CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

Not really a anime, but its a manga. I had just seen it and I know it was made months ago, but I haven't seen a topic on it (or there probably was but I didn't see it. Hopefully, I didn't miss it)

Anyway, I find it interesting on the first issue.

Yeah I got the Serenity manga. Not crazy about it really. I'm more interested in Shelter of Wings, coming out next month...

Unfortunately, there have indeed been other threads. None of them are particularly active, however, so I will not close them. Though I will move this to the manga forum.

I have no new comments regarding the series. Nothing that isn't thoroughly covered by my reviews, in any case.

Is this the one I heard about being a Christian manga? But like written by an American or something? I was curious about it.

I read the first one...didn't think it was worth the time I spent. The plotline just wasn't all that interesting, and I disliked the character rather muchly. But I'm also not a fan of the more Americanized artwork, anyway.

Jeffori-chan, is it like Christian?

Hmm... I'd appreciate it someone could take the time to elaborate on the plot because I really have no clue what it is. Just vaguely heard of it.

A few questions (I'm considering searching for this thing at my library)-

1. Is it Christian manga as I heard? (not someone's webmanga but real honest to goodness manga)

2. Is it American or authentic Japanese?

3. Who's the author?

4. Any... um... obscene content (don't mind violence and cursing so much, but I don't exactly trust 'Christian' writers either.)

Well, it appears I will be the one to provide this link again. If you want more information, the best place to go is the series website:
http://www.serenitybuzz.com

Note the 14 page preview. Not the best selection of pages, in my mind, but it is somewhat representative.

Or you could view the publisher's website, if you like:
http://www.realbuzzstudios.com/

As I've said at more length elsewhere, I'm hardly a fan of the series, but some people might like it and if so, go right ahead.

EDIT: To answer your questions...

1) It is Christian in philosophy and professionally published.

2) American

3) Buzz Dixon. The illustrator is Min Kwon

4) Not at all. They're aiming for a young audience.

Ooooh nevermind, I found the Serenitybuzz site right before you posted it UC. Looks ear-burningly cliche and sickening. Geez... why is that most Christian writers can't write good stuff? A tough somewhat bad girl who goes to a Bible study and blames God... yada yada yada... heard it all before. >.< I don't like the artwork either, although as you said I guess it's targetted at a younger audience.

Hmm... not gonna be payin' fifty cents to put a hold on this one I'm afraid.

Shelter of Wings, however, looks a little more interesting...
Yes, yes, it's American, but it looks way better, I think. Check out the preview... Story sounds more interesting too.

Dyzzispell, I'm a pre-emptive fan of Shelter of Wings as well, I want to support it, and I work with some of the people employed by Brethren Entertainment. But keep plugs for it at a minimum, please. This thread is for discussion of Serenity, and though mentioning it is reasonable, more than once is overkill.

USSRGirl wrote:why is that most Christian writers can't write good stuff?

You could make an argument that the expectation for Christian literature is such that it is very difficult for anyone attempting to write aforementioned good stuff to gain a publisher. We, given the very fact that we are members of this forum, are somewhat outside the Christian mainstream, and it is easy to forget what is actually desired by many readers.

USSRGirl wrote:Ooooh nevermind, I found the Serenitybuzz site right before you posted it UC. Looks ear-burningly cliche and sickening. Geez... why is that most Christian writers can't write good stuff? A tough somewhat bad girl who goes to a Bible study and blames God... yada yada yada... heard it all before. >.< I don't like the artwork either, although as you said I guess it's targetted at a younger audience.

Hmm... not gonna be payin' fifty cents to put a hold on this one I'm afraid.

yeah. not that great of a manga but at least it's a start. hopefully, some experienced artists can get some good christian manga series going...

uc pseudonym wrote:Dyzzispell, I'm a pre-emptive fan of Shelter of Wings as well, I want to support it, and I work with some of the people employed by Brethren Entertainment. But keep plugs for it at a minimum, please. This thread is for discussion of Serenity, and though mentioning it is reasonable, more than once is overkill.

Sorry about that. Next time I'll pay more attention to myself....

USSRGirl wrote:Ooooh nevermind, I found the Serenitybuzz site right before you posted it UC. Looks ear-burningly cliche and sickening. Geez... why is that most Christian writers can't write good stuff? A tough somewhat bad girl who goes to a Bible study and blames God... yada yada yada... heard it all before. >.< I don't like the artwork either, although as you said I guess it's targetted at a younger audience.

Hmm... not gonna be payin' fifty cents to put a hold on this one I'm afraid.

Cliche is is right. As much as I'd like to support Christian manga projects, I definitely don't recommend Serenity, not only for the annoying artwork, but the whole story line, cliche though it is, has it's real failing due to the sporadicness of its writing. You can have a decent cliched story, but this isn't one. Put bluntly, it was boring. And really short(thank goodness).

I think they went for such short volumes in an effort to appeal to a younger audience with short attention spans. It must be working, given how commercially successful Serenity has been. But the entire series is going to be 20+ volumes, according to the writer, so the overall story will be somewhat longer.

jon_jinn wrote:yeah. not that great of a manga but at least it's a start. hopefully, some experienced artists can get some good christian manga series going...

That is how I try to view it. The gate has definitely been opened, and with every new volume that comes out the mainstream Christian population will become more accepting of manga. Eventually they might even support quality series enough for them to be successful.

I just don't get it though. Hayao Miyazaki is an atheist (and a former commie) last I checked... and his movies and manga are so beautiful and spiritual. Why can't Christian artists come up with something like that? It's always like... reduced to the lowest common denominator... punky, rebellios teen girl who loses faith in God and eventually gets it back. Nothing wrong with that story... I'm sure it's great for kids to read... just sorta... bleh. Been there heard that. Ya know?

USSRGirl wrote:I just don't get it though. Hayao Miyazaki is an atheist (and a former commie) last I checked... and his movies and manga are so beautiful and spiritual. Why can't Christian artists come up with something like that? It's always like... reduced to the lowest common denominator... punky, rebellios teen girl who loses faith in God and eventually gets it back. Nothing wrong with that story... I'm sure it's great for kids to read... just sorta... bleh. Been there heard that. Ya know?

You have a point there. I was hoping for something which had some fighting and more seriousness. Something like Naruto or FMA, or inuyasha or something like that.

i think a manga based on a story from the Bible (with a little twist to it) would be pretty cool. you could modernize the situation and recreate the characters. the manga might not really be "appropriate for all ages" but it would be something different.

Hm, two Serenity threads at once. Instead of closing one, because I think that would hurt discussion, I'm going to make a declaration: this thread is for discussion of Serenity in general or in theory. The other thread is for specific discussion of events within the series. If everyone would help this distinction remain I'd be much obliged.