When I opened our Patreon account almost a decade ago, I hoped that we’d gather about a half-dozen supporters who would help us defray the costs of having a website. What I didn’t expect was to see names of those who had already long supported what we did here on Beneath the Tangles come to… Read More BtT’s Fall Campaign: The Love of Sustained Giving
Once again, Ya Boy Kongming proves to have some surprisingly rich depths beneath its catchy surface this week. The hidden pearl this time lies in the developing relationship between Kongming and Eiko, which is part professional, part friendship, and in this episode at least, all allegory for the believer’s relationship with God, as Eiko’s growing… Read More Ya Boy Kongming, ep. 4: When God Leaves You Hanging
Kurau: Phantom Memory is a character-driven sci-fi series from 2004 that stands the test of time. It does so not simply because of the clean, classic animation, the evocative soundtrack, the adept world-building, or the lack of filler episodes. No, it does so primarily because of its thought-provoking exploration of a relationship that is deeper… Read More The Abiding Love of Kurau: Phantom Memory
Police in a Pod keeps getting better each week, to the point where this latest episode made me want to sit up and take notes on how to do life—as a believer, as a professional, and simply as a person. Today, Sgt. Fuji demonstrated the power of honor to change lives. Back in the heady… Read More Police in a Pod, Ep. 3: The Power of Honor
Time and time these days, I find myself explaining what it is our ministry does. I’m not complaining—in fact, I’m delighted that people are interested! And it’s natural to wonder exactly what the heck Beneath the Tangles is: What are you guys? What does anime have to do with Christianity? Why do you do this?… Read More A Christian Anime Ministry: Why We Do What We Do
There are many lessons to learn from The Heike Story: the cost of pride, the trauma of war, the insidiousness of bitterness. Every episode conveys these truths with both the elegance and firmness of a martial artist’s killing blow. But the true heart of this series is far subtler and as such can be easily… Read More The Heike Story: A Tale of Forgiveness?
For Ayaka Steiger, Christmas is awful. When she was still a child, the conflicted antagonist of Kurau: Phantom Memory lost her entire family on Christmas Eve to a group of gunmen with a grudge against her father, a top agent with the government’s secret service, the GPO. As an adult, she has followed in her… Read More 12 Days of Christmas Anime, Day 12: The Many Christmases of Kurau: Phantom Memory