Dear Readers,
When I established Beneath the Tangles almost five years ago, it was with a singular goal in mind – to engage anime fans with a different sort of analysis, bringing in Christian concepts and ideas to how we can interpret anime. It was nothing unique – Christian Anime Alliance had long existed by this point and a number of sites had attempted to do the same in various ways, but there was certainly a gap that a consistent blog delving into this idea might thrive.
As the years have passed, the blogosphere has changed. Many of the old-time bloggers, including a throng of those that began their own aniblogs in 2010, remain (and even thrive). But there are also now a number of blogs with a similar mission to ours, establishing a community that I think is making an interesting impact on western otakudom. It’s been an encouragement to partner, officially or otherwise, with dozens of other writers and editors who are examining anime and manga from a Christian lens.
But the community goes beyond Christian anime fans – and that, too, has also been a primary goal of Beneath the Tangles. While I love discussing anime and religion with those that share my faith, I enjoy it even more when we engage people of others faiths (or not at all), and even better, when they become part of the genuine community we’re trying to establish here. Beneath the Tangles was never meant to be a blog – it was meant to be a destination where our writers and readers can establish a most unique kind of interfaith community, one in which we bond over Japanese cartoons and matters of faith.
As we continue to push ourselves to deliver stronger content, we need you, our faithful readers, to continue to help. This week, Beneath the Tangles will be moving forward with a Patreon drive. Our goals are both modest and powerful – we ask that you consider donating $2 a month to us to help us improve our site and bring it to larger audiences. We’ll use your funds in those two ways – 1) to aid in developing stronger content by making purchases related to site development and 2) to bring our message to a larger readership through active marketing.
We ask that if you’ve been blessed by our content, that you’ll strongly consider giving. That small amount can help us greatly, and certainly anything more than that will be helpful as well (and could lead to goodies). Please follow the link below to check out our fundraiser:
Beneath the Tangles Patreon Drive
And if you’re unable to give at this time, as I know many of you are, I hope you’ll keep us in mind in the future, and for the time being that you’ll help spread the message about this drive and our site by hitting one of those social media icons below and lettings other anime fans know that a community like ours is eager to engage with them.
Thank you!
Charles
Reblogged this on Japesland.
I’m glad to have the opportunity to support this website. I wish you the best of luck in this campaign.
I know you hear comments like this a lot, but I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate what you’re doing with this blog. All the writers here are very talented, and your articles are practically always spot on and backed up by Scripture. You have inspired me to be more thoughtful about the shows I watch, which makes anime viewing a more meaningful experience.
To all the writers here, new and old, keep up the good work!
Thank you so much – we really appreciate your kind words (I’m going to share them with our staff)! I’m glad that we’ve been helpful for you, and I’m very thankful for your financial support!!