Suffering. Death. Hope. Life. These themes pervade Magica Madoka, particularly informing the final two episodes. They are also important ideas in religious traditions, namely Christianity and Buddhism. The Buddhist principals expressed in Madoka Magica are so pervasive, that I’ve started to think that the Christlike imagery I immediately saw when viewing episode 12 wasn’t at… Read More Puella Magi Madoka Magica 12: The Hope We Find
Oh, Madoka Magica – the explosion of posts on your final episodes is nothing short of prolific. And with the religious overtones of the conclusion, I was particularly intrigued. Never has a search for “Jesus” in my blog reader brought up so many posts which didn’t use the name in an exclamatory and not-so-hallow way.… Read More Spirituality in the Anime Blogosphere: Madoka Madness
So, after all that, what does it all mean? I’ve given some analysis of the results in each of this week’s posts, and many of you have contributed thoughtful comments and additional breakdown. As a whole, though, here are some of thoughts about what the survey revealed: The Aniblogging Generation The aniblogger sample for this survey… Read More Anime and Religion Survey: Conclusions
Anime is almost never a proselytizing tool. So, it’s no surprise that religion usually doesn’t take the forefront in anime series. Even when religion plays a major role, it’s typically bended and used for aesthetic or plot reasons (ex. Evangelion) by the series animators. Still, it’s ever-present in anime, as religion is deeply imbedded in the country’s culture. … Read More Anime and Religion Survey: Spirituality in Anime
What do you believe? Is there a God? What is your faith? Do you have a faith? I wanted to know how the aniblogging community would respond to these questions. About half of all respondents were either atheist or agnostic, with responses split exactly evenly between the two. In other words, 49% of respondents don’t believe… Read More Anime and Religion Survey: Religion of Anibloggers
Today in his House of 1000 Manga column at Anime News Network, Jason Thompson describes Osamu Tezuka‘s epic work, Buddha. As one who rarely watches anime or reads manga created earlier than the 1990s, I know Tezuka only by reputation and not by experiencing any of his works. As such, and I think this may… Read More Spirituality in the Anime Blogosphere: Buddha and Religious Criticism
I’m working on a project about anime and religion among anime and manga bloggers. To do so, I’ve created a short survey (10-15) that I would love for bloggers to complete. Anyone who has blogged about anime and manga is welcome to fill out the survey form. I have already emailed or otherwise contacted many of… Read More Anime and Manga Bloggers: I Need Your Help!
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