CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

Is it ok for Christians to read Shaman King.... I mean with all the ghosts and shaman magic powers?
Wiggins

I say no. Exorsisms, buddist payer beads, spirit chanelling.... these things are "real" and should NOT be glorified in any way.

Shaman: a priest or priestess who uses magic for the purpose of curing the sick, divining the hidden, and controlling events

just something's not right about shaman king...

Didn't we already have a topic like this?

Anyways, I'm mostly fine with Shaman King.

It is pretty fantastical from anything you would find in the real world.
It is heavily influenced by Japanese mythology just like quite a bit of the fantasy anime you can find. The spirits in it range from samurai to fairies and mythical creatures.

The magic is for the most part fantasy with a few borrowed concepts from the real world.

... but real world shamans couldn't integrate a spirit into a snowboard and shoot ice blasts from it.

Yes, we have more than one topic that has basically boiled down to this.

Ruroken wrote:I say no. Exorsisms, buddist payer beads, spirit chanelling.... these things are "real" and should NOT be glorified in any way.

So is violence, and swords, and guns, and cruelty. These things are in a great many manga (though cruelty is rarely glorified). You have a Kenshin avatar, and that's the manga/anime that made samurai fighting so cool. It's glorifying violence, but that doesn't mean it must be banned.

Of course you must realize that I find both manga acceptable, as long as it doesn't violate any personal standards you've set up, or if you feel God doesn't personally want to you read/watch it.

I agree with Master Dias: it is a fantasy setting, and the shamanic practices have little or no similarity to those in real life. Thus, it isn't like you're being subjected to these practices.

Has anyone read the most recent manga set in Shonen Jump? I'm not trying to justify the manga directly... but the message featured in it is far more Christian than almost anything you see in anime or manga. This message doesn't continue throughout the entire manga, but it still is very present.

what is the message in it?

We have character who is very definitely a villain. He's extremely evil, threatens to kill a ton of people, stabs someone in the leg, ate his own mother, was a vicious bandit while he was alive, etc. He possesses another (still living character).

Now you'd expect our heroes to fight him, right? Of course, we do have the issue of the fact that he's in an innocent person's body. Not only do they not kill him (had this been Cowboy Bebop, they probably would have), they really try to reach out for him.

Yoh (the main character) offers this ghost his body as a host. The other good guys think Yoh is just going to let him in, then immediately trap him (he's strong enough to do this). Instead, he actually trusts the spirit and lets him in. Touched by this act of complete faith, the spirit relents.

Bang. Non-violent problem solving. Furthermore, Yoh says the following line (from my own memory, but I'm close): "Isn't that the job of a Shaman? To save the souls that cannot be saved?" True, he doesn't mean Christian saving, but his attitude about this is relatively Christian.

Tokagero...

Haven't read the Febuary edition of Shonen Jump yet but I did see the conclusion of that episode in the anime.

Yoh's act even brought usually cold Anna to tears when she was convinced Tokagero would kill him.

That was a pretty good episode.

good point UC... maybe i should lighten up a little....

Ruroken, some people are affected by things in different ways than others. If you feel you shouldn't watch/read Shaman King, then don't. For some people it might be okay, but you might be bothered by it if you watch it.

Destroyer2000 wrote:Ruroken, some people are affected by things in different ways than others. If you feel you shouldn't watch/read Shaman King, then don't. For some people it might be okay, but you might be bothered by it if you watch it.

no i wouldnt bother me...nothing hardly ever does, but im not going by human standards