*Warning: presumptive spoilers for a future season of Sword Art Online Alicization* Lingering the background of Sword Art Online Alicization has been the question of the nature of the soul. Early in the anime, the story established that scientists had narrowed down the soul’s nature to a light-based phenomenon they call a fluctlight. These fluctlights… Read More Love Versus Materialism in Sword Art Online Alicization
Crystalline, a visual novel available on Steam, is a fun isekai / romance / adventure story. Crystalline is the first visual novel I’ve ever tried, so I have nothing with which to compare it, but I found it charming. From what I can tell, it is typical of the visual novel genre, straddling the intersection… Read More Crystalline: A Visual Novel Review
“What is truth?” Pontius Pilate’s derisive rhetorical question during the trial of Jesus of Nazareth has a strikingly modern — or better yet, postmodern — ring to it (Jn. 18.38). In the postmodern worldview, “truth” is subjective, personal, relative, and often unknowable, much like Pilate’s question implies. I know there’s been a lot about The… Read More A Shield for Truth
When I watched the delightfully absurd Witch Craft Works, one surprisingly thoughtful scene stood out amid the convoluted hilarity. I don’t dare attempt to explain the whole story, but at this particular point, protagonist Takamiya Honoka and witch / bodyguard / love interest Kagari Ayaka have come into conflict with Kagari’s mother (an extremely strong… Read More Resisting Evil
TWWK: You’ve surely seen many of of the wonderful guest contributions by Jeskai Angel here in recent months—so many that he seems to be part of our regular staff! Well, we’ve remedied that inconsistently by bringing Jeskai Angel on as a member of our staff! He’ll be joining our light novel club and contributing other… Read More On Love
Welcome back JeskaiAngel, one of our regular guest contributors here on Beneath the Tangles. Today, he takes a deep dive into a light novel series we recommend—Invaders of the Rokujouma!? I didn’t expect to encounter deep, encouraging thoughts about the nature and origin of true strength in a light novel, but… I recently started reading… Read More Guest Post: Invaders of the Rokujouma and Strength in Weakness
Welcome back JeskaiAngel, one of our regular guest contributors here on Beneath the Tangles. Today, he takes a deep dive into a troubling aspect of The Rising of the Shield Hero, a show we here at on the website are absolutely loving. As I watched the first five episodes of The Rising of the Shield… Read More Guest Post: When a Shield Hero Becomes a Slave Owner
Last week, I asked for reader response regarding the “moe-ifying” of tragic events, with particular emphasis on WWI. JeskaiAngel, one of our regular guest contributors, couldn’t keep his thoughts to a single comment—he sent us this entire article! Charles asked, “What do you think about making cuteness out of WWI? Of moe-fying some tragic event in… Read More Guest Post: Kawaii Trench Warfare
Welcome back JeskaiAngel, one of our regular guest contributors here on Beneath the Tangles. Today, he takes a deep dive into an infamous episode of Code Geass (at least an episode this blog has been critical of in the past). Enjoy! (Disclaimer: aside from taking general psychology in college years ago, I have no education… Read More Guest Post: Mind Control as a Metaphor for Abuse
Another month, another guest post from JeskaiAngel! I think you’ll enjoy this piece our favorite (wait, there’s R86/Sensei), uh, second-favorite (wait, and what about Dr. Steve?), uh, well, one of our favorite anime fans with a PhD as he examines some troubling issues with ReLIFE. Even if they gradually grow closer and closer, and even… Read More Memories, Morals, and ReLIFE