Suggestions for RahXephon, Akira, GitS?

[Jeikobu]

I want to ask about some more anime. Yes I have viewed the reviews.

RahXephon-I would love to see this. It looks awesome, and I love romance and drama and those sound like the main categories. I saw the firsttwo eps dubbed once and I'm not sure whether I like it or not. It just looks like it has alot of bothersome material religion-wise. First off, is this like Evangelion? Because I do by no means like Evangelion (but that's really because it's a slap in God's face). Second, it sounds like it involves alot of false religion/false god material. I mean even the name makes me think of the false Egyptian god "Rah". And the review does say it involves alot of different religions and gods and such. Besides, there's also the fact that apparently [SPOILER]the main mecha (I think) "becomes a god" at the end of the series[/SPOILER]. As cool as it looks, it's hard to overlook the material. Is it that bad? Do you feel discomfort watching it as a Christian? What are your thoughts?

Akira-This seems like about the most popular anime film out there and is pretty hyped so I want to see it also, only some of the content doesn't look good. I am primarily concerned with the whole thing about this character being a "god" and all. If I recall the review didn't make it sound good. What's your take?

Ghost in the Shell-For everything GitS related, especially the first film. First off, if you recommend this, in what order does everthing go chronologically? Secondly, while this looks good and is very popular (so of course I want to see why it's supposed to be so good), I hear there's alot of nudity. I know it's not meant for fanservice, but nudity is nudity. How detailed is it, how much is there, and how tolerable is it? Is there anything other bad material I should know about?

Please give detailed responses of how you feel about them as a Christian, how you think I'd feel, and the ups and downs of the anime.

[Roy Mustang]

This may help you with the Ghost in the Shell.

Ghost in the shell thread.


A half review of Ghost in the Shell: SAC




Wingzero22

[Yojimbo]

Ghost in the Shell and Ghost in the Shell 2 are seperate from the TV series. Stand Alone Complex is the first season of the show and 2nd Gig is the second season, soon to be release.

[Crossdive]

i would say Akira and Ghost in the Shell are probably ok to do as long as you are mindful and careful, don't sit down and watch them with the attitude "ok, popcorn and movie, time for some entertainment". don't treat it like an average movie that you enjoy. pray before viewing and listen for God's guidance.
RahXephon on the other hand, is something I really don't think is a good idea, see the review on here, i even saw a few eps of it in the dub, at it was already bothering me spiritually, i get a really bad feeling when I see it, don't go for it, don't let any small theme like fancy looking characters or action and romance or the fact it is a famed anime blind your discernment. God permits us so much, you just have to ask yourself, is this one little thing worth taking the chance of disobeying or falling away even a little in my walk with God. I know you don't think it is, and that's true, it's not, it's worthless in the long run, or even here and now, your walk with God is ALWAYS in the running of things, be careful, be smart, be safe, and keep your priorities straight. see GITS and Akira if you feel that it is ok after praying about it and listening for God's answer. ultimately, that goes for everything, but I tell you now, i listened for God's voice when i looked into RahXephon, and quite frankly, it looks just as bad as the other things to avoid when I try to see through the eyes God would have me see through. Good luck with this, I hope your decision is correct and comes to you obvious and fast.

[termyt]

I'm not a good one to speak on RahXephon since I thought the show was awful, but my objections were more story-based then content based. There's definitely some religious terminology that you will probably not appreciate, but it didn't bother me. The Japanese have a lot of different words and contextual meanings associated with the supernatural that pretty much always get translated as "god" or "demon" in English. These words should not invoke only thoughts of the Christian God and demons. Hopefully someone who actually liked this show will respond and give a better explanation of the show's content and context.

Akira is violent and bloody and not for the faint of heart. It's a "classic" but unless you want to pursue your Masters in Otaku, you can skip it.

The Ghost in the Shell TV series can be view separately from the movies with no difficulty. You may loose a little background information, but not so much that you will feel lost. That said, the TV show is a lot less disturbing than the movies (I haven't seen the second one, yet, so my comments will revolve around the first). The movie is violent, blood, and has considerable nudity. I'm thinking you will not like it. I am not aware of any nudity or bad religion in the TV series, although I have not seen it all the way through. There is a rather disturbing episode that can be skipped without loosing too much of the story. It's detailed in the GitS: SAC thread, so I will refer you to there.

[GhostontheNet]

Ghost in the Shell-For everything GitS related, especially the first film. First off, if you recommend this, in what order does everthing go chronologically?

The Ghost in the Shell movies go in the order of Ghost in the Shell, and than Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. Word has it (namely from an Anime magazine) that the Stand Alone Complex series takes place in another universe where the Major never took on the Puppet Master case and its after-effects for her, and hence it travels within its own chronology in episode order.

Secondly, while this looks good and is very popular (so of course I want to see why it's supposed to be so good), I hear there's alot of nudity. I know it's not meant for fanservice, but nudity is nudity. How detailed is it, how much is there, and how tolerable is it?

In the first movie there was a fair bit, mostly connected to the Major's cyborg skin having a thermoptic camo feature. On my first viewing years ago back in Middle School, I hadn't thought the author really intended fanservice, though now on my second viewing I'm not so sure. All in all, its not terrible though. I'll continue my response later.

[Jeikobu]

Well, so far I don't feel like I've gotten pretty much anywhere with tihs. I need detailed responses on the content of these anime and why I should or shouldn't see it. Thanks for the posts on what order to watch the GitS stuff, but I need to know about the content of it all. With RahXephon, how much does bad religion play into it? What's with all the false gods stuff? I stated this in my first post. Is there anything else I should know? With Akira, it's pretty much the same question as RahXephon. The false god stuff. How is it potrayed, how much is there, etc., etc. With Ghost in the Shell, how much nudity is there, is it too much, how detailed is it, etc.

[Yojimbo]

With Ghost in the Shell the nudity is limited to bare breasts and butts. In the opening they show a cyborg being constructed and you see breasts and behind breifly. Kusanagi goes into thermoptic camo mode twice in the movie. The misconception about that is that she is nude. She's not it's just a flesh colored skinsuit, with nipple definition mind ya, but look close during these scenes, there are creases and folds, and you can see a plastic material covering her with the visor.

And the Puppet Master's bare possesed body is shown torso and up. It's just a still scene on it's torso up to it's head speaking for a minute. None of the nudity is sexual but it's there and if that bothers ya then it's your perogative.

[Crossdive]

i personally am gonna see GITS, but i would most likely avoid RahXephon, Akira is the one i am having trouble advising you on, because while it is very famed and has some interesting qualities, it sounds like it has a few moral issues, and makes for therefore needless gore and brutality. The language is nothing that sounds good judging by the review, but then i guess i should be able to tolerate it if i can in The Punisher ^_^. I guess overall, just as i was writing this i began to get the feeling that it is okay for you to see Akira, no lie, no joke, i just got a very strange feeling all of the sudden, but I could feel it was God's voice. GO FOR IT JEIKOBU!!

[Hitokiri]

Everyone pretty much sumed it up with Ghost in the Shell. Their is alot of violence.

One thing about RahXephon that it places man into "god" I guess. Be saying that the RahXephon (the large mecha thing) is like a "god" and sometimes makes reference to the Egypitan Sun god, Rah. It has a Evangelion-angsty feel to it where Ayato kinda goes crazy for lack of a better term.

However, when I watched it. I felt nothing truly offensive religiously. Nor did it truly bother me spirtually. I viewed it much as I id with Evangelion purely as entertainment and nothing to dive into.

Sexually wise, there isn't much compared to the manga (ick - that and I hated the way they told the story). Ayato is shown naked two times in the opening but nothing is shown of the male torso below save for in a scene where he is lying in his side. Also, sometimes a girl name Quon is examined and is shown in her underwear to expose a wierd hiegroplyphical type marking on her stomach. There are some instances but I don't want to spoiler some major scenes that are around there.

There is blood but it's blue. So far I am on DVD 3 of the series and being a avid Evangelion fan, I am enjoying this.

[Jeikobu]

Well, I really don't like NGE. However, as I said, it is mostly because of the insults to God (in particular the whole Lilith thing), but I guess I shouldn't get too into this as NGE isn't supposed to be discussed. The review said that RahXephon didn't bash God in anyway and for that I am thankful, I'm just concerned about their own false god material, how it comes off, and how much of it there it.

[Crossdive]

my biggest problem is, i read the review and had kind of an unsure feeling, like maybe try a disc or so for rent and see what you think, but when i watch the preview on netflix i get the same bad feeling over and over again, i can't reccomend something like that, especially if it is anything like evangelion, for obvious reasons, ultimately, it's still up to you, i just don't see this one being a very good idea.

[Jeikobu]

I'm still torn between whether to see it or not. Part says yes, part says no. I could really use some more advice, can more people please respond? ^^; I'd also like more advice on Akira. I think I'll give GitS a shot.

[Crossdive]

akira seems pushable to me considering what is said in the review. be mindful of the content, but i would say give it a try, sometimes that is the only way to know.

[Ichigo_89]

Akira wasn't that bad. It's rated R for "graphic violence" But I've seen more disturbing stuff in Spriggan (another anime) that's rated for only "violence". It's really not a "gore fest" like everybody says.

[Jeikobu]

I'm kind of leaning towards seeing Akira, but it's RahXephon that I'm really stumped about.

[Crossdive]

all i can say is keep it in prayer, do research, think about it, and listen for God's answer. I've said all else i can think to say.

if you don't rent Akira than maybe I will.

[Hitokiri]

I'm kind of leaning towards seeing Akira, but it's RahXephon that I'm really stumped about.

After re-reading t-n-c's review of RahXephon and knowing alot about the series. I full heartdly agree with her and what she said in the review.

However, if you didn't like Evangelion story wise, this might seem as bad or worse.

[Crossdive]

bad or worse?! X_X that doesn't sound good, NGE is his most hated anime (i know because i am his brother), so "bad or worse" sounds pretty unpleasant, IMO.

[Jeikobu]

After re-reading t-n-c's review of RahXephon and knowing alot about the series. I full heartdly agree with her and what she said in the review.

However, if you didn't like Evangelion story wise, this might seem as bad or worse.

Could you be more specific? Any thoughts on the content and why you think I would or wouldn't like it? Or why you like it?

I hate NGE for its content. The ending stunk (movie), but it was the blasphemous stuff like Lilith that made me put down the series. And it sounds like RahXephon has nothing blasphemous. I'm just concerned about the false god, false religion content.

[Crossdive]

i actually have to say i feel the same way about it, i hate NGE, and i am definately uneasy about RahXephon at this point...

[Hitokiri]

Could you be more specific? Any thoughts on the content and why you think I would or wouldn't like it? Or why you like it?

I hate NGE for its content. The ending stunk (movie), but it was the blasphemous stuff like Lilith that made me put down the series. And it sounds like RahXephon has nothing blasphemous. I'm just concerned about the false god, false religion content.

The Rahxephon is seen almost as a "diety" controlled by man i.e. the military and the pilot. Alot of the RahXphons attacks are almosr celestrial (wings, creates light spheres in it's hands, flaming swords) for example.

Thier is not alot of fan service which differs from NGE.

[Jeikobu]

As I said, the fanservice is not my concern for this one. It's the false religion category.
It's a bit hard for me to explain what I'm asking. I just need to know in detail the level of this content. How bad it is and how much there is, and if you'd recommend it. Because I'm really stuck on this one.
So it's a diety. Do they call it a realgod? Is this stressed? Please explain this all to me.

[Crossdive]

ditto, i personally tend to have a much higher tollerance for fan service and language and voilence than i do false/bad religion.

[Hitokiri]

As I said, the fanservice is not my concern for this one. It's the false religion category.
It's a bit hard for me to explain what I'm asking. I just need to know in detail the level of this content. How bad it is and how much there is, and if you'd recommend it. Because I'm really stuck on this one.
So it's a diety. Do they call it a realgod? Is this stressed? Please explain this all to me.

They mention it as a diety only in passing. Kind alike tougne-in-cheek. RahXephon is neccsarily mentioned as a "god" in a realistic sense but more in refrence. Then again I havnt seen the entire series so I'm not th ebest person to tell you that.

What I suggest is you rent it first
check out the first DVD and then mull it over. That's what I did. What I could do is rip some footage from the DVD that mentions "god" and stuff and host it on my site if you want to know whta it is like. PM or IM me bout it

[Crossdive]

that sounds like a good idea. lol, maybe i should go get Jeikobu, i think he is asleep at the wheel as far as being here goes, due to the recent technical difficulties with the site.

[Jeikobu]

They mention it as a diety only in passing. Kind alike tougne-in-cheek. RahXephon is neccsarily mentioned as a "god" in a realistic sense but more in refrence. Then again I havnt seen the entire series so I'm not th ebest person to tell you that.

What I suggest is you rent it first
check out the first DVD and then mull it over. That's what I did. What I could do is rip some footage from the DVD that mentions "god" and stuff and host it on my site if you want to know whta it is like. PM or IM me bout it

You could but it's up to you, I figure I'll probably just rent it and see how it turns up. Just see for myself.

[Crossdive]

saw Akira, i am going to watch the first Ghost in the Shell movie tonight. I must say, I am unimpressed with Akira, it really bothered me in places, see the review, and take heed, those of you who haven't seen it, your not missing anything. and moreso, when the review says something about it, trust me, it's accurate, i didn't think the quick-nudity, gore/voilence, and language would be that disturbing, i really didn't enjoy this film and i don't think it was one needed to see. it isn't one i would say avoid-at-all-costs, but i wouldn't reccomend it, it seemed a bit new age.

I expect better from GITS.

[Namelessknight]

I highly recommend RahXephon!

As opposed to NGE, this series is about love and hope triumphing.

As for the whole 'false religion' and 'god' stuff:

[spoiler]Ayato, and the Mu, are simply beings from another 'dimension' and one of them is trying to reshape the world for the mulians and without humans. They do call the RahX a god, but it is a created program, and they all know that. there is nothing that connotes blasphemy or even comparison to the Real God. And as opposed to nge, it ends beautifully.[/spoiler]

So I don't see that it should bother you. But like the others have said, rent the first disk or 2, and see how it affects you. I got absolutely nothing bad from it. I was rather impressed, in fact, with how love and hope were represented.

So there is a positive take on it. Hope it helps...

[Crossdive]

I think your post there helped alot IMO, that does sound like one I should at least give a glance and go from there.