CAA in Plugged In magazine

[glitch1501]

i asked my parents to buy me the issue when they were at the family christian bookstore tonight, hopefully they will have it

[Dark_angel]

Interesting, I wonder if I can get that particular magazine....::runs off to tell parents::

[Htom Sirveaux]

I normally don't read Plugged In, but this is definitely something worth checking out. By recognizing CAA and Anime Angels (by printing an article on anime at all, in fact), they (and hopefully their readers) are beginning to see that the genre is not so inherently evil after all. Kudos to them and praise God!

[redkorn]

I wonder how their ratings are on american movies?

[Professor Hojo]

Most Christian discussion I read or hear about Anime (outside CAA) is about how it's occult, porn, etc. and people should keep their kids away from it.

That is the one of the few things that makes me sick to my stomach.I am honestly disgusted.They no nothing of Anime.I have been watching Anime ever since the age of 4*even though I only watched cuz a character looked cool! ^_^*And I have not once seen anything occult in an Anime yet,even though there might be one or two,sadly.
I actually compared Christians like that to the Pharisees and you will be suprised by the similarities if you find how much they have in common,and you know how angry Pharisees make Jesus feel in the Bible.
People just need to realize that there is a BIG gap between occult and fantasy.Occult is dark and horrible full of satanic stuff and Fantasy is kissing the frog and turning him into the Prince.I sincerely doubt wiccans can use Firaga too.-_- I think that Magic in Anime is just like special affects most of the time.
I honestly think this is making Jesus feel like going The Hulk on us..-_-
We Christians should look at JESUS' will instead of our own will.We sometimes believe that because we are Christians,we are superior to everyone else and we shall force them to do "God's" will,which happens to be our own.I honestly think some of our fellow Christians are interpeting Bible Verses such as:
"And ye shall be my Father's children"-Jesus Christ*YAY GOD!* as:

"And ye shall be as Gods in my eyes"

-_- I am really disappointed in my fellow Christians;I am REALLY disappointed.I am never going to do something just because some "Christian" in a magazine,show,website,ect. tells us to.
I just go by this statment:
"I shall model my life after Christ,not a fellow Christian"

We are on our own personal journey with Jesus,everyone,so don't let someone else tell you what to do;let Jesus tell you what to do.I remember someone saying this once,possibly on a forum here,and I really liked it:
"If God wants something in my life,it will BE in my life"
I believe that statment is completely true.

-_- I am just disappointed.You know what,I wouldn't be suprised if all od the children in the world threw off the "protectors' of the children and asked Jesus what He wanted them to do one day.I really believe people at Focus on the Family,when super-bashing an anime,are putting themselves on Jesus' Holy Throne,and trying to push Him off.

And trying to do THAT,my friends,is one of the worst sins against God I can think of.Really,it is.-_-

-_- *sighs and walks off to blow off steam*

[Madeline]

MEEP, that is so cool! ^________^ My mom was so psyched to hear that.
She lurks around here sometimes, you know...

And about "anime being bad" or whatever you're saying, I read the Ghost in the Shell and the Miyazaki reviews (I have seen Spirited Away) and they did NOT say anime is evil. They just said it like it is: anime goes on both sides of the spectrum, from cute and innocent to hentai.
Yup, the world of anime is dark...but there are some light spots too, if you look hard enough. ^^

And don't go around dissing Focus on the Family (I mean saying that they're idiots...that's mean)! They're awesome and even if I don't completely agree with everything they say, they're an awesome resource for getting a Christian perspective on American life. ^_^

[Aka-chan]

I think part of it is that those who aren't familiar with anime don't realize how truly varied it is. I think it's good that they do give the warning that just because it looks sorta like the Pokemon art doesn't mean it's pure and innocent, because that misconception does happen, though I do wish they'd give the good side a little more mention.

[Nate]

I just thought I'd pop in and offer my two cents.

"Everything is permissible"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is constructive. - 1 Corinthians 10:23

Just like to point that out.

Anyway, I don't condemn FotF for their negative view towards anime. I may not agree with them, but I won't call them stupid.

For example, my pastor won't let his daughters even watch the movie "Casper" because it has ghosts in it. Even though one of them is 17. Do I agree with this? No, of course not. But my pastor certainly isn't stupid by any means.

I also wish they had focused on the positive side of anime, but I kinda figured they would focus more on the objectionable series instead of clean ones like Hamtaro or Full Moon however-it's-spelled.

Hey, just be glad we were in a positive light. They could've called us all heathens or something.

[Professor Hojo]

Oh I did not intend on insulting Focus on the Family.I bet they are a good Christian Orginization.I am just trying to say that I STRONGLY disagree with some of their views on video games and anime.I was just trying to state that I am just a take offence give a little mad defence person.I understand I might have been a little harsh on the matter,but I reallly do strongly disagree.Their intentions might be pure,but they are slightly bigotted on that one matter.I mean,no one is perfect*exept Jesus,of course*They might just be a good Christian Orginization and I will take your opinion and check it out sometime.I should have just stated that I went on the offence of FOTF's VIEW of Anime,and not FOTF themselves.Sorry!

[Nate]

Hey, Hojo, just so you know...

I do kind of agree with your Pharisee comparison. Just a LITTLE, though.

[Kireihana]

I pretty much agree with what others have stated that FotF and Plugged In are really great mags, and honestly I rarely disagree with them. Maybe it's because I'm not really into movies or secular music (to a large degree) to begin with. Anyway I didn't start this thread to bash Plugged In, but to point out the wonderful fact that CAA and AA were mentioned. Like I've said, I think they could have explored some of the better anime more, and I thought it was unusual for them not to do so as most of their reviews highight "positive elements" as well as the bad. Oh well. Kudos to CAA!

[Marie-Novelle]

Christian Anime Alliance (christiananime.net) and animeangels.net offer online analysis and commentary from a biblical perspective."

I think if CAA changed its format to something like this

http://www.christiananswers.net/spotlight/

it would help parents who have questions about specific anime and manga and the subcultures connected with them so they could better understand what their children are watching/reading/doing and whether or not it lines up with a biblical worldview. The front page should be changed to make the mission of CAA clear. As it is right now, it's a fine forum where people can chat and have relaxed conversations, but I think a revamp is in order to better show that CAA is "impacting the anime world for Jesus Christ".

[desperado]

i recently read it and i have to say im annoyed... did they review any good animes..no did they review all the questionable ones i can think of save about two or three yes.... ><

[Usso-M]

AIIE! ^___^ I --REALLY-- want to hear what they said about Chrono Crusade, since it portrays Christianity in a positive (if somewhat fanciful) light. PLEASE, someone who gets access to it, post what they said.

It's a shame that they didn't mention Haibane Renmei, which IMO is prob. the most Christian-friendly anime not made by a Christian.

Anyway, I perfer Christiananswers over Plugged In, because they are --very-- close minded. I did send Focus on the Family's teen section an e-mail about the diversity of anime YEARS ago, and I mentioned you guy's URL and name in it ^___^

[Ashley]

Well, to FotF's defense, when I emailed them about getting a copy of the magazine and mentioned I was the founder, they were very courteous to me, which I'm glad for. I'll type up the article when it arrives, if that's ok. I'll have to double check copyright and all.

[Mangafanatic]

I think if CAA changed its format to something like this

http://www.christiananswers.net/spotlight/

it would help parents who have questions about specific anime and manga and the subcultures connected with them so they could better understand what their children are watching/reading/doing and whether or not it lines up with a biblical worldview. The front page should be changed to make the mission of CAA clear. As it is right now, it's a fine forum where people can chat and have relaxed conversations, but I think a revamp is in order to better show that CAA is "impacting the anime world for Jesus Christ".

I think the current format does the mission statement justice. The link you mention was more of an aritcle information driven site. I would say CAA is more of an individual driven site. It's about allowing the questions of its membership to be answered and to be asked in a positive, Christ centered light. The lay-out in the Christian answers site was more of a road map to a glossary of information. That would probably be really hard to manage with a message board forum. Especially one as active as CAA.

But I don't know, that just my two yen.

[mechana2015]

I agree with mangafanatic. We are more of a site for those who are willing to ask the questions and discuss the answers rather than publishing only our views, though we do have a reviews area with some information like that. I have had the idea of seeing if Focus on the Family has a forum and maybe making a small group of peope who would focus on an anime related thread in Q&A format... just a thought.

[Marie-Novelle]

I think the current format does the mission statement justice. The link you mention was more of an aritcle information driven site. I would say CAA is more of an individual driven site. It's about allowing the questions of its membership to be answered and to be asked in a positive, Christ centered light. The lay-out in the Christian answers site was more of a road map to a glossary of information. That would probably be really hard to manage with a message board forum. Especially one as active as CAA.

But I don't know, that just my two yen.

Well, the sections are already here (reviews, forum, art gallery, etc) but I think it should be redesigned for new visitors who don't understand the purpose of this site. I mean, normally, people don't associate the anime fandom with being a follower of Jesus and it's perfectly reasonable to see why they wouldn't, given the majority of anime out there which has more to do with things like the occult and neo-paganism.

I think it would be neat if, for example, the site could be introduced with cute anime-style avatars of the site administrators explaining to people how they can be saved. There could also be a section with in-depth articles contributed by CAA members, giving their own perspective on what they've observed in the fandom themselves. One thing I'm interested in is how people witness at anime conventions as I've never been to one before, and I'm sure other people would like to know more about that, too, without having to dig through hundreds of threads in a forum. All I'm saying is that a few things could be done to improve the identity of CAA to make a bigger impact on those anime fans who don't believe as well as give current CAA members more opportunities to help make this community grow together as a group.

[Marie-Novelle]

I have had the idea of seeing if Focus on the Family has a forum and maybe making a small group of peope who would focus on an anime related thread in Q&A format... just a thought.

That just breaks up the community even more. It's like all those Christian guilds at Gaia Online. Way too many and not one of them is organized effectively. People end up arguing about the most stupid things and most of the time, the mods don't know how to do their job. I see it's different here because the mods actually do their job and they do it well.

[uc pseudonym]

Well, the sections are already here (reviews, forum, art gallery, etc) but I think it should be redesigned for new visitors who don't understand the purpose of this site. I mean, normally, people don't associate the anime fandom with being a follower of Jesus and it's perfectly reasonable to see why they wouldn't, given the majority of anime out there which has more to do with things like the occult and neo-paganism.

We once had a splash page that featured both the logo and a mission statement that I feel accomplished this purpose very well. However, this fell away when we updated VBulletin, and I am uncertain as to its current status.

That just breaks up the community even more. It's like all those Christian guilds at Gaia Online. Way too many and not one of them is organized effectively. People end up arguing about the most stupid things and most of the time, the mods don't know how to do their job.

I think, however, that it could be possible to do such well, if the group was carefully selected and tightly organized. I am uncertain if it would accomplish a great deal, but I am merely stating that I think the idea is workable. However, I am not immediately aware of a Focus on the Family (or Plugged In) forum.

[Keely]

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee, that's totally awesome! Can you believe our little ideas have sprung into something being mentioned in magazines Ash?

[battletech]

I thank it all comes down to the fact that with anime/manga. We need to find the balance between legalism, which is a bunch of does and don'ts and license, which is a abuse of God's grace. That says we can watch or read anything we want to with out considering what it contains.

[Mangafanatic]

Yay for Keely and Ashley!

[mechana2015]

I think it would be neat if, for example, the site could be introduced with cute anime-style avatars of the site administrators explaining to people how they can be saved.

This is a really awesome sounding idea.

Unfortunately I dont think that this would be feasable for several reasons. First of all it would take a huge amount of time to create said animation in flash or any other program and make it look like somthing that will have an impact on people. Unfortunately since most of us are college students or younger we dont have the time/money/experience to put together a quality animation describing the Word of God, and its saving message. With several members possibly going through animation programs, this may be possible in the future, but probably not currently. The other issue I see with such a large project is that it will eat bandwidth up like no tomorrow if it becomes popular. Considering the bandwidth issues we have currently I dont think it could handle such a large load on the system.

There could also be a section with in-depth articles contributed by CAA members, giving their own perspective on what they've observed in the fandom themselves.

This sounds like a fantastic idea to me, especially since we have some dedicated writers on this forum. Anyone else like this idea?

One thing I'm interested in is how people witness at anime conventions as I've never been to one before, and I'm sure other people would like to know more about that, too, without having to dig through hundreds of threads in a forum.

Anime conventions... I have only been to San Diego Comicon so this is just MHO, but i think there was a Christian comics booth... somewhere. Unfortunately I never found it.
I know Ash actually had a Q&A session at a convention, and maybe if convention planners were so inclined to include a similar program at other Cons some witnessing could be done through that. I'm not sure about other styles of witnessing at Cons, it depends on the rules for the con and the people involved in the project.

...long post. Time for a shower and class. XD

[Kireihana]

AIIE! ^___^ I --REALLY-- want to hear what they said about Chrono Crusade, since it portrays Christianity in a positive (if somewhat fanciful) light. PLEASE, someone who gets access to it, post what they said.

Well they didn't talk about any particular series in-depth, they only mentioned them. Here's what they said:

"While the archetype of good vs. evil dates back to Genesis, anime often perverts God's truth by partnering good with evil for noble purposes.

"For example, in Chrono Crusade a nun and a demon team up to perform exorcisms. Another series, Hellsing chronicles the amoral adventures of a blood-sucker secretly in league with the Protestant knights out to protect Queen and country from all manner of monsters. The Saturday morning cartoon Shaman King involves a teenager who invites a ghost to indwell and empower him."

Hey I already have the article, so if you guys would like me to type it up for everyone I'd be more than happy to.

[Ashley]

Just a quick sideline note here to Marie-Novelle and Mechana. I took notice of some of your ideas and well, they haven't been ignored. I'll put it that way. The staff and I are speaking of some major revampings/improvements/changes to the boards, and while I can't guarantee anything will be changed any time soon, ideas like yours are exactly the kind of sparks that get us going.

We don't know what you guys would like to see more of if you don't tell us.

[Kireihana]

Ok I've typed up the article. I think it's legal for me to post it because I'm not using it for commercial or political purposes. ^^

http://silver-essence.net/pluggedin_anime.txt

I apologize for any typos/misspellings; I was speed typing XD

[Mangafanatic]

Yes, it was as I feared: porn, spiritism, and darkness. Let us all pray my aunt does not read this article. She will expect me reporting to hell if she does.

What makes me sad is-- I like Saint Tail! And Full Moon Wo Sagashite! Please point out the graphic voilence and nudity if those titles, please! We're not all porn addicts, believe it or not. *sigh*

I would, in closing, like to say that I love FoTF. Their Adventures in Oddyssey series were the material of my childhood, and I admire them for their no compromise stand. I throughly support them.

And I will be praying (and perhaps writting a gentle note) for a "The good side of Anime" article in the near future.

[Ashley]

Well, when I get my copy of the article and read it thoroughly (and spend some good time praying), I plan on writing the editor about just that Osaka. I admire Focus on the Family for a number of reasons, but I do want to see the truth said. Just something to pray about, of course.

[Mangafanatic]

I'm glad you've thought about such a thing. I was somewhat scared to undertake the matter myself, but if no one else would have-- well, I might have become desperate.