Questions of a Christian Anime,and Manga fan

[Amzi Live]

I'm fairly new in Anime,and Manga although I've watched popular anime series like Dragon Ball,Pokemon,Gundam,Ranma 1/2,Rouroni Kenshin(wich is one of my favorites),and several others since I was 11 or so.
Lately I've noticed that I havn't seen much Christian Anime or Manga out there.
Why is that,and why aren't there good quality stuff?
Are there no good Christian Manga artists out there?
Maybe it's because publishers don't think it's a good idea to work a project like that.
I don't know!
Maybe the idea of a manga,or anime which honors God doesn't just find it's way on anyones head.
There are good Christian writers,and artists out there.
Anyone who can shed a bit of light on this?

[yukoxholic]

The only Christian mangas/graphic novels I can think of are Serenity, The Circle Trilogy, and a surfer one they're coming out with who's title escapes me. Serenity though was praised by Marvel-big-wig Stan Lee for being "A clean, inspiring Christian Comic done in a hip, contemporary way." Also, the company "Real Buzz Studios: Manga From Heaven" is a distributor of Christian comics. They do not have a lot of titles but some is better than none, right?

As to your other questions the reason why you do not see a lot of Christian manga is because 1.) There aren't enough Christian American manga writers/artists out there writing it and 2.) The two major religions in Japan are Shinto and Buddhism. So, that's a HUGE factor for why there are not-so-many Christian based mangas. There is however, (though not Christian) mangas that are clean and have little to no fan service, violence, innuendo, etc which you find in a lot of manga. Most people I know who are looking for more subdued and not so morally offensive mangas go the clean route even though they have no Christian theology in them.

For me, sure, it'd be great to have Christian aspects in manga but why not promote the "cleaner" mangas (like Yotsuba&!, Kilala Princess, Aqua, Card Captor Sakura, Kingdom Hearts, Full Moon Wo Sagashite, Ultra Maniac depnding on where you stand with "witches" and Shingami, etc) while trying to get more Christian ones? Because even the cleaner titles are starting to become harder to find.

Hope that answers your questions.

[ShiroiHikari]

Try visiting http://www.theproject.us and http://www.christianmanga.com. There's good Christian stuff to be found there, it's just not published.

Christian entertainment in general doesn't exactly stay ahead of the curve, so it doesn't surprise me that there aren't very many Christian manga in print form. It's probably for much the same reasons why there aren't a lot of good Christian books-- emphasis on "good".

As for anime, well...that's a slightly different story. Animation's expensive and it would probably take a lot of arm-twisting to get a major studio to pick up any Christian project, much less an anime-style one. When was the last time you saw a good Christian cartoon? O_o

[mechana2015]

I think there also may be a mutually percieved discord between the manga artist and christian communities somewhere along these lines:

Manga Artists: Christians think everything we do is evil and of the devil... why bother.

Christians: All manga artists draw inappropriate fanservice. I don't want to be associated with that.

Due to this, neither side is particlularly willing to work with the other side, other than the case of web artists, who can be their own artists and publishers, and therefore circumvent the collision in views posed by this sort of thing.

[Hana Ryuuzaki]

[font="palatino Linotype"]Now, you can't forget that there is one published Christian manga.

It's that Shelter of Wings.

The art's awesome, and so far from what I heard, it's a good storyline![/font]

[LadyRushia]

Next Manga published Manga Messiah which is quite good.

I know what you mean, and I personally want to see some awesome Christian anime and manga, so I'm working on it. All I know is that God wants me to write. I have my dreams, but I have no idea what God's going to do with it. I know God's working through other people in this way, too.

In the mean time, God's shown Himself to me through events or characters in anime and manga. Just because it isn't Christian doesn't mean God can't use it and that He isn't in it.

[Amzi Live]

Try visiting http://www.theproject.us and http://www.christianmanga.com.
As for anime, well...that's a slightly different story. Animation's expensive and it would probably take a lot of arm-twisting to get a major studio to pick up any Christian project, much less an anime-style one. When was the last time you saw a good Christian cartoon? O_o

Yeah,I really can't recall.Does Veggie Tale count?
Love the link by the way.

I think there also may be a mutually percieved discord between the manga artist and christian communities somewhere along these lines:

Manga Artists: Christians think everything we do is evil and of the devil... why bother.

Christians: All manga artists draw inappropriate fanservice. I don't want to be associated with that.

Due to this, neither side is particlularly willing to work with the other side, other than the case of web artists, who can be their own artists and publishers, and therefore circumvent the collision in views posed by this sort of thing.

Too bad some Christians are a bit narrow minded sometimes.
One only wishes to try,and do something.

[font="palatino Linotype"]Now, you can't forget that there is one published Christian manga.

It's that Shelter of Wings.

The art's awesome, and so far from what I heard, it's a good storyline![/font]

Nice! I gotta check that one out.

I know what you mean, and I personally want to see some awesome Christian anime and manga, so I'm working on it. All I know is that God wants me to write. I have my dreams, but I have no idea what God's going to do with it. I know God's working through other people in this way, too.

In the mean time, God's shown Himself to me through events or characters in anime and manga. Just because it isn't Christian doesn't mean God can't use it and that He isn't in it.

That is soo true.
Also, God is the one that calls us to do His will.
When you write the manga you gotta give CAA a first look at it.

[LadyRushia]

They're not manga, since I can't draw. I'm going to try to get them published when I finish, but maybe God has different ideas. I honestly don't know.

I do know that nothing's gonna change if you don't make the effort. If you want Christian anime or manga, write a story and see what happens~

[Amzi Live]

They're not manga, since I can't draw. I'm going to try to get them published when I finish, but maybe God has different ideas. I honestly don't know.

I do know that nothing's gonna change if you don't make the effort. If you want Christian anime or manga, write a story and see what happens~

Yeah,God works in mysterious ways, so who knows?
Ha! I have a new long term goal in life now.

[Sailor Kenshin]

There's always Takahashi Rumiko's One Pound Gospel, the tale of a boxer and a novice nun. I don't have all the volumes yet (and it's out of print, masaka!) but it has all the typical Takahashi touches of slapstick humor and appealing character design.

[Popsicle]

I know what you mean, and I personally want to see some awesome Christian anime and manga, so I'm working on it. All I know is that God wants me to write. I have my dreams, but I have no idea what God's going to do with it. I know God's working through other people in this way, too.

[color="DeepSkyBlue"]Yeah, the Lord has called me to go into animation and game art. He has also been pretty much writing a story through me that I believe He will use in the future that will involve animation and whatnot. And it's Christian. I would say that the story is appealing to both Christian groups and the secular world, so yeah...God can do anything, including making a pretty awesome Christian anime or something of the sorts.[/color]

Sry...that got kinda off topic. I've read some stuff off of The Project and would say that they are pretty good. There is also a Christian comic I've heard of called Archangels, but it's not a manga. I heard it's good though.

[EricTheFred]

There's always Takahashi Rumiko's One Pound Gospel, the tale of a boxer and a novice nun. I don't have all the volumes yet (and it's out of print, masaka!) but it has all the typical Takahashi touches of slapstick humor and appealing character design.

Yeeeeeaaahh..... I actually like this title, but I wouldn't want to put it into the category under discussion here. Takahashi, like many non-Christian writers, does not present nuns and habits on spiritual grounds, but as naive, unclaimed young women. It's not a Japanese thing; you see the same thing in American media from time-to-time.

She is a lot more charitable toward them than Japanese usually are, which is good. The nuns are definitely shown as caring sorts, so I don't much mind the iffy aspects of the female lead's platonic relationship with the boxer. Still, this isn't "Christian Manga" in the sense the original poster was wondering about.

Did you know they are re-releasing it? Volume 1 comes out in June. This is because Takahashi at long last wrapped up and released Volume 4 (apparently to be the end of the story) and because the story is currently being produced as a live-action Japanese TV show.

[minakichan]

Nuns?

*thinks Chrno Crusade*

.................nuns.

So why has no one mentioned Superbook? I don't think there exists anything more "Christian anime" than that. Except it has time travel.

[Sailor Kenshin]

And here I thought Takahashi might actually be Christian, though I can't find any reference---because she frequently presents Christian settings (in Maison Ikkoku, two of the characters are married in a church).

[EricTheFred]

I think it's just in her nature to present religious people in a friendly (but usually humorously irreverent) light. She has the same approach toward Buddhist and Shinto clergy. Her attitude seems to suggest she appreciates real world religious workers in general, and I think you're picking up on that.

"Church" marriages are a lot more common in Japan than one would expect from the percentage of Christianity in the population. They aren't always held in real churches, though. "Wedding Chapels" that provide the setting and trappings of a Western marriage are common, too. Just like Christmas and Valentine's Day, I guess....

[Kung_Fu_Master]

Well, this is neat. My future jobs (at least I hope) is a christian manga, anime, and video game artist. Don't worry everyone I already have three in the making,(Now I just need to learn how to draw.)

[animewarrior]

GAMEPLAN!!! lol XD I love this series...even if I have mentioned it to Amzi before I thought it was worth mentioning again.

gameplan.christianmanga.com

[Prince Asbel]

GAMEPLAN!!! lol XD I love this series...even if I have mentioned it to Amzi before I thought it was worth mentioning again.

gameplan.christianmanga.com

Ha! I just read it today, and I also really like it! It's hilarious, serious, and it deals with a complicated issue (Kai's teacher) that I didn't expect in a manga. But it was good! I can't wait for an update to that series.

[DarkSun]

Are there no good Christian Manga artists out there?

Shinto and Buddhism: 95%
Others: 4%
Christianity: 0.8%

Short answer: No.

[AsianBlossom]

EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network, a Catholic TV channel) used to play two anime in the kids' time slot. They were some anime Bible show (I think it's the Old Testament or something...I just remember it had a REALLY long intro) and Swiss Family Robinson.

[Sheenar]

EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network, a Catholic TV channel) used to play two anime in the kids' time slot. They were some anime Bible show (I think it's the Old Testament or something...I just remember it had a REALLY long intro) and Swiss Family Robinson.

Well, there's Superbook and The Flying House --I remember seeing those early in the morning on TBN.

[animewarrior]

Are there no good Christian Manga artists out there?

Originally posted by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan#Demographics:
Shinto and Buddhism: 95%
Others: 4%
Christianity: 0.8%

Short answer: No.

I think that was a bit harsh Dark Sun. There are christian manga series out there you just have to do some looking... if you haven't yet, try:

-- Hosting Sites--
the Project
ChristianManga.com

--Special Mentions--
Shelter of Wings
KingdomCome
Home
Gameplan
Advocate Voice
SteelBlood

--Other--
Anime Angels (magazines of printed Christian manga!! XDD & Forums)
Cyberlight Comics (American style comics for those who like that kind of thing)

[CAAOutkast]

Unfortunately,90% of mainstream Christian Entertainment is bad. The Fan-made stuff however is pretty cool.

Anyway,there was a show on EWTN(a very boring network) that was called "In The Beginning". It had amazing anime-like artwork and each episode told a biblical story.

BTW,wasn't there supposed to be a Light Rangers Anime?

[uc pseudonym]

Everyone please note that this thread has been gravedug. Don't post unless you're sure you have something to say that hasn't been said.

BTW,wasn't there supposed to be a Light Rangers Anime?

Yes, but don't expect it any time soon.