Have you ever wanted to watch an anime about a GIANT SUPERPOWERED MECH FROM THE FUTURE?
HOW ABOUT ONE THAT SPENDS MOST OF HIS TIME MOVING BOXES, IS A MAKESHIFT GRILL AND ACTS AS A TRANSLATOR BETWEEN TWO GROUPS OF HUMANS?
STILL INTERESTED? GOOD!
I promise you, it's not as boring as it sounds. In fact, this anime, Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet, was a pleasant surprise to me, and with only 13 episodes, a nice way to end the day (for about a week or so).
Gargantia follows a teenager named Ensign Ledo, who was raised to be a soldier in the Galactic Alliance of Humankind and fight against squid-like aliens called the Hideauze. Retreating from a failed attack against the Hideauze, Ledo falls into a wormhole and finds himself on the long fabled planet, Earth. The Earth is now completely covered in water and the the only way the humans can survive is on individual ships and ship mega floats. Waking up on a mega float called the Gargantia, Ledo, along with his AI mech battle suit, Chamber, must adjust to their new life away from war and discover the lost secrets of humanity located on Earth.
Like I said, this anime was only 13 episodes, so I didn't feel overwhelmed or obligated to watch it, as I sometimes feel while watching 26 episode animes. But even though I was able to get through this series in a couple nights, they were extremely enjoyable. I believe that no matter how bad an anime is, there is always something in it that makes it worth watching. While Gargantia was definitely not a bad anime, there was something about it that kept me interested. Maybe is was the mysteries surrounding the future Earth or the interesting cast of characters, or maybe........ something else.......
Of course, it might always be the emotional resonance that I felt with our main character, Ledo. This is a guy who has known one thing for his entire life; war. When he arrives on Earth, its hard for him to adjust to a life without fighting, and has to recreate his identity. I think that is something we can all understand, because everyone goes through change at least one point in their life. Maybe it was moving to a new state, a new school, a new job, or even leaving home to attend college. When we find ourselves in these situations, we don't know what to do or how to react. We're in completely uncharted territory and have no compass to guide us. It can be terrifying. When Ledo wakes up on Earth, he was completely hostile to everything around him. Eventually, with the help of a guide and the understanding of others, we begin to find our way, as a young girl names Amy helps Ledo learn more about himself and teaches him about the new world.
#AnimeBromance
Hoping that you now have an understanding of our main character Ledo, I want to talk about another main character in this series; Chamber. Even though Chamber is a battle mech, he has AI (Artificial Intelligence) and honestly this series would have been a lot less enjoyable without him. Though he is programmed to follow Ledo's commands, Chamber also gives advice and council to Ledo, and others aboard the Gargantia. I've seen my fair share of mech animes, and Chamber is probably my favorite mech suit, because this is one of the rare cases where a suit is an actual character in the series. It adds a new dynamic to the show and is an essential part to Gargantia.
There is a medium sized group of side characters, including crew members aboard the Gargantia, a love interest and pirates. Gargantia provides character development for most of the cast, but in my opinion, you really watch this show for Ledo and by extension, Chamber.
Now, when it comes to anime art and design, I'm not very picky. To me, content is more important than the look of an anime, so even if an anime doesn't look its best, I can still enjoy it. However, I have to give props to the people at Production I.G for their animation work. The design of Gargantia is top notch work and really helps keep you interested during some of the lulls in episodes. There are space battles, sea battles and random rainstorms that look amazing and somewhat realistic (you know, for an anime about a sea Earth with mechs). The real highlight to me is Chamber. The way that he looks, fires weapons and flies around looks spectacular, and differs a bit from your normal mech physics (you'll see if you watch it). It's freakin sweet to watch! Like I said, I'm not too picky with my art, but the art of Gargantia sets a great standard for mech animes.
This anime is pretty tame overall, but like I've previously mentioned, it is anime and you should use your own discretion while watching it. Gargantia does have great lessons attached and a tear-jerking ending, which was completely unexpected, but awesome. So, if you have some time to kill and want to watch something a little low-key, check out Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet.
So, this post is brought to you by a headache. That's right. The only reason that I'm writing this particular blog post is because of a surprise headache that appeared at 6:30pm. I don't know where it came from, but it happened.
So, I decided that the best way for me to get rid of this headache was the read the Bible. It was either that or spray some Windex on my head (Ba dump ba). After flipping around Isaiah and Psalms a bit, I found myself at the beginning of Job, and decided to start reading.
For those unfamiliar with the story of Job; he was a innocent and God-fearing man who was blessed with 7 sons, 3 daughters and a massive amount of crops and livestock. He was a happy guy, and never said sinned against God. So, one day Satan comes to God and God showed Satan how great of a guy Job was, and Satan said that the only reason Job was so happy was that he was so prosperous. So Satan bet God that if Job suddenly lost all of his stuff, he would curse God. God agreed to the wager, and began to take away Job's stuff. First his animals, then his crops and finally his kids. Obviously, Job was upset, but he never cursed God once. So Satan went back to God and made another bet that Job would curse God if Job no longer had his health (This might have been the phrase "At least he still has his health" comes from....maybe) So Job gets covered in terrible boils, but still won't curse God. Even Job's wife and friends say that he should curse God, but Job doesn't listen to them, rather, he tries to get their sins forgiven. In the end, God proved His point, and Job got all his stuff back (times 2) and lived a very long happy life.
That's Job in a nutshell. If you want to read the entire book, it's super short.
So, when i finished this book (truth be told, I skipped some pages) I was thinking about my life. Job literally had everything taken away from him and he didn't blame God once. There are so many times that something has gone wrong in my life and one of the first things I do is ask "God, why is this happening?" or "God, how could you let this happen?" I make it sound like it is God's fault that I'm having problems, and I forget about all the good stuff He's done for me. It's pretty sad when I think about it.
Now, the same day that I had the headache, I had to run a bunch of errands that I really didn't want to run. I had to drop off and pick up kids, get groceries, go back and get more groceries after my parents forgot something, and fill up the car because my brother left it on empty for the second day in a row. If they had just given me everything to do in one big trip, I wouldn't have minded, but I would get home, sit down and then have to go and run another errand. So, I was pretty ticked. For the last couple of these trips I just kept thinking dumb things like "This is ruining my day (even though it was like 8 pm)". There were a couple times during my trips where I had to take step back and tell myself that I was acting like an idiot. My headache was in full swing, so I was just focusing on getting home so I could read my Bible.
So, fast forward to me finishing the end of Job. I had finished that last sentence and immediately thought to myself, How did Job do it? How was Job able to go through all those hardships without being mad at God?
Well, as I've mentioned in previous posts my priorities are not always in order, so unfortunately God is not always #1 in my life. Especially when bad things are happening, its hard not to turn to God without being angry or upset. That's what makes Job different though. God was #1 in Job's mind, so even when things got bad, God was still good in the mind of Job. When I forget sometimes is that God is good (all the time). He loves us and only wants the best for us. He's not going make us suffer unnecessarily. God knew that Job would be faithful to Him and planned to reward Job after He won his bet with Satan.
Also, Job seems like a really humble guy. I mean, he lost everything and was more concerned about the people around him than his own troubles. As many of us know, it is difficult to see the problems of those around us when we are suffering. Suddenly it all becomes about us. Taking inspiration from Uncle Iroh (Avatar: The Last Airbender) "Sometimes the best way to solve your own problems is to help someone else" All those times that I was running errands, I was doing it for someone else; my parents or my siblings. I should have been glad to help them, especially since I hadn't really done anything all day anyways. I love doing things for others, especially for those I care about. I honestly need to remember that more often.
I hoping to start a new section of this blog called Bible Badasses; and while reflecting on Job, I realized that Job is a total badass. He didn't do amazing works or help bring people to God, he was just faithful and never sinned against God. Honestly, that makes him more BA than some of the Apostles who weren't always the most faithful bunch. I hope that I can learn from Job and always love the Lord, and always remember all the good He has done even during the hard times, because those are when we need Him the most.
Every once and a while, I let to take a break from high octane, fighting and awkward boy/girl situational animes and watch something a little simpler. A couple weeks ago, I finally finished a series that has taken a couple months of interspersed viewing to complete. This anime does not have a sense of excitement or danger that you find in other animes. Rather it is the tranquility and dialogue where this anime draws its strength This anime is Spice and Wolf
Spice and Wolf takes place in a medieval European setting, where cities and towns are divided based on their religious allegiance; they are either pagans or belong to the Church. In the first episode, we meet Kraft Laurence, a traveling merchant, who after visiting a small village discovers he has a stowaway in his cart. The stowaway turns out to be a 600 year old wolf goddess named Holo (The Wise Wolf, she calls herself), who appears in the form of a young woman. She convinces Laurence to help her return to her home in the North, and they set out on one of the most beautiful adventures I've even seen in anime.
Before going fangirl and talking about what made this anime soooooooooooo awesome, here is a quick breakdown of our two main characters.
First, we have Laurence, an easygoing but determined traveling merchant. Laurence hopes to gain enough wealth so that he can one day open his own shop, and his trading schemes are usually at the center of each story arc. Despite his friendly and easygoing nature, he's a smart merchant whose trading plans usually pay off for him in the end. Though initially weary of Holo and her playful nature, he shows a quick wit and a loving heart to the sometimes unreasonable wolf. Something else that I admired about him was that during their journey, he never took advantage of her, again, despite her teasing. He's a really straightforward guy, and that's why I think he works so well with our other protagonist.
I'm going to be honest, Holo is one of the main reasons that I kept watching this show. She's funny, sassy, flirty and can be quite a handful sometimes. She is also able to have fun, intelligent conversations with Laurence, which is pretty different from most female protagonists I've watched. Most of the female anime characters find difficulty in having a full conversation with someone of the opposite gender, usually because the scene is meant to be comical or the girl has feelings for the guy. While feeling begin to develop between the two during the series, Holo can talk to Laurence about pretty much anything and make it sound interesting. She is the one who asks Laurence questions from the audience, about trading, the world and pretty much anything else that happens in the series we need explained for us. Holo is also extremely clever, helping Laurence to sell his good on several occasions, and saving him from some unfortunate circumstances. She can also be as fierce as the wolf that she claims to be. I'm not going to spoil anything for you just yet, but when you see it, prepare your :O face.
Like I said, Spice and Wolf differs from my usual anime tastes, but I was immediately drawn into this story after just one episode. The best part is that this show is just as good dubbed as it is subbed! I don't find too many animes that can pull off a good dub, but Spice and Wolf is perfect. I was really happy about the dub, because it has been a while since I've found an anime I can just watch and listen to, instead of reading subtitles all the time.
Spice and Wolf has many strengths, so I'll start with the core of the show; its dialogue.
I will say that without a doubt, Laurence and Holo have the best chemistry out of any two anime characters I've ever watched. Yes, I know that "chemistry" isn't really something attributed to animated series, but that is how I feel. The majority of the show is Holo and Laurence talking during their journey across the country. The dialogue can be very diverse at times; they could be having a serious talk one moment and then poking fun at one another the next. They also don't follow other anime tropes, such as guys and girls not being able to hug or kiss each other without freaking out. They truly care able each other, and express those feelings through words and hugs. I'm not going to lie, it's really sweet to watch. #kawaii
There is also really great dialogue between our two protagonists and the side characters. Side characters include fellow traders, merchants, guide masters, former lovers and town officials. Whenever Laurence and Holo are talking to someone, you can expect a interesting conversation every time. Even Laurence's explanations of rising/falling markets and trading strategies are interesting to the audience. The creators were good at making these concepts simple and easy to understand, but still technical enough as to not pander to the audience.
One tiny complaint I have about Spice and Wolf is that in the second season, Laurence's terminology became a llllliiiiittttttllllleeee too complicated. If felt like season one was "Intro to Medieval Markets" and then we just straight into "Advanced Money Exchanging and Stock Markets" in the second season. This bothered me a bit, because I really wanted to understand what was happening in the story, so I would have to pause or rewind certain scenes so that I could figure out what Laurence was saying. That only happened once or twice, but just be prepared for a medieval economics lesson when you are watching Spice and Wolf
Another strength of this anime is its artwork. I was really happy with the simplicity of Spice and Wolf's design. It fit the feel of this show and stayed consistent through all 26 episodes, which is a big plus in my book. Though the two seasons were done by two different animation studios, each group put a lot of effort into their animation, using a pallet of mellow colors. There were great combinations of browns, reds, greens, purples and gray. Sufficed to say, it's very pretty, and helps to draw you into this beautiful story.
There are a couple of side characters who appear in each story arc, and though they are helpful, they promptly disappear after their story is done and we never see them again. That's ok though, because they serve their purpose and then leave as good side characters are meant to do. Like I said, you watch this show for its protagonists anyway.
Though I wrote in one of my previous reviews that I would try to only post animes that were appropriate for anyone interested, this anime does have some details you should be aware of. First, Holo does appear without clothing a few times a few times. However, the artists don't.....emphasis anything or try to make her explicitly sexual. Her nakedness is more a representation of her wolfness and how she is a wild animal as well as human. If this really bothers you, I understand, but if you can get through the first episode (or even the opening theme song honestly) and not feel that your morality is compromised, then please continue with this series, because it is worth it. If it does bug you, I understand, and you can stop watching.
There is also the presence of the Church in Spice and Wolf, most likely a representation of the Roman Catholic Church. Though they are not directly involved with the story, the Church is made too look like a shady organization. I wasn't really bugged by it, but wish the idea wasn't there. Of course, I had to think about the setting, since this was a medieval period, and unfortunately, there was corruption in the Church during that time. I'm not condoning it, but I can understand the influence. Again, if you don't feel comfortable watching this, I understand, but there isn't any sort of outright attack against the Church, more of a looming thing, and I hope that we're all strong enough in our faith to not be swayed by a piece of media. I wasn't and I still love this anime.
So, despite some compromising materials, I believe that Spice and Wolf is one of the best written and drawn anime series of all time. Its fun, sweet and a great series to watch on a snowy winter weekend if you feel so inclined (or really any time you want). I hope you will go check it out as it is streaming on Hulu, and lets all pray that someone will decide to greenlight a third season (You'll see)!
So, this week, I'm helping at a Archdiocese leadership retreat called Ascend. I've never attended Ascent before, but decided that it would be fun to blog about my daily experiences while surrounded by so many faith-filled people. Pretty much everyone here either works for the Archdio or is a Catholic youth minister. I'll be updating this post nightly, so you can follow with me every day, or read my experiences at the end of the week. Peace and Love
Sunday, 7/13:
My friend April and I arrived in Federal Way around 3:45. The retreat is taking place at the Archbishop Brunett Retreat Center, which is pretty much a Catholic hotel. This place is actually pretty swanky, and I heard that I get my own room for the week! We met up with the rest of the staff, who had been there for a couple hours already, and began to help them make decorations and make folders for the retreaters. While working, everyone was laughing and telling in-jokes that everyone seemed to be in on except for me. Some people tried to talk to me, and we'd exchange a few sentences before running out of things to talk about and then resumed our silence. Still, everyone is really nice, so I don't feel super uncomfortable. At dinner, we gathered at a large table, and enjoyed each other's company while eating. I guess what I say about food is true; it really does bring people together. We played some games and had reflection after dinner to get to know each other, and it was incredible to hear about why everyone wanted to staff this retreat and what being Catholic meant to them. It make me wish that I had more opportunities to attend retreats like this when I was a teen. Who knows how my life would be if I had attempted to grow in my faith more while in high school.
As the evening went on and we made some final touches to the retreat center, I began to settle into my role as the Camera/Technology Guy for the night. The best part was that even if I was not 100% sure how to do something, people were willing to help. Thank God for that, and for giving me enough brain power to fix computer problems. The teens are arriving just before noon tomorrow, so I better get some beauty rest before the craziness starts.
Peace and Love
Monday, 7/14
Sooooooo tired, so I'm going to do this as fast as I can. After finishing up some prep work, the kids started arriving around 10 and my group played games with them. A half hour into games, I remembered that I was supposed to be taking pictures, so I began my duty as Camera Man! The cool thing is that when I'm not taking pictures, I have a group I can go and hang out with! This week is superhero themed, so a lot of the ideas are based around superheroes and comics. The main talks will follow "The Hero's Journey". Today, we discussed "The Call" or why people want feel called to make a change. It was great to see how seriously the kids took these topics. It's a really good group of kids. Most of them are very outgoing and clicked with other retreaters. It's great to see those connections built after just a couple hours!
We had some other games and talks during the day, but I had to continue my duty as Camera Man. It's a bit of a bummer, because I can't participate and take pictures at the same time. It's ok though, because when Ascend ends and people want to remember how much fun they had this week, it will be my pictures that they will be looking at. I'll try to get more involved, but things are going fine without me. Ok, I'm going to bed, but I'm really looking forward to tomorrow!
Peace and Love
Tuesday, 7/15
After a rough nights sleep, we started our first full day at Ascend. Today's focus was on Mentors and Friends, so we had a speaker, Mike, talk about how we can't do things alone. He also talked about the strength that our faith can give us, and to prove it, he called a friend of his; the former principal of Columbine High School, who had just retired and was principal during the Columbine Shooting. It was a really powerful moment for all of us listening.
The rest of the day, I took a lot more pictures, since this day involved more small group time. We did come together at the end of the day for a campfire and skits, which was a really fun way to end the day. Just before going to bed, I joined my group for closing reflections. When asked what was a "low" of my day, I said that I couldn't spend as much time with the group since I had to take pictures, but I was happy to have spent the last two hours with everyone. One girl spoke up and said that me accepting my role as picture taker was a form of leadership and that I should be proud of what I was doing. Hearing her say that did make me feel proud of my work and what I hoped to do during the rest of the week!
Peace and Love
Wednesday, 7/16
After a good nights sleep, I was ready to take on the day. I was really looking forward to this day and was not disappointed. After a great talk about God pulling you out of the abyss, the teens had a lot of small group and project time. I continued to walk around and snap pictures, but it was a pretty low key day. The good news was that I actually got to spend some time with my group and laugh with them for a bit. Though I'm don't know if I'm cut out to be a youth minister, its still fun hanging out with people, considering I've been sitting on my couch eating and watching bad anime all last week.
Speaking of sloth, I finally got the chance to go to Confession today! I was really excited because I hadn't had the chance to go for over a month, and haven't been receiving Eucharist for the past few weeks. So, I was really excited that the priest at our daily mass said he would hear my Confession. It's a great feeling, and I'm excited for Mass tomorrow morning! For tonight's activity, we had a Reconciliation reflection and prayer time, since we couldn't offer reconciliation due to a lack of priests. We asked the teens some questions relating to the Seven Deadly Sins, and it make me realized how much I have to do in my faith. I'm far from where I want to be, and I feel like God is calling me to do more. I hope that more reflection, and maybe some reading, will help me better understand what I'm feeling.
Peace and Love
Thursday, 7/17
Today was a day of fun and success! It felt like God's love energized the group today as they had the opportunity to do some service work and listen to more talks. I continued to take pictures and start compiling a slideshow for the kids tomorrow (hopefully). I hope it goes well and that I didn't listen to Tobymac's "Favorite Song" multiple times for nothing. I didn't really have a specific God moment today. It seemed to be filled with God's love. From the kids making me sing for them at lunch (I busted out the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme) to the talent show we had tonight, God was really in our midst. The talent show was LA-GIT! Seriously, these kids are blessed with so many talents and gifts. It's weird to think that this is the next generation of Catholics. Actually, I'm only a couple years older than some of these kids, so I guess I'm a part of their generation too *shutters*
I don't believe that I want to be a youth minister, but I felt like I could if I worked more at understanding kids. Some of them are cool with me being around (I think it's because they want their picture taken), and I had a chance to talk with some of them at lunch. They're a fun group and I'm going to miss Ascend when we leave tomorrow. But, I don't want to dwell on that right now! The kids are finally calming down, which means it is time for bed!
Peace and Love
Friday, 7/18
Well today was our last day and I'm sad that Ascend had to end, but glad that everyone had such a great time. After waking up late and almost missing the leaders meeting (opps), we began the closing ceremonies for Ascend. I put the finishing touches on the slideshow. The kids were all running around hugging and taking pictures. It was great to see those relationships develop, and I hope they will continue to support each other in the future. Everyone seemed to enjoy my slideshow, which made me really happy. I got a lot of great photos and I hope that OYYAE will be able to use it in the future. I wish I could show the video here, but I didn't get enough time to send it to myself.
After the commissioning mass, parents began to pick up their kids and everyone began to say good bye. The staff cleaned up, said a final prayer, and went to Red Robin for a celebration lunch! Thinking about the past week and how nervous I was of everyone on Sunday seems like a distant memory now. Youth ministers seemed so weird to me, especially the ones that I met at Ascend. But as April told me "You have to be a little weird to be a youth minster". So, I may not be called to be a YM, but then again you never know. All I know is that if I want to work with kids, I should be myself. That is one of the best lessons that the leaders at Ascend could have taught me. Be yourself. Be open with others. That is something that I need to work on, but when I work on Sacred Heart's core team, I'll give it a try. It's never been a strength of mine, but if I can be vulnerable and open to the Lord, I can do that for actual people as well.
Maybe I'll help out at Ascend next year, but who knows. All I know is that the future of the Catholic Church is in good hands and I can't wait to see what these young people will do.
Peace and Love
A couple nights ago, I was making dinner. I was sick of cooking inside, so I decided to have my own barbecue (cause that isn't sad, right?). I had finally gotten the coals all heated up and was in the process of making some burgers, when I head my phone's text tone go off three times in a row.
That meant one of two things;
A. I just got three rapid fire texts from three different people
Or
B. Someone just sent me a really long text message.
The answer was B. A friend who was on vacation texted me asking for help. She explained how her former roommate's father needed some help and asked if I could go and run an errand for them?
How did I respond?
"UUUUGGGGGGGG"
I didn't text that to her, but that is what I said as I was reading this text. Honestly, I was a little annoyed. I felt as though this text had ruined my plans for the nights. All I wanted was to do was make some food, watch the latest episode of Fairy Tail and chill out. Is that too much to ask?
I considered saying no, but my kryptonite is that when someone needs help, no matter how much I don't want to, I will help them. So I quickly finished making the burgers, threw them on the grill, grabbed my bike and rode off. Luckily my destination wasn't too far away, but I knew that I had to make this errand fast so that my burgers wouldn't burn.
Long story short; my mission only took about 15 minutes, so by the time that I got back home my burgers were cooked and ready to eat. Everything had worked out just fine and it didn't bother me anymore.
As I was cleaning up my mess and preparing for dinner, I thought about how annoyed I had been just 20 minutes earlier. And what was I even annoyed about? Someone needed my help, and that somehow ruined my entire Friday night? It wasn't that I didn't want to help at the time, but rather that I felt that it was inconvenient to me.
Here's what I realized through all this; God is not convenient.
God is not watching us and thinking "Tony looks busy. I'll call on him later." No. When God calls us to do something, we are expected to drop whatever we are doing and do as He commands. No questions asked.
Think of it like the DEAR time we had in grade school. DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) time was that half hour of the day that we were supposed to stop whatever we were doing and read. Instead of DEAR time, God has DEAL (Drop Everything and Love) time. Its times like this one, where God is calling us to do something selfless for others. He is calling us to serve His people and forget about ourselves, which we should be doing all the time anyway.
Think about Peter, Andrew, James and John. When Jesus called them, they IMMEDIATELY stopped their work and followed Him. You gotta remember that these guys were fisherman. Fishing was their whole lives, and to think that they would just abandon their life's work to follow some guy named Jesus might sound crazy to some. But they did leave. They left their homes, their families, and their livelihoods to follow Jesus and be His first disciples. There are plenty of other examples of Jesus calling us to give up what we have to follow Him. The rich young man was a great example. When Jesus told him to sell of all his world possessions, the young man left sad because he had a great number of possessions. The problem wasn't that the guy was too rich to follow Jesus, but that this guy loved his things more than he loved God. His priorities were out of order and that was why he couldn't follow Jesus, because when He calls on you, you drop everything, even your most treasured possessions, to follow Him. Again, DEAL.
This is probably the reason why I had so much trouble leaving my Friday plans behind to go help someone in need; my priorities were out of order. This has been a problem for me, because I still have trouble putting God first in my life. It's also a possibility that I prefer to DEAL when it is convenient, which unfortunately, has been happening less frequently. Even if God's voice were to speak to me, I imagine that our conversation would go like this:
*Curtain Rises*
God: "Tony, I want you to go out and serve others"
Me: "Ok, but could you wait until I finish this episode of Sword Art Online II first?"
*Tony gets struck by lighting*
*Curtain Falls*
"Fin" (Just kidding, this would never happen.......I hope)
I believe that I am fully capable of doing God's will whenever He calls me. It's just that night, He caught me off guard. So, I guess the lesson here is to always be ready for God's call, because it could come day or night. Like I said, God does not know the meaning on convenience. I mean, He called Samuel during his beauty rest THREE times.
I know that some of you might have gone through the same thing, but others are always ready for God's call and have their priorities in order. To those people, God bless you, you are true Catholic Badasses. And if you wouldn't mind praying that my priorities get figured out, I would appreciate it.
So children, the word of the week (and the rest of our lives) is DEAL. Drop Everything and Love. Love your neighbor, love your enemy, and most importantly, love God above all things. As we continue our journeys to become Catholic Badasses, lets always be listening to God's call, or text. It will always be worth it in the end.
Peace and Love
Side Note: I also have a new Twitter account: @CatholicBA_Blog. Follow for all your BA goodness!
If there is one genre of TV that usually guaranteed to do well, it s crime/detective shows. There are so ways that a detective show can be presented, and during my time, I've seen a wide range of wonderful and not so wonderful television detectives. Plus, detectives are pretty BA, or at least they are presented that way on the small screen. So, if you are looking for a series to binge watch this summer, get a clue and check out these super sleuths.
5. Horatio Caine, CSI: Miami
Probably best known for these.....
Horatio is a no nonsense detective who makes sure that murderers are brought to justice. Honestly, I don't think I ever saw him crack a smile. Ever. I wonder if he even can at this point. Who cares though, because really makes a scowl look menacing. On top of that he's cool, he's got great glasses and he's a redhead, so what's not to enjoy about watching this guy.
4. Mac Taylor: CSI: New York.
You're probably wondering why I put Mac ahead of Horatio, since Miami seems to have a bigger following than NY. Though I enjoy both series, I prefer CSI: New York. Similar to Horatio, Mac will do what is necessary to catch criminals, but he also has a softer side, and I enjoyed him catching criminals just as much as I enjoyed watching his non-CSI life. I also enjoy his report with the rest of the CSI team, and the great chemistry he brings to the show. Though he doesn't have a signature move like his Miami counterpart, Mac's follow-up is probably one of my favorite Who songs, Baba O'Riley.
3. Kate Beckett, Castle
Whoa, Kate Beckett? Um why not Richard Castle, you know who the show is named after? Well, it may be his show, but Kate is the actual detective. Though Richard is great at solving crime, he is a writer. This however does not take away from the sheer awesomeness that is Kate Beckett. She is not only the leader for her all male team, but is capable on standing on her own two feet. Beckett is also a BA detective and fighter, and she can stand toe-to-toe with the sass-mountain that is Richard Castle. I never get tired of watching these two work together, and though I am a bit behind on the series, I plan to catch up and watch her do her Kate Beckett/Nikki Heat thing.
2. Shawn Spencer, Psych
While I'll give an honorable mention to Adrian Monk from Monk, Psych is one of my favorite detective shows, mostly because of it's main character, Shawn Spencer. Shawn's detective style is on the complete opposite side of the previously mentioned detectives, as he only uses his keen observation senses to solve crime. Not wacky enough for you? Well, he's convinced everyone else that he is actually psychic. Honestly, after seeing one episode of Psych, I was hooked. Shawn does not only make me laugh, but is also a master at his craft. I doubt that I would be able to convince people that I was a psychic detective, but he does so brilliantly and looking so cool doing it. What makes Psych so much fun is that Shawn embraces his weird situation, by purposely getting involved with wacky antics, instead of being awkward and creating cringeworthy moments for the audience to endure for 42 minutes. He's fun,silly and a brilliant detective, but just missed out on the top spot.
And, you probably guessed who number one is, but for the slower crowd......
1. Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock
When hearing about this show, I wasn't originally interested in seeing it, but after the 2nd season finale and all the "I Believe in Sherlock Holmes" tagging went around, I decided to give it a try. Considering that it was made by the current Doctor Who showrunner, I had high expectations and was not disappointed. Instead of a pretty average, but a little bit wacky Sherlock Holmes that we got from by Robert Downey Jr, we got a "high functioning sociopath" with a wicked sense of humor and mind-blowing detective skills. Benedict Cumberbatch does an amazing job playing the smug but loveable Sherlock, walking a fine line between humor and seriousness in every episode. Sherlock has also redefined the detective genre, embracing life in the 21st century and using a 90 format rather than a 42 minute one, which allows for the plot to be fully laid out and solved. Though there have been many great portrays of Sherlock Holmes in the past, this Sherlock will the one remembered for year to come.....which will probably be how it will take them to release new episodes......*sad face*
Just kidding! It sounds like there will be a 2015 Christmas special!
As I previously mentioned, I'd like to give an honorable mention to Adrian Monk (Monk) as well as the cast of Criminal Minds (I couldn't pick just one character). These are both terrific shows with terrific detectives, but sadly they didn't make the cut.
I hope I gave you some ideas for you next lazy day (or lazy week in my case). There are also some great classic detective shows like Murder, She Wrote and Columbo which I am told are fun series to binge on. Pick you favorite and let the case begin!
There is nothing I enjoy more than a good dance movie From Singing in the Rain to Step Up, there's something so BA about watching talented people performing a well choreographed dance routine. One of these BA movies that I love is a fun, upbeat and totally 80's good time; Footloose.
I know what some of you might be thinking, and to answer your question, I enjoyed both the original 1984 and the 2011 remake. Both have great choreography, a fun soundtrack, and I like to think of the 2011 film more as a tribute than a remake to Kevin Bacon's classic film.
For anyone who hasn't seen Footloose, the story takes place in a rural southern town, Bomont, where public dancing is against the law. Ren McCormack, a teen from Chicago, tries to get the law changed so that the high schoolers can have their senior prom. In his way are the stubborn adults of Bomont, including Reverend Moore and the other members of the town council.
In the movie's pivotal scene, Ren goes before the town council, and in order to appeal to the Reverend, and the other town council members, uses quotes from the Bible.
Here are the actual scenes......
And here are the Bible verses that he used: Psalm 149:3: "Praise ye the Lord. Sing unto the Lord a new song. Let them praise His name in the dance" 2 Samuel 6:14: "David danced before the Lord with all his might... leaping and dancing before the Lord." Ecclesiastes 31-4: "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance"
I use these quotes and this scene as an example, because I believe that dance is a way to express our love for the Lord. I don't believe that people should be breaking out into dance routines during Mass or backflips should be done on the altar (Seriously, that did happen), but I think that we as Catholics and Christians should take more pride in dancing before the Lord.
I'm going to lay it out there for everyone that I love to dance. That's why I'm so disappointed when I see people who clearly want to join a celebration, but are too intimidated or shy. I believe that everyone has the ability to dance, and if they let go of their fears and preconceptions of what dancing should look like, anyone can be a fantastic dancer. At my Newman Center's Fall and Winter retreats here in Bellingham, the leaders coordinate a dance for the retreaters to get them pumped up during the weekend. It's usually coordinated to an upbeat contemporary Christian song and can be easily taught and followed. I had the pleasure of helping coordinate our Winter dance routine to the Newsboys "Way Beyond Myself." The year before, we had 3 major retreats, for all of which we chose Tobymac music to be our theme song (and then used him for an additional retreat the year after that. We really like Tobymac). Usually, everyone isn't too into the routine the first time that it is taught, but by the 5 or 6th time it is performed, everyone has the routine down and fully participates. However, there are those retreaters who choose not to participate in the dance at all.
I don't want to shame those who don't participate, because on retreats we don't want to force anyone to do something they feel uncomfortable doing. I do want to point out, however, then outside of retreats, Catholics have lost their ability to dance. Now, I know many Catholics who are very talented dancers, but they do not use this gift as often as they should. I've heard the saying that when people sing to the Lord, it is like praying twice, but I also believe that singing and dancing are intrinsically linked, and if we put an emphasis on singing to the Lord, we should also be putting some effort into dance.
Now, I understand why some people may feel uncomfortable dancing, because I've experienced those feelings myself. Some Catholics, and people in general, may not feel confident in their dancing abilities, but like anything Christ related or not, it takes time to learn. A couple weeks ago, I wrote a post about exercise and how I wish that I could achieve Twilight werewolf status after just one workout.
That obviously will never happen.
The same goes for dance; you won't improve unless you practice, and practicing means actually trying to dance. Sure, you may feel silly or uncoordinated at first, but unless you're hanging out with jerks, people won't really care. The important thing is to actually go out and do it!
Like this guy......
Another common occurrence that I've observed is people only dancing in the dark. I don't mean that they are doing something inappropriate, but that they only feel comfortable dancing when people cannot totally see them. Again, this can go back to a lack of confidence. Here's the thing though, someone is always watching you dance in the dark: God. If he is watching you every moment of everyday, why would He not watch you while you were dancing? The best thing is that God is not going to judge your dancing skills.
Well He might, but I've yet to see anyone struck by lighting because they couldn't do the Macarena.
So, when you dance, don't dance for the people around you. Dance for the Lord! Show your love for Him, by sharing a dance floor with His people. He doesn't care how well you move, because He would rather see you having fun and enjoying the gifts that He has given to us then see you worried about pulling off the perfect moonwalk.
Go have fun like these random people!
My final thought is on partner dancing. For most of last year, I participated in my college's Blue Dancing club. Blues dancing is a little bit more.....intimate..... than other forms of dance, but I had friends who were extremely talented and helped me practice. Plus, it was fun and didn't have a very difficult learning curve. I also have several friends who swing dance, which is a bit more appropriate, as I know CCF (Campus Christian Fellowship) has swing dance parties every once and a while. Pretty much everything that I could say about partner dancing has already been said earlier in this post. I just want to add that when you're dancing with someone, keep it clean. Partner dancing is very fun, especially when dancing with someone you know. Just make sure that you don't dance because of lust or greed, because then you are no longer dancing for the Lord. Go into each dance respecting your partner and wanting to and learn, and nothing else. To me, that is the best way to have fun with a partner.
I want to make something perfectly clear. I'm not giving you a license to dance. Don't try and do the cha cha on your way to Communion, or bust our your best waltz during the Responsorial Psalm. Know when it is appropriate to dance for the Lord. Again, I love to dance, so I'll groove whenever I get the chance, but I make sure that the setting and type of dance is appropriate. For instance, back at my old church, our choir would do a very lively rendition of "This is the Day the Lord Has Made" where people would be clapping and singing along, and a few of us would throw a little two-step into it. I think that is perfectly acceptable, because you aren't disturbing anyone or looking like one of those televangelized exorcism victims. Basically, ask God before you dance, because He is the ultimate DJ and will let you know when its time to get the party started or its closing time.
So, whether you hit up the clubs every weekend or your dancing experience stops with the Cupid Shuffle, I hope that Catholic and other Christian populations will see the beauty that is dance and use that beauty to praise the Lord. You can share your gift with Him anywhere, even club, as long as you keep God on your mind as your body sways to the music. Dancing is fun, and when I die and (God willing) make my way up the Pearly Gates, I want to be dancing all the way there, because it will be a moment of great joy and I cannot think of any other way to share my joy then through dance.
Side Rant: We need to do something about dance circles. Really. They need to stop. They can be fun if you're just with 4 or 5 of your friends, but when a circle has 20 people, that's a little ridiculous. I know that circles give the impression of inclusion, but after a while, I want to enjoy a party in a non-shape format. So, lets try to be inclusive with people, while not creating a giant gaping circle between you and the person across from you! I look forward to that day where I can literally rub shoulders with other dancers. That's my kind of party....as long as I have friends there of course, because I'm not that brave to go out all on my own......I'll just leave it at that. Or I'll just leave this video of both Footloose final dance scenes.....
Hi! So remember a couple weeks ago I did a rant on Sailor Moon? Well if you didn't see it, you can go check it out and read how I summarized the entire show into one word: Dumb. Fun, but dumb. I haven't gotten much farther in the original series, BUT for those of you who keep up on anime news, you know that Sailor Moon Crystal made its debut yesterday.
Sailor Moon Crystal is not a remake of the original series, but a re-imagining. It follows the originally manga more closely then the previous series, so some plot points are going to be different. Overall though, its still the same series and the creators didn't change too much of the original content.
However, they did change some elements of the show that I wish they had done for the original series:
First, the art in SMC looks much better, and though it doesn't really compare to the animes created today, its obvious that the style is a throwback to the original series, which is ok in my book. The improvement in animation definitely helped my opinion of the show and helped me get through the first few minutes of the first episode.
Second, Usagi is still a crybaby, but the creators make good use of that. There's a bit more humor in this series, and I feel like it takes itself less seriously than the original Sailor Moon. Again, I'm enjoying the humor of this show a bit more and am beginning to find the charm in this franchise.
Those were the two main complaints I had with the show, which, surprisingly, was pretty much everything that was changed from the original series. Besides a small tweak in the plot, everything that made the old series bearable remains. The great Japanese voice acting is back, the transformation sequence looks cool, and Tuxedo Mask is still mysterious. Nice job people.
Best of all, I no longer feel like I have to trudge my way through five seasons worth of anime. I might continue with the original, but for now, I'm going to see where Crystal takes me.
From what I've read on the Internet, Sailor Moon fans are also enjoying the series so far, and I'll admit, I am a little excited as well. I hope that this new series lasts for a while, and I can learn more about the history of this show and why it remains popular to this day. I guess all I can do is wait for next Saturday......
A couple days ago, my friends convinced me to go see the new Transformers movie, Transformers: Age of Extinction. To sum up this movie; cars turn into robots, robots turn into cars, humans build robots, robots fight, DINOSAUR ROBOTS!, and there's going to be another squeal. Directed by Michael Bay.
However, in between the robot fights and blatantly obvious product placements, this film tries to include something that I've never seen in a Transformers movie; a lesson. Honestly, I don't know why they would bother, since people only really go to see Transformers for explosions and fighting robots, but kudos for trying.
This lesson makes its presence known during a scene with Optimus Prime and the character played by Mark Wahlberg, Yeager somethingorother (which just made me think of Attack on Titan the entire movie). Optimus is tired of humans always messing things up and then creating more mistakes, which is reasonable, since the humans in this film began hunting Autobots and Decepticons and either killing them or using their bodies to make an army of soon-to-be Decepticons. Yeager doesn't deny that humans make mistakes, but also says that he need to look past our mistakes and see the good in humanity. This wise saying is a throwback to a conversation he had with his daughter, who was born while her parents were still in high school. I'm probably going waaaaayyyyyyyy too deep into this multi-million explosionfest, but I think Marky Mark has a good point. As humans, we screw up a lot (some more than others, me for example). It's in our nature. It isn't like we always try to do the wrong thing; sometimes we are lead down the wrong path and don't realize it until too late.
But as my pastor talked about in his homily last Sunday, and one of the main villains in the Transformers movie realized towards the end, there is always good in people, no matter how lost or disillusioned they may seen. It's important to always see the light and goodness inside ourselves and inside of each other, no matter how dark or evil someone may seem, because that is what God does for us.
God has this great ability where He can look past all our mistakes and all of our wrongdoings and see the beauty inside of us.
Well, there was that one time that humans were so evil that God wiped mostly everyone out with a flood.............
BUT! He promised that He would never do that again, and to prove His point, He sent His only son Jesus to us as a sign of His undying love for humanity. If you remember the people that Jesus called His friends, they weren't the holiest people in the land, but Jesus didn't care. He looked past the mistakes and wrongdoings that his people did, and chose to love them and bring them closer to God. A good example is when Jesus called Zaccheaus down from a tree and had dinner with this guy who had screwed over his own people. That's because Jesus saw past the bad things that Zaccheaus had done, and focused on the good that He knew was in him. It ended up making a huge difference in Zaccheaus' life, and to the people he had wronged. I don't know what happened to Zaccheaus after that, but I'd like to think that he continued to follow Jesus and live a good life.
The point is that we should strive to be more like Jesus and less like the Jewish leaders. Remember those guys? Every time that Jesus did something, they would always be there to scoff at Him and question His decisions to hang out with "sinners." We don't want to be like those people, or like a disillusioned Optimus Prime. We should be looking for the goodness in people, and not focus on the mistakes they've made.
I'm not saying that we should forget everyone's mistakes, because without recognizing our mistakes, we can't grow and work towards Badassness. The important thing is to recognize that everyone is flawed, but know no matter how many mistakes someone has made, they are loved by God and has His light inside of them. That is the best reason to love someone.
As Miley Cyrus once said, "Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone has those days". This is completely true, except for one divine being; God. That is because every time we mess up, we can take our mistakes to Him and He will forgive us. Remember, God always sees the good in us, even when we cannot see it in ourselves.
So, just as MW was able to convince OP to fight for humanity, we need to remind each other to constantly love one another and see the good in each other. Also, we need to remember that God always sees the good in us, and no matter how many mistakes we may make, He will always be there for us, because He loves us eternally. And to lovingly rewrite a line from the end of the 1st Transformer's movie; "God is here, and He is waiting."
There are a lot of great animes in the world, but very few have achieved the level of success and prestige that Cowboy Bebop has obtained in the past 16 years. It frequently tops various lists of "Animes to See Before You Die" and for many fans it was the series that got them into anime. Honestly, is there anyone who would deny the greatness of this show....maybe........
.........Satan!!
Well, since I can't ask him, lets just assume that everyone respects, if not loves, Cowboy Bebop.
But Tony, what's all the hype about? What is this anime?
Ahh, my young viewer, for that, we will have to travel into the great histories of anime, to see what truly makes a great anime great, and how its legacy can continue even over a decade later! Let's Jam!
Cowboy Bebop was released is 1998 in Japan, and in 2000 in the Unites States. I mention this because I don't know many people who have actually watched this anime in Japanese, since the English dub was so successful and pretty much set a new standard for anime dubs for years to come.
The story takes place in the year 2071 and revolves around the crew of the spaceship Bebop, and their misadventures as intergalactic bounty hunters. Each episode usually revolves around the crew trying, and more often then not failing, to capture a criminal so they can collect the reward and get some food on the table. Along the way, the crew get involved in various interplanetary plots or are forced to deal with problems of their past.
One of the first things that should be noted about Cowboy Bebop was that it was complete hand drawn. That's right. Every single frame of the show was drawn and not created with computers. What makes this so remarkable is that for a series that was created in the late 90's, it is absolutely stunning! If you go back to my rant about Sailor Moon and it's quality of animation, you can see a huge difference. Though Bebop's animation is nothing spectacular compared to the quality of animation that we have today, back then this was extremely high quality and still looks better then some series released today. Considering that the artists were drawing space battles, gun fights and hand-to-hand combat scenes, it's hard to believe that they were able to achieve this level of quality while still making everything look realistic.
The animation is only one part of what makes this series a classic. There are also the main characters. Cowboy Bebop had.......I'm going to say three main characters, one almost-main character, and slew of side characters, most of whom only lasted for one or two episodes, but were still memorable and well fleshed out in only 24 minutes. Also, a space corgi. The majority of screen time, however, is given to these three main characters. There's Jet Black, the Bebop's owner, who after loosing his arm and receieving a cybernetic replacement, quits his job on the police force to become a bounty hunter. Second is Faye Valentine, a woman with no memory of her past, who enjoys drinking, gambling and eating her crew-mates' food, but is also a very capable fighter and flyer.
Finally, there is Spike Spiegel, the main focus of the show. He's cool, a BA martial artist and has a rockin hairdo. Though Bebop doesn't really have an overarching plotline, Spike's past is probably the major theme of the series, as it is referenced frequently during this series' 26 episode run.
While Bebop is a high action, adventure and comedy series, it has a sad undertone, as each of these characters are dealing with their pasts and trying to move forward with their lives. The best part is that each of these characters a fully fleshed out, so as you watch them, you truly understand who they are and what they are running from (except for Ed, because Ed is just Ed, and we are ok with that). Everyone on the Bebop gets at least one episode to themselves, so that we can learn about their lives and what got them to that point. There are also great relationships between the characters, and it's just as much fun to see them hanging out on the Bebop as it is watching them fight together. Even better, most of the supporting characters also have great backstories and character development, which is something you don't see too often in anime. This development makes for great character interactions between the main and supporting cast and provides great plots in every single episode.
The show is called Cowboy Bebop, so you would assume that there's a lot of jazz and blues music in this soundtrack. Well, you would be right. The music was scored by Yoko Kanno, one of the most respected anime composers in the business. Even after viewing some of her other compositions, I believe that Cowboy Bebop is probably one of her best works. First off, there's the series opening theme song, Tank!, which is probably one of the greatest anime theme songs ever, and I mean ever; because even after 16 years, people still love and recognized this jazzy upbeat song. There's also a great range of classic tunes, from slow, melodic saxophone solos to quick tempo jazz ditties for the fight scenes. As a lover of anime music, I have nothing but praise for this soundtrack, because it really ties together Cowboy Bebop like a beautiful bow on an equally beautiful present.
Now, some of you may be like, "Tony, this anime is so old. Why should I bother watching something like this?"
Um, because I said you should that's why!!!!! But no, in all seriousness, if you enjoy anime, or maybe are just starting to watch anime, you really should take the time to watch Bebop. Don't watch it and compare it to shows today, because more often then not, it won't stand up to the work being done today. You have to look at the historical context of this show. When Cowboy Bebop was released, it was a cultural phenomenon in the US, and has even been called the Star Wars of anime. Sure, Cowboy Bebop and The Original Trilogy were released a long time ago, but they were extremely popular and had major influences on their respected medium for decades to come. Honestly, I don't know many people who say they are anime fans and have not seen Cowboy Bebop. So, don't be that guy, or girl, or corgi. Go watch it.
I think I'm just going to lay it out there that if I'm reviewing an anime on this blog, it's probably an appropriate anime for people to watch. If it isn't, I will let you know, and tell you what to watch out for. That being said, Cowboy Bebop is something that every anime fan should watch. Besides some coarse language, violence and Feye Valentine topping the list for one of the sexiest female anime characters, there isn't anything weird or inappropriate about this anime.....Though there is this one episode about the Bebop's refrigerator, but I'll let you watch it for yourself.
Thank you for reading this review, and to get you pumped for Cowboy Bebop and for life, here is Cowboy Bebop's opening theme Tank! Let's Jam!
If you watch enough anime, you begin to notice certain archetype characters, meaning that though they are in different types of anime, they have very similar traits, goals, ideas, etc. For a lot of action/adventure animes, you find these archetypes in their protagonists. For example, you could have the headstrong, "ask questions later" type , or the "I didn't want to be involved in this situation but now that I am I want to do something" type, just to name two. Now, there isn't anything wrong with these types of character and many of the anime protagonists that I love fall into one of these archetypes. However, I do like it when I find a great anime with a protagonist that does things a little differently. That is why I loved Shiroe, the main character in Log Horizon; probably my favorite anime of the 2013-2014 season.
Log Horizon takes place in a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, Elder Tale. On the night that the game's 11th expansion was released, 30,000 Japanese players who were logged into the game, found themselves transported into Elder Tales, without a way to get out. Now, this premise may sound pretty similar to a very popular anime that was released last year, Sword Art Online, but there are a few key differences that make this anime completely different.
Players cannot die. Unlike SAO where if players die in the game, they die in the game and in the real world, players in Elder Tale are brought back to life in the game. This takes the fear of death out of the equation for the players in Elder Tales and is a key element of this story.
Players actually have classes and sub-classes. In SAO, pretty much everyone was the same class, and though they could level up in certain skills, everyone had the same opportunities to learn these skills. Just like in a real MMO, each person in Log Horizon had a specific class and subclass, that granted them certain skills and abilities that other classes would not be able to obtain. Magic and enchantments can also be used by players in Log Horizon.
This is not an action-heavy show. If you're looking for an anime with great battles in every single episode, you've come to the wrong show. There are some great fight sequences, but most of the time, you are hearing the main character, Shiroe, breaking down the fight in his head. It's really cool, but these fights are similar to what you would you would actually be experiencing if you were playing an MMORPG. This however, does not take away from the excitement of the show.
So, now that you see the difference and have learned a bit about the world of Elder Tales, here's a breakdown of why I love this anime.
First off, the characters. Though there is a good number of main and side characters, each one is memorable in their own way and even when they are not given much screen time in an episode, you still remember who they are and their role in the world.
If Shiroe does this, you know something big is about to go down
I'd like to focus on Shiroe, the main protagonist of the story. As I said earlier, one of the reasons that I love him so much is that he is different from other action/adventure protagonists. In the game, Shiroe is an Enchanter, someone uses magic to support his comrades. It is a perfect role for him, since he has another important role, as a master strategist. Shiroe does not fight on the front lines, rather, he is in the back, devising plans and schemes to handle the problems that plague the world of Elder Tales. From coordinating battle strategies to rebuilding a society inside a video game, Shiroe is the man with a plan. It's amazing to watch him work, and knowing that he will win in the end is one of the reasons that I kept coming back to this show.
The plot and major themes of Log Horizon are also another big draw to this show. As I mentioned before, people cannot die in Elder Tales, so seeing how society reacts when death is no longer a part of their lives is very interesting to watch. Also, as I stated earlier, this is not an action heavy show, but that doesn't mean that it isn't entertaining. Watching how different groups of people try to accomplish various goals in an non-battle setting was also very cool to view. Of course, it is Shiroe that makes all of this interesting, but don't worry, the show doesn't completely revolve around him. There are also a lot of great side-plots and character interactions to keep you entertained!
In terms of art design, Log Horizon is pretty average in that department. Everything looks beautiful, and there are some great uses of 3D imagery for certain parts of the show, but it isn't a masterpiece. Still, everything is well designed and it delivered what was needed, so I'm fine with it.
What else is there to say about this anime.....hmmmmm... *snaps* oh ya, how about one of the BEST THEME SONGS OUT OF ANY ANIME I'VE EVERY WATCHED! If you're worried that Log Horizon won't be super exciting, don't worry, the theme song, Database by Man with a Mission, will get you pumped for sure! If you don't believe me, listen here.... (I apologize, this was the best one I could find that had the song and video and wasn't muted for dumb copyright reasons)...The ending song is also a fun little number as well, if you want to Youtube it! (I'm not going to do all the work for you).
There is a lot of great potential in Log Horizon, which is why I was ecstatic to learn that a second season would be coming out this Fall! I can't wait to see this show, and I hope that you will take some time to watch it. I was hooked on it after the first two episodes, but I'd recommend that you at least watch the first three in order to get the best understanding of the show!
Oh, and one final note, this is probably one of the more tame animes I've ever watched. Seriously, the plot doesn't rely on nudity or other ridiculousness to keep people interested. There is one character who is a little *cough* offbeat, but it's all for comedy's sake, and it doesn't happen too often.......so, I would recommend this show to anyone, Christian or not, as long as they watch it knowing that it is anime and there's always the potential for weirdness. (Ok, thinking about it again, there are a few offbeat characters, but they're still fun to watch and bring great comic relief to the show)
So, go and enjoy this anime, so that you can join me in getting ready for season 2!!!!!!! For now, I will leave you with this seizure inducing gif... listen to the opening theme if you want to understand.
