24-year-old Ayano Tanaka is a very unusual high school teacher with a very unusual student. Known colloquially as the “Iron Mask” by her second-year students, she takes no crap from anyone—17-year-old Murai included. Although he is among the smartest students in the class, Murai is a strange kid who often proclaims his undying and earnest… Read More First Impression: Murai in Love
Do you sometimes feel discouraged, as if you’re not good enough to accomplish the big things you’d like to? Mike’s been there. So have some of the heroes of the Bible, including Moses and Gideon. And…maybe Sailor Moon’s Usagi Tsukino, too? Well, she at least serves as an example of someone who does incredible things… Read More The Power of God and Anime Podcast, Episode 7: God Will Use You (Even if You’re Clumsy Like Usagi Tsukino)
In 2022, an assault team with the resistance is wiped out—all but a resilient fighter who must fight her fear to outwit and defeat a seemingly invincible machine. She holds a vital tool for the efforts of the resistance and must survive and return to them with it, or else humanity’s days might be numbered.… Read More First Impression: Terminator Zero
Nadeko Sengoku is a 15-year-old girl whose personality has been everything except stable since the start of the Monogatari series in 2009. If we know anything about her, it would be that she’s the silly girl who had a dangerously foolish crush on Araragi. She’s often found at the bottom of best girl tier lists,… Read More Nadeko’s Benevolent Author: Monogatari, Episode 6
Tearmoon Empire has one of the best opening episodes in recent years when it comes to showcasing the gospel. And this is no surprise, given that the author of the original light novel, Nozomu Mochitsuki, is himself a Christian. I was so taken with the premiere episode that I wrote two posts when it aired!… Read More The Ongoing Grace of Tearmoon Empire
From ancient times, the boundless night sky and the numberless stars have captured the human imagination. For Aristotle, the birth of philosophy lay in the contemplation of the stars, while Plato wanted the wise to train themselves in astronomy, and Virgil and Seneca liken virtue to a “path to the stars.” Twenty-five centuries later, the skies above still fascinate… Read More Planetes in the Planetarian: a Church of Men and Angels
Jugyeong Lim is a high school student with problems that are all too familiar, especially body image anxiety and bullies. When she finally lashes out at one bully, the other girl complains about her, and Jugyeong is forced to change schools. Life doesn’t seem fair! Over the winter break that precedes her entrance into her… Read More First Impression: True Beauty
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