Why do you post about yaoi on a Christian blog?
We receive this question from time to time across our various platforms when we post, say, fan art from Given on Tumblr or a first impression piece on a yuri series here on the website. And it is a good question, one I want to more fully address here today instead of piecemeal when we receive it, and in advance of my review of Sweet Blue Flowers (Aoi Hana) later this week.
Much of the Christian culture in the west has an aversion to all things homosexual. While the phrase “love the sinner, hate the sin” has gripped an entire generation of mostly evangelicals, the functional form of doing life with this in mind isn’t as easy as speaking it. Loving someone is a complex, dynamic action, and when someone’s entire identity is something your faith deems as sin, it’s all the more challenging.
I wonder also if, as it often does, the culture adds a layer to the issue that hinders us from expressing a godly love to the LGBT community—not “wordly” culture, but the church’s. Homosexuality is treated as a “special sin” in church, perhaps representative of both a complete rejection of Christian values and conservative American values. It’s uncomfortable and dangerous territory for many. And yet, we’re here to make disciples of people across the entire spectrum of humankind, and with otaku Christian reading this, and you connected to probably dozens of otaku who identify as LGBTQ, you’re in a unique space to love these folks, though you may struggle with it.
But you know what we struggle with less—and again, likely because of the acceptance within our culture? Hyper violence and fanservice. The latter, especially in ecchi series, may make us uncomfortable, and we might not watch anime featuring a ton of fanservice with others, but we’ll still often tune in. And violence? Well, we may watch a series with gore with even family members. Perhaps most telling, though, is that we’ll watch an entire series in which the worldview being presented, and sometimes promoted, is Shinto or otherwise one that would never fit within the Christian framework. Sometimes these series affirm those religions, thus negating a belief in the Christian God. We’ve become okay with Weathering with You, but not with Wandering Son.
We need to strip away the trappings of culture and look at how actions, lifestyles, and beliefs are presented in anime through a biblical lens. So Let’s ask the question in that framework: Can we or should we be watching yaoi and yuri? The answer, as is usual, isn’t clear-cut, though I do believe it’s clear that we should at least entertain the thought. I’ve heard theologians, and one in particular whom I respect terribly, state that we as Christians probably shouldn’t watch any media. I understand his perspective, and in truth, if we were perfect, we would be able to find this immense satisfaction and enjoyment in God alone that wouldn’t find in even the latest episode of Dr. Stone or The Promised Neverland. But stuck here on earth, we’re going to stream video. We’re going to watch anime. And more than that, being part of the culture allows us to understand people in a way that we wouldn’t if we lived apart from it. This is, after all, what we do here on Beneath the Tangles—our passion for anime and love for people collide as we chat about both anime and faith. I imagine Paul was much the same. Such a learned man, he must have doubly enjoyed studying the Greek philosophers—both as a way to exercise his mind and as a path into the hearts of the Greeks.
But as I’ve mentioned in the past, each person must decide for themselves where the line is, at what point he or she should stop watching a certain series. And as we mature in our faith and in all other ways, that line may shift and it may become zig-zagged and complicated itself. Returning to yaoi, we might find that series like Given expresses fundamental truths about love and care within a framework that isn’t scriptural, and that it could help us draw nearer to God. On the other hand, some show relatively devoid of violence, fanservice, or other aspects we might consider sinful has an incredibly desolate and nihilistic worldview that leads us to a dark place, away from the love of Christ. Which should we leave behind, and which should we embrace?
And so, as you continue your otaku journey, I hope you won’t exclude yaoi and yuri just because it’s yaoi and yuri. Think about all your media choices, how you approach anime and what impact it has on you. And if that one yaoi show leads you to sin, cut it off! And if that yuri show leads you ponder on the sacrificial nature of love, go give it a try! And the same for all anime—shounen, seinen, slice-of-life, coming-of-age, sci-fi, mecha, and on down the line.
As for us as a ministry? It is a little more complicated. We have to consider also that we’re a model, that what we do can be taken as “acceptance” or even reveling in sin. And we are certainly prone to error, as well. However, I want to assure our readers that we do think about these things as we develop and post content. For instance, after considerable discussion, we decided not to discuss a certain series currently airing because we did not find it likely to be spiritually uplifting in any manner, and very likely, instead, to lead our audience to sin.
Ultimately, though, we put much trust in you to develop godly viewing habits as you watch anime. And likewise, we do our best not to “promote” sin. That’s a blurry line itself, for is posting an image for said series promoting it? It could be. But returning to Weathering with You, about which we recorded a podcast episode and also developed much additional content, were we promoting a Shintoist approach to the world? I would say not, and I would think that you’d agree if you saw our posts. We were instead celebrating the goodness in the series, things reflective of God’s character—creativity, wonder, sacrifice, music, and love.
And if you can find the same in yaoi or yuri, even a glimmer of God, maybe you should be watching. I know we will be.
Featured illustration by おおね (reprinted w/permission)