In my youth, the two anime protagonists stood larger than life in my eyes: Spike Spiegel (Cowboy Bebop) and Shinji Ikari (Evangelion). The pair are so contrasting – Spike only wants to look forward even though his past won’t let him, while Ikari should move forward but is continually stuck in the past. I feel like I’m a little of both, especially in regards to Beneath the Tangles. I’m a little bit Shinji, with my heart always attached to the site even as I’ve put my efforts into Anime Pop Heart and other endeavors. But when I left, I was Spike Spiegel. No looking back. Whatever happens, happens. I was confident leaving my home in the hands of Japes, who has a heart for the site and the wisdom and know-how to develop it in a right direction.
Now, 16 months later, I feel even more confident I made the right decision. I thought our staff was wonderful, but it’s even stronger now than how I left it. The site functions so much better. And new readers have become part of our community. Japes and the administrative staff here have done a marvelous job – it’s not easy to take another’s site, filled with his passions, direction, vision, and mistakes, and to not only make it work, but to also lead it to growth. I’m so thankful to the leadership and staff. Meanwhile, on my end, I became more involved in my local ministry. I also took a busier job which, strangely enough, has seemed to prepare me for something I never expected: a return to this website.
As our Patreon users discovered a few days ago, and now you all as well, I’m returning to Beneath the Tangles as the site’s administrator.
A lot of you may not know me except if you’ve dug through archived posts, so I’ll just briefly introduce myself. My name is Charles, though I’m better known around the blogosphere as TWWK. I started this site almost seven years ago as a way to bring together two passions of mine – anime and Christianity. At the time, I had just started a family, and it’s grown since then. I’m also involved at my local church and work as a historian.
I hope you’ll join the staff and myself as we continue to move forward. Can you believe this blog is almost a decade old? And as with any site, organization, or group, Beneath the Tangles is dynamic and changing. You’ll see us do things a little differently, but my hope is that anything we do here will continue to engage you as we develop a better and better site, one that becomes a home for you as it’s been for me.
And maybe for just this once, I’ll gladly wear a comparison with Shinji Ikari (but only from episode two): I’m…I’m home.