CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

We need an anime drawn in america by christian anime artist, a concept from christian otakus, dubbing done in america (don't worry, japan will work things out), and... yeah! Just a Christian-American Anime!
Listen, I hate to do this, but the dubbing jobs and plots on SOO many animes and mangas are just... :forehead: we need to step in! That would be sooooo flipping awesome!
Almost as good as 20X6 (Strong Bad)

LOL... yeah, Ink, it'd all just be fun until we had to figure out the financaing... lol
But, yes, zoupzuop, it would be cool if something like that could work out. ^_^ *sigh* Maybe someday... when Inky is a rich and famous manga artist...

Yeah I have often though about this (got 3 awesome Ideas just need to work on my drawing skills) but I have not able to figure out a way to get that kind of money. Unless a big church was willing to finance something like this but we would have to first show them that it was a worthwhile investment. Possibly a Christina TV company like TBN or DayStar would consider airing a Christian anime show. I just don't know

Well... you get the idea, right? You're right, tho... if we DID have the cash to do it, I don't think anyone'd be stopping us!

I believe it's quite possible that this could happen, even CAA's Manga projects that are currently being worked on.

Frankly I'd be very leary of most "Christian" companies doing any such thing though... we've got a bad track record when it comes to this sort of thing.

Yeah that's what I would be worried about but I think It would be better if we had Christian supporters though. Otherwise allot of Christians would probably say what were doing is bad

WhiteBlaze wrote:Yeah that's what I would be worried about but I think It would be better if we had Christian supporters though. Otherwise allot of Christians would probably say what were doing is bad

A lot of Christian would say it was bad no matter what.

If you do anything remotely outside the mainstream, the Christian community won't trust it until it's "proven okay" (ie: gets popular enough).

But then when that happens, a lot of folks will call it "Worldly".

And then the story..... once you worked up the standards of conduct, language and appearance for all the characters in such a way that all the Christian sponsors wouldn't be offended, it would likely end up gut-wrenchingly bland and mediocre.

I would love to think I'm just being overly cynical, but....... I really don't think I am, much as it pains me.

My thought is more along the lines of...... work out a really good, applicational/allegorical story that can stand on it's own artistic merit, and pitch it to Studio Ghibli/Gainax/Someone.

(With Hideaki Anno directing... as an act of Penance ;-) )

Booya. Things go well, you have not just a "Christian Anime", but a really GOOD anime. Which I think is equally important.

can someone explain why it costs so much to produce an anime?

Time, matertials, paychecks for a large staff ... the list goes on and splits into sub categories.

morose wrote:can someone explain why it costs so much to produce an anime?

Basically.... cel animation runs at, what, 16 frames per second? So basically (assuming I'm right, I dunno offhand) that's 16 full color drawings that have to be produced for every second of animation onscreen. Plus backgrounds, plus soundtrack, sound effects, voice actors, editors and all the technical stuff that goes into bringing it all together. That takes a lot of people who don't like to work for free

I'm relatively certain they don't use cel animation like that... most animation today is more advanced than that, and I'd imagine the anime world is up to date with it. Still, it costs a massive amount, in many different areas, as Gypsy pointed out.

To answer EliasEmmanuel: While I don't think you are being overcynical, I do think you're neglecting to consider some factors. Personally I'm far more enthusiastic than the position you stated in your previous post.

True, much of Christianity will object to most Christian anime. However, I believe that the majority of these are individuals that I'm not sure count as Christians in the first place. Some people would have honest objections, but that is to be expected.

What would be necessary to pull it off would be a storyline that is Christian, yet doesn't necessarily have to be bland. Is it realistic to have every character be a perfect Christian? Of course not. For them to have any meaning to us, they must at least be somewhat worldly. There will be characters that have bad habits, cuss, don't always act as they should, etc. If people don't like it, they are free to secede from the planet.

I have a few examples of Christian ideas that would make a good anime while still remaining Christian: Inkhana's "Steelblood," Psycho Ann's "Paladin," or my own "The Fall." If by interesting you refer to more than just action, Ann's "Psychoteers" or Mave's "Kingdom Come" could fit the bill.

> Basically.... cel animation runs at, what, 16 frames per second?

Twenty-four, IIRC (which is even worse).

uc pseudonym wrote:I'm relatively certain they don't use cel animation like that... most animation today is more advanced than that, and I'd imagine the anime world is up to date with it.

Well, as far as animation goes, it's either cel or digital. The only big advance I've heard of lately is disney is going to be doing all it's "in-betweening" (part of the cel process) digitally and thus laid off a big chunk of their staff.

To answer EliasEmmanuel: While I don't think you are being overcynical, I do think you're neglecting to consider some factors. Personally I'm far more enthusiastic than the position you stated in your previous post.

True, much of Christianity will object to most Christian anime. However, I believe that the majority of these are individuals that I'm not sure count as Christians in the first place. Some people would have honest objections, but that is to be expected.

eh... maybe. I've just been involved with the underground end of the Christian music scene (and related things) enough to know the american Christian market (and how it's being run) is unbelievably fickle. Heck, tons of Christian bookstores wouldn't carry an album by Squad Five-O because it had the word "Suck" on it. POD's "The Fundamental Elements of Southtown" had to have an alternate "censored" cover produced produced for the Christian bookstore market because people objected to the fact that the central figure is sitting cross-legged (people thought it was too "eastern") and there's a little monkey smoking a cigar off to one side(can't advocate tobacco use). I hate to sound cynical, but this is the Christian market.

What would be necessary to pull it off would be a storyline that is Christian, yet doesn't necessarily have to be bland. Is it realistic to have every character be a perfect Christian? Of course not. For them to have any meaning to us, they must at least be somewhat worldly. There will be characters that have bad habits, cuss, don't always act as they should, etc. If people don't like it, they are free to secede from the planet.

Oh I agree with you 100%. But again..... sadly the Christian market is run, at least largely, based on what would offend little old ladies (I read an essay by an author who was told as much by a publisher). Things get banned for patently stupid reasons.

I dunno....... I'm not trying to be discouraging. I'm just saying if it came to either sacrificing vision and quality or going outside the Christian market, I'd go outside the Christian market. As far as I'm concerned, producing the best work possible before God is the top priority.

And heck, the Message needs to be out in the world anyway.

And I do still think this would be great. :-)

EliasEmmanuel wrote:Well, as far as animation goes, it's either cel or digital. The only big advance I've heard of lately is disney is going to be doing all it's "in-betweening" (part of the cel process) digitally and thus laid off a big chunk of their staff.

Actually, what Disney is doing was front page material down here in Florida (since I'm about an hour and a half away from Disney from here).

Disney noticed that all the Pixar stuff (and other CG movies, like Shrek) where raking in money, while the Cel drawn stuff that they have been putting out wasn't. On top of that they had an idea that Pixar might not be with them much longer (which is now official As you can see in this story ), Disney decided to make some changes to how they do animation.

Part of those changes is the plans to abandon the traditional Cel animation and go with CG such as Pixar has been mastering for years.

If what they said in the newspaper article is true, Disney is hoping to surpass the quality of animation that Pixar has done. I'm somewhat hopefull that they can do some great things, but I think Disney has missed the point of why Pixar does so well, it's not just using computers (though they're the experts in the field), it's the stories.

Disney's idea is to bring the same life and expressiveness that Disney is notied for in their cel animation to CG (moreso than even Pixar has already done).

I'm sure they'll be doing cel type stuff with CG... but Disney's long-term goal is to replace Pixar inhouse, and even surpass them.

Good luck to them.

In regard to the Christian market: Yes, it is picky (though you have some new and telling examples). Actually, what I have in mind (and here I can speak only for my own series) is something that would appeal to the nonChristian audiance. Which is why I am freer to tell Christians to take it or leave it. Japanese manga/anime (this is redundant, but I say it to properly identify my point) is generally accepting of religions, though it doesn't take them too seriously. Likewise, while they may not take the Christian elements in said idea very seriously, they also won't see anything wrong with it. And that's where outreach and the Spirit hopefully come in.

umm... why not just a christian anime? it doesn't HAVE to be american... oh well! i think it is a very good idea!!

uc pseudonym wrote:In regard to the Christian market: Yes, it is picky (though you have some new and telling examples). Actually, what I have in mind (and here I can speak only for my own series) is something that would appeal to the nonChristian audiance. Which is why I am freer to tell Christians to take it or leave it. Japanese manga/anime (this is redundant, but I say it to properly identify my point) is generally accepting of religions, though it doesn't take them too seriously. Likewise, while they may not take the Christian elements in said idea very seriously, they also won't see anything wrong with it. And that's where outreach and the Spirit hopefully come in.

Here here

I think christian anime is a great idea, Infact I'm working on{writing} a Christian Street Fighter Series. I know, I know, the 2 don't go to gether well but I dared to try and I think i got somthing good, I'll post one of my SF stories soon.

well, see ya

i was thinking...what does it take for something to be anime? do you have to have a Japanese cast and crew or can you just imitate the style and technique and that makes it anime already? like that cartoon Totally Spies (i still don't consider it anime, but that's beside the point ^^;;)? because if you think about it, then that means Disney could easily make an "anime" of their own...(which would sort of rob Japanese anime of its uniqueness, i guess)

anyway, i'm getting a bit off-track. my point is, if we're hoping for a genuine Christian Anime in the sense of the earlier definition (meaning it being inherently Japanese), then that's a bit fuzzy considering that Christians consist of a very small minority in Japan. there may be anime series out there with references to Christianity, but i don't think (so far) that there's one where the characters or the plot center on principles of Christianity while simultaneously acknowledging those principles to be Christian.

Other than anime such as Superbook, correct? There have been some.

I wouldn't call a Japanese-created Christian anime impossible. While Christians may be a minority in Japan, they certainly do exist. With the number of people on CAA who have ideas for Christian anime, I think it's doubtful that all Japanese Christians would have no ideas.

As for myself, I'm not so convinced you'd have to be Japanese to pull it off. My own idea, for example, would not require it. It's arguable what is "anime" but I'm not trying to emulate any manner of style.

In response to what the person origionly said, wouldnt that just defet the purpose of it being an anime, and it just be a stupid crack amairecan cartoon. And anyway I am pretty sure some one would make it retarted with it being christian. 90% of the "Christian" stuff out there sucks. Thank God we have passion. That was good.