Berserk turns many people away with its sex, gore, perversion, and very dark world. Some might justly wonder whether the series has anything beyond sex, violence, and shock value, but there is plenty of good to the series also. Much of it comes in watching the heroes becomes better persons throughout the series. Many people know… Read More No One is Saved Alone: Farnese’s Journey to Virtue
The idea for this article came out of my cogitations on Blood Lad. The anime provides scads of fun and excitement over the course of ten episodes. Still, as many bloggers noted, it leaves more loose ends than an unfinished tapestry. One of the more enjoyable aspects of the show is the dynamic between the… Read More Braz and the Sinister God
Danganronpa proves Chesterton’s assertion that it is a real shame so much bad fiction becomes lost: we have so much to learn from its mistakes! Now, Danganronpa is not that bad of an anime (I have not played the video game, though the anime wears its origins on its sleeve), but the hero fights against… Read More Danganronpa and Divorcing Hope from Theology
Reading Slayers called to my mind a salient difference between Protestantism and Catholicism: direct access worship vs. mediated worship. What do I mean? Catholicism–and Orthodox Churches, for that matter–have an order of the priesthood. Three levels exist within the priesthood: diaconate, presbyterate, and episcopate. The bishop has full power to perform any of the seven… Read More Examining Light Novels: Direct Access vs. Mediation
I’m now reading the fourth volume of Slayers: “The Battle of Saillune.” If memory serves me right, the original three seasons skipped over this story arc. The novel concerns a palace intrigue to slay Prince Philionel in order to stage a coup d’état. Lina, Gourry, and Sylphiel sneak into the city of Saillune in order… Read More Examining Light Novels: On Rebellion
I have every intention of making this my last article on Spice and Wolf. Nine is the elvish number for luck, and nine articles of Spice and Wolf ought to whet anyone’s appetite to explore this series further and perhaps even the Middle Ages. (I’ll save my next series as a surprise.) Over the course of… Read More Examining Light Novels: Medieval and Modern Castes
This time, a passage on the culinary excesses of clerics in Spice and Wolf struck me. It was not remarkable for bringing out how much priests love fine dining. The joke runs that one thing modern bishops and the apostles have in common is never turning down a meal. Instead, I was surprised by the following… Read More Examining Light Novels: The Rotund Angel Physician