“In the same way, children of God can influence the world. We can use our special talents and otaku hobbies to not only spread the word of God, but also help others understand it.”
I thought I’d start off my blog this year with a different kind of book for my first review. Having grown up in a faith community, I’ve read plenty of unique devotionals over the years. Some have been better than others, but I have to say I really enjoyed this one: Finding God in Anime: A Devotional for Otakus. It’s only been in the last five years or so that I’ve really started to enjoy a variety of animes (although I do have fond memories of getting up early to occasionally watch Sailor Moon before school as a teenager). However, in Christian circles, it’s often a nerd fandom that gets a bad rap because many associate the genre with un-Christian values such as violence and sexual content. I appreciated the fact that this group of authors came together to celebrate the GOOD things that are happening in beloved animes, pulling out and highlighting the Biblical lessons that can be applied from everything from My Hero Academia to my very own childhood favorite Sailor Moon.
The book is essentially an anthology, so each devotional is written in a slightly different style; but all of them remain true to the theme of pulling out the truths reflective of the teachings of the Bible in a bite-size format that is easy to relate to. One of the things that I appreciated the most was that even though I wasn’t familiar with several of the animes utilized, each author gave enough backstory and information to connect with me as the reader before jumping into their Biblical lesson. My only complaint would be that several animes felt over-represented, and I would have loved to see more of a variety being commented on. But I think this is something that I can look forward to in future anthologies!
I would definitely recommend this devotional for anyone looking to spice up their devotional life, especially for all lovers of anime who have questioned at times whether God can really be found in anything. I assure you, He can; and this book does an excellent job of proving that point! Five out of five stars from me.
Kathleen Bird 