Diamond Head surprised me with its accurate(ish) theology!

[Kawaiikneko]

I was bored last night and I decided to find a new manga to read. I was browsing around on the internet and found my way to a Shoujomagic, which is a scanlation site for TONS of shoujo that probably won't make it to US shores. Anyhow, I was browsing their big selection (which ranges from cute to smutty so I had to be careful where I clicked >.<) and I came across a manga called Diamond Head. The thumbnail pic caught my eye and I was bored so I downloaded the complete series.

The story is about a girl named Ichihashi Nanao who is the first student to ever transfer into Mehabia Catholic School. She soon finds herself roped into a club called the Judicature Club, a school-sanctioned means of resolving student disputes. Basically they have full court sessions for problems at their school. The other members are Hanugi Leica (A boy with such long hair he looks like a girl, though it is explained later in the series why he keeps his hair long. He's the judge.), Tachibana Katsuma (He's very vibrant and likes to joke around. The counsel for the defendant), and Douno Kirihiko (The President and counsel for the plaintiff).

The series is nicely done and the art gets better as it goes. It's a deeper series than most shoujo manga. It goes alot into what justice is, and what defines it. However, the thing that shocked me the most about this series was it's portrayal of Christianity.

Leica is labelled as a Christian in the manga, which I kinda rolled my eyes over at first because Christians are often portrayed so off the mark in anime (things like Hellsing, Chrono Crusade, Mai Hime, KKJ, ect ect.). Then there was a chapter where Leica had to defend his credibility as a judge the questioner brought up the fact that he was a Christian and referenced the parable Jesus told in which the vineyard owner pays two men the same wages even though one man started work earlier in the day than the other. (Matt. 20:1-15). He then asks how Leica would rule in a similiar situation. This is where it got my attention: Leice replies (correctly) that the parable is actually referring to Heaven and how we should not be envious of God's mercy towards other men. The questioner persists, insisting that Leica tell how he would rule. Leica replies that he would not judge in the same way as the Bible, because he is not Jesus Christ and is a human with anger and hate and sorrow.

The "Christianity" of the series looks more like a legalistic works system - never mentions Jesus as a Savior - but I was still pleased that the theology was partly correct. It might just be that the portrayal of Christianity in anime is so off that I'm happy with what teensy things I can get. Regardless, this is a GREAT series and I would suggest you check it out, if only for the great characters and storyline. It's a nice length of 5 volumes and I (stupidly) charged through it in one night and stayed up til 4:00 to do it. Yay for getting four hours of sleep! WOOO

[Aka-chan]

That sounds really interesting! Out of curiosity, where does the series get its name?

[ShiroiHikari]

Very interesting indeed...I might have to check out this one.

[soul alive]

Sounds like something definately worth checking into. Thanks for sharing.

I need to start looking more into scanlations, since my monetary situation has severely limited what printed manga I can get.

[Radical Dreamer]

That actually sounds like quite an interesting series; I'll have to look into it whenever I get some freetime. Thanks for bringing it to everyone's attention!

[Kawaiikneko]

I actually have NO CLUE where the title comes from... maybe from the color of the Leica's hair? If you guys get around to looking at this title I hope you enjoy it as much as I did =]

[Bobtheduck]

Diamon head... Pyramid head's sister?


Hmm... Well, when I start getting manga again, I MAY check this out.

[That Dude]

Sounds interesting, I'll probably give it a glance.

[Radical Dreamer]

So I downloaded this series, and I'm enjoying it quite a bit so far! I'm on Vol. 1, chapter 2, so I'm not very far just yet. Still, I'm finding it rather enjoyable so far. I had to get used to the art at first (the artists actually draws lips; that's rare! XD), but I think it's growing on me. Anyways, good find, KawaiikNeko!

[Kawaiikneko]

yeah, the art in the first volume is kinda icky, but the artist gets better as it goes on.

[soul alive]

I have a question for those of you who have downloaded from the site - since they use the IRC to download the files, when is a good time to get on to download the files? When I was on a bit ago, no one else was on.

[Radical Dreamer]

I have a question for those of you who have downloaded from the site - since they use the IRC to download the files, when is a good time to get on to download the files? When I was on a bit ago, no one else was on.

Well, I didn't download it from IRC (I've got no clue how it works other than that it's relatively complex, and I didn't have time to read up on tutorials. XD), I got it from torrents. I'm sure you can find it if you search around for it, though.

[soul alive]

Ah *le sigh* I don't have torrent. I guess I'll just keep trying back to see when people are on. It's not a top priority at the moment, school is a 'bit' more important.

:edit: Google is friend. I found a site that would download it without IRC -or- a torrent. And I read through all 5 volumes tonight ^^;;;

I enjoyed it, thanks for recommending the series. It's nice to see Christianity portrayed more accurately than most other manga portray it.

[Wise Dragon]

Could some one post a link to it? Im confused. Is it out in the Us? If not then is it in English?

[soul alive]

Wise Dragon, I'll PM you the link for the site I used.

[Wise Dragon]

Thanks Soul Alive. Just got it today so Ill post what I think about it latter when I finish reading it.

[ChristianKitsune]

can someone pm me a link too? pweeze?

[soul alive]

Sure can!