Updated 9.26.12
Features and Discussion
Musings
Japan is a religious culture, much more so than the United States. However, it is not a Christian culture. That said, Christian spirituality can be found in the country’s export, anime. These grains of spirituality may not have been intended, but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn from them.
Updated 9.26.12
Episodic Review and Analysis
Beneath the Tangles has joined in the endless game of episodic blogging, with Goldy tackling about one anime per season. But in addition the the typical – episode summaries, analysis, and screen captures, Goldy will also be looking at any spiritual connections in the reviewed anime. Posts about specific anime episodes which are not regularly blogged about are also found in this section.
Updated 9.24.12
The Invisible God in Anime and Manga
The boundaries between anime and the Bible seem to be clear and distinct. But are they really? Anime characters represent ideals, actions and personalities that are present in others, including the great heroes (and sometimes villains) of the Bible. You may be surprised to find which Biblical individuals are similar to your favorite anime and manga characters.
Updated 3.19.12
Untangled
Instead of hearing from us all the time, the bloggers here at Beneath the Tangles prefer to hear from you. We respond to questions asked by readers and ask for your own responses to these queries as well.
Updated 9.20.12
Reviews
This page contains all things reviewed, from anime to manga and including more than the ocassional book.
Updated 6.12.12
Interviews
This archive contains interview transcripts with authors, singers, voice actresses and who are involved with anime and Christianity.
Updated 4.23.12
Special Posts
This is the miscellaneous section, where the ugly stepchildren who don’t fit neatly into a category go. But they’re more than that – they’re also some of my favorite posts, including my Diary of an Anime Lived and reviews of the Anime Review Guides.
Updated 9.25.12
A Year Ago on Beneath the Tangles
To familiarize newer readers with the blog, each month we feature some of the posts originally published a year previous.
Updated 8.29.12
Mileposts
As this blog begins to show its age, we are hitting a number of milestones in terms of web views. These posts revisit some of these (usually) older posts.
Updated 9.19.12
Special Projects
Anime and Religion Survey
In December 2010, I sent a survey about anime and religion to over 100 anibloggers. These posts give the results of this project and my analysis of the surveys.
Updated 2.25.11
Aniblogger Testimonies
Arising out of the anime and religion survey, this guest-blogging project again weaves anime and religion. Here, bloggers give their “testimony,” writing about their personal faith as it has to do with anime or manga.
Updated 6.21.12
12 Days of Christmas Anime
Annually, Beneath the Tangles counts down the days until Christmas by discussing a Christmas episode each day.
Updated 12.26.11
Rez Week
Each year, in the week leading up to Easter, Beneath the Tangles does a special series of posts, including 2011’s Wolfwood Week series.
Updated 4.8.12
Fruits of the Spirit
The Bible reveals 9 “Fruits of the Spirit” – characteristics that should identify a life of one growing in Christ. We examine anime and manga characters which embody these fruits.
Updated 4.11.12
Anime and Religion in the Internet
Something More
My blog certainly isn’t the only one discussing spirituality in anime. As I browse others’ posts and find interesting writings about anime and spirituality, I’ll repost in this column (formerly titled “Spirituality in the Anime Blogosphere”).
Updated 9.21.12
Fanfiction
Christianity and fanfiction involving anime usually don’t go hand in hand. In fact, most examples of this crossover of genres are horrid. However, some excellent ones exist. If you’re interesting in reading anime fan fiction which involves Christian spirituality, this is the place to find it.
Updated 5.20.11
Anime, Music, and Spirituality
Whether its in the OP or ED, or spread in between, music is a vital element of anime series. In some cases, the music reveals something spiritual as well, and some posts here will describe that. This is also a dumping ground for others thoughts about anime and music.
Updated 9.18.12
Anime News
What’s happening the world of anime? Some weeks, I’ll present a few major headlines, as well my views on those headlines, including any spiritual importance of what’s going on. I’ll also include news about items related to anime and spirituality as they come out during the week.
Updated 9.26.12
Retired Columns
Light Invades Darkness
Zeroe4 began a journey to Japan in the spring of 2012 as he attended Discipleship Training School (DTS) in the country. In this column, he provides us insights on the Japanese people, comments and educates regarding the country’s culture, relates what he’s learning and doing, and posts lots of pretty pictures.
Of Kami and Buddhas
Anime only skims the surface of Japanese religion, which is complex, old and involved in most aspects of everyday life. These posts will help us better understand the religion of the Japanese people, and thus, of our favorite characters. For Christians, they will also help us be better prepared to evangelize. As Paul said, “To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some” (I Corinthians 9:22).
Yuki-Anne in Japan
A missionary in Japan shares her insights about and heart for the people and country of Japan.
Christian Fanart
As most of us do, I enjoy looking at artist’s conceptions of their favorite anime characters, or their original characters in an anime style. I’m blown away by the talent of so many of these artists! This section will display some terrific pieces of artwork which feature Christian elements.