“That sounds like a great story! Can I watch it with you?” “Well, I want to watch it with some regularity…so no.” After completing Avatar: The Last Airbender and Violet Evergarden with me, my roommate has learned well how hard it is to align both our schedules, even though we live in the same house.… Read More Lynna’s Journey (Entry #5): Will You Watch This Anime With Me?
There was a time when I thought Beneath the Tangles could be everything to everyone, that we would reach out to young, shounen-obsessed anime fans and serious otaku alike. The thing about hubris is that you don’t see it coming, and in the end, I realized that mission was far too ambitious, and when you… Read More Say Konnichiwa to Our Shimai (Sister) Sites!
I get excited whenever I see Christ and Pop Culture publish a piece qualified for the “Something More” column, and this one is certainly an original. I never imagined that the JRPG airship trope could convey so many spiritual truths about freedom and responsibility. Looking back on my memories playing through the Final Fantasy series… Read More Something More: (Gnostic) Titan Jesus, Christian Freedom in JRPG Airships, and Humility Levels Over 9,000
So your name’s Chihiro? What a pretty name…and it belongs to me now. – Yubaba (Spirited Away) In the west, we’ve largely destroyed the art of naming children. Parents scramble to discover a name that’s unique (but maybe not too unique), memorable, beautiful, and timeless, but in searching for an aesthetically pleasing name, most will… Read More Sen to Chihiro, Control to Freedom: The Significance of Names, Here and Forevermore
The past two weeks have been overwhelming in terms of just how many articles have been posted relating to anime and religion/spirituality. There’s so much to dig into – I hope you have as much fun reading through these articles as I did! Are you headed to SuperCon at the end of this month? If… Read More Something More: Noragami Religion, Hopeless Black Butler, and Persecuting Naruto
Episode 7 of Nameko Families provides a striking parallel to Jesus’ parable of the lost sheep. [Old Line Elephant] The beauty of ABe’s concept artwork for Haibane Renmei is undeniable, and begs the question of whether he was inspired by Christian paintings. [Fantastic Memes] Medieval Otaku sees a parallel between how the Christian God is… Read More Something More: God’s View of a Giftia Wife, Parable of the Lost Nameko, and Allah or YHWH in Arslan Senki?
For episode 9, we are excited to have Alexander (pseudonym: Lord Marlin), the administrator of Anime of Tomorrow and Affinity for Anime, as our guest. While a professing humanist or atheist, Alex has had an outstanding relationship with Beneath the Tangles and our staff. In order to capitalize on our unique guest for this month, we… Read More The Tangles Anime Podcast: Episode 9
Welcome to the first of our more sporadic version of Something More. The blogosphere has been resplendent in it’s spiritual-related articles the last couple of week, regarding anime series both current and classic. Christian symbolism runs rampant in Kill la Kill, as do opportunities to discuss Christian themes and ideas, particularly as they relate to… Read More Something More: Kill la Cross, Madoka’s Universal Church, and Sailor Moon Mythology
Note: This article was originally intended for publication elsewhere. Read The Life and Death of an Anime Article on an Evangelical Website for the whole story. This post contains spoilers for Haibane Renmei, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Trigun, and Death Note. Inception. Black Swan. The Matrix. These Hollywood hits have a common thread—each was heavily influenced by Japanese animation, aka anime. Anime has settled in… Read More Anime’s Common Grace
Japes, our Anime Today columnist, has written a number of articles about the intersection of Christianity and anime for his other blog, Japesland. He is editing and resposting a number of these entries, including the one below, to Beneath the Tangles. Several days ago I wrote a piece that I titled “(Superficial) Christianity in Anime“,… Read More (Real) Christianity in Anime