Diamond Head surprised me with its accurate(ish) theology!
PostPosted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 8:13 pm
I was bored last night and I decided to find a new manga to read. I was browsing around on the internet and found my way to a Shoujomagic, which is a scanlation site for TONS of shoujo that probably won't make it to US shores. Anyhow, I was browsing their big selection (which ranges from cute to smutty so I had to be careful where I clicked >.<) and I came across a manga called Diamond Head. The thumbnail pic caught my eye and I was bored so I downloaded the complete series.
The story is about a girl named Ichihashi Nanao who is the first student to ever transfer into Mehabia Catholic School. She soon finds herself roped into a club called the Judicature Club, a school-sanctioned means of resolving student disputes. Basically they have full court sessions for problems at their school. The other members are Hanugi Leica (A boy with such long hair he looks like a girl, though it is explained later in the series why he keeps his hair long. He's the judge.), Tachibana Katsuma (He's very vibrant and likes to joke around. The counsel for the defendant), and Douno Kirihiko (The President and counsel for the plaintiff).
The series is nicely done and the art gets better as it goes. It's a deeper series than most shoujo manga. It goes alot into what justice is, and what defines it. However, the thing that shocked me the most about this series was it's portrayal of Christianity.
Leica is labelled as a Christian in the manga, which I kinda rolled my eyes over at first because Christians are often portrayed so off the mark in anime (things like Hellsing, Chrono Crusade, Mai Hime, KKJ, ect ect.). Then there was a chapter where Leica had to defend his credibility as a judge the questioner brought up the fact that he was a Christian and referenced the parable Jesus told in which the vineyard owner pays two men the same wages even though one man started work earlier in the day than the other. (Matt. 20:1-15). He then asks how Leica would rule in a similiar situation. This is where it got my attention: Leice replies (correctly) that the parable is actually referring to Heaven and how we should not be envious of God's mercy towards other men. The questioner persists, insisting that Leica tell how he would rule. Leica replies that he would not judge in the same way as the Bible, because he is not Jesus Christ and is a human with anger and hate and sorrow.
The "Christianity" of the series looks more like a legalistic works system - never mentions Jesus as a Savior - but I was still pleased that the theology was partly correct. It might just be that the portrayal of Christianity in anime is so off that I'm happy with what teensy things I can get. Regardless, this is a GREAT series and I would suggest you check it out, if only for the great characters and storyline. It's a nice length of 5 volumes and I (stupidly) charged through it in one night and stayed up til 4:00 to do it. Yay for getting four hours of sleep! WOOO
The story is about a girl named Ichihashi Nanao who is the first student to ever transfer into Mehabia Catholic School. She soon finds herself roped into a club called the Judicature Club, a school-sanctioned means of resolving student disputes. Basically they have full court sessions for problems at their school. The other members are Hanugi Leica (A boy with such long hair he looks like a girl, though it is explained later in the series why he keeps his hair long. He's the judge.), Tachibana Katsuma (He's very vibrant and likes to joke around. The counsel for the defendant), and Douno Kirihiko (The President and counsel for the plaintiff).
The series is nicely done and the art gets better as it goes. It's a deeper series than most shoujo manga. It goes alot into what justice is, and what defines it. However, the thing that shocked me the most about this series was it's portrayal of Christianity.
Leica is labelled as a Christian in the manga, which I kinda rolled my eyes over at first because Christians are often portrayed so off the mark in anime (things like Hellsing, Chrono Crusade, Mai Hime, KKJ, ect ect.). Then there was a chapter where Leica had to defend his credibility as a judge the questioner brought up the fact that he was a Christian and referenced the parable Jesus told in which the vineyard owner pays two men the same wages even though one man started work earlier in the day than the other. (Matt. 20:1-15). He then asks how Leica would rule in a similiar situation. This is where it got my attention: Leice replies (correctly) that the parable is actually referring to Heaven and how we should not be envious of God's mercy towards other men. The questioner persists, insisting that Leica tell how he would rule. Leica replies that he would not judge in the same way as the Bible, because he is not Jesus Christ and is a human with anger and hate and sorrow.
The "Christianity" of the series looks more like a legalistic works system - never mentions Jesus as a Savior - but I was still pleased that the theology was partly correct. It might just be that the portrayal of Christianity in anime is so off that I'm happy with what teensy things I can get. Regardless, this is a GREAT series and I would suggest you check it out, if only for the great characters and storyline. It's a nice length of 5 volumes and I (stupidly) charged through it in one night and stayed up til 4:00 to do it. Yay for getting four hours of sleep! WOOO
Thanks for bringing it to everyone's attention!