I feel inadequate in so many ways. This feeling is on display each time I write, preach, teach in the church, or try to share the Gospel. While I have advanced degrees, none of them are for those actions, and I sometimes feel like I don’t even have a diploma in writing, preaching, or teaching,… Read More Newman’s Nook: Inadequacy, Depression, and Shinji
Shouya Ishida is a lanky, handsome teenager attending high school in Tokyo. He’s smart and does well in school. He has a supportive family, and there are people in his life that he cares deeply about. Shouya is respectful and kind, and works diligently at a part-time job, helping to support his family. And tomorrow,… Read More Review: A Silent Voice
There a moment in episode two of Goblin Slayer when the title character describes the horrors of goblins ransacking a village, apparently remembering his own experience: An example would be if your older sister was attacked, tormented, made a plaything, then killed. Let’s say you witnessed all this, from start to finish in hiding as… Read More Goblin Slayer and Silenced Hope
The hook for Steins;gate 0 is that it takes place in a world line where Makise Kurisu is dead. She has not been rescued. There is no happily ever after. And while the Amadeus A.I. is both a device that moves the plot forward and gives the audience the Kurisu fan service we so desperately… Read More We Can’t All be Makise Kurisu (or Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
May is mental health awareness month, a topic close to my heart. I grew up in a family that struggled deeply with mental health and I myself have had quite the uphill battle in this regard. One of my favorite coping mechanisms is aniblogging and diving into anime where I could relate to the characters’… Read More Anime and Mental Health Awareness Month
The Haruhi Suzumiya series of anime and light novels is structured around the eponymous character’s shifting feelings and thoughts and how they affect the world around her through her abilities to shape things according to her will. The very first portion of the series focuses on her melancholy, and as you might expect of one… Read More The Melancholy of Haruhi and She and You and Me
I stumbled upon A Silent Voice when I was at my local library in the manga section. What piqued my interest was seeing that it was a story about living with a disability, something I seldom find in Japanese fiction. A story that isn’t about trying to get senpai to notice you, but instead the… Read More A Silent Voice and the Value of Human Life
Hey everyone, Kaze here sneaking back onto this blog with a very special and exciting post! As some of you know, I’m a big fan of the Narcissu series and have written on the stories numerous times because of its inclusion of Christian faith in a very respectful, thoughtful, and accurate manner alongside serious, meaningful… Read More Interview with Tomo Kataoka
Despite my calls of authenticity, I have a habit, still, of showing only the best side of me on Beneath the Tangles. I try to make it seem as if I have it all together, as if my faith is rock solid and that I’m a humble dad, faithful father, and all-around amazing Christian. But… Read More Ichiro Inuyashiki and the Realization That No One Really Cares
As dated as it now feels, it’s worth remembering how different Evangelion was when it first came out (and before the industry started using the series as a mold for so many other projects). I was waxing nostalgic about my first viewing of the the first episode some sixteen years ago and how much of… Read More Shinji Ikari: Sinking in Angels and Building on Sand