CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

As we all are very aware, sometimes disliking an anime has nothing to do with it's merchandise. Sometimes we go into a store and see a cool item and buy it because it looks cool or sounds pretty, but what if the product is from a "bad" series?

Personally I don't see it as a big deal unless you watching/reading/listening to the anime's soundtrack, reading it's manga, or watching it's anime, but if you just see a plushie of a dog from the anime, is it really bad still? It's just like a child seeing a stuffed toy from a series they don't know about, but thinking it's cute, buy it anyway! However, some people may feel differently and that's why I started this.

For me, I personally don't see it as too big of a deal, but it all depends on the item. I mean, one of the "forbidden series" released a set of Pinky Street figures last year (basically they're dolls of the characters, but with a cute "punk" look) and I thought they were so cute! The figures mentioned NOTHING bad on them or anything! They were basically just dolls where you could change their clothes, hair, etc. I also got a music box from one of the series and on it is says "God is in Heaven and all is right with the world." Now, ppl who know this series probably know what anime I'm talking about, but it's doesn't matter. The music box is harmless! o_o;; The song it plays isn't even evil or anything...

I guess it could be seen as "the anime is bad so all stuff from it is!" But I mean...is it really so horrible God would punish you for it? I guess it's possible, but I just don't think so unless it's something really bad (like some necklace with a devil sign on it or something) but other items? I dunno, but I just wanted to get your opinions on the situation as well as some advice with mine...><; I mean, I will get rid of them if I have to, but if you even want a picture of these items I'll get one! I mean...they're just...toys. o_o;;; It's like buying Sakura's Clow Cards. Are they evil? No, they're plastic toys where you can sit and be stupid with, but just don't get serious...

Still though, opinons?

It seems like you may be conflicted with this issue, so you may need to consider carefully whether you want stuff from a series that is "bad" or not.

There are two ways to look at this. One way would be to say that buying merchandise encourages the producers to produce more titles like the last one. If it was a bad title, they will be encouraged to produce more bad titles. This is why some people try to encourage people to see movies/buy merchandise for good things whether you "liked" it or not so producers will be encouraged to make more.

That's kind of a complicated way to look at things and, in many respects, doesn't make sense. If you support things you don't like, you are encouraging people to make more things you don't like, whether they are offensive or not is immaterial. It's also very questionable that behaving this way has any real affect on what producers will make anyway.

A simpler way to look at it is buy what you like and enjoy what you have. A responsible Christian will temper that by buying only that which edifies them (or at the very least, is not a distraction to them). From what you describe, I find no fault in purchasing and owning what you have bought (assuming you are also being responsible with the resources God has given you and not going into an unmanageable debt to support your habit).

Another thing to consider is the effect of owning such items will have on the other people who will inevitably see them. If I may go to an extreme here, I would not want to explain to my 12 year old brother/cousin/nephew/whatever why having a blow-up doll is perfectly justifiable because I don’t use it as it is intended. You should not be a stumbling block to others if you can avoid it (within reason). So, if you know your friend will lust after your Takuto statue, don’t display out in the open when she comes to visit.

Like termyt has already said, there is the economic aspect to consider--when you buy merchandise for a certain series, it encourages the company to produce more of it. However, my understanding of the "do not discuss" list is that the reason the rule is in place is for the sake of avoiding heated arguments; the series that are listed are controversial in some way or another. I'm not aware that there is some sort of blanket condemnation of all of these titles. With the specific series you are talking about, it's likely that members here have mixed opinions about it. Therefore, whether it is morally wrong to purchase merchandise from that series would depend on whether you youself believe that this is a "bad" title.

If you want my personal take, I wouldn't support the series if I wasn't willing to watch it. For example, I'm a big Tanemura Arina fan, and I have a lot of KKJ merchandise (posters, cds, etc.); while her works are for the most part clean, KKJ has some religious aspects that Christians need to be aware of before getting into. Whenever anyone asks about the series, I am always straightforward with them and tell them the possibly convicting stuff right away. It did not bother me, I was not convicted by it, and therefore I have no problems buying posters or whatever. However, if it was a series I knew I felt bad about I would not feel right in buying merchandise from it. Why? Because it shows support of a series the Lord has convicted me on, supports it economically, and worse when someone may ask about it, I would have to tell them "oh I've never seen it and it actually has a lot of bad stuff, but the art/music/merchandise is cool!" To me that doesn't really add up, and it may damage my witness. However when I can openly say "it was a good series, although you need to be aware of a few things in it" it doesn't bother me. Again these are my convictions and I encourage you to find the ones the Lord gave to you.

If I bought something from a series they didn't know about first (which I try not to do) and THEN found out it had bad stuff in it...I'd advise them to either sell it or trash it, whichever they feel most comfortable with.