We placed a call out for additional staff some weeks back, and today we’re happy to announce the addition of two new writers to Beneath the Tangles! Teresa Christina isn’t a new face here on the blog – she’s partnered with us for several years now and may be familiar to you all because of her aniblog, Otaku in My Veins. We’re happy to finally have her aboard! And Matthew (our second Matthew!) is our other new blogger; I first noticed his work over at Christ and Pop Culture, an excellent site with a broader scope than Beneath the Tangles. He also guest posted with us recently and runs the Thought Disposal blog.
I interviewed Matt and Hannah last week about anime, faith, and why they wanted to join Beneath the Tangles!
TWWK: Welcome aboard, you two! I’m going to ask you a few questions to help our readers familiarize themselves with you a bit. We’ll start simple (or maybe not so simple?): What are some of your favorite anime?
Matthew: Thanks for having me! Jeepers. I am terrible at answering this question about any of the things I love (Music? Books? Forget about it.). Though I’m sure to forget an important series, I can say with confidence that the Fate series, Hunter x Hunter, Seirei no Moribito, and Baccano! certainly make the list.
Teresa Christina: Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal is my absolute favorite. That anime helped me understand my salvation on a whole new and very emotional level. Naruto is a very close second. It was the anime that brought my sisters and I together. When we see each other across the room, we’re pretend to do all the fun jutsu, so mini sister battles. “Eight trigrams, sixty four palms!” “CHIDORI!!!”
TWWK: And what about Beneath the Tangles? What made you decide to join our staff?
Matthew: I watched anime for years, dissecting it for the various ways Christ and the truth of Scripture was glorified by any given show. I did this mostly for myself because there was no one around me who was interested in talking about Jesus and anime in the same breath. But once I graduated college, I decided to try and get my money’s worth out of my English degree (still trying…) by blogging literary analysis of anime in my free-time like I did for assigned texts while in college. Skipping ahead a bit to cut a long story short, I was encouraged to find that BtT’s mission statement aligned with what I wanted to do as well. When I saw that you were looking for writers I gladly threw my hat in. I’m just flattered you all decided to take me on given how long winded I can be!
Teresa Christina: Once upon a time, little high school me really wanted to watch anime, but I didn’t know if I would be shunned by Christian culture. I googled, “Can I be a Christian and watch anime?” and BAM, up popped Beneath the Tangles. It blew my underdeveloped mind. From then on it has always been my secret dream to write for Beneath the Tangles. It’s like Spider-man wanting to be an avenger. I’m Spider-man, and TWWK is Iron Man.
TWWK: Iron Man? I LOVE IT. Hopefully without the PTSD, though, haha. And kind of jumping off the last question, right now what is it that inspires you?
Matthew: People pushing for a holistic understanding of the Bible that doesn’t just sit in a pew but maps onto reality in a tangible and inspiring way. People who live Ecclesiastes 9:7 lives — unafraid to fight, laugh, and feast because Jesus is Lord. The time I spent with the people of Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho really set a fire beneath me for this and I hope to pass the fire along.
Teresa Christina: I am inspired right now by the book of Nehemiah. Themes of redemption and standing on a wall yelling at people really inspire me to do my very best to serve God and to try and get all my homework done.
TWWK: And now for the lightning round! Quickly respond to these questions/items:
Favorite anime character?
M: A tie between Gon Freecss and Killua Zoldyck. I will not choose between them. You can’t make me.
T: Kenshin Himura
An anime you can’t stand?
M: People may hate me for this, but I still haven’t finished Gurren Lagann because I can only stand one episode every now and again. I loved the first couple of episodes, but I’m really only trudging on through it because I know it will be a strike against my anime fan-cred if I don’t finish it eventually.
T: Full Metal Alchemist. I’m going to get a lot of questions for that one…
An anime you wish more people would watch?
M: Seirei no Moribito
T: Kiznaiver
Your OTP (one true couple)?
M: I haven’t given this topic much thought before now, but maybe Okabe and Kurisu (Steins; Gate).
T: Mashiro Moritaka and Azuki Miho!!!
What was your first anime?
M: Technically, it was when a friend introduced me to Naruto Shonen Jump on Toonami back when that first became a thing, but I didn’t really go all in for anime until Attack on Titan landed in early 2013.
T: Sword Art Online
What was your last anime (the most recent one you watched)?
M: The Berserk movies and recent series. I’m not quite sure I can recommend it in good conscience, but I have loved a good bit of it.
T: Boku No Hero Academia
Anime or manga?
M: Anime — all day everyday.
T: Anime… I want to make cartoons for a living so I have to pick the animation one.
Anime crush?
M: Saber is waifu. Saber is laifu. Fight me.
T: Itachi Uchiha…’Nuff said.
Question: What if Saber and Sasuke fight each other?
Subs or dubs?
M: I usually Sub but I’m not opposed to a good Dub.
T: Both.
Have you ever cosplayed?
M: I have never cosplayed but I do hope to attend a convention someday.
T: YES!…I’ve done Jedi, Sakura, Kushina (Naruto) Kaoru (Kenshin) and I am working on my Kaori (Your lie in April) for my next convention!
TWWK: You two are polar opposites – it’s going to be fun having you bring your different points of view and experiences to the blog. Thank you, again, for joining! We’re excited to have you!
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1. Saber illustration
2. Sasuke illustration
It’s nice seeing the staff expand, I can’t wait to read your articles
They’re great additions and very different writers — I think the readers will really enjoy their work!
Moribito and Baccano? That’s some good taste in anime.
But Moribito is so boringggggg.
Polar opposites, indeed! Glad to see more people on the team and contributing to Beneath the Tangles. Welcome to you both! It looks like my tastes align more with Matthew—props to mentioning Seirei no Moribito, HxH, Baccano! I look forward to seeing what you both have to say in the future.
Welcome! Seirei no Moribito and Kiznaiver: there are two new series for my watch list…
Saber would lose to Itachi, or Saskue….so yeah, there’s your answer 🙂
Happy to have you guys on board! Looking forward to your articles and getting to know you more.
She would only lose because she would refuse to cheat to win. 😛
Nice to see people joining the team. I hope they get to enjoy writing about anime and their love for God.