Japanese Christian newspaper The Christ Weekly has a new comic strip to teach readers about Christian values. Her name? Pyuuri-tan (ピューリたん). You know, like as in “Puritan”. Oh boy.
Picture: 0164288
In Japanese, the word for “Puritan” is “Pyuuritan” (ピューリタン). “Tan” (たん）is also a slang for the informal name marker “chan” (ちゃん) and is a nickname often given to anime girls that personify things (of course, some women also use it informally). So the schoolgirl character’s name is actually “Pyuuri”, and the added “tan” makes this a Japanese wordplay.
Picture: hiroshisj
As reported on Livedoor News and Togetter, the newspaper has started a serialized schoolgirl comic. Think of this as a slice of life manga, with a slice of Jesus.
Christians are a religious minority in Japan. During the 16th and 17th centuries, they were persecuted and put to death. There were even instances of crucifixion.
Today, generally speaking, Japanese are not against Christianity in the least, and do find the religion’s artifice attractive with many people getting married in faux Christian chapels built explicitly for marriage ceremonies (and not religious worship).
Also, there have been several Japanese Christians who have served as the country’s prime minister. That being said, the country is still less than one-per cent Christian, with the majority of Japanese practicing Buddhist and Shinto rituals — and, broadly speaking, being rather relaxed about organised religion, especially compared to other countries.
Picture: 0164288
An illustrator named Sono is doing the serialized comic strip (though, it’s explicitly called a “manga”). Stuff like this isn’t exactly unheard of. Japan has seen manga versions of religious figures, whether that’s Jesus manga or Buddha manga ( or both). Here, though, we have a Christian newspaper embracing anime girl tropes — if anything, I guess, to spread the word of God? Or something?
The Christ Weekly isn’t a major newspaper (as Christianity isn’t a major religion in the country), but large Japanese sites like Livedoor have covered the Pyuuri-tan comic strip, reporting that reaction has varied. Online, some people in Japan are saying everything from “religious faith isn’t something to poke fun at” to “she’s cute.
Picture: christweekly
Comments
15 responses to “Christian Schoolgirl Manga Debuts In Japan”
Oh great. If Total War: Shogun taught me anything, it’s that once Christianity infests a city it’s a bugger to get rid of.
Fun fact: kyuko from magica madoka was raised in a christian family, with her father being a priest
Some other notable instances are:
* The Hellsing organisation is strongly tied to the Church of England.
* Jesus was mentioned as a previous Shaman King.
* It’s not mentioned explicitly, but it is strongly hinted that Jesus is the hooded man in Drifters (a new manga series by the guy who did Hellsing).
Yeah Drifters has done little to hide it beyond keeping his face hooded for the time being. As soon as he multiplied the food it seemed pretty obvious where they were going with it.
The whole Amakusa Shogo arc in Rurouni Kenshin’s anime?
I can almost hear the erotic fan works being drawn as I read, that poor imaginary girl
Good….. Good
*rubs hands*
Mate you are only really in danger if you are a boy.
Sigh let the uniformed stabs at Christianity begin.
I hope it goes well tbh, for being something different and myself being Catholic i hope it takes off because as the article mentioned Christianity is only a very small percentage of Japanese folk =)
When I read the opening paragraph I was expecting the article to be filled with cheap shots and mocking of the Christian faith but it was pretty informative and well researched.
Well, pretty much any faith should be able to laugh along with some jabs at it. Taking religion too seriously is a huge problem which breeds intolerance. If people with strong religious beliefs were able to laugh about or acknowledge its quirks (one of which is frequently – and ironically – the inability to tolerate criticism or take a joke), the world would be a MUCH better place.
So there’s no tentacles?
Yeah i agree @transientmind that yes that faith doesn’t have to be all “serious business” =) I’m simply sick to death of the “all priest’s are pedophiles” line, that’s all! =)
Oh, well. Yeah, that’s a bit below-the-belt. …Much like a–NOPE. NOT GOING THERE.
Jokes aside, on that very specific issue of child abuse, I don’t mind the church taking its licks, though. The embarrassment of association seems to be the only thing that has stirred the organization’s conscience on that issue, rather than, y’know… good conscience itself. (That, and the greater ease of procuring evidence these days.) It’s good to see the progress being made on that front, but it’s pretty appalling and very worthy of censure that the default reaction of the Catholic church (among others) was – for centuries – to protect its own and make things ‘go away’.
If mean-spirited jibes continue to drive some self-examination on the part of those who need it, then I’m actually not much against them.
Personal:
I have all the respect in the world for people finding a faith to turn to for solace and guidance, and I can understand and even sympathize with (to a degree) people wanting to build communities to celebrate that together. But the history of organized religion is pretty vile at the upper-management level, as far as their strategic directions have gone. Dogma has been too long a measure of social control rather than a facilitator of spiritual solace, which is a tragic and terrible betrayal of the trust invested in organized religion by the powerless. Much like the unspeakable crimes committed under its protection.I imagine it just sucks for the public-facing laymen on the front-lines who bear the brunt of the ongoing criticism, much like a blameless customer service rep who answers the phones for a company doing shitty things. So… yeah. Sympathy there, for what it’s worth.
Oh and the “uniformed stabs” was directed at the previous poster not the article itself =)