It’s Iimi! A Time to Reveal…

Paula has had her suspicions about Iimi for a while now, but she has kept silent out of not being sure. But when the family goes “glamping,” new events make her wonder if this is A TIME TO REVEAL…

 

Pre-Comic Notes:

It may help to review Issues 108, 156, 167, 169, and 171 to see what Paula saw that led to her conclusion.

Post-Comic Notes:

One thing that Westerners have gotten wrong about manga and anime is exactly WHEN the BL/GL genre applies. As a result, many see homosexual relationships where there are none… in stories and in real life. 

 

First, we need to understand the concept of “Class S” friendship. “Class S” friendship is a Japanese concept borrowed from the French. The name comes from Japanese grading, where a rarely given “S” grade is the highest possible mark. The idea is one of best friends who are very close, but platonic. Unfortunately, in modern times, friends who are that close are assumed to be sexual partners. 

 

Moreover, manga and anime about homosexual relationships exist. Going by various names (BL/GL, Yaoi, Shonen-ai/Shoujo-ai, Bara/Yuri), these stories subverted “Class S friendship” and are about same-sex romantic relationships, which are portrayed as morally acceptable and a matter of preference. Pornographic anime/manga of this genre exists, but porn is only a small subset of manga/anime, just as it is for movies in America. We need to avoid the fallacy of composition here.

 

Demographics may have changed, but it used to be that these manga were aimed at heterosexual teenage girls. It would be interesting to see if this content, which first appeared in America during the “anime explosion” in the United States in the early 2000s, influenced the change of attitudes among millennials on homosexuality. However, I don’t have the resources to make such a study. So I can’t say if this theory is true or a non causa pro causa fallacy.

 

This should not be confused with manga/anime that are not BL/GL in focus but have homosexual characters in them. Some are done for humor that probably wouldn’t fly in America today. Others reflect the moral views of the manga authors. Sailor Moon, for example, is not a “gay-themed” manga/anime. But it does have a lesbian couple of supporting characters, Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune.

 

Further obscuring the matter, there are some manga/anime tropes where people misinterpret the relationship (usually done for humor) or non-sexual “crushes” where a younger girl admires an older one.

 

Catholics need to realize that Anime/Manga is foreign in approach and does not always line up with our values. So, custody of the senses and discernment is always needed, whether we read for ourselves or screen what our children read. 

 

It’s Iimi! Ancient Geek Warfare

People fight viciously over various fandoms. (What’s the best way to start a fight among Tolkien fans? Say “The Eagles should have flown Frodo to Mordor.”) Because these things are about fiction, it might seem like we could just dismiss it as unimportant. But the thing to remember is, we can sin against charity in fighting over fiction just as much as we can fighting over real life. That’s the danger of… Ancient Geek Warfare

Preliminary Notes:

This is a comic about Catholic moral obligations in avoiding rash judgment Iimi herself had no interest in is not taking sides in the lore fights, and is simply asking, “is that really true?” in the face of blanket accusations about the motives. Making a universal claim can be contradicted by showing even one example of something that goes against it. 

If you want to see my personal opinions about Rings of Power, see the post-comic notes. 

Post-Comic notes: One of the tricky parts in doing this comic was avoiding bogging it down with debates about different fandoms. That’s both irrelevant to a Catholic themed comic and going to be boring to people who don’t care about that particular fandom. For example, I don’t care about Doctor Who or Game of Thrones. I wouldn’t care to read a comic debating it. So, I mentioned a few of the most famous ones and tried to make the arguments apply to real life moral obligations.

 

The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture is a reference to the manga series Genshiken.

If you’re really curious about my thoughts on the parts of Rings of Power I could force myself to watch (it’s irrelevant to the Catholic moral discussion), I’d say this:

I don’t think the creators get it. Even if you set aside questions about whether the racial makeup of the cast fit in with the lore (something I stopped thinking about almost immediately), the characters were either entirely uninteresting or entirely unlikeable. Also, it had the problems with bad story, and boring pacing It probably could have completely dropped the Harfoot plot, and completely revamped or removed the character of Galadriel.

The problem is, they tried to create an original story in Tolkien’s universe without the talent of Tolkien. None of us have that, of course. But this didn’t feel like Middle Earth. So, we got something I thought was boring where the only thing of note is the background (which was impressive).

I think the problem in general is: many people no longer trust Hollywood to tell a story without an agenda. Regardless of whether that fear is justified or not, if they see a race, sexuality, or gender swap, these people suspect something is being pushed.

And, as Iimi pointed out, that can be rash judgment too.

It’s Iimi! Whataboutism

Sean thinks Nancy Pelosi was right when she responded to Archbishop Cordileone by saying he should also be focusing on Catholics who support the death penalty. Iimi, on the other hand, recognizes this is nothing more than “whataboutism.”

Preliminary Notes: While I’m sure some will see this as a “political” comic, the point is that the attacks on Archbishop Cordileone are a political backlash to his actions. Abortion is not a political issue. It is a moral issue that has been politicized. 

It’s Iimi! Kashira, Kashira? A Tale of Rash Judgment

On a typical day, a typical conversation occurs. The typical misinterpretation happens. The rumor is completely wrong, but everyone believes it. That’s rash judgment.

Post Comic Notes: かしら、かしら、 ご存じ かしら？ (Kashira, kashira, gozonji kashira?) is from the anime Revolutionary Girl Utena where some silhouetted characters gossip about the events of the school.

It’s Iimi! Guess Who’s Coming to Easter?

When Della shows up in time for the Easter Triduum to introduce her boyfriend to the family, the rest of the Iscra family seem concerned. Is this because they harbor racist attitudes? Or are there other things to consider before passing judgment on the family?

Pre-Comic notes: If you’re curious the title of this comic—and the font in the title—is an send up of the 1967 movie, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. This comic is trying for showing what the Catholic understanding of racial interactions should look like: It’s the person, not their ethnic makeup that matters in how we view and treat others. 

True, all men are not alike from the point of view of varying physical power and the diversity of intellectual and moral resources. Nevertheless, with respect to the fundamental rights of the person, every type of discrimination, whether social or cultural, whether based on sex, race, color, social condition, language or religion, is to be overcome and eradicated as contrary to God’s intent.

—Gaudium Et Spes #29