This week on the TangleCast, Matthew of Team Anchester takes a different route than usual. You’re invited to listen in on how God spoke to Matthew recently with an unexpected anime reference, proving that the God of the universe does in fact love nerds. We hope that you might be encouraged by this unique testimony.
0:00 Introduction
1:11 Last week’s Cast Question
3:32 Anime Testimony Discussion—Intro
7:45 Discussion—Berserk and the Mark of Sacrifice
11:33 Discussion—Faith, Forgiveness, and Guts
13:53 Discussion—Runes, kanji, and the Mark of Sacrifice
19:10 Discussion—God speaks to Matthew (and loves nerds)
21:25 New Cast Questions
23:01 Closing
And we want your feedback as well! Each week we’ll ask a question on the podcast and feature your answers the next time that team rolls around. This week’s CQ (Cast Question) is actually a two-parter: How engaged with anime meme culture are you? and What is your opinion of the often overtly sexual nature of many anime series and the culture produced in the community surrounding them?
Podcast Links:
- Here is the Mark of Sacrifice and the runes that Matthew refers to:
- This isn’t the first Berserk rodeo for Matthew—he’s written about the series on our site before.
- We’ve also discussed Berserk in a collaborative article on gore and graphic content, and Medieval Otaku has taken a stab at the series as well.
- A photo of the cups that Matthew refers to in the episode:
You can check us out on a variety of formats, including iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher, or through our RSS Feed!
- Speak a Better Word: The Legacy of Kentaro Miura - 05.05.2023
- Missing the Forest for the Chainsaws - 01.16.2023
- Let Them Eat Cake: One Piece’s Study of Narcissism - 07.13.2022
This has nothing to do with the post,but I hope Rachel and her crush are boyfriend and girlfriend. I also hope that her crush likes her back. I also hope things are going well with you and Chris.
The math of this podcast seems really off. You call yourself a team but there’s only one of you, and then you ask a “Cast Question” (singular) that’s actually two different questions?! ;P
I am not at all engaged with “anime meme culture.” My encounters with “anime culture” of any kind come almost entirely through BtT. As such, while I disapprove of “overtly sexual anime,” I cannot speak to the culture of communities dedicated to such as anime. I also wondered what the question considers “overtly sexual” anime. #DefineYourTerms
Shows with a lot of innuendo but no specific implication of sexual acts taking place?
Shows with one episode containing an fairly explicit sex scene?
Shows with, say, 50% of their episodes containing sex-related scenes?
Shows with one overtly sexualized character (based on dress / posing / demeanor / etc.)?
Shows where a majority of the cast is compromised of scantily clad women?
A show that doesn’t appear to be sexual at all and then throws in a heavily sexual episode or scene out of nowhere once a season or so? *cough*stupidSAOAlicizationEp19*cough* (still irked by that; at least ep. 10 put up a warning so I could avoid it)
All of the above?
My point is not to press for a Pharisee-esque legal ruling we can use to condemn certain anime, just to understand where the question is coming from. Coming a pretty “conservative” background, I know that when I was younger, there was stuff in fiction that went completely over my head then, but now I’d perceive as more “overtly” sexual. On the other hand, there’s other stuff I tolerate now that that past me would said makes you a bad Christian if you watch it.
Definitions are important when answering the question. I guess I should have made clear that I was wanting to hear, in addition to your answer for the questions, where you personally drew the line on the issue of sexual content in anime. I could have been more specific, but then we might have had three questions instead of two. So, I guess the defining of terms is something I was passing to you.
To me, it certainly seems like the “All of the Above” option you provided is the best fit for what I was asking because all of those certainly contribute to the sexual content we see in anime. I don’t want to make it sound like I’m against even the slightest implication of sex in anime, but, as an episode on “sexuality in anime,” our next episode will be more about examining how far it seems the line has moved on sexual humor and portrayals, how much we, the market, seem willing to accept, and what the fallout of our tolerance might be.
We are also wanting to avoid legalism without purposefully overlooking some of the more straight forward things God has to say on the matter. The third bullet point in the article above has a link to a collaborative article, partly to do with these individual limitations in consumption we all have. I would highly recommend looking it over as a primer to the coming episode if you haven’t read it already. It will show not only where I stand but where many of our BtT staff line up as well. Thanks for listening!
Statler and Waldorf?
This was the worst podcast ever!
Boooo!
It’s was the worst thing I’ve ever heard!
It was terrible!
Horrendous!
Well it wasn’t that bad.
Well, there were parts of it I liked!
Well, I liked alot of it.
It was GOOD actually.
It was great!
It was wonderful!
Bravo!
Encore!
In all seriousness, thank you for the podcast. It’s always edifying to me when I get to listen to your experiences.
It can take a lot of courage to post something as personal as this on a website for the entire world to hear. It’s tough to emotionally expose yourself like that, and it’s good to know you’re not the only person experiencing these circumstances.
Speaking of exposing one’s self though, I understand what you mean in terms of the overtly sexual nature of some anime. There’s a lot of psychological and economic reasons for its existence and I’ve talked about it before with some folks, but I think it precipitates down to a clash of public cultural modesty in Japan and the inward repression of base desires for both indulgence and artistic expression boiling over, leading to some extreme sexualization in anime where that’s the most culturally acceptable outlet of expression for those desires, and it makes a lot of money at the same time.
I wouldn’t advocate for animes to completely erase all forms of sexual content from existence, but I’d really only suggest using it when it’s absolutely essential to the plot or conveys a symbolic meaning beyond titillation of the audience. It’s all about intent in my book, and the hearts and minds of men are for God to know alone. I don’t think one can establish rules and guidelines because some of the most sexual circumstances are innuendo alone, and some of the least sexual things can have full nudity.
But meme culture, I like to think I’m fairly well educated on anime meme culture but that’s more of an overflow of my appreciation of meme culture in general (politics, video games, twitter, general internet, etc).
Instagram (meme culture question):
@treyrobinson (mutual):I am a connoisseur of anime memes they are probably 90% of the memes I look at lol.
Michelle, @thathilomgirl (BtT writer, Tumblr admin): I absorb them into my entire being, and the more frequent, the easier it is
shiromeguri.meguri (mutual): More than I am with anime nowadays sadly
Twitter
Rick @zerosignregime): Its not right and there should be two versions, one for kids the other for adults.
Question 2 Responses:
Twitter
Tiwa (@entiennedaTiwa): For me, it’s soooo frustrating at times. However, for many series, the fanservice isn’t excessive so I tend to just look away while enjoying the story. For example “That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime.” I’m loving this anime so much.
Matthew (@MDMRN), BtT writer: For me it depends overall on the content. If the entire nature of the series is to titillate and feed into lust, then I tend to avoid it (ex. most ecchi series, hentai). If say some “fan service” or sexuality is part of the plot/story, then I am more open to it. However, I am enver open to the sexualization of children in a series. That’ll make me drop a series to fast your head will spin.
TL;DR—I can deal with fan service if I enjoy the plot/characters. I avoid straight up pornographic material. Don’t sexualize kids.
Facebook
Philip Heard: I don’t see the value in them myself. My personal opinion is that it generally reflects the immature/and or sordid side of Anime fandom, which I prefer to avoid.
Instagram
Paris: I wish there were more appropriate anime for children so that I could share it with my younger cousins. It’s most frustrating when the sexual content appears in seemingly innocent anime. If it is overtly sexual, there’s an audience for that and I can choose not to watch it… but sometimes there are shows with plots that would be fun for all ages if not for random instances that aren’t necessary to the plot, like Sword Art Online for example.
@official.anime.space: Umm i don’t really know but i can say it can be harmful for the ones who become addictive on it
@half_shade_: A bit is alright, but overtly sexual stuff is a big no no
Lisa (@hellohappycrafts): I get second-hand embarrassment. Like, damn, Japanese people are so sexually repressed that they draw “sexy” cartoons that arent even hentai. Awwwwkward. (TWWK’S NOTE: Lisa is always good for an honest response!)
@asocial_ambivert: I’m okay with it as long as it’s relevant to the characters and the narrative it’s trying to tell
Michael (@samuru), BtT writer: It bother Americans but for Japan its not a big deal. I don’t like it but its their art
@nekotaijutsu: I thin its fine. Anime is a medium of art it is a portrayal of what the artist envisioned, sexual or not
Sophia (@sophiadean20), BtT Art and Media Coordinator: I think it could be toned down a lot. It’s degrading to both sexes. Just my opinion on it.
@cesmacho: It usually means it’s bad, as it depends on fan service to keep it going, rather than the series itself
@wil.lowe: It can be offputting for newcomers, especially with all the incest jokes. Save the sex for hentai. 😉
@justinsayana: That’s why there is a rating for shows. Proper guidance is needed I guess.