Yeah, I used to watch anime too, until I realized how ungodly it was...

[JacquelineDeane55]

Most anime characters are naturally talented at fighting. God glorifies peace, not violence. So that is why I gave up anime altogether. You know, a lot of manga also does this. Perhaps a believer should not be watching either.

 

[alsughasoughaiuyfygh]

.

 

[Ironhold]

Uh...

What all shows and books have you been doing?

That would be a helpful benchmark in determining just what you're looking at and talking about.

...Especially since there's a history of Japanese-produced content that was openly Christian in nature.

 

[GaveMeJoy]

Honestly man, I think this applies to almost ALL TV and movies. Also watching twitch gaming streams (my issue). We are on this world for so little time, I find it hard to believe I will stand in front of the creator of the universe when I step into eternity and say “Do you remember the episode of the office where Jim dresses exactly like Dwight?”

 

[toumei]

Just like there's clean and unclean music, clean and unclean movies and clean and unclean literature, there are also clean and unclean animes.

Just like you can look up movies on IMDB, you can look up animes on myanimelist to see if they're clean or not. I'd recommend that if you're worried.

 

[Ironhold]

Just like there's clean and unclean music, clean and unclean movies and clean and unclean literature, there are also clean and unclean animes.

Just like you can look up movies on IMDB, you can look up animes on myanimelist to see if they're clean or not. I'd recommend that if you're worried.

...Or people could always just ask for recommendations.

 

[Ignatius the Kiwi]

The violence in anime doesn't disturb me unless it's blood C level of violence which is gross. Violence is a natural component of many stories, not just anime, because it's both a spectacle and gives us something to invest in. I like Attack on Titan's action but I like even more what that action represents. The characters in that series don't fight for the sake of fighting, they fight for a higher purpose, to live, to gain their freedom, for loyalty or to discover the truth.

As for God glorifying peace, this is true but it would seem to in both the Bible and Christian history we have good examples of those who committed violence for what is right. Joshua lead a violent campaign to rid Israel of it's native inhabitants so that the Israelite might inherit the land. Is he condemned? The Crusaders left and the conflicts between Christian Kingdoms to fight a greater and more pressing threat in the Islamic world. Joan of arc helped the French gain victory against the English. Christ's violent death is the most glorified thing in Christianity aside from his resurrection.

Not all manga/anime or fictional stories are created equal when it comes to the depiction of violence.

 

[Bramblewild]

Most anime characters are naturally talented at fighting. God glorifies peace, not violence. So that is why I gave up anime altogether. You know, a lot of manga also does this. Perhaps a believer should not be watching either.

Are you sure about that? After all, the Bible itself is filled with people fighting, with God telling people to fight, and there is plenty of biblical imagery of God as a warrior. So, any notion that God is a pacifists can't pass the test of what God says about himself in the Bible.

Now, there is violence that the Bible does condemn, such as those who attack the innocent to rob them or even to kill them. Proverbs has much to say against such people, those who lie in wait to harm others, those who are swift to shed innocent blood.

But there is also Joshua, who led Israel to conquer the land God had given to them; Gideon, who led men to drive off those who were robbing them; David, who fought in many battles without God condemn him for such things.

So, no, I don't think I need to feel any guilt over watching an anime series that has fighting in it.

 

[Alistair_Wonderland]

Most anime characters are naturally talented at fighting. God glorifies peace, not violence. So that is why I gave up anime altogether. You know, a lot of manga also does this. Perhaps a believer should not be watching either.

Lol, somebody didn't read the Book of Revelation. Or the Book of Kings. Or a lot of the Old Testament. Thought I will concede that a lot of anime has unnecessary gore. And fanservice.

Uh...

What all shows and books have you been doing?

That would be a helpful benchmark in determining just what you're looking at and talking about.

...Especially since there's a history of Japanese-produced content that was openly Christian in nature.

Ooooh, Superbook! I was afraid to looook!

Just like there's clean and unclean music, clean and unclean movies and clean and unclean literature, there are also clean and unclean animes.

Just like you can look up movies on IMDB, you can look up animes on myanimelist to see if they're clean or not. I'd recommend that if you're worried.

Thank you. Some anime is straight up inappropriate content, and other anime is of cute little cats who live inside bananas. It's literally the same as saying "television is evil". It depends upon what you watch.

 

[Ironhold]

Ooooh, Superbook! I was afraid to looook!

Not many people realize it, but the original Superbook cartoon was commissioned by the CBN as an effort to promote Christianity in Japan. It was popular enough that IIRC a group out in France chose to import it, and it soon made its way back to the US.

 

[muichimotsu]

Are you sure about that? After all, the Bible itself is filled with people fighting, with God telling people to fight, and there is plenty of biblical imagery of God as a warrior. So, any notion that God is a pacifists can't pass the test of what God says about himself in the Bible.

Now, there is violence that the Bible does condemn, such as those who attack the innocent to rob them or even to kill them. Proverbs has much to say against such people, those who lie in wait to harm others, those who are swift to shed innocent blood.

But there is also Joshua, who led Israel to conquer the land God had given to them; Gideon, who led men to drive off those who were robbing them; David, who fought in many battles without God condemn him for such things.

So, no, I don't think I need to feel any guilt over watching an anime series that has fighting in it.

I'm just reminded of Vinland Saga again in terms of the pacifism, since you have a somewhat major character that emphasizes pacifism, but is not above fighting, that moderate position. His quote is effectively, "A true warrior needs no sword," but it's arguably more complex in the idea that violence and force can both solve a problem, but one is more virtuous and can help the world (because of the guy's backstory as a Viking that slaughtered countless people as the Troll)

 

[muichimotsu]

Not many people realize it, but the original Superbook cartoon was commissioned by the CBN as an effort to promote Christianity in Japan. It was popular enough that IIRC a group out in France chose to import it, and it soon made its way back to the US.

I met a guy at a convention in East TN that noted that: didn't have to agree with him on Christianity, we had a brief conversation on it, though I forget much of what the group was promoting at the fandom convention. Was interesting to learn that, still need to watch those. Hanna Barbera had a series I have on backlog adapting various bible stories, I remember watching the Easter story episodes at my church, probably was part of my general interest in animation, though I feel like Hanna Barbera outsourced The Greatest Stories to an Eastern company like CBN did with Superbook

 

[muichimotsu]

Lol, somebody didn't read the Book of Revelation. Or the Book of Kings. Or a lot of the Old Testament. Thought I will concede that a lot of anime has unnecessary gore. And fanservice.



Ooooh, Superbook! I was afraid to looook!



Thank you. Some anime is straight up inappropriate content, and other anime is of cute little cats who live inside bananas. It's literally the same as saying "television is evil". It depends upon what you watch.

I mean, when it's inappropriate content, Japan is arguably more prudish than most realize, even the uncensored version of stuff has mosaics because of stuff still on Japanese law about depictions of genitals, iirc. It's weird, especially considering they're intended for adults and in terms of stuff that would show explicit nudity, probably requires you be an adult to buy it (particularly the hentai R18)

 

[Ironhold]

I met a guy at a convention in East TN that noted that: didn't have to agree with him on Christianity, we had a brief conversation on it, though I forget much of what the group was promoting at the fandom convention. Was interesting to learn that, still need to watch those. Hanna Barbera had a series I have on backlog adapting various bible stories, I remember watching the Easter story episodes at my church, probably was part of my general interest in animation, though I feel like Hanna Barbera outsourced The Greatest Stories to an Eastern company like CBN did with Superbook

A *lot* of what we consider to be "Western" animation was actually outsourced over the years. This was especially the case in the 1980s and 1990s, when the time demands for having cartoons five days a week meant that multiple studios often had to be brought in to get the job done.

What makes it "Western" is the fact that the overall production company was located somewhere in a "Western" country. For example, Sunbow Productions was located here in the US, but the grunt work of the actual animation was outsourced to Japan (Toei and possibly TMS), South Korea (AKOM), and the Philippines (Burbank Animation and possibly one other studio).

One interesting situation came when Japan's GONZO was tasked with doing two licensed animated series.

The shows?

"Transformers: Galaxy Force" and "G. I. Joe: Sigma 6".

The G. I. Joe series was commissioned by Hasbro itself, and so it's not regarded as an anime series. But Galaxy Force (US release: Cybertron) was commissioned by Hasbro's Japanese partner Takara-Tomy, and so it is considered anime.

GONZO apparently doesn't much like to talk about their work on these shows, as they primarily accepted the commissions as a result of their being in a rocky financial state at the time. But there's a surprising amount of fine detail in the animation work, and the writing is surprisingly strong in a number of episodes. (Although the second season of the Joe series has a clip show because they'd apparently blown their budget.)

 

[muichimotsu]

A *lot* of what we consider to be "Western" animation was actually outsourced over the years. This was especially the case in the 1980s and 1990s, when the time demands for having cartoons five days a week meant that multiple studios often had to be brought in to get the job done.

What makes it "Western" is the fact that the overall production company was located somewhere in a "Western" country. For example, Sunbow Productions was located here in the US, but the grunt work of the actual animation was outsourced to Japan (Toei and possibly TMS), South Korea (AKOM), and the Philippines (Burbank Animation and possibly one other studio).

One interesting situation came when Japan's GONZO was tasked with doing two licensed animated series.

The shows?

"Transformers: Galaxy Force" and "G. I. Joe: Sigma 6".

The G. I. Joe series was commissioned by Hasbro itself, and so it's not regarded as an anime series. But Galaxy Force (US release: Cybertron) was commissioned by Hasbro's Japanese partner Takara-Tomy, and so it is considered anime.

GONZO apparently doesn't much like to talk about their work on these shows, as they primarily accepted the commissions as a result of their being in a rocky financial state at the time. But there's a surprising amount of fine detail in the animation work, and the writing is surprisingly strong in a number of episodes. (Although the second season of the Joe series has a clip show because they'd apparently blown their budget.)

Can't be certain offhand, but when I skim over the credits on some of the direct to video Scooby Doo movies, it certainly seems like Hanna Barbera was outsourcing to non-Western studios to do their animation for those movies, and Wikipedia article seems to confirm that slightly with at least Scooby Doo on Zombie Island.