Today we’re joined by Casey Covel as we kick off a final series of Throwback Thursday posts to run through the end of 2020 and celebrating our 10th anniversary! Enjoy her temporary return to “Between the Panels,” and continue to stay tuned as other former and current writers revisit their own past columns in the… Read More Between the Panels: Dying to Lies and Redeeming Gifts in Twilight Princess Vol. 1
Major spoilers for Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney below! Two silhouettes stand in a boat floating on a foggy lake. One of them pulls a gun on the other. “Merry Christmas,” he says, and squeezes the trigger. Appropriately enough, the final case in Capcom’s original Ace Attorney video game opens the same way it ends—with a… Read More 12 Days of Otaku Christmas, Day 1: Ace Attorney
This will officially be my final column of Something More. It’s been such a pleasure to use my Google keyword skills (ha!) to hunt down articles at the crossroads of faith and fandom. Never fear: you haven’t seen the last of this column. Starting October, I’ll be passing the torch to Samuru, so send him… Read More Something More: To Akame Ga Kill or Akame Ga Save?, Berserk’s Mercy, and Shinigami Eyes for Christians
Every-so-often, creators like to throw their fans a juicy bone–putting favorite characters into high-action power fantasies, or allowing an emotional build-up “just for the feels.” Fandom pandering can certainly lead to a watered-down story if creators cater to every imagined whim of their doting followers, but, sometimes, a little sprinkling of fan service can go… Read More Something More: Fan (Dis-)Service, Tsundere for Jesus, and “Playing God” until you Run out of Chimeras
Disclaimer: COLOSSAL SPOILERS BELOW! (See what I did there?) If you have only watched the Attack on Titan anime and are not caught up to the current manga, please turn away now and save yourself some suffering.
Anime often revels in deviant storytelling. Add that to its cultural roots, and it’s easy for misunderstanding and stereotyping to occur among Western audiences. Christians, especially, seem hesitant to embrace anime due, in part, to its oftentimes default spiritual content. Witches, demons, spirits, and magic frequently flavor Japanese storytelling, which can sound worse in word… Read More Something More: Belonging in Bungou, Berserk “Sunday School,” and Dangerous Flying Witches
Anime, especially in the dark fantasy/dystopian genre, thrives on the concept of freewill. Death Note shows the futility of forcing the world into a mold to which it cannot conform. Kiznaiver reveals that shared adversity and duty-driven empathy aren’t enough to keep people (or the peace) together. Psycho-Pass… well… you get the picture. At least as far… Read More Something More: Fullmetal Anti-Semitist, Re:Samaritan, and Ultimate (Idolatrous) “Harmony”