Christ the King

Happy Feast of Christ the King! This is an excellent post describing how Christ built His Kingdom on the Truth, while the kingdoms of the world are more than willing to neglect the truth in favor of power.

Salty Bread

We live in an era of conspiracy theories, fake news, and alternative facts. In the past falsehood competed with truth. Now it’s confusion. We don’t have to be convinced of a lie to be led astray. It’s enough to become cynical and doubt that we can ever arrive at objective, absolute truth. Truth becomes relative and personal: “You have your truth. I have mine.” The person who shouts the loudest seems to get the most attention nowadays. Into this charred, postmodern landscape comes a stranger and alien, Jesus Christ. When he finally got his day in court, the judge wanted to know if he was indeed a king. He was, but he said his kingdom was not of this world (John 18:33-37). This world loves power, not truth. Jesus gave up his power to bear witness to the truth.

“So you really are a king?” Pilate asked.

Jesus…

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New Podcast: Deluded Fruitcakes Anonymous

Two of my good friends have started a podcast.  It sounds like they want to discuss books, movies, swords, anime, and manga–basically, their interests.  I myself might appear on a future episode of their podcast.  Why should you listen to them?  They’re funny, articulate, and their interests might cross with yours.  Anyway, drop by and say that Medieval Otaku sent you!

Dropping Golden Kamuy

Here’s a show which I feel sorry to drop.  Golden Kamuy stood as one of my favorite anime from two seasons ago.  I loved the aspects of it which dealt with the Ainu, the beautiful backgrounds, Hokkaido, and turn of the century Japan.  The action was great, and the characters interesting and fun.

Yet, one unfortunate element intruded itself towards the end of season one: the author’s interest in serial killers.  Our heroes’ trip to the fishing village in search of more clues introduced a seriously disturbed fisherman, Henmi Kazuo, who became sexually aroused at the prospect of murder and death.  I found myself enduring rather than enjoying these couple of episodes.  And so, it probably comes as no surprise that I dropped the anime after the second season begins with introducing yet another crazed serial killer: Yasaku Edogai the taxidermist.

Reblog: When the Barque of Peter is Tossed by Storms… Pray to St Michael Archangel! —

From Fr George W. Rutler’s Weekly Column Nostalgia is a selective editing of the past. For instance, there are those who wish we had today some of the architects of thirteenth-century cathedrals, but who avoid mentioning thirteenth-century dentists. In recent times, the general conceit has been the opposite of nostalgia. The philosopher Owen Barfield spoke […]

via When the Barque of Peter is Tossed by Storms… Pray to St Michael Archangel! —

Goblin Slayer and the Root of Horror

The Halloween season has given me some impetus to think about the horror genre.  A while back, an academic named E. Michael Jones was on the Patrick Coffin show explaining how he thought about the horror genre.  He has written at least two works on this subject: Monsters from the Id: The Rise of Horror in Fiction and Film and Sex with Monsters.  Jones believes that the modern horror genre arose as a reaction to the free love movements of the 19th century and reached its full flowering following the Sexual Revolution.  Many persons were hurt by the myriad problems which inevitably arise from sexual licentiousness and enjoyed a cathartic reaction from a central message of many horror stories: sex can kill you.

You all know how this story ends.  Or, if you don’t, School Days should be on your list.

School Days might be the anime locus classicus for such a theme, but my dear readers know–know even a priori–that playing Don Juan for a length of time is going to lead one to embarrassing, painful, and even dangerous situations.  People don’t like being used as playthings, and the relatives of the playthings take an even dimmer view of such conduct.  The fact that one’s partner consents to the relationship does not take away from the feeling of being used.  The Sexual Revolution tried to paint promiscuity as a desirable thing, even promoting contraceptives and abortion so that women could participate in “consequence- free” sex.

Fall 2018 First Impressions/At the half way point/Something

Further Ruminations on Old School Anime

My thanks to all who have commented and participated in the poll below.   Your comments have forced me to think a little more about just what counts as old school anime.  In particular, I needed to think about how to separate it from both ancient anime and modern anime.  An old school anime has the following qualities:

1. Not black and white
2. Uses cel animation
3. Character animation is less influenced by Disney’s style, usually with a sharper look
4. Has a story which appeals to teenage and older anime fans, which appeal is proved by current fans of anime still seeking out these stories
5. First aired between 1970 and 1999

The fifth point likely surprises some of my readers.  My old parameters for old school anime stretched from 1960 – 1989.  This was based on the misconception that Ashita no Joe, an old school anime par excellence, aired in 1967, and I expected to find many others like this show in style.  Ashita no Joe actually only officially aired in 1970 (a pilot episode did appear in 1969), and only two anime exist in the in 60’s to which do not strike me as ancient: Tiger Mask (1969) and Star of the Giants (1968).  Not enough to classify the 60’s as an old school decade!