Spring shines outside as a new school year begins. Yukko Aioi, a schoolgirl of fourteen or so, is resting over her desk, groaning and grumbling. She has no motivation to do anything, she says. So Mio Naganohara, her best friend, suggests that she finds one. “But I lack motivation to do even that!” Yukko complains.… Read More Nichijou, comedic hope and my own ordinary life
When it comes to anime and light novels, you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting an isekai series or six. Countless stories spanning many genres have used the person-travels-to-another-world premise. To borrow language from the infamous TV Tropes, the isekai concept has been played straight, played with, inverted, subverted, parodied, deconstructed, reconstructed, and more.… Read More The World Is Not Enough: Isekai and the Hope for More
“We have hope. Rebellions are built on hope!” Much of criticism slung at J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars films, and especially The Rise of Skywalker, has to do with his fixation on the past, his reliance on the original trilogy in crafting his own Star Wars films. Even George Lucas has reportedly expressed dissatisfaction at Abrams’… Read More Unending Hope in The Legends of Luke Skywalker Manga
Day 1: Hero Beneath the Tangles seems to have slipped into an inadvertent biennial tradition of writing about Sword Art Online‘s Christmas episode (the third episode of the series). Others wrote about it two years and four years ago, respectively, and now I want to take a turn at it. I’m sure you already know… Read More 12 Days of Christmas Anime: Sword Art Online Episode 3, Take 3
I’m happy to introduce Gaheret, our newest writer! You may have seen him haunting our comment section, but now you’ll see much more of him and insight on Beneath the Tangles. The eldest of ten siblings who are all avid readers, Gaheret is a is a Catholic lawyer from Spain, too tall for Robin already… Read More The Promised (Never)land: a Thrilling Plan of Salvation
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
Danganronpa proves Chesterton’s assertion that it is a real shame so much bad fiction becomes lost: we have so much to learn from its mistakes! Now, Danganronpa is not that bad of an anime (I have not played the video game, though the anime wears its origins on its sleeve), but the hero fights against… Read More Danganronpa and Divorcing Hope from Theology
He is risen! If you go to church or are around Christians much today, you’ll likely hear this phrase repeated a lot, followed by “He is risen indeed!” Again and again, we repeat to each other the good news: Jesus Christ, God in flesh, the perfect man, who died on our behalf, has risen from… Read More Easter 2017: The Hope of Resurrection
Major spoilers for Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney below! Two silhouettes stand in a boat floating on a foggy lake. One of them pulls a gun on the other. “Merry Christmas,” he says, and squeezes the trigger. Appropriately enough, the final case in Capcom’s original Ace Attorney video game opens the same way it ends—with a… Read More 12 Days of Otaku Christmas, Day 1: Ace Attorney
Music is a big part of my life, as I listen to it for hours every day. Mostly it’s for background purposes, whether at the gym, during prayer and worship, or while reading, writing, or driving. I never realized how important it was to my life until several years ago, nor did I notice that… Read More Lunar Silver Star Story: Wind’s Nocturne Analysis