Abstract
This work explores the ways in which the anime of Makoto Shinkai cinematically portrays the theological virtues of faith, hope and love. The article will explore each virtue individually, with specific reference to the work of Josef Pieper and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. In addition, it will juxtapose their explorations of these virtues with samples of Shinkai’s corpus of films. It will assert that the consistency of Shinkai’s work reveals several important parallels with the theological virtues. Faith is the encounter between one and another that reveals one’s nature. Hope is revealed by the distance between one and another, and is realised in traversing that distance to achieve an ecstatic reunion. Love, as the erotic attraction between one and another, is the driver that also sustains the journey and closes the distance. In spite of the similarities, important differences between the cinematic and theological will be highlighted.
Highlights
I focus on the work of the anime director, Makoto Shinkai, who is part of a wave of anime directors rising to prominence after the mainstream success of Hayao Miyazaki
I will outline a number of thematic items that run through Shinkai’s films and juxtapose these with an exploration of the theological virtues of faith, hope and love, as explored by Josef Pieper and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI
If faith is not assent to prescriptions, but a personal encounter which unveils a world, what that encounter does is open up not a full knowledge of things, but a journey in which things are yet to be known. We find this in paragraphs 8 and 9 of the encyclical on the theological virtue of faith, Lumen Fidei, which though released under Francis’ papacy, bears many hallmarks of Benedict XVI’s thought
Summary
I focus on the work of the anime director, Makoto Shinkai, who is part of a wave of anime directors rising to prominence after the mainstream success of Hayao Miyazaki. Shinkai’s thematic content provides more valuable raw material on a consistent basis for a theological reflection than other anime directors. I submit that at some crucial points explored below, Shinkai’s work presents valuable points of critical engagement between Christian theology and the world of anime. These focal points of reflection can become moments of dialogue, to which I believe. Christian theology can make a crucial contribution To this end, I will outline a number of thematic items that run through Shinkai’s films and juxtapose these with an exploration of the theological virtues of faith, hope and love, as explored by Josef Pieper and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. I intend for this article to be an example of performative engagement with one artifact of pop culture, which can be undertaken in other non-written formats as acts of moral formation, especially in the virtues
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