CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

I picked up the first volume of Here is Greenwood the other day. Like many mangas, it follows the plight of a lovably average male forced to deal with the unrelenting antics of crazy folk. His roommate is a woman that was raised to act like a man (EDIT: Roommate is actually very feminine man. Thanks Vampi.), the guy down the hall carries his motorcycle up the stairs to keep it out of the cold, and the head of the dorm is a flaky wretch that has nothing but a pretty face keeping just about everybody he knows from giving him a good punch in the lips.

But, there are other people thrown into this mix -- CHRISTIANS!!! They worship every morning! They council people in time of need! They talk to people about their faith! INSANITY!!!

It wasn't particularly malicious, but I found it odd that normal Christians doing normal Christian things were played for the same "OMG TEHY R CRAZY" laugh as everybody else in the freak show.

So, do the Christians have hell pouring out their mouths or are they blaspmehous and judgmental? *expects the worst 'cause that usually the treatment Christians get in media of most kinds*

Oh, by the way, how is the manga, content wise?

Actually, the Christians are pretty well-behaved, which is why I was so surprised that they were played for laughs. They were perhaps a little forward but they never said anything blasphemous or judgmental.

They are certainly misunderstood, though. The manga points this out a little, but for the most part they're just made out to be more of the same lovable but insane dorm dwellers.

Do you mean objectionable content? There wasn't much, but for me it was borderline. Fanservice is very low but the artist seems to like showing off the boys. Although only one girl is central to the plot, several more are worked in through some rather strained plot deviations, apparently for the purpose of looking cute and starting the boys on yet another conversation about dating. Two of the boys are revealed to be closet homosexuals.

Overall, I'd say don't waste your time. It's thoroughly readable but nothing special and with so many titles out today you're better off finding something with more substance and a less adolescent take on the world.

(The roommate raised to be a man is an actual man. He's just pretending to be a woman as a joke.)

Cap'n Crack wrote:Two of the boys are revealed to be closet homosexuals.

Sounds like a keeper. *sarcasm sarcasm*

Don't worry Mangafanatic those two aren't the main characters and not too much focus is given to them as homosexuals, but if that kind of thing really bugs you, you may want to skip this title since in vol.2 there is a chapter expalining how they ended up as a couple. Captin Crack and Vampi gave away the openning joke of vol.1. I love Shun, he's my favorite character. Shinobu and Nagisa are next and then maybe Mitsuru. Ever since I saw the anime I was hoping and praying for the manga to be republished in the U.S. since my search for the original Japanese publication prooved fruitless with my limited resources. -_-;

Yeah, the story can be a little blah at times but sometimes stuff can happen that will send you on your butt laughing.

Hm, as for the Christians being made out to be nothing more than crazies in this manga I'm not quite sure. There are people who do get religeoulsy fanatical in a bad way and there are cults that claim to be on the up and up, so while at first I was like "What exactly is she trying to say about Christians?" but after recalling my own encounters with such crazies I just took it that the author was basing those cult characters on people like that. No one who joins a cult is really a bad person they just end up getting caught up in some seriously weird and sometimes dangerous stuff.

Still, I can see how a lot of things (even Shun) can be offensive to people so maybe reading through vol. 1 a little in the store will help determine if anyone really wants to check this title out or not, that is if nothing said here didn't drive you away. :p

For me this title was hard to read. I had to read it a couple of times before I finally figured out Shun was really a dude. The panels and stuff were confusing to me, so I probably won't keep reading it. It was okay but nothing special, in my eyes.

Yeah, I guess the characters aren't all that good looking to attract the female readers attention the manga was meant for. LOL I suppose the bishounen of the 1980s are not as attractive today as they were then. LOL The characters in Please Save My Earth have a similar look and the so-called bishounen is utter hideous if you ask me, nothing to make a guy jealous or a girl drool over at all, but hey that's just what I think. ^o^