Closed), Dragonball, One Piece, Bleach, Inuyasha, and Naruto. For example, at the time that I am writing this, Naruto has 287 episodes, 4 OVAs, and 5 movies. The story isn't anywhere close to being finished yet. (Special Note: I will probably never cover an Interminable Anime in Spiritual Bridges. I just don't like dealing with them)
That being said, many great anime exist in Television Show format. DVDs usually include 2-4 episodes, though in America, boxsets are becoming increasingly popular.
How to Watch: It really depends on the show, whether you are watching it as it is aired or whether you are watching it on DVD, and how long the show is. If you are watching it as it airs, then you will obviously watch one episode every week. If you are watching it on DVD, approach it like you would approach a book. Very few people that I know read a book through in one sitting, or even in a few dedicated sittings. They usually take a chapter at a time and slowly work through the book until they are at the end. Treat anime the same way. Watch an episode (23 minutes long) and then go about the rest of your day. Over time, you'll eventually get to the end. If it helps, think of half-seasons like novels in a series. Watch 13 episodes, move on to something else for a while, and then come back. Unless your viewings are so far apart that you can't remember the previous episode, the more time you spend with an anime, the more you'll grow to appreciate it.
[With Interminable Anime, you really have to watch it as it comes out. Otherwise, your backlog becomes too large.]
That's all for today. In our next episode we'll look at genres (update: this will be part 3). I'll help you to understand why one show has pink cat-dogs and the next has 20-meter-tall robots hacking at each other with swords.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Spiritual Bridges in Anime - Eureka seveN
Good day to you all. After a long hiatus, Spiritual Bridges is back in full force. We were pleased to have Robin White’s excellent post on “Gedo Senki: Tales from Earthsea” last month, and we look forward to including more guest writers in the future. Please let me begin by writing a note about the name of this series. The series name is “Spiritual Bridges,” not “Spiritual Bridges in Anime.” So far, we have covered only anime shows, but future projects may cover manga, light novels, and even live-action movies. I was also recently asked why I didn’t name it “Cultural Bridges.” The answer is that I am not trying to bridge any cultures. I could care less about bridging Japanese culture with Western culture. There has been far too much of that already, which is one of the reasons why people are confusing the message of Christianity with elements of Western culture. For example, look at how Christianity is portrayed in anime. Most of the examples I can think of are either from the vampire genre or include demon-hunting catholic priests/nuns. This is what results when spiritual bridges are confused with cultural bridges. So bridging cultures is pretty low on my list of things to do. Rather, I seek to highlight elements that already exist in Japanese culture to bridge the gap between them and God. A lot of Western anime fans will find things in this series that apply to them, and that’s great. However, that is a secondary goal, not the main one. My main goal is to spark dialogue between Japanese youth and Christ’s ambassadors.
I have been very pleased at the number of positive responses this series has been getting. A little while ago, Paul informed me that we were linked on the Adult Swim forums for the show Death Note. [note: Adult Swim is the late-night block of time on the American Cartoon Network where Death Note is currently airing.] Praise God!
Today, we will be looking at another anime that recently aired on Adult Swim (the original run was in 2007). I first saw this series when I lived in Korea. I didn’t have high hopes for it, but when I read that it was scripted by Dai Sato (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Wolf’s Rain) and animated by BONES (Fullmetal Alchemist, RahXephon, Escaflowne), I decided that I would at least give it a shot. Well, in the end, I watched all 50 episodes in a matter of two weeks, and I currently list this anime as my favorite anime of all time. So, please excuse me if my love for this series gushes forth.
Psalms of Planets: Eureka seveN (交響詩篇 エウレカセブン)
Series Composition and Direction: Dai Sato (佐藤大) and Tomoki Kyoda (京田知己)
Animation Company: BONES
English Licensor: Bandai Entertainment
So, what is Eureka seveN? It’s a 50-episode anime series in the Mecha genre. However, it has multiple spinoff projects, including a 6-volume manga series that re-tells the story in a different way, two Playstation 2 video games that operate as a prequel story (and have two manga volumes themselves), and a movie which was recently announced in the Japanese Newtype Magazine. It has also won 8 awards at some fairly prestigious conventions.
Though the name of the story is taken from the female heroine Eureka (pronounced e-u-re-ka, not yu-ri-ka), the main character is 14-year-old Renton Thurston. When he was a young boy, his father sacrificed himself to save the world, and his sister, who was convinced that their father was still alive, disappeared while looking for him. So Renton has grown up with his grandfather, while everyone expects him to act the hero, just like his father. That’s not his dream though. His dream is to join a professional sports group known as Gekko State and become a famous lifter. [Lifting being an offshoot of surfing where the rider reflects off of concentrations of “transparent light particles” in the air. As a special note, there are no oceans on this world.] Then, in the middle of the night, Eureka literally crashes into his house. She has been sent from Gekko State to have Renton’s grandfather repair her giant mecha (LFOs in this series), known as the Nirvash typeZERO. The machine is missing a vital component, and has ceased responding to her. She and Gekko State think that the missing part is a special piece that Renton’s father created; however, they soon discover that the missing part is actually Renton himself. So Renton’s dream comes true, and he is officially invited to join Gekko State.
What follows is a classic coming-of-age story. Renton quickly learns that his dream of joining Gekko State is a mixed blessing at best, as he spends the first part of the series as an errand/shop boy aboard the ship. In this time, he also learns that people are not always as they appear, and he begins to see the flawed people around him in an adult manner; he sees all of their flaws, but learns to love them for who they are. In return, people discover that Renton has a very special ability: He can make people smile, and he can disarm even the grouchiest and bitter people he comes across. He even manages to break open the shell of Eureka’s emotions, which she has never been taught how to express.
In one very powerful scene in the first half of the series, Renton learns from Eureka that she was trained as a child soldier, and that she has killed many people. Renton, having no idea what to do, simply accepts her for who she is and doesn’t hold her past against her. This freedom allows Eureka to weep for what is presumably the first time in her life, and emotional healing begins in her life. With this emotional healing comes the ability to think for herself and make her own decisions. This becomes our first unlooked for spiritual bridge: the power of confession for healing. Confession is not a very popular subject in Protestant Christianity, as it brings to mind the very penance and indulgence system that Protestants tried so hard to break away from. However, confession is a very Biblical principle, and it almost always leads to healing.
Now, let’s look at Renton’s ability a little bit more. Renton’s ability stems from what I consider the main spiritual bridge of this series: unconditional love. In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church, he talks extensively about love. He says the following: “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” Never have I seen this so clearly portrayed in any modern medium. Renton loves and forgives everyone around him, but no one more than Eureka. This series does what I have never seen an anime series do before: partway through the series, the beautiful female lead is injured very badly, and she becomes rather ugly. She has scars all over her face, her eyebrows have fallen out, and her hair has been lost. Throughout all of this, Renton continues to love her. Even after he learns that she isn’t completely human (more on that later), it doesn’t change the way he looks at her. His love extends even to his enemies, as later in the series he devises a way to fight his enemies and disarm them without harming them. Because of all of this, Renton provides a very unique role model in the world of anime. Though he makes mistakes while learning to love unconditionally, he learns from them and grows.
Let me give one more note about the love portrayed in this series. It is distinctly split into two parts. In the first half of the series, Renton and Eureka are in the process of falling in love and going through all of the growing pains associated with that. However, when the credits roll for episode 26, that thread of the story is resolved; Renton and Eureka are together. Happily ever after, right? Not quite. The second half of the series depicts how they learn to live with each other; how they argue and reconcile; how they learn to think and live as one. As they do so, they slowly uncover a way to save the world, but it requires both of them to give up their pride and themselves. It is a beautiful depiction of some of the elements that I believe Godly relationships are built upon.
There are many, many more spiritual bridges in this anime, but I’m only going to mention one more: the character of Eureka. As I mentioned before, Eureka is not entirely human. On the planet where this takes place, there are two main forms of sentient life: humans and Coralians—a kind of living coral. The Coralians have a hive mentality, where one thought is shared amongst them all, essentially making Coralians one personality. Humans are trying to destroy the Coralians, but the Coralians are simply trying to understand the humans and form a relationship with them. As a result, they fashion a Coralian with a human body, Eureka, and give her a distinct personality. She is to learn all that she can about the humans and then rejoin the Coralian entity. She is likened to a “blank page” that humans can write anything that they want on. Depending on what is written on her “page”, the Coralians will either sacrifice themselves to support human life, or they will destroy the humans to save themselves. Though it is not a perfect bridge by any means, this can lead the way into a discussion about Christ from the book of Hebrews, where He is presented as High Priest and Mediator, being our perfect advocate before God because He understands everything that we have gone through. Though Eureka is not perfect, she represents the hope associated with incarnation, and it is powerful.
As I said, there is a lot more to cover. This series also touches on racism, the importance of father figures, facing problems instead of running away from them, disciplining in love, and much more. It is not my favorite anime for no reason. How can you get ahold of it? In Japan, it should be available in pretty much every rental store in the country. In America, it stands a high chance of being in rental stores, though Netflix is always sure to have it. Unfortunately, no box sets have become available yet, so the price for purchasing it is still really high. Still, I doubt you will be disappointed.
Here is a trailer from the series, made by a fan.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Spiritual Bridges in Anime - Tales From Earthsea
Well, after a long hiatus, the Spiritual Bridges series is back, and this time with a guest writer. Expect to get more in this series in the next two months. I have one post that is almost done, and we have another guest writer working on a different piece right now.
Let me tell you a bit about today's entry. It is written by Robin White, the author of the Japan Log blog and the SkitZo MaN comic. We met through this blog, when he left comments on my post on Manga Outreach. He is a missionary based in Nagoya, and he shares a very similar vision to Paul and me. It's a priviledge to have him write for us. When we were talking about which series he would write about, we decided to have him write about an easily accessible one--a movie. I, for one, think he did a very good job. So, let us begin.
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Tales From Earthsea:
Let me tell you a bit about today's entry. It is written by Robin White, the author of the Japan Log blog and the SkitZo MaN comic. We met through this blog, when he left comments on my post on Manga Outreach. He is a missionary based in Nagoya, and he shares a very similar vision to Paul and me. It's a priviledge to have him write for us. When we were talking about which series he would write about, we decided to have him write about an easily accessible one--a movie. I, for one, think he did a very good job. So, let us begin.
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Tales From Earthsea:Japanese title: “Gendo Senki”, ie “Ged’s War Chronicles”
(Very loose adaptation of Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea novels)
Director: Goro Miyazaki
A Studio Ghibli film
For more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_from_Earthsea_(film)
Studio Ghibli’s Tales From Earthsea is the directorial debut of Goro Miyazaki, son of the more famous Hayao Miyazaki. Reviews for the film have been mixed at best: Fans of the novels were disappointed that it’s such a loose adaptation of the books, while Studio Ghibli fans can’t help but compare it to the studio’s other movies -- which form a pretty impressive list. Let’s face it, Goro’s got some pretty big shoes to fill. So let’s not be too hard on the guy.
I can’t compare it to the books, since I’ve not read them, but if any readers want to chime in on that aspect, feel free to leave a comment. I can compare it to other Ghibli films, however, as I am a big fan of them. Earthsea is missing a lot of the fun and whimsey of previous Ghibli films (in fact, I don’t remember any comic relief at all). And it’s a more “typical” kind of fantasy story (with wizards and dragons, etc) than the others. Another weakness is that there are parts of the plot that don’t seem to have been fully explained.
But the animation is still classic Ghibli, while the characters are interesting and the story is engaging.
There are also some great spiritual bridges. But let’s talk about the story itself first.
Tales From Earthsea opens with a storm at sea and two dragons doing battle. We soon learn that this is a bad omen, a sign that something is wrong with the “balance” of world. Soon after, we meet the main character, Arren, who in his first appearance kills his father, the king. After murdering his father, Arren is on the run. He meets up with Sparrowhawk the Archmage, and ends up accompanying him on his journey.
Sparrowhawk, as it turns out, is searching for the cause of the disturbance in the balance. What we eventually find out is that the very thing causing the darkness within Arren, and from which he is running, is the cause of the disturbance: Lord Cob, an evil wizard searching for the key to eternal life.
The other main characters in the story are Tenar, a peasant woman whom Sparrowhawk has known for years, and a young girl named Therru, who is cared for by Tenar on her farm. After a run-in with some slave traders, Arren and Sparrowhawk retreat to Tenar’s farm for a few days. The slave traders, who work for Lord Cob, use Tenar to lure Sparrowhawk into a trap. Meanwhile, after an angsty Arren has run away from the farm, Lord Cob manages to capture him.
And this is where the spiritual bridges come in:
Before running away, Arren has a conversation with Therru, to whom he confesses that he killed his father. He talks about the darkness and anger he feels, and how at times he feels like there is “someone else” inside him. What a perfect bridge for talking about our sin nature. In this fallen world, sin comes naturally to us. Outside of Christ, while we still have the freedom to choose, we have something else inside us always drawing us toward sin. Thankfully, because of God’s grace, we can be saved from our sins.
In Earthsea’s mythology, everyone and everything has a “true name”, a secret name. The key to magic is knowing that name and how to use it. I’m told the author of the Earthsea books, Ursula K. Le Guin, is the daughter of an anthropologist, and that this idea of our true names was influenced by a concept found in the belief systems of various tribal peoples (such as the Motilone of Cambodia). As we’ll see, there’s also a Biblical parallel.
As I mentioned above, Cob’s quest is to gain eternal life. He does this by delving into a kind of dark magic that is forbidden, and somehow Arren is a part it. There’s a scene where Cob is manipulating Arren into revealing his true name to him. I can’t help but think about the parallels between that scene and the temptation of Adam and Eve in the Garden, or of Jesus in the desert. In the film, Cob tempts Arren by trying to convince him that he’ll gain something in return -- eternal life. He preys on Arren’s fear. This is another great bridge to talk about sin and temptation. What looks good and appealing is often the devil in disguise; what we think will bring us life leads to death.
It is through Arren and Therru’s revealing their true names to one another that Arren is saved and Cob is finally defeated. The message here seems to be about being true to yourself -- your true self. The Christian could take this message a step further: it’s only through a relationship with God through Jesus Christ that we can truly know ourselves and be the person we were meant to be. There’s an interesting passage in the book of Revelation that reflects this, where Jesus says He will give His followers a “white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it” (Rev. 2:17). God knows us better than we know ourselves. We’re not really free to be ourselves or live life to the fullest outside of a relationship with Him.
There’s a great quote near the end where Therru says to Arren, “Death isn’t what you fear most -- you’re afraid of being alive!” That’s true of so many of us, I think. We let our fears control us and keep us from truly living life to the fullest. But the Bible tells us that “perfect love drives out fear” (1 John 4:18). And where else does perfect love come from but God?
The most obvious spiritual bridge, of course, is on the subject of eternal life. In the world of Earthsea, we find out, there is no possibility of eternal life. Instead we should live our only life to the fullest and be true to ourselves, and in doing so find real life. While the Christian would disagree, and say there is indeed eternal life, there’s also a kernel of truth here: It’s not in selfishly grasping for life that we find it, but in giving our lives to something -- someone -- greater than ourselves, someone who gave His life so that we can truly live -- and yes, live eternally, too!
Jesus said “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?” (Luke 9:24-25)
It’s only in Christ Jesus that we can really know ourselves. It’s only in Him that fear can be driven out of our hearts completely. And it’s only through Him we can truly live.
Arren starts out as a murderer, running from his past -- from himself, really. Eventually he comes to terms with what he’s done and who he is. Tales of Earthsea, while not Ghibli’s best offering, is nevertheless an engaging story of redemption. But even better, it can be used to point the way an even better story of redemption: the true story of the Gospel.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
The Tree of Life & the Tree of Knowledge -- A Response
Thanks Scot for "The Tree of Life & the Tree of Knowledge" post. As you know, Japanese pop culture is saturated with spiritual symbols and themes (it astounds me how often I hear someone label Japan "secular" -- using the word to mean that there is a very low interest in the metaphysical).You posted your article about the tree being an important symbol in Japanese media the day after Jonathan Herring and I visited Meiji shrine in Harajuku (one of the more important Shinto shrines in Japan). Meiji shrine is huge, the biggest I have seen. We entered the grounds and walked along a lovely path with a majestic forest on both sides. This path passes through three large torii (shinto gates) made from massive trees (each vertical post and cross beam is made from a single tree); the gates lead into an alternative world.
After walking for ten minutes we arrived at the main shrine, which is an amazingly ornate and large complex of buildings, gates and fences that took a tremendous amount of skill to build. In the court yard is a very old, stunningly beautiful "sacred tree" that is surrounded by a wooden fence. The fence has a large number of pegs on it where people hang little wooden placards with personal prayers written on them (the placards are sold for 500 yen each, there were well over five thousand of them hanging on the pegs, I will have to go back and find out how often they are removed to make room for new ones).I was deeply impressed by the size and majesty of this tree, and by the way thousands of people believe that it is a source of power. Well dressed, educated, articulate Japanese (plus a few foreigners) going to a majestic tree to get some help for their problems.
In Japan the spiritual significance of trees (what Scot observes in Japanese pop culture) began long ago when the land was covered with virgin forests full of magnificent trees like the one at Meiji shrine. It must have been awe inspiring to walk in such a forest; I would love to be able to do so.
Thanks again Scot for your excellent article!
The second and third photos are by Richard Eccleston
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Spritual Bridges in Anime - Death Note
So, have you heard about the new Death Note movie? If the answer is “No,” then you probably haven’t been to a movie theatre, bookstore, CD shop, video rental store, manga café, karaoke room, or combini lately. Either that or you don’t live in Japan. The new movie, L – Change the world, has been the #1 movie in Japan since its release just over two weeks ago, and it has seen the release of a novelization, a soundtrack, and a one-shot manga (a story that begins and ends in one chapter) as well as gracing the covers of multiple manga magazines—even ones that never serialized it. So, there’s a bit of hype.
So what is Death Note? It exists in three forms: a 12-volume manga (plus extras), a set of two live-action movies (with a 3rd spinoff movie currently in theatres), and a 37-episode anime series (with two 2-hour remake specials). It’s also the name for one of the most controversial mainstream mangas ever released. In this entry to Spiritual Bridges, I will be covering the anime version for a variety of reasons. First, the movie is not considered “canon,” as it changes some crucial plot details. Second, the anime trims down some of the excess exposition that makes the manga badly paced. Third, it’s beautiful. Whether you are talking about art, music, dramatic timing, voice acting*, or any number of other categories, my personal opinion is that the Death Note anime series approaches artistic perfection more than any other series I have ever seen. I don’t say that lightly.
[*I am referring to the Japanese voices. I have only seen one episode with the English voices, so I feel unqualified to comment on that. However, the English dub is currently airing on Cartoon Network, so many of you may be more familiar with that.]
Now, for the standard disclaimers. I was originally planning on saving Death Note as one of the final entries in this series. This series is about as non-Christian as a series can get, and the themes that are brought up are at once brilliant, powerful, and profoundly unsettling. As such, this may be the hardest series that I will ever work with on this site, but I deal with it because of its great potential. I am dealing with it now because the new movie has brought it back to everyone’s mind.
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Death Note (デスノート)
Original Author/Artist: Ooba Tsugumi (大場 つぐみ) and Obata Takeshi (小畑健)
Animation Company: Madhouse
English Licensor: VIZ media
The story begins with Yagami Light, a senior in high school who is quite possibly the smartest person his age in all of Japan. One day after school, he finds a notebook dropped by the Shinigami (death god) Ryuk. But this notebook is special. In it, the following rules are written. I reproduce them in their entirety because they are necessary for understanding the series:
1. The human whose name is written in this note shall die.
2. This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person’s face in mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected.
3. If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the person’s name, it will happen.
4. If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack.
5. After writing the cause of death, details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.
And thus, Light gains the power of life and death—and anonymity. But Light is an ambitious boy, and decides to not use this power for petty purposes. He decides that he will use the Death Note to judge the world, cleansing it of its criminals, effectively bringing about worldwide peace. He will use the rules of the Death Note to his advantage, making all of the criminals die of heart attacks, so that the world will realize that there is intention and purpose behind the deaths and change their ways. He earns the name “Kira” which is the katakana of the English “killer.” In the end, he purposes to become the God of his new world. But one man arises out of nowhere to stand in his way: a faceless and nameless (read: unkillable) detective known only as “L”. Light must figure out a way to kill L, and L must figure out a way to convict Light. Though each of them knows who the other is, Light is never able to get L’s name, and L is never able to find any evidence against Light. This is the groundwork for our story. You might wonder how we will ever draw spiritual bridges from such a story, but bear with me. First, we need to talk about characters.
Yagami Light, the main character, and the protagonist, is also the bad guy. In many ways, Light is the human embodiment of the principles of Niccolo Machiavelli and Friedrich Nietzsche. He is brilliant, and his brilliance brings him to the edge of criminal insanity. He knows how the world works, and he knows how to manipulate people. He even manages to work his way onto the taskforce that has been formed for the sole purpose, ironically, of catching him. Throughout the series, through Light, we get to see how criminal insanity is formed, and it is very, scarily believable. We see him becoming the very type of person that he originally set out to cleanse the world of. In short, Light becomes evil, in the purest sense of the word. He kills those close to him with little regard or second thought, though those people, unaware, would follow him willingly to their death. By the end of the series, though people love him and follow him, he literally loses his ability to love. There is only one person in the series that he ever comes close to loving, but he ends up killing that man in the worst possible way.
L, in contrast, is the antagonist, but not necessarily the good guy. He is equally as brilliant, but differs from Light in the fact that he doesn’t believe it is right for a human to judge other humans. In many ways, L represents one of the main themes of the series: balance. His brilliance comes from the fact that he can balance logic and intuition, inductive and deductive reasoning, and most importantly, justice and mercy. He suffers from the same pride that plagues Light, but never loses his ability to love. During one episode of the series, he becomes convinced that Light is “Kira”, but becomes completely unable to prove it. We see him standing in the rain on top of a building pondering things. Light, who is on the investigation squad at this point, comes to fetch him, and the two have a very meaningful conversation. L reveals that Light—whom he knows is Kira, but who is also the only equal he has ever faced—is his first friend. As they are drying off from the rain, L, in a completely surprising moment, stoops down to wash and dry Light’s feet. This profoundly affects Light, and when Light draws his last breath, it is to address L. Nonetheless, minutes after this touching moment, Light’s plan, which has been set in motion for months by this point, results in L’s death at the hands of a Shinigami.
This brings us to the third and final main character: Ryuk, the Shinigami. I have mentioned that one of the main themes of this series is balance. Ryuk’s entire purpose in this series is to upset that balance. If Light and L represent order, Ryuk represents chaos, and both of the main characters meet their deaths because they cannot balance order and chaos. L cannot catch Kira (Light) because he is unable to account for Ryuk’s actions. Light ends up killing his only friend and bringing about his own demise because he cannot balance the chaos either. [This, in essence, is a very Japanese way of looking at supernatural intervention. We humans try to live our lives in order and balance, but the kami intervene and cause disorder and disharmony when we fail to honor them. As such, the Japanese worldview is one of passive acceptance of outside forces, all while trying to keep the gods placated and at bay.] Ryuk’s only motivation for his actions in the series is boredom. He has been alive for thousands of years, and his only real purpose has been to supernaturally shorten the lifespans of humans. He has no affiliation with either Light or L, but capriciously helps Light at times simply because he finds Light interesting, and Light provides him with his favorite food (apples). Aside from that, his actions are completely self-serving, and he feels no remorse at the end in abandoning Light, to his death. Ryuk represents the unpredictable, from the first episode to the last.
So, with a series like this, and characters like this, how are we to ever explain the gospel of Christ? As I said before, this is hard, but the result can be very powerful. But in order to build the bridge, we are building more on what is unsaid than on what is said. One thing unique about this series is that it never seeks to answer the questions it asks. For example, it asks, “What is true justice?” but never answers the question, since neither Light nor L represents true justice. It also asks what it would take to change humanity and bring about peace, but never provides an answer. And this is not lazy storytelling; it’s intentional. So now, I am going to try to show how one can go from watching this show to entering into dialogue with people to answer these questions.
One of the most surprising things about Death Note is that the bad guy wins. Halfway through the series, Light succeeds in killing L, and the rest of the investigation squad, still unaware that Light is Kira, elects him as L’s replacement. The story then goes on break, to be picked up 5 years later. Light, Kira, has succeeded in making his new world, and there are those who openly worship him as God. He has enacted justice on criminals, worldwide crime has dropped by over 70%, and people seem to be living in peace with one another. It’s a utopia, right?
No.
Light succeeds in cleansing the world, but not in cleansing peoples’ hearts. Crime has dropped off, but only because of fear. People no longer commit crimes because they know they will be killed; not because they truly want to become better people. In one very telling moment, a man knowingly commits a crime and strategically kidnaps a media spokesperson that Kira has put in place. He fully plans on being arrested and thrown in jail, but the police surround him and shoot him dead without warning him, noting that Kira would have killed him anyway, and they were just saving Kira the trouble.
All of this illustrates in a very clear way the profound human paradox that what people need in the deepest part of their hearts is not justice, but mercy. Justice was given for five years, and the world became clean on the surface and rotten underneath. It is impossible to watch this series and miss that idea. From here, we can guide people on the last step to ask what it would really take to change the world. Would absolute justice truly create a better place? Would people become better if every crime was followed-up on and punished appropriately? Would we, you and I, change our hearts if God always enacted his righteous justice and never showed us mercy? No. No. No. For what truly changes people, whether they be American, Kenyan, Iraqi, or Japanese, is to receive pardon when they know in their heart-of-hearts that they don’t deserve it.
This is a message that Japanese people need to hear. For heaven’s sake, they need to hear it! There is no recovery, no forgiveness, if a large enough mistake is made in Japan. There is no way to regain face or honor, save by a cycle of death and rebirth, where the karma of your mistakes follows you anyway. Something needs to break the cycle. Something needs to intervene if peace will ever be obtained. This series doesn’t directly say that, but it illustrates it in a profound way.
In the end of the series, as Light is dying, Ryuk informs him that when humans die, they don’t go to either heaven or hell. The place that they go is “Mu” (nothingness). And that is the end of the series. That’s the end of the story. It begins in chaos and ends in nothingness. There is no hope; there is no joy. The despair and pointlessness is so poignant that you can almost touch it. And yet, from that point, we as ambassadors for Christ can speak words of hope, words of balance, words of mercy, and words of love.
I could write more, as there are dozens of characters that I didn’t even mention, but I suggest that you invest in this series. Rent it from your local video store if you’re in Japan, watch it on Cartoon Network if you’re in the US, or buy it if you’re in either country. It is not a story of hope, and it’s not a story that is easy to build bridges from, but it is a story which portrays some of the fears and the questions that are in the minds of Japanese youth right now. It is a story that portrays the desperate need for hope and mercy. Most importantly, it is a series that asks good questions—questions to which we have the Answer.
Spiritual Bridges part 2
So what is Death Note? It exists in three forms: a 12-volume manga (plus extras), a set of two live-action movies (with a 3rd spinoff movie currently in theatres), and a 37-episode anime series (with two 2-hour remake specials). It’s also the name for one of the most controversial mainstream mangas ever released. In this entry to Spiritual Bridges, I will be covering the anime version for a variety of reasons. First, the movie is not considered “canon,” as it changes some crucial plot details. Second, the anime trims down some of the excess exposition that makes the manga badly paced. Third, it’s beautiful. Whether you are talking about art, music, dramatic timing, voice acting*, or any number of other categories, my personal opinion is that the Death Note anime series approaches artistic perfection more than any other series I have ever seen. I don’t say that lightly.
[*I am referring to the Japanese voices. I have only seen one episode with the English voices, so I feel unqualified to comment on that. However, the English dub is currently airing on Cartoon Network, so many of you may be more familiar with that.]
Now, for the standard disclaimers. I was originally planning on saving Death Note as one of the final entries in this series. This series is about as non-Christian as a series can get, and the themes that are brought up are at once brilliant, powerful, and profoundly unsettling. As such, this may be the hardest series that I will ever work with on this site, but I deal with it because of its great potential. I am dealing with it now because the new movie has brought it back to everyone’s mind.
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Death Note (デスノート)Original Author/Artist: Ooba Tsugumi (大場 つぐみ) and Obata Takeshi (小畑健)
Animation Company: Madhouse
English Licensor: VIZ media
The story begins with Yagami Light, a senior in high school who is quite possibly the smartest person his age in all of Japan. One day after school, he finds a notebook dropped by the Shinigami (death god) Ryuk. But this notebook is special. In it, the following rules are written. I reproduce them in their entirety because they are necessary for understanding the series:
1. The human whose name is written in this note shall die.
2. This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person’s face in mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected.
3. If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the person’s name, it will happen.
4. If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack.
5. After writing the cause of death, details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.
And thus, Light gains the power of life and death—and anonymity. But Light is an ambitious boy, and decides to not use this power for petty purposes. He decides that he will use the Death Note to judge the world, cleansing it of its criminals, effectively bringing about worldwide peace. He will use the rules of the Death Note to his advantage, making all of the criminals die of heart attacks, so that the world will realize that there is intention and purpose behind the deaths and change their ways. He earns the name “Kira” which is the katakana of the English “killer.” In the end, he purposes to become the God of his new world. But one man arises out of nowhere to stand in his way: a faceless and nameless (read: unkillable) detective known only as “L”. Light must figure out a way to kill L, and L must figure out a way to convict Light. Though each of them knows who the other is, Light is never able to get L’s name, and L is never able to find any evidence against Light. This is the groundwork for our story. You might wonder how we will ever draw spiritual bridges from such a story, but bear with me. First, we need to talk about characters.
Yagami Light, the main character, and the protagonist, is also the bad guy. In many ways, Light is the human embodiment of the principles of Niccolo Machiavelli and Friedrich Nietzsche. He is brilliant, and his brilliance brings him to the edge of criminal insanity. He knows how the world works, and he knows how to manipulate people. He even manages to work his way onto the taskforce that has been formed for the sole purpose, ironically, of catching him. Throughout the series, through Light, we get to see how criminal insanity is formed, and it is very, scarily believable. We see him becoming the very type of person that he originally set out to cleanse the world of. In short, Light becomes evil, in the purest sense of the word. He kills those close to him with little regard or second thought, though those people, unaware, would follow him willingly to their death. By the end of the series, though people love him and follow him, he literally loses his ability to love. There is only one person in the series that he ever comes close to loving, but he ends up killing that man in the worst possible way.
L, in contrast, is the antagonist, but not necessarily the good guy. He is equally as brilliant, but differs from Light in the fact that he doesn’t believe it is right for a human to judge other humans. In many ways, L represents one of the main themes of the series: balance. His brilliance comes from the fact that he can balance logic and intuition, inductive and deductive reasoning, and most importantly, justice and mercy. He suffers from the same pride that plagues Light, but never loses his ability to love. During one episode of the series, he becomes convinced that Light is “Kira”, but becomes completely unable to prove it. We see him standing in the rain on top of a building pondering things. Light, who is on the investigation squad at this point, comes to fetch him, and the two have a very meaningful conversation. L reveals that Light—whom he knows is Kira, but who is also the only equal he has ever faced—is his first friend. As they are drying off from the rain, L, in a completely surprising moment, stoops down to wash and dry Light’s feet. This profoundly affects Light, and when Light draws his last breath, it is to address L. Nonetheless, minutes after this touching moment, Light’s plan, which has been set in motion for months by this point, results in L’s death at the hands of a Shinigami.
This brings us to the third and final main character: Ryuk, the Shinigami. I have mentioned that one of the main themes of this series is balance. Ryuk’s entire purpose in this series is to upset that balance. If Light and L represent order, Ryuk represents chaos, and both of the main characters meet their deaths because they cannot balance order and chaos. L cannot catch Kira (Light) because he is unable to account for Ryuk’s actions. Light ends up killing his only friend and bringing about his own demise because he cannot balance the chaos either. [This, in essence, is a very Japanese way of looking at supernatural intervention. We humans try to live our lives in order and balance, but the kami intervene and cause disorder and disharmony when we fail to honor them. As such, the Japanese worldview is one of passive acceptance of outside forces, all while trying to keep the gods placated and at bay.] Ryuk’s only motivation for his actions in the series is boredom. He has been alive for thousands of years, and his only real purpose has been to supernaturally shorten the lifespans of humans. He has no affiliation with either Light or L, but capriciously helps Light at times simply because he finds Light interesting, and Light provides him with his favorite food (apples). Aside from that, his actions are completely self-serving, and he feels no remorse at the end in abandoning Light, to his death. Ryuk represents the unpredictable, from the first episode to the last.
So, with a series like this, and characters like this, how are we to ever explain the gospel of Christ? As I said before, this is hard, but the result can be very powerful. But in order to build the bridge, we are building more on what is unsaid than on what is said. One thing unique about this series is that it never seeks to answer the questions it asks. For example, it asks, “What is true justice?” but never answers the question, since neither Light nor L represents true justice. It also asks what it would take to change humanity and bring about peace, but never provides an answer. And this is not lazy storytelling; it’s intentional. So now, I am going to try to show how one can go from watching this show to entering into dialogue with people to answer these questions.
One of the most surprising things about Death Note is that the bad guy wins. Halfway through the series, Light succeeds in killing L, and the rest of the investigation squad, still unaware that Light is Kira, elects him as L’s replacement. The story then goes on break, to be picked up 5 years later. Light, Kira, has succeeded in making his new world, and there are those who openly worship him as God. He has enacted justice on criminals, worldwide crime has dropped by over 70%, and people seem to be living in peace with one another. It’s a utopia, right?
No.
Light succeeds in cleansing the world, but not in cleansing peoples’ hearts. Crime has dropped off, but only because of fear. People no longer commit crimes because they know they will be killed; not because they truly want to become better people. In one very telling moment, a man knowingly commits a crime and strategically kidnaps a media spokesperson that Kira has put in place. He fully plans on being arrested and thrown in jail, but the police surround him and shoot him dead without warning him, noting that Kira would have killed him anyway, and they were just saving Kira the trouble.
All of this illustrates in a very clear way the profound human paradox that what people need in the deepest part of their hearts is not justice, but mercy. Justice was given for five years, and the world became clean on the surface and rotten underneath. It is impossible to watch this series and miss that idea. From here, we can guide people on the last step to ask what it would really take to change the world. Would absolute justice truly create a better place? Would people become better if every crime was followed-up on and punished appropriately? Would we, you and I, change our hearts if God always enacted his righteous justice and never showed us mercy? No. No. No. For what truly changes people, whether they be American, Kenyan, Iraqi, or Japanese, is to receive pardon when they know in their heart-of-hearts that they don’t deserve it.
This is a message that Japanese people need to hear. For heaven’s sake, they need to hear it! There is no recovery, no forgiveness, if a large enough mistake is made in Japan. There is no way to regain face or honor, save by a cycle of death and rebirth, where the karma of your mistakes follows you anyway. Something needs to break the cycle. Something needs to intervene if peace will ever be obtained. This series doesn’t directly say that, but it illustrates it in a profound way.
In the end of the series, as Light is dying, Ryuk informs him that when humans die, they don’t go to either heaven or hell. The place that they go is “Mu” (nothingness). And that is the end of the series. That’s the end of the story. It begins in chaos and ends in nothingness. There is no hope; there is no joy. The despair and pointlessness is so poignant that you can almost touch it. And yet, from that point, we as ambassadors for Christ can speak words of hope, words of balance, words of mercy, and words of love.
I could write more, as there are dozens of characters that I didn’t even mention, but I suggest that you invest in this series. Rent it from your local video store if you’re in Japan, watch it on Cartoon Network if you’re in the US, or buy it if you’re in either country. It is not a story of hope, and it’s not a story that is easy to build bridges from, but it is a story which portrays some of the fears and the questions that are in the minds of Japanese youth right now. It is a story that portrays the desperate need for hope and mercy. Most importantly, it is a series that asks good questions—questions to which we have the Answer.
Spiritual Bridges part 2
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Spritual Bridges in Anime - Fullmetal Alchemist
In my (Scot's) original post on this blog, I gave a list of three topics I planned on posting about. So far, I haven't posted about a single one of those topics. What's more, in the two most recent postings I have given, there has been a relatively negative tone. I stand by what I said, but I don't want to be negative all of the time.
So, I am going to start a new series of posts--a series which will run indefinately, called "Spiritual Bridges", where I will take a critical (but hopeful) look at anime and manga, Japan's biggest cultural export, and attempt to build some bridges between the ideas presented in the anime/manga and the Christian worldview. It is my hope that these postings will allow Japanese Christians and Missionaries alike start to speak the language of this country's youth, telling them about the incredible gospel of Christ in a way that they can understand.
Before we begin, let me get a few things taken care of. First, let me explain the different mediums we will be working with.
Anime is a an abbreviation of "animation," and in Japanese refers to cartoons in genearl. In English, it specifically connotates Japanese cartoons, drawn in a specific style. Anime exists in two basic forms: movies and television shows. Movies are standalone works, and television shows are continuous stories spanning a certain number of episodes (usually 12-13, 24-26, or 50-52, corresponding to the average number of weeks in a season) that must be watched in order.
Manga is the Japanese word for "comic book" which in Japan covers all forms of graphic novels. In English, this word specifically refers to Japanese graphic novels. Like anime, manga tell a continuous story, and each chapter must be read in order. A good number of anime were originally manga (like Dragonball Z and Naruto). Manga is released by chapter either weekly or monthly, and after a set period of time, multiple chapters are collected into a bound volume. There is no standard length for manga. Some stories cover six volumes, whereas others (like One Piece) are in the 40's.
Also, a disclaimer. There is very little manga and virtually no anime from a Christian perspective. None of the pieces I mention here were made by Christian authors. As a result, I urge readers to think critically. There will be parts of every story that we cannot affirm, but that doesn't mean that these stories are morally or spiritually void. Now, without further ado, the first post of this series.
-----------------------------------------------------
So, I am going to start a new series of posts--a series which will run indefinately, called "Spiritual Bridges", where I will take a critical (but hopeful) look at anime and manga, Japan's biggest cultural export, and attempt to build some bridges between the ideas presented in the anime/manga and the Christian worldview. It is my hope that these postings will allow Japanese Christians and Missionaries alike start to speak the language of this country's youth, telling them about the incredible gospel of Christ in a way that they can understand.
Before we begin, let me get a few things taken care of. First, let me explain the different mediums we will be working with.
Anime is a an abbreviation of "animation," and in Japanese refers to cartoons in genearl. In English, it specifically connotates Japanese cartoons, drawn in a specific style. Anime exists in two basic forms: movies and television shows. Movies are standalone works, and television shows are continuous stories spanning a certain number of episodes (usually 12-13, 24-26, or 50-52, corresponding to the average number of weeks in a season) that must be watched in order.
Manga is the Japanese word for "comic book" which in Japan covers all forms of graphic novels. In English, this word specifically refers to Japanese graphic novels. Like anime, manga tell a continuous story, and each chapter must be read in order. A good number of anime were originally manga (like Dragonball Z and Naruto). Manga is released by chapter either weekly or monthly, and after a set period of time, multiple chapters are collected into a bound volume. There is no standard length for manga. Some stories cover six volumes, whereas others (like One Piece) are in the 40's.
Also, a disclaimer. There is very little manga and virtually no anime from a Christian perspective. None of the pieces I mention here were made by Christian authors. As a result, I urge readers to think critically. There will be parts of every story that we cannot affirm, but that doesn't mean that these stories are morally or spiritually void. Now, without further ado, the first post of this series.
-----------------------------------------------------
Fullmetal Alchemist (鋼の錬金術師)Original Author: Arakawa Hiromu (荒川弘)
Animation Company: BONES
English Licensor: FUNimation
This story exists in two forms. The original is a monthly manga by Arakawa Hiromu, which currently has 79 chapters and is still running. The second is a 51-episode anime + movie (The Conqueror of Shamballa) by Studio BONES. These two forms have the same characters, but are essentially different stories. When the manga finishes, I will post about that. For now, I am posting about the anime version.
The story begins with two young alchemist brothers named Edward and Alphonse who are on a quest to retrieve the legendary Philosopher's Stone. This stone allows the user to bypass the laws of Equivalent Exchange--the first rule of alchemy. Basically, alchemy is a skill which allows the user to break an object down into its base elements and rearrange it however they see fit. Thus, Equivalent Exchange means that the atoms on one side of the equation must equal the atoms on the other side of the equation. A few years before the story begins, the brothers tried to use alchemy to recreate their dead mother. However, they didn't factor in the price of a soul in their experiment, and were punished severely for trying to "step on God's territory." Edward, the older brother, lost his left leg; Alphonse, the younger brother, lost his entire body. In order to save Alphonse, Edward sacrifices his right arm in order to bond his brother's soul to a suit of armor standing in the corner. Maimed, scared, and remorseful, the two set out on a quest to procure the Philosopher's Stone and restore each others' bodies. Edward uses his life savings to buy a prosthetic arm and leg, which their childhood friend (Winry) manufactures.
One of the main spiritual bridges in this anime is the concept of selflessness stemming from love. Neither Ed nor Al are out to restore their own bodies. Each of them feels equally responsible for their mistake, and is working for the benefit of the other. This selfless unity, which places no blame, allows them to work together to overcome overwhelming difficulties along the way.
Another bridge is the value of human life. Never have I seen an anime cover this so thoroughly. Many questions are asked. Since Al is only a soul, without a body, is he still human? Some characters say no, but ultimately, the show illustrates that human worth is not dependent upon human status. It's easy to go from this to talk about how humans have worth not because of our beauty or ability, but because we are made in the image of God. This is explored further too. Many times in the series, the end is in sight. Ed and Al have countless opportunities to accomplish their goal, but not without compromising their moral ground. They hold fast to what is right, even though it is much more dangerous and difficult. In contrast, one character, Scar, compromises constantly, living for himself and being unafraid to kill those who stand in his way. After observing Ed and Al, however, we see a scene that shows Scar's utter emptiness. In the end, he sacrifices himself for the sake of others. The spiritual connections in this should be obvious.
The end of the series is where the most poignant bridge comes in. The story is a coming of age story for the two brothers, and we see them developing through the whole series. In the beginning, Ed is arrogant, boasting that there is no God, and that the science of alchemy makes him the closest thing to a God that most people will ever see. In the end, both brothers are forced to take a grim look at the world and realize its many imperfections. In the process they are forced to look at their own imperfections. The ending itself is imperfect, as the brothers never truly accomplish their objective. They do, however, learn to see beauty in the imperfection, and love the world despite its many flaws. The arrogance is replaced with selflessness, and in the ending monologue, God is acknowledged as being much more powerful and sovereign than the alchemists. More than any Christian production, this show illustrated to me what it means to love despite imperfections. It is a powerful message, and though it may be used as a spiritual bridge, you may want to absorb it for your own benefit first.
If you are looking to use Japanese pop culture to communicate the message of the gospel, this is a perfect place to start. As this is a very popular series, it should be possible to rent one disc at a time, even in America. FUNimation is also releasing box sets of 13 episodes apiece for $30-40, which is a VERY good deal for anime. It's dark at times, and the characters make some very bad mistakes, but we see them grow, and we identify with them. Selflessness, forgiveness, human worth, and love... all illustrated clearly, and all available as a bridge to start talking about what Jesus said on these issues.
Spiritual Bridges part 1
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Anime and Popular Culture: Interview with Bill Ellis
-- an excellent article for those who want a basic introduction to anime from the blog TheoFantastique run by my new Cornerstone friend John Morehead
Friday, September 07, 2007
Japanese Pop-Culture’s Popularity in the West: What does it mean for missions in Japan?
This post is my column for the fall issue of Japan Harvest magazine. The readers are primarily career missionaries serving with established mission organizations in Japan so the article is written specifically for that group.
Some definitions (adapted from wikipedia.org):
Manga (漫画) is a Japanese word for comics and print cartoons. Outside of Japan, it refers specifically to comics originally published in Japan.
Anime (アニメ) is an abbreviation of the word "animation". Outside Japan, the term popularly refers to animation originating in Japan.
Otaku (おたく) is a complicated word that in Japanese slang refers to a narrowly focused obsessive person. In English “otaku” is often used to refer specifically to fans of anime and/or manga, but can mean "geek."
J-Pop is an abbreviated form of “Japanese pop” and refers to popular Japanese music; it is often featured in anime.
Hayao Miyazaki is a famous creator of anime and manga. Ghibli Studios, co-founded by Miyazaki, has been called "the Japanese version of Disney."
For further information go to the The Anime and Manga Portal on wikipedia
After WW II, there was a surge of missionaries to Japan, many of whom “connected” with Japan because of the war. The current popularity of Japanese pop culture in the West may be the catalyst for a new surge of young people coming to Japan as missionaries. These young people are “connecting” with Japan via anime, manga, and J-pop. They tend to be bright, creative, media savvy, unconventional, and many aren’t interested in raising support; some young adults who fit this profile are already showing up in Japan. And, there are signs that many more will follow.
Murray Trim represented TEAM Japan at the last Urbana missions conference where he was extremely busy meeting with students interested in Japan: “I was amazed at the number of young people who came to talk to me regarding possible service in Japan who said their interest began due to their involvement with anime and/or manga.”
I sent a survey to a number of young Westerners who are, or have been, involved in Japan-focused missional activity. Eight of fourteen respondents said they are fans of Anime and/or Manga. Of those eight, four said that manga/anime was a factor in them being involved in missions in Japan.
What these young adults said:
Jesse Gillespie (artist in his twenties):
Anime is becoming more popular each year here (in the USA), and I'm amazed at how many series are being translated in print and video. There are not many series, which Americans aren't able to get in English.
Bryan Davidson (musician in early 30s):
As manga is embraced by all ages here (in Japan), understanding and caring about what our neighbors enjoy will often show we love them. To not observe the art (pop or otherwise) of a culture is a foolish and unloving mistake for any missionary to make.
Jessica Stebbing (college student):
Just like any media, people have to be careful and mindful of what is good and pleasing to God. I think some people are a little overboard and assume it is all pornography, and tend to come off as condemning of the people who are interested in it. I think it’s good to have an understanding of the good aspects of manga and anime so they can approach discussing the bad elements in a less condescending way.
Scot Eaton (graduate student):
For me, anime, manga, and video games really helped raise my awareness of Japan. They also helped me to start understanding the (Japanese) world view.
Miwa Isomura (college student):
It is very interesting that much of the manga/anime has a lot of spiritual aspect in it, more than it has in the past.
Stephe Halker (artist):
I have found no better way to understand the Japanese spirit than through its commercial arts. Couched inside every fight scene and comic situation is a myriad of epic, culturally based, moral, and ethical positions. I think it would be very difficult to learn about Japanese culture without having comics and cartoons as treasure maps and porters.
Missionaries who want to learn about manga and/or anime deal with a massive amount of material, some of which is perverted, so it is difficult to know where to start. My suggestion is to start with one of Miyazaki’s films, which are available in Japanese rental stores. In particular, I recommend “Princess Mononoke” 『もののけ姫』There is violence, so it is not appropriate for young children.
How we respond to this new surge of young adults arriving in Japan is critical. One response is to wring our proverbial hands in despair over their faults and criticize them. If we do that, we will lose the strategic opportunity to invest in the lives of these gifted young people. Instead, we need to ask constructive questions:
Links to pertinent articles:
Weekend Beat: Cashing in on over-the-counter culture
Manga Demographics
What's hip, fresh and appeals to young readers? MANGA!
Some definitions (adapted from wikipedia.org):
Manga (漫画) is a Japanese word for comics and print cartoons. Outside of Japan, it refers specifically to comics originally published in Japan.
Anime (アニメ) is an abbreviation of the word "animation". Outside Japan, the term popularly refers to animation originating in Japan.
Otaku (おたく) is a complicated word that in Japanese slang refers to a narrowly focused obsessive person. In English “otaku” is often used to refer specifically to fans of anime and/or manga, but can mean "geek."
J-Pop is an abbreviated form of “Japanese pop” and refers to popular Japanese music; it is often featured in anime.
Hayao Miyazaki is a famous creator of anime and manga. Ghibli Studios, co-founded by Miyazaki, has been called "the Japanese version of Disney."
For further information go to the The Anime and Manga Portal on wikipedia
After WW II, there was a surge of missionaries to Japan, many of whom “connected” with Japan because of the war. The current popularity of Japanese pop culture in the West may be the catalyst for a new surge of young people coming to Japan as missionaries. These young people are “connecting” with Japan via anime, manga, and J-pop. They tend to be bright, creative, media savvy, unconventional, and many aren’t interested in raising support; some young adults who fit this profile are already showing up in Japan. And, there are signs that many more will follow.
Murray Trim represented TEAM Japan at the last Urbana missions conference where he was extremely busy meeting with students interested in Japan: “I was amazed at the number of young people who came to talk to me regarding possible service in Japan who said their interest began due to their involvement with anime and/or manga.”
I sent a survey to a number of young Westerners who are, or have been, involved in Japan-focused missional activity. Eight of fourteen respondents said they are fans of Anime and/or Manga. Of those eight, four said that manga/anime was a factor in them being involved in missions in Japan.
What these young adults said:
Jesse Gillespie (artist in his twenties):
Anime is becoming more popular each year here (in the USA), and I'm amazed at how many series are being translated in print and video. There are not many series, which Americans aren't able to get in English.
Bryan Davidson (musician in early 30s):
As manga is embraced by all ages here (in Japan), understanding and caring about what our neighbors enjoy will often show we love them. To not observe the art (pop or otherwise) of a culture is a foolish and unloving mistake for any missionary to make.
Jessica Stebbing (college student):
Just like any media, people have to be careful and mindful of what is good and pleasing to God. I think some people are a little overboard and assume it is all pornography, and tend to come off as condemning of the people who are interested in it. I think it’s good to have an understanding of the good aspects of manga and anime so they can approach discussing the bad elements in a less condescending way.
Scot Eaton (graduate student):
For me, anime, manga, and video games really helped raise my awareness of Japan. They also helped me to start understanding the (Japanese) world view.
Miwa Isomura (college student):
It is very interesting that much of the manga/anime has a lot of spiritual aspect in it, more than it has in the past.
Stephe Halker (artist):
I have found no better way to understand the Japanese spirit than through its commercial arts. Couched inside every fight scene and comic situation is a myriad of epic, culturally based, moral, and ethical positions. I think it would be very difficult to learn about Japanese culture without having comics and cartoons as treasure maps and porters.
Missionaries who want to learn about manga and/or anime deal with a massive amount of material, some of which is perverted, so it is difficult to know where to start. My suggestion is to start with one of Miyazaki’s films, which are available in Japanese rental stores. In particular, I recommend “Princess Mononoke” 『もののけ姫』There is violence, so it is not appropriate for young children.
How we respond to this new surge of young adults arriving in Japan is critical. One response is to wring our proverbial hands in despair over their faults and criticize them. If we do that, we will lose the strategic opportunity to invest in the lives of these gifted young people. Instead, we need to ask constructive questions:
- How can we help them grow and to be effective?
- Are they going to fit into current structures and programs? Should they?
- Should we expect them to sit through long meetings?
- How can they contribute to media related outreach?
- What special contributions can they make to building up the church?
Links to pertinent articles:
Weekend Beat: Cashing in on over-the-counter culture
Manga Demographics
What's hip, fresh and appeals to young readers? MANGA!
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Princess Mononoke: A window into the Soul of Japan
This is one of the presentations I did at Cornerstone Festival in June. "Princess Monoke" is an outstanding anime movie produced by Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki. My perspective is that the Mononoke story is rooted in Japanese mythology/beliefs and therefore reveals "the soul of Japan."
I don't know if this video, actually a slide show, "works" or not. There is no audio so it is just an outline, but it does include some photos. There are also a couple of technical glitches I know not how to fix. So, it is as it is. If you have seen "Pincess Mononoke you will get something out of this. If you haven't seen it, you probably won't get a thing out of it. If you think it is lame, let me know and I will delete it (two votes for "delete" will probably be enough to get it off this blog). On the other hand, if you think its good, let me know that too.
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