CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

My brother (who is a believer and has joined this site yet has done nothing on it thus far...) has every single episode of Rurouni Kenshin, and since I'm on winter break for a month and have really nothing else to do, I plan on watching all the episodes...I'm just about to start episode 63.

Now, as I'm posting stuff on xanga and myspace and whatnot, I find on the blog "what are you watching?" silly little things, that eventually the episodes get into a Japanese view of Christianity, and a swordsman thinks he's the son of God or something... I have some questions about that. I can get very emotionally drawn into any ideas and whatnot, and I was wondering if this would be worth it for me to watch those parts, and how they display Christianity in that part of the series. Is it positive, neutral, negative, blasphemous? I don't mean to start any kind of debate on here whatsoever, I'm just a bit....apprehensive? I don't want to watch something that will seriously affect me emotionally.

Haven't gotten that far on the series, but all I know is:

- One of the DVDs is in fact titled "Son of God". Don't know anything past that

- Some of that Kenshin ark deals with Christian persecution in Japan, by means of crucifician (seen parts of it off an AMV)

I saw it. Totally neutral, in my opinion. Not positive, but not exactly negative either, and definitely not blasphemous. It's based on real historical accounts, as far as I know. It's about the Christian missionaries and the persecuted Japanese Christians, and this guy (the swordsman) who's had a really tough life and who thinks he's a god. If you really want to know what happens:

[SPOILER]Kenshin sets him straight in a swordfight.[/SPOILER]

He's really only like that because of his hard life. You'll understand when you see it. If you're really convicted, you could always skip that arc as it's not important at all to the storyline; it's just filler.

[quote="Heart of Sword"]I saw it. Totally neutral, in my opinion. Not positive, but not exactly negative either, and definitely not blasphemous. It's based on real historical accounts, as far as I know. It's about the Christian missionaries and the persecuted Japanese Christians, and this guy (the swordsman) who's had a really tough life and who thinks he's a god. If you really want to know what happens:

[SPOILER]Kenshin sets him straight in a swordfight.[/SPOILER]

He's really only like that because of his hard life. You'll understand when you see it. If you're really convicted, you could always skip that arc as it's not important at all to the storyline]
I agree with what was said here, it makes you go "excuse me?" at first, but once you get into it you see that it's completely neutral and that the poor guy is totally missing the picture... though Sayo is his sister, so that makes up for it.

Hey, I remember you from the G2G forum...lol...long time no see.

hmm it's been a LONG time since I have seen this arc..but the way I remember it, they guy wasn't saying he was THE son of God..more like a son of God like you or I would be...(I mean a Son or Daughter of Christ..in the Christian sense...) but then again, it HAS been a long time....:/

ahh....alright. Sank you : )

I've watched part of it thus far... And I'm not quite sure what to think of it. I'm a bit disturbed by some of it...but I think the guy who was Shougo's teacher seems to have set a lot of it straight when he's talking to Kenshin. Otherwise it seems like it's a cult and this psycho dude is killing people in the name of God. And that's kind of lame. I haven't watched it all, though, so.....we'll see?

You could just skip it. But yeah, you'll see.

It never really bothered me...he turns out allright in the end. I didn't like the feng shui part, as I haven't finished watching it.

I just finished watching the entire series, so these arcs are fresh in my mind.

The so-called "Christian Arc" is basically what happens when secular Japanese minds try to come up with an interesing Western religion arc. They don't know what they're doing and end up treading on some toes. In the storyline, they make the bad guys either deluded or non-Christians in what I assume is an attempt to avoid insulting anyone, but it comes across as "Christians are gullible and stupid. See?" Bottom line is that the Arc is interesting on a personal level (Sanosuke and Sayo) but uncomfortable overall for Christians.

As for the Feng Shui arc, what a horrible way to end a series. >.>

Besides Witch Hunter Robin, are there any anime titles that have a positive Christian character in them?

You will be hard-pressed, truth be told. Most anime are neutral regarding Christian values. However, there are plenty of anime that generally have good prevailing over evil, and honestry prevailing over dishonesty, etc.

You have no choice but to do trial and error. Rent a couple of things you're interested in, and see if you agree with its values and content. Eventually you'll get the hang of what is good for you and what isn't, what you like and don't like.

EK 8 )

It's also a good idea to check up on reviews, and if this site doesn't have the one you need, try also "The Anime Cafe" parent's guide, AnimeNfo, and if all else fails, Anime News Network at the least. This is my usuall anime screening process

rocklobster wrote:Besides Witch Hunter Robin, are there any anime titles that have a positive Christian character in them?

Sometimes there will be characters that are not overtly Christian characters, but have a Christian subtext too them who are positive. In Macross/Robotech, for example, we have Max, although his religion is not important in the plot at all, he is a positive character whom we see making the Sign of the Cross in battle, so one would assume that he is Christian. So there's an example of a Christian character in a positive light, but his religion is seen of no significance to the plot.

WHR has Christianity in a positive light? What a weird place to find it, if that's true. (I'm thinking it portrays Christianity in a sort of Van Helsing (US movie) way?)

"I have come...to save you from being destroyed..." - the fengshui guy

i hate that line.

Godly Paladin wrote:I just finished watching the entire series, so these arcs are fresh in my mind.

The so-called "Christian Arc" is basically what happens when secular Japanese minds try to come up with an interesing Western religion arc. They don't know what they're doing and end up treading on some toes. In the storyline, they make the bad guys either deluded or non-Christians in what I assume is an attempt to avoid insulting anyone, but it comes across as "Christians are gullible and stupid. See?" Bottom line is that the Arc is interesting on a personal level (Sanosuke and Sayo) but uncomfortable overall for Christians.

As for the Feng Shui arc, what a horrible way to end a series. >.>

The Feng Shui arc was just insulting.