For a while, I pondered the unlikelihood of the premise of 86: that a nation could have a slave army which reaped none of the benefits of citizenship and which fought without the direct coercion of the citizens. It is true that Spartans fought alongside their Helots, and galley slaves rowed as Roman soldiers fought… Read More The Roman Martyrs and 86ers
I came across an interesting scene at the end of the sixth episode of Combatants Will Be Dispatched. The situation is dire: not only have the hordes of the demon army overrun the capital, but the “hero” has no desire to save the kingdom in the first place. Lady Snow then offers Agent Six her… Read More Lust Will Be Dispatched
20/20 in 2020 Article: Our blog’s theme for this year is “20/20 in 2020: Setting Our Vision on Christ.” Throughout the year, we’ll post articles which relate to this theme, which encourages you, our readers, to turn away from the world and toward the Holy One. Enjoy the post below, which is part of our… Read More How Not to be a Villainess in Your Next Life
Day 11: Victory May all of our dear readers be enjoying a happy and penitential Advent in preparation for the feast which—to quote the carol “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen—”all others doth deface.” For my “12 Days of Christmas” post, I have chosen to reflect on episodes 10 and 11 of Patlabor, which occur on… Read More 12 Days of Christmas Anime: Patlabor
The story is rapidly coming to a climax in Dororo. Hyakkimaru realizes that slaying random demons no longer helps him regain powers and parts of his body, his brother Tahomaru has vowed to put an end to him, and his traveling companion Dororo has been kidnapped by Daigo’s retainers. The fight between Hyakkimaru and Tahomaru… Read More Dororo and Child Sacrifice–Ancient and Modern
We have to remember that since the Angelic way of thinking is so different from ours, so is their quality of choosing. We are often influenced by passions, circumstances, incomplete knowledge, conflicting motivations, and so on; we can reevaluate our choices and reasoning, alter our conclusions, and even repent of our malice. But, angelic malice… Read More Of Socialites, Stupid Dogs, and Distraction
I perceived a fascinating juxtaposition in the new arc of Boogiepop and Others. Boogiepop refers to herself as a shinigami or the Reaper, aka Death, but what are we to make of the Imaginator? The Imaginator is obviously the villain, but I wondered why a villain should be referred to as “he who imagines”? While pondering… Read More Death vs. the Devil in Boogiepop and Others
Seasons greetings to our dear readers! Gintama ranges four seasons and 367 episodes at the present time and includes quite a few Christmas episodes. I have already written about the Christmas story told in episode 200. The present post concerns an earlier Christmas episode from season one. Gintama might be described as a science-fiction, samurai… Read More 12 Days of Christmas Anime, Day 4: Gintama
A.I.C.O. Incarnation found itself on my watch list very late in the season. Netflix is one of the last video streaming companies I look at—especially since they sometimes stream an anime after it’s aired. One nice bonus with Netflix, though, is that it has interesting options for a lover of foreign tongues like me: I… Read More Finding the Culture of Life in A.I.C.O. Incarnation
Gasaraki is one of the classic mecha anime. “If it’s a classic,” you ask, “why have I never heard of it before?” Despite the great animation (at least, to a connoisseur of 90’s anime like myself), many layers of intrigue, a unique plot, and great mecha battles, the dialog can be very abstruse–so abstruse that… Read More Gasaraki: the Collective, Conscience, and Freedom