It appears to be Catholic week here at Beneath the Tangles, emphasized by a couple of blog posts relating Catholicism with anime:
I am not arguing that the Church is a lot like the Pokemon world. (Alright, I am.) But more than that: The natural cry of the human heart — as best shown in the desires of children — is answered by the life of the Church.
You read it right – a post at Bad Catholic connects Pokemon, of all series, to the Catholic Church. But the blogger doesn’t stretch to fit a point – Marc’s post is a thoughtful one about order and hierarchy, which makes the argument given in the quote above. He is an excellent writer and I encourage you to read the entire post. [Bad Catholic]
Ghostlightning tells his readers what kind of anime he’d love to see produced (and invites us to to join in with our suggestions) – his would heavily involved Catholicism. If you know Ghostlighning, you’ll know that he’s knowledgeable about a world of things, including the Catholic Church. [We Remember Love]
Ash Brown, a librarian, reviews Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche, an English translation of noted Japanese account of the Tokyo sarin gas attack predicated in 1995 by the religious cult, Aum Shikryo. Ash is a terrific writer and his site is well worth a visit. Also of note is that this book was frequently referred to in The Untold Story of Altair and Vega’s excellent colloquium series on Mawaru Penguindrum. [Experiments in Manga]
The always entertaining Monsieurr LaMoe definies chuunibyou and gives a variety of examples of chuuni, anime and otherwise. Among his models are a number related to religion, including Christ himself, with the writer modifying scripture with the following verse [Anime Diet]:
“I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a chuuni will never enter it.”
Artnet reports that famed artist, Takashi Murakami, who is known among other things for artwork that explores “sexual complexes of otaku culture” (Wikipedia), explores Buddhism in a new show in Qatar, just in time for Buddha’s birthday (February 15). [Artnet]
Zeroe4 introduces a series of post on death, in which he’ll muse on the subject from a Christian point of view while also relating anime to it. [Zeroe4]
Finally, although I’m a few weeks late on this one, it’s worth mentioning Cytrus’ post on a Yui-centered episode of Angel Beats. He discusses a bit about the joyful aspects of the afterlife. [Yaranakya]
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As part of the Spirituality in the Anime Blogsophere series of posts, each week, Beneath the Tangles links to writings about anime and manga that involve religion and spirituality. If you’ve written such a piece or know of one, please email TWWK if you’d like it included. Special thanks this week to Don of Zoopraxiscope for the link to the Bad Catholic article.
