As a teenager, I often daydreamed about what life would be like in my twenties. As I sat at home, watching Friends, I envisioned a similar life to those characters—establishing lifelong friendships, hanging out all the time, doing cool things, attending parties, making money, and even living in New York City. But my twenties weren’t… Read More 12 Days of Christmas Anime, Day 6: Sing Yesterday for Me
Because I’m a hopeless SAO fanboy, I’m writing about Sword Art Online‘s Christmas episode…again. I did so last year, and others have done the same three and five years ago. But I couldn’t let the chance to write more about SAO slip past me. To recap: In the third episode, “Red Nosed Reindeer,” Kirito joins… Read More 12 Days of Christmas Anime, Day 5: Sword Art Online
Advent, the time of year in which Christians commemorate Christmas by looking forward to it in anticipation, as well as to Christ’s return, is upon us. We hope that we can help you participate and get into the “Christmas spirit” through our blog as we do our traditional Christmas posts. Consider signing up for our… Read More A Ryvius Advent
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