Anime Fide: Hajimemashoo

As was mentioned in my last post, I am beginning a new series here on Wry Juxtaposition. In the interest of full disclosure I must confess that on some small level I will be using this article series as an excuse to continue to watch hours upon hours of anime each week. It's something that I really would do anyway, but now I can call it "research".
Since this is the first in the series I want to take a little bit of time to talk about purposes and methodology. Anime is really too broad a field to pretend any sort of mastery; its large sub-categories based on target demographics and multitudinous genre designations describe work of such sweepingly varied natures and qualities that no one person could hope to cover them all. As I sampled here and there I began to realize that just as there was a visual language that many of these shows shared there were also ideas and themes that crop up in shows that would otherwise have very little to do with one another. Many of these themes are ones that also appear with regularity in Christian theology and ethics.
Unlike DMing the Bible which takes the Bible as its source and moves from there to talk about pop culture, Anime Fide will be starting with a topic and moving from there back into faith fields. Each article will begin with an introduction to the topic laying out the parameters of the discussion. Next I will discuss the topic as it appears in anime programs; I will be limiting myself to three such instances. Finally, the topic will be examined through the lenses of Christian thought.
Hopefully then you all will continue the discussion. You can argue with my interpretation of the topic, the shows, the theology. You can suggest other shows that contain the topic.
Before I conclude, a brief word about cultural sensitivity: Anime is an art form that grew out of a culture. Its aesthetics and narrative form, its symbolism and archetypes grow out of the heart of Japan and her people. Western thought and culture are, at times, incredibly different from the culture given voice in anime. I will always endeavor to treat the works I am examining with the utmost respect; which means that though I will be discussing theology and ethics from a Western point of view I hope to never diminish or mar the unique vision and culture expressed in these shows.
So, hopefully I haven't bored you all to tears. Start looking for new articles in this series beginning next week.