@ Darren: Yes, CLAMP manga tends to be highly-occultish, that’s why I get turned off by them most of the time. If you’re looking for other good, clean manga which is family-friendly but not explicitly Christian, you can try some of the following: “Azumanga Daioh” (school life comedy, similar in tone to Yotsuba&!), “AQUA” & “ARIA” (slice-of-life series, set on a futuristic Venice-like city on Mars), “Slamdunk” (basketball series), and “Eyeshield 21″ (American football series). If you want a shounen action series, “Rurouni Kenshin” is about the only one I can think of which doesn’t have any ecchi component. If you want romances, you might want to try shoujo (young girls’) series. Those are unlikely to have the same sort of hooks that can tempt a male reader, but do occasionally feature male characters in suggestive poses instead, for female readers. Notable ones are “Boys over Flowers” (Hana Yori Dango), “Imadoki!” (Nowadays), and “Skip Beat!” (though Skip Beat does have some occultic elements, it’s relatively minor and usually played for laughs).

Thanks for the post!

-Saul

Thank you for stopping by! Orange Yane no Chiisana Ie is written by a Christian… the author gives his testimony numerous times in the author comments at the end of the volumes. (I think Volume 3′s comments are translated into English, so you can read those). However, whether it is family-friendly or not is open to debate. The manga is about building a family together, and often gives Christian messages about love and forgiveness, and turning the other cheek. However, there is also a definite ecchi component (female nudity, pre-marital sex), which unfortunately is the standard norm for seinen manga like these, which are targeted at young adult men. I think this could be a reflection of Japanese culture as a whole, and so this manga tries to be relevant to the society from which it emerges, but also tries to get the gospel message (or at least some Christian perspectives) across to the people who would otherwise not be exposed to it at all. It’s a compromise.

When I said “Good”, I was referring to the technical skill / quality at being able to communicate Christianity in a relevant way, rather than the values it espouses. i.e. “good” here means “skillful”, “effective”, “works well”… it’s not used in the sense of “righteous”, “moral” or “family-friendly”. (A screwdriver is good because it gets the screws into the holes, not because it is morally righteous). Personally, I think the best approach to it is: If you are a young adult male who is already reading seinen romantic manga that have ecchi content, then this could be a breath of fresh air, leading you towards Christianity. If you’re a young man who is NOT already reading ecchi manga, then it’s probably better not to start with this, as temptation can strike from any angle. This manga is also not meant for Christian parents looking for “safe” or “good” manga for their children to read (then again, with all the junk that’s on TV right now, this might actually be a relatively-decent alternative).

More family-friendly Christian manga series could be things like “Serenity” or “PowerMark”, or the whole Manga Bible series.

Good luck and God bless with your manga work, brother. May you be able to produce good quality work that will glorify God and reach out to the manga-reading audience in a way that they will accept.

-Joshua-

I read that manga “Let’s Bible” after reading your post, and this is a work that is far from Christianity. In fact I’ll go on to say that this work is actually anti-christian because it turns the whole theology of Christianity upside down, where it is actually a ver sinful book. Having the 2nd coming of Jesus being a half dressed damsel in distress bimbo is so wrong on so many levels it would take me days to explain it all. Let alone all of the other elements in the story that are anti-christian. Even though you may see Christian elements in her does not make it a Christian themed book by no means, or that the creators are trying to send a theological message, which obviously their not. I tell you Satan loves to make Jesus look weak and pathetic every chance he gets.

Lastly, I want to comment on what you said in the last sentence of your conclusion. “I believe that when we can see the real thing, we’ll appreciate what the difference is between a slapdash approach and a fundamental design approach. Unfortunately, that time may be a long time in coming.” Well let me tell your right now my brother in Christ that day is way sooner than you think. The reason I said that is because I believe that God has granted me both the artistic talent and the creative story skills to bring about a true Christian revolution in manga. Right now I am working hard to pitch my ideas to American manga publishers, but so far it’s been a hard road. Some of these companies don’t want to have anything to do with Christianity, but I won’t let that stop me. God gave me that gift for a reason and I am determined to make his voice known in the manga publishing world.

That’s all I wanted to say. Hit me back on my e-mail,dreamscometruepictures@yahoo.com, if you feel that you want to comment on anything that I said. Peace and God bless.

Titus Pannell