Possible Christian Characters?

[Momo-P]

We've had threads on Christian characters, but what about the others? Sometimes a character is never confirmed of being a Christian, but certain things they say or do make you wonder. For example;

Michiru (Sailor Neptune); Although it's weird because she's not only a lesbian, but apparently strictly a lesbian, she told Usagi and co. that Adam and Eve were the first two people to kiss. While I may just be reading too much into it, you must admit, for someone who doesn't believe, it wouldn't make much sense to go around saying that as a fact. ^^;

Zakuro (Mew Zakuro); Mind you it's anime only, but she was shown praying in a church twice. Considering how Mia Ikumi had a close hand in the anime though, I can't help but wonder if it was added by her or "OKed" by her. I mean, not only does Zakuro use a cross for a weapon, but she is shown to be a "international" star, and characters who deal with foreign things usually are shown being a Christian or some other religion.

So ya--two characters who definitely might not be, but just small things make you wonder. I personally have to look at them both as one though. Just because the idea of having more Christian characters is nice. XD

So any others?

[Fish and Chips]

So any others?

None.

[mitsuki lover]

Robin on Witch Hunter Robin was raised in a Catholic monastary and early in the series had a habit of going to a certain chapel to say her prayers,it becomes a important part of one episode.

I would like to point out that characters rarely if ever talk about their religious or
political beliefs.

[Fish and Chips]

I would like to point out that characters rarely if ever talk about their religious or
political beliefs.

Unless you're watching Gundam, in which case personal politics can span several consecutive episodes.

[USSRGirl]

These have probably already been mentioned but:

Saint Tail/Meimi and Seira - Seira's a Catholic nun who CONSTANTLY holds her hands in prayer. Saint Tail runs around doing good deeds and often prays. 'Nuff said.

Cloud Strife - AC has a lot of Christian themes about seeking forgiveness, salvation, ect. Heck, there's practically a baptism at the end. I love how Sephi plays the devil in holding Cloud to his sins rather than releasing him. Seeing as Cloud found his forgiveness, I'd say that makes him a Christian in the world of FF even if they are a bit of nature worshippers.

Totorro - He was recently cantonized as St. Totorro.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Cloud Strife - AC has a lot of Christian themes about seeking forgiveness, salvation, ect. Heck, there's practically a baptism at the end. I love how Sephi plays the devil in holding Cloud to his sins rather than releasing him. Seeing as Cloud found his forgiveness, I'd say that makes him a Christian in the world of FF even if they are a bit of nature worshippers.

Totorro - He was recently cantonized as St. Totorro.

No and... no.

A Christian is simply one who accepts Christ into their hearts as their personal lord and savior. Being a nice guy, a strong fighter, and having a pool party at the end of your long and hard day does not make you a Christian.

And having your name becoming a name of a canonized saint does not make you a Christian either. That's like saying Steven Hawkins would be a Christian if there was a St. Steven canonized.

[Radical Dreamer]

No and... no.

A Christian is simply one who accepts Christ into their hearts as their personal lord and savior. Being a nice guy, a strong fighter, and having a pool party at the end of your long and hard day does not make you a Christian.

And having your name becoming a name of a canonized saint does not make you a Christian either. That's like saying Steven Hawkins would be a Christian if there was a St. Steven canonized.

A winner is you.

And yeah. Basically, the Christian anime characters, or lack thereof, were all stated (or at least speculated upon) in the aforementioned thread.

[SolidÃ…rmor]

Momoko Koigakubo from "Ghost Stories" voiced by Monica Rial: This character is absolutely hilarious!! She's a Christ follower in the anime, and just what she says had me laughing the whole time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Stories_(anime)

[Mr. Rogers]

I doubt there's many, if any, Christian characters. People read too much into these things, it seems. Just because the character uses a cross weapon doesn't mean anything. Many people wear crosses and have no idea what they mean. Christianity is a very, very small part of Japanese culture. It's unlikely you'll find too much of it in anime.

[SolidÃ…rmor]

I doubt there's many, if any, Christian characters. People read too much into these things, it seems. Just because the character uses a cross weapon doesn't mean anything. Many people wear crosses and have no idea what they mean. Christianity is a very, very small part of Japanese culture. It's unlikely you'll find too much of it in anime.

Ghost Stories isn't an anime of someone using a cross as a weapon, it's just 5 kids that find themselves in very paranormal events. I wouldn't recommend it to those younger than say 15, some of the content is a little harsh strong, and like any anime there is some "fan service". But if you can get past that then it's just a funny show. But you have to watch the dubbed version to get the comedy factor, the sub. is more gloomy.

One example of the Momoko's character, the kids are stuck in an abandoned part of their school looking for a pet cat, and as they are walking in the dark Momoko asks the others if they've accepted Christ as their personal Savior....in a really fast tone. It was just too cute and funny.

[Debitt]

I'm still struggling to understand why we have so many "Christian characters/series" threads. A very small percentage of Japan's populous is Christian, thus how can we expect them to create something Christian when they have at best a tenuous understanding of the religion?

If one so desperately feels the need to rationalize their anime hobby by picking apart characters and series and trying to dub them 'Christian' when they most likely aren't, then maybe it'd just be a better idea for them to just stop watching anime altogether.

[Radical Dreamer]

I'm still struggling to understand why we have so many "Christian characters/series" threads. A very small percentage of Japan's populous is Christian, thus how can we expect them to create something Christian when they have at best a tenuous understanding of the religion?

If one so desperately feels the need to rationalize their anime hobby by picking apart characters and series and trying to dub them 'Christian' when they most likely aren't, then maybe it'd just be a better idea for them to just stop watching anime altogether.

Ditto. I agree completely. Not only that, but why would it matter in the long run, anyways? They're not real people. They're 2D drawings with voices behind them. Just wonderin'. XD

[EricTheFred]

It's been awhile since I posted anything, but reading this thread I remembered one definite, beyond a doubt case of a true Christian in anime. Interestingly, the same episode also showed a charlatan leading a Christian cult. The true Christian is decidedly represented in a positive light.

I'm referring to one episode of "Samurai Champloo". I found an online episode guide that tells me the episode is number 19, "Unholy Union". The episode shows a true-to-history case of Japanese oppression of Christians, in a clearly negative light, negatively shows a decidedly heretical Christian cult (I don't think any Christian who heard the leader's theology could disagree with me on that one) and as I said, positively represents the one unmistakeably real Christian character (I couldn't find her name in any guide. You'll know her if you watch the episode.)

Most often, though, Christian beliefs are misunderstood in anime, not surprising since it is most often written by people from a majority non-Christian land, and Christian clerics are shown in a sort of cartoonish way. However, there's a number of cases where they aren't, although sometimes it isn't clear whether they are actually Christians. For example, in one episode of Yucie, she helps out in a church. It certainly appears to be a church, but she is blithely popped into a habit and called 'Sister Yucie' without hesitation, the operator of the church seems to be a nun, and no clear symbology that I recall was shown. But, the nun certainly seemed to hold to the value system one would expect of a real nun, and was shown in a positive, non-cartoonish light.

Others have mentioned WHR, with Robin's past in a convent, and her apparent continuation of her practice of going to the church for morning prayer, but I think she indicates it is more of a habit (no pun intended) than a belief.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Actually, there's only one Christian character I can come up with, although he isn't much of a major character:The Japanese Priest from 20th Century Boys. Not only that, but he's shown in a positive light, and his redemption story was pretty rad.

"But Mr. SmartyPants! There are Christian Characters! That must make 20th Century Boys a Christian Manga!!!!!111111111ELEVENTYONE!"

Errrrr... no. it does not.

[Fish and Chips]

I'm referring to one episode of "Samurai Champloo". I found an online episode guide that tells me the episode is number 19, "Unholy Union". The episode shows a true-to-history case of Japanese oppression of Christians, in a clearly negative light, negatively shows a decidedly heretical Christian cult (I don't think any Christian who heard the leader's theology could disagree with me on that one) and as I said, positively represents the one unmistakeably real Christian character (I couldn't find her name in any guide. You'll know her if you watch the episode.)

Her name is Yuri, nor is she alone. Fuu's father, Seizou Kasumi, is a Christian, one of the surviving samurai from the Shimabara Rebellion. He went into hiding to throw off the government's anti-Christian agents (the practice of Christianity around that period was banned for political and cultural reasons).

As for their "Leader," he is shortly revealed to be a con artists disguised as a French priest in order to hold sway over the deeply religious Japanese Christians. He is summarily found out and dealt with. And even that aside, the history of Christianity across the world is populated by ministers and teachers of less-than-sound theology for less-than-holy reasons.

[EricTheFred]

Her name is Yuri, nor is she alone. Fuu's father, Seizou Kasumi, is a Christian, one of the surviving samurai from the Shimabara Rebellion. He went into hiding to throw off the government's anti-Christian agents (the practice of Christianity around that period was banned for political and cultural reasons).

As for their "Leader," he is shortly revealed to be a con artists disguised as a French priest in order to hold sway over the deeply religious Japanese Christians. He is summarily found out and dealt with. And even that aside, the history of Christianity across the world is populated by ministers and teachers of less-than-sound theology for less-than-holy reasons.

I remember now. That episode, and the trio's helping out exposing the charlatan, led to Fuu finging out where to seek her father, wasn't it? And I remember something about a keepsake of hers turning out to be a Christian keepsake of some kind. It's been awhile. I was happy just to remember as much as I did!

Thanks for the expansion. It's sad to think that so few examples can be found, (although kind of to be expected, as I mentioned) but it's fun when one can find them.

What's more important to look for than Christian characters, I think,are the positive messages one can find about love and living. Finding where positives that we hold dear as Christians have found their way into the ideals of non-Christian cultures such as the Japanese helps reveal to us that God's love is indeed universal.

One of my latest finds is in the (unforunately still available only in Japanese and in fabsub) Tokyo Majin Kenpuchou: Tou. Note that this is decidedly a show built on the religions of others (it is a modern fantasy/kinda-sorta-horror based in a mish-mash of Shinto and Taoist traditions, although mangled as badly as Hollywood can mangle Christianity)

What I think is interesting is how some of the major characters develop a decidedly Christian selflessness, even to the point of struggling to 'save' (in the sense of freeing from his evil, not in the Christian sense) their enemy rather than killing him. Also interesting is how, although they are derided by their fellows, the 'elder' characters show definitely approval for this desire. Can't say more than this without spoilers, and I'm betting this show will make it to the States quickly.

[Debitt]

What's more important to look for than Christian characters, I think,are the positive messages one can find about love and living. Finding where positives that we hold dear as Christians have found their way into the ideals of non-Christian cultures such as the Japanese helps reveal to us that God's love is indeed universal.

While I agree positivity is a good thing, and that seeing these things in a series can be uplifting, I just fail to understand how finding the positives in anything gives us license to slap a 'Christian' label on them. While love your neighbor and similar moral teachings might seem Christian to us because we (hopefully) live our lives with a Christian mindset, it's also important to take into consideration that other religions and philosophies preach many of the same moralities. So while the golden rule might stem from God and His truth, I find it culturally ignorant to tag it as Christian, because it is not exclusive to Christianity's teachings.

That all being said, the ONLY way I would find it appropriate to call a character Christian is if they expressed that they've found salvation through Jesus - that is, at the end of the day, all one needs (technically) to be Christian. Christianity is NOT based on works, and proclaiming characters to be Christian simply based on the good things they do seems to imply that people think it is, in fact, entirely based on good deeds.

[USSRGirl]

No and... no.

A Christian is simply one who accepts Christ into their hearts as their personal lord and savior. Being a nice guy, a strong fighter, and having a pool party at the end of your long and hard day does not make you a Christian.

And having your name becoming a name of a canonized saint does not make you a Christian either. That's like saying Steven Hawkins would be a Christian if there was a St. Steven canonized.

Okay. Yeah thanks MSP... gee... I really thought being a nice guy was gonna get you into heaven. Correct me if I'm wrong here but isn't this a speculation thread? I've not seen a single anime character bow down and a do a sinner's prayer to date. That's like saying LOTR has Christian THEMES (does not mean it IS directly Christian, nor are the characters in it Christian) and shouting "No no no!! Frodo never accept Jesus!!" X.x Dude, this ain't a theological discussion here... none of the other characters mentioned have blatantly accepted Jesus. Serving in some kinda vague church doesn't make you a Christian either. Read the subject "POSSIBLE" Christian characters. As in, we're speculating on fictional characters, most of which live in fantasy world where Christianity does not exist. As in - "Okay, if this guy/girl was in our world would they most likely become a Christian/accept Jesus?"

And, no, as Kokorro said positive moral values do not make it a Christian show. Then again neither do forced conversion sequences and squeaky clean plots. I've never slapped a "Christian" label on any anime. Given the culture, you gotta understand that they pull themes out of a lot of places - Shintoism, Buddhism, Eastern mysticism, ect. in addition to Christianity. Most all religions can teach you to be a nice person in this life - only Christianity teaches that it's not about you - it's about Christ.

Okay... I digress here. Anywho, I think ya guys are takin' this thread a bit too seriously. There is no way you can call any fictional person a Christian or non-Christian. It is merely speculation and what-ifs. So, MSP, take it to Jon McArthur and have him debate it for ya in his next book.

Though Porco Rosso might a be candidate for Christian anime characters just the same. (Note: I said MIGHT. This does not mean my personal theological belief is that God curses people by turning them into pigs.)

[Nate]

Kodai is 100% right.

"Love your neighbor." "Help others." "Don't bring harm to people."

Those are Christian concepts. Guess what? They're also wiccan concepts. Buddhist concepts. Hindu concepts.

Simply because a character is loving and positive and self-sacrificing doesn't make them Christian. They could be Buddhist and still feel the same. It's not only ignorant to claim simply because an anime character does good things or loves others, that they're Christian.

In fact it really cheapens Christianity and makes it like every other religion. After all, if being good and doing nice things is all that makes someone a Christian, there are a lot of atheists out there that are suddenly now magically Christian.

Christianity is based on one condition and one condition ONLY, as Kodai stated, belief in Christ as the forgiver of sins and acceptance of His sacrifice. If an anime character does not explicitly state this, guess what? They're NOT CHRISTIAN. And don't say "Well they COULD be Christian!" because they could also be Buddhist, wiccan, or atheist and still act exactly the same.

I said it once, and I'll say it again. Christianity has morals, but morality ≠ Christianity. Christianity is about love, but love ≠ Christianity.

When all is said and done, Christianity is about Christ, and nothing else.

[USSRGirl]

Nicely put Nate. It is not about you becoming a a "good" person because as the Bible says there is only one Man who is "good." Nowadays all churches preach is watered down be-attitude crap rather than the gospel and many Christian think the Bible is a self-help book.

However, as stated in my above post, I was under the impression that this was a speculatory thread dealing with fictional characters. Such as "Well, if Cloud were to walk into my local church would he become a Christian?" So, no, suffice to say I don't have a St. Totorro medallion hanging in my closest somewhere.

[Nate]

However, as stated in my above post, I was under the impression that this was a speculatory thread dealing with fictional characters. Such as "Well, if Cloud were to walk into my local church would he become a Christian?"

But this is a pointless endeavor for two reasons:

1) Japanese culture is heavily rooted in Shintoism. Given that most Japanese people don't know about Christianity (or really care) I think you'd be hard pressed to see any anime character convert, given that if we go off statistics less than 1% of them are Christian anyway. Plus given that most of them live in worlds where Christianity doesn't exist (like Cloud in your example), it would be absolutely impossible for them to become Christians.

2) They're fictional characters, so who's to say what they would and wouldn't do anyway? This thread is as pointless as if I asked "So which anime characters' favorite color is green?" Who freaking knows? They're fictional characters, they can't think for themselves, they can only do as the writer wills, and since most Japanese either don't know or care about Christianity, then the end result is no, pretty much none of the characters would become Christian.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

However, as stated in my above post, I was under the impression that this was a speculatory thread dealing with fictional characters. Such as "Well, if Cloud were to walk into my local church would he become a Christian?" So, no, suffice to say I don't have a St. Totorro medallion hanging in my closest somewhere.

Then can I speculate that Cloud is a practicing Buddhist? I mean, his creators were Japanese (And most Japanese are shinto-buddhist), he's a nice guy, is self-sacrificing, and fights for people.

Those are Buddhist concepts, so I proclaim that Cloud Strife may be Buddhist! Hey! He many also be Hindu! Or Maybe he's... AN OCCULT PRACTITIONER! Or he can even be an Atheist! He can be... a NICEGUY ATHEIST!

Anyway, speculation or not, you can't speculate that anyone can be a Christian simply because they're a nice guy and enjoy pool parties. I have agnostic and atheist friends who are nice guys and enjoy pool parties. So I think the factors which you put your speculation into are flawed. If there was one hint, one. Just one hint that Cloud Strife believed in Jesus Christ as his savior, then I would speculate that he may be a Christian. But FF7 nor Advent Children does not give any hints like that for people to speculate. Henceforth, I believe that one cannot deduce that Cloud Strife belongs to any sort of religious denomination.

[USSRGirl]

Hey, ya wanna speculate that he's a Buddhist, go ahead n' knock yourself out. The dude is freakin' polygon! I agree with Nate in that this thread is pointless (and downright scary if you guys are really SERIOUSLY debating if a fictional anime character is a Christian given Japan is highly Shintoist or Buddhist, ect., ect.) unless used in a slightly humorous, speculative way.

And MSP, did I EVER say AC taught you to be a nice person? NO. I don't hold to the extreme fundamentalist view point that either a work of fantasy is flat out gospel or its pagan. No. Many fantasy movies/anime/books/video games/ect. can have mixes of Christian themes without being Christian. I for one prefer them to the shallow crap you will find in your local Christian bookstore with some guy like Tim Lahay treating his fiction as if it's inerrant Biblical truth

Christian themes in AC for those who slept through the movie:

1.) Desire for forgiveness from sin, inability to save oneself. Cloud: "I think I wanna be forgiven... more than anything." Aeries: "By who?" Hm... while like I said this can go in many ways, but one way it can most certainly cause viewers to think "Hmm... yeah who?" *Pokes obvious neon sign that says Jesus*

Example 2: Cloud to Vincent: "Are sins... ever forgiven?" Vincent: "I've never tried." Cloud: "Well I'm gonna try." Seeking redemption... salvation outside of one's imperfect self... ect.

2.) Pool party... well if that's the shallow view ya wanna take go ahead. To me it looked an awful lot like it at least borrowed from a Christian baptism in denominations where they use sprinkling over the head rather than immersion. Hmm.. and the water cures the geostigma saving them from death and taking their sin away. Sure sounds like a POSSIBLE Christian theme to me.

3.) Sephi playing satan. Note the scene in which Sephiroth and Cloud are fighting. Sephi: "On your knees. I want you to beg for forgiveness." Sephiroth holds Cloud to his sin and wants him to die in it while Aeries releases him mercifully as well as forgives/redeems Kadaj at the end.

If you consider, as many Christians do, Narnia or any such other fantasy to have Christian themes (I see no awkward stupid scene in which Peter stops fighting goes "Ooops! Gotta go convert before the movie's over!" and runs off to his local faun-run church to get saved) then you can see that AC has similar themes. Not as strong as Narnia, but they're there. Both are works of fantasy, neither are gospel, but they create a train of thought that may lead the viewer to Jesus.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

None of those points are exclusively Christian. I could easily argue that those are all Muslim themes.

[USSRGirl]

But they can be read as distinctive Christian themes, not simply generic morals. And further more, Islam is still an offshoot of Christianity and Judaism. While it seems to me that Muslim themes would have more of a slant than that (do they do baptisms? Not really sure), it is still a monotheist religion that holds some themes of Christianity. So really, it would be more true to say that Islam has SOME of those themes as well rather than the other way around.

In short, you can get a lot of things out of AC (just an example btw) but there's no denying that you can read Christian themes into it if your looking. I have seen articles reading Buddhist themes into it too. It's neither Buddhist nor Christian. Like most all anime, it is simply a work of fiction that borrows from different religions and has its moments. 'Nuff said.

[EricTheFred]

I'm not interested in the majority of where this discussion has traveled, because it has wandered way off base. I do want to point out two things.

The idea was, in point of fact, what Christian anime characters might be out there. I brought one up who was both named and portrayed as a Christian. This was a clear case of acual Christians being written into the story, and portrayed in a positive light.

The point about Christian values was NOT to claim that such values are exclusively Christian. In fact, that is as good as the opposite of what I and others have stated. The point, at least in the post I made, was that in stead of seeking out Christians in media from a largely non-Christian country, we can seek out positive morals and lessons.

I went on to note that we can take to heart the fact that these things can be found coming out of a non-Christian belief-system, and see it as proof that God has indeed showered his love on all our peoples. Even those who do not understand his Love as we do can be seen to have felt it, and reflected it in their own cultures.

Yes, you can find such ideals in these other religions. That is, in fact, the point I was making.