In the midst of my busy summer, I recently watched an anime that seems tailor-made for me. It combines Power Rangers, Kamen Rider, and Romeo and Juliet. This would be Love After World Domination.
In this superhero romantic comedy, Desumi Magahara (aka Reaper Princess), the overpowered favorite soldier in the nefarious Secret Society Gekko, falls in love with the earnest Fudo Aikawa (aka Red Gelato), the leader of Freezing Sentai Gelato 5, a superhero team determined to thwart Gekko’s evil schemes. While Desumi puts on a front of sadism and heartlessness, she secretly wants to be loved and to love someone else. Fudo proves to be dangerously perfect for her because he refuses to see anything but the best in her. But obviously, this charmingly dorky romance has to be kept secret from both of their organizations, causing all kinds of shenanigans.
Even so, this inspires Desumi to push back against some of the orders the leader of Gekko gives her—such as transforming into a human-animal hybrid. When a fellow soldier, Steel Princess, struggles to make her feelings known to one of her supervillain coworkers, Desumi reassures her that this person will love her no matter her imperfections. This leads to Steel Princess pairing up with…Culverin Bear. (That’s anime for you).
As unwavering as Desumi and Fudo’s love is for each other, it’s but a reflection of the unconditional love of God. In Greek, the word used for this form of love is agape. It is a powerful act of the will; a choice to do what’s best for us in spite of ourselves—even to the point of suffering. The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 5:8, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (ESV). We didn’t do anything to deserve this love. Jesus chose to give it. In fact, He said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13 ESV).
Just like with Desumi, this love should inspire us to become better people; to stop making the sinful choices we made before our salvation. That won’t always be easy, and we may even be pressured by others to slip back into our old ways, but standing firm in our convictions is how we show our love for Christ. As Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (ESV). Even when we don’t, He’s even more enthusiastic and forgiving than Fudo.
Are you feeling unloved? Take heart in knowing God cares for even the supervillains among us!
