Anime: Is it evil or am I paranoid?

[Sailor_Kenshin]

I am what most people call a Cath-Otaku. (Meaning Catholic-Otaku). I love the anime/manga world and i have no intention of leaving.
Just recently, I came across a bunch of people (significantly, catholics) say that anime is “EVIL!” or “SPAWN OF SATAN!”. If these were atheists, i couldve easily ignored them but these were CHRISTIANS…

I have no idea how to feel about this. One part of me says to listen to them and one HUGE chunk tells me not to. I cant watch any anime properly without these thoughts popping up and my head keeps aching everytime that part of me suddenly goes all “ANIME IS EEEBBILL!!”

Please help me…
God bless

You’re fine.

Since anime is merely a medium, like film, painting, or literature, it cannot as a whole be evil.

Are individual books, paintings, shows ‘evil?’ They certainly can be.

I wouldn’t make sweeping condemnations. I do not fear legends or images from other nations.

I think you might have a talk with yourself and ask which ones are okay and which are not. You’ll find the right answer. There are some excellent anime out there.

 

[Emile_McKenzie]

I am what most people call a Cath-Otaku. (Meaning Catholic-Otaku). I love the anime/manga world and i have no intention of leaving.
Just recently, I came across a bunch of people (significantly, catholics) say that anime is “EVIL!” or “SPAWN OF SATAN!”. If these were atheists, i couldve easily ignored them but these were CHRISTIANS…

I have no idea how to feel about this. One part of me says to listen to them and one HUGE chunk tells me not to. I cant watch any anime properly without these thoughts popping up and my head keeps aching everytime that part of me suddenly goes all “ANIME IS EEEBBILL!!”

Please help me…
God bless

I find anime to be generally neutral, it can be both a positive and negative influence.

Compared to the dirt that’s in our modern western culture, I feel anime is far more enlightening and almost never seems to be outright malicious to Christianity as certain western shows (i.e. Family guy :dts.

Those christians who told you that “anime Is Satanic!” were probably fundamentalist evangelicals. They say anything is by the devil, so I wouldn’t be too worried.

Just keep a open eye while looking for anime.

 

[Agne]

One person said to me that anime is bad to watch and christians shouldn’t do it. So, I was confused. But then I went to catholic bookstore and found there a few anime movies to buy . So, I thought that should resolve my confusion and i bought princess mononoke

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

One person said to me that anime is bad to watch and christians shouldn’t do it. So, I was confused. But then I went to catholic bookstore and found there a few anime movies to buy . So, I thought that should resolve my confusion and i bought princess mononoke

An excellent choice.

 

[Layp3rs0n]

Also try Summer Wars. It’s PG or PG-13ish.

 

[Agne]

An excellent choice.

Thank you

 

[Agne]

Also try Summer Wars. It’s PG or PG-13ish.

Ok . It seems interesting from what I saw on trailer. Even I couldn’t understand the main idea of this anime, but I think it somewhat reminds me of Tron: Legacy.
Thank you

 

[Keras]

Well, does the Pope say it’s bad? I don’t think so.

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

Well, does the Pope say it’s bad? I don’t think so.

I doubt Pope Francis watches many Japanese cartoons, lol.

 

[sennincatholic]

Anime is an art medium, with no inherent moral properties. It cannot be either good or evil. The individual works must each be judged of their own accord.

There are several factors to consider when it comes to anime:

1. It is a created by a culture that is largely Shinto, somewhat Buddhist, and very minimally Christian (and mostly Catholic of that). Most Japanese consider our religion to be a curiosity, at best. It is often used to give a show a Western flair, much in the same way they idealize the display of Victorian-era English elements in many shows. As such, there are often gross misrepresentations (even if unintentional) that display the Church in a bizarre or even negative light.
2. It has very little concept of Western ideas of morality. Culturally, they view nudity, sex, religion, and occult differently than Westerners. A demon in an anime is not meant to be the same kind of demon as the Christian understands it. Christmas is not the birth of Christ to them, it is a couple’s holiday, much akin to Valentine’s Day. It is not unusual to find high schoolers sexualized in some way (even in shows not labeled for 18+ viewers). Catholic sensibilities will often find trouble encountering and reconciling these elements.
3. There are often times very adult themes tackled in anime. Off the top of my head, shows like Neon Genesis Evangelion, Full Metal Alchemist, and Now and Then, Here and There all tackle serious questions relating to personal responsibility, death, morality, and many other difficult questions. The animated nature of the genre lends itself to younger viewership in Western cultures, but often times these younger viewers are not prepared to deal with the questions brought up in shows like this.

I’m sure others will chime in with more considerations. It is best to check into the rating on an anime before you dive into it, and when you first watch a show, explore it with a critical mind and eye. If you encounter elements that trouble you or don’t hold up to moral scrutiny, it’s okay to stop watching. Nobody is going to take away your otaku card .

That said, if you don’t run into anything that is morally troubling, enjoy. People that want to marginalize as evil an entire medium of art are woefully out of touch.

Your analysis is impressive!wao!

 

[sennincatholic]

I am also an anime fan almost to the level of being an otaku.lol.
However,i have learnt to watch animes with a lot of reservations and i have also learnt to put the animes into context.
For example,
the Naruto manga/anime is centred around a boy who has a tailed beast in him.At first sight,someone watching may think the anime’s main character is possessed by a demon and the story is all about demons and stuff…but after following up the story keenly u realise that the main message is all about love and friendship.
So OP,dont be worried,however,try to discern which ones send positive messages and leave out those that have more or less negative messges.

 

[Truchsess]

If I may ask… what of the anime Dragonball, and its sequel-series? From this website… johnthewitness.wordpress.com/2012/10/31/satans-ascension-agenda-promoted-in-dragon-ball-z/ it depicts the show being satanic, which I, honestly, had never thought any of these things when I originally watched the show years ago.

Also, there are websites that talk about the names of the different characters “Piccolo, Kami,” etcetera, being the names of demons or satanic in nature, and having subliminal messages about conspiracies. themacchoi.blogspot.com/2012/11/dragon-ball-z-has-illuminati-undertones.html And the attack moves being satanic, or something like that. (In an interview, the creator of the series, Akira Toriyama, said that he’d asked his wife for ideas and she randomly just did a little dance move of sortsand he liked it and decided to use it) That’s the last link I’ll post by the way… Here’s the thing, I don’t let such conspiracies control my fear, and I’m pretty darn sure that the creator of the series hadn’t inserted such imagery… and that it was probably some dumb animators’ insertions… but it just stumps me.

They also mention it being not actually animated by a company called Toei but IN FACT being animated by a company called “Milk” in Asia that practices worship of the evil one. Me, personally, I found that a bit hard to believe… especially acknowledging Asia’s understanding of Christianity and all aspects involved of mankind and its salvation and the one who attempts to hold us from reaching such… but yeah. To have the “milk” thing talked about when referencing the anime and NOT the manga (if I remember right) confused me.

Also, the creator of the series was once (actually still might be (is registered as one on a Jehovah website)) said to be a Jehovah Witness… sooo yeah. The thing is, the series does have good morals. The main character fights through love and mercy and hates killing. He even tried to get the most evil of characters in the show to apologize for all he’d done… and dies for the earth in the show because one of the bad guys was about to explode and he transported him to another planet and was caught in the explosion there. He also turns one of the most prideful characters into a more loving one. The show definitely does not push immoral traits… but I don’t know, I’m just conflicted about the whole show.

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

Didn’t click on the links. But I find such accusations pretty silly.

Son Goku loves everyone who isn’t actively trying to kill him. Shows mercy even to those who are.

The innocent love of Gohan for Piccolo changes Piccolo from a nemesis into a protector who gives his life for Gohan.

Love changes the savage, cold-hearted Vegeta into a hero and ally.

I like it. Will continue to watch now and then. Plus, the Japanese music track is amazing.

 

[aguyoverthere]

I know your pain, and I have come to this conclusion myself, the art style itself is not intrinsically evil (evil in itself), but let’s face facts here, we know that we are supposed to dress modestly, and there are no anime shows (except christian religious ones, as far as i know) are ever modest. Even Avatar the last airbender, i watched the whole thing when it was aired, and now that I’m older, i can see it has some questionable things, some characters were immodestly dressed, and it’s based around paganism. With that being said it is still 1 of the most decent animes out there. But, i think anime is a very slippery slope, you may find some that are decent, maybe, but you may be fueling a desire that could lead into watching the sinful stuff

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

Avatar isn’t anime. It’s American.

I think the OP meant Japanese cartoons.

 

[aguyoverthere]

Avatar isn’t anime. It’s American.

I think the OP meant Japanese cartoons.

I don’t think it matters where it’s made Kenshin.

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

I don’t think it matters where it’s made Kenshin.

To be technically correct, anime means Japanese cartoons. Or are we discussing ALL cartoons here?

I had some problems with Avatar, but not the same ones you mention.

Bottom line: don’t watch what bothers you.

 

[aguyoverthere]

To be technically correct, anime means Japanese cartoons. Or are we discussing ALL cartoons here?

I had some problems with Avatar, but not the same ones you mention.

Bottom line: don’t watch what bothers you.

Please, do tell, because i own the discs, and i’m wondering if i should dump them or not lol, that is if you wouldn’t mind

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

Please, do tell, because i own the discs, and i’m wondering if i should dump them or not lol, that is if you wouldn’t mind

I wouldn’t dump them.

My problems with Avatar were simply that every one of the central characters behaves like a spoiled, whiny suburban teen—NOT authentically like the ‘tribal’ people they were attempting to portray.

The fight scenes are great, the ‘bending’ concept is wonderful, Toph is a unique character, and I cannot for the life of me recall anyone who was immodestly dressed.

 

[aguyoverthere]

I wouldn’t dump them.

My problems with Avatar were simply that every one of the central characters behaves like a spoiled, whiny suburban teen—NOT authentically like the ‘tribal’ people they were attempting to portray.

The fight scenes are great, the ‘bending’ concept is wonderful, Toph is a unique character, and I cannot for the life of me recall anyone who was immodestly dressed.

beach episode, and 1 of the girls of the trio that were trying to stop ang