Postby eva-boy7985 » Sun Jul 03, 2005 12:41 pm
On a more serious note, it was Tolkien that said stories are vehicles for truth; that is why his books contain such powerful Christian themes because he saw the messages of the Gospel as the best Story ever. Unlike other stories of a fictional nature, the Gospel as we know crossed over the lines of story into our own world and changed it as we know it. With this is mind, there's been some powerful stories in my life. Concerning anime, I don't think there's been any thus far that I've seen that haven't impacted me on a personal level (in a positive way) as much as RahXephon. Without giving spoilers, this show "opened up" something inside me, or in some way reminded me of something foundational and key to our needs as human beings: the power or unconditional and transcendant love and our deep-seated need for it, even if at times we forget that that need is there. That's not to say I wasn't aware of this before hand, as God's love for us is transcendant and unconditional, and it ultimately culminated in His giving His son over to die for our sins. However, that is another amazing thing about stories. They can take the same "message" or "point" that we've heard a thousand times over in church or in books and give it a "new life" depending on how it is presented. This is the joy of stories, whether they be anime, fiction books, movies, or whatever else. Any "good" story will contain elements of real world truth woven into the fabric of its foundation. Once that truth has been established, how the author conveys it through the rest of the story and the characters determines whether that truth is shown in its proper, and ultimately Scriptural light or it's distorted and "twisted". Such is the case with books such as The Lord of the Rings. Concerning Rahxephon (aside from some of the Mayan cultural "mysticism" that's used as more of a backdrop than anything else), the way the creators created Haruka's character and portrayed her love for Ayato was something that resonated deeply with me; also Ayato's determination and attitude of self-sacrifice portrayed in the "sad episode" (as to avoid spoilers) in disc 5 also impacted me to the point of not only crying, but practically weeping because of the sadness of it as well as the "beauty" of how it was done and put together. Anyways, as you can tell this show is highly recommended by me! Sorry for talking for so long. Just something I felt I should share, hopefully to everyone's benefit!
"Hey Shinji! Lookie lookie!!! Backwards Roll!"
-Asuka Langley Sohryu
"If you're going to think then think in German!!!"
"So we fix our eyes not on
what is seen, but on what is unseen.
For what is seen is temporary, but what is
unseen is eternal" 1 Cor. 4:18