Anime Lectio: Night on the Galactic Railroad

                                                             1. Why do Anime Lectio? 

Anime Lectio is a time for us to stop and take a breath. Between work, activities, family life, and social media, our minds are always moving. We rarely take time to contemplate and ask, why am I watching this anime? What’s the point of all this? And, how is this making me feel? 

2. Put away all distractions 

(phones, work, etc.)

We are so enslaved to things that stimulate our minds. Let this be a moment for us to free our minds, look inside of ourselves, and be at peace.

3. Deep Breathing

Take several deep breaths. Let your mind relax. If you’ve had any questions, desires, or struggles that you’ve been hiding or stuffing away, let them rise up to the surface. 

4. Open yourself to God’s Presence

Remember God places all our thoughts and desires inside of us, and He uses them to draw us closer to Himself. God gives us a community to help us understand who we are and what He is calling us to do. The faces of other people you know and don't know are like signs of God’s presence.  

5. Think About What’s on Your Mind in Relation to the Anime

Think about what’s been on your mind in relation to the anime.  The following is an example of such thoughts written by me.

In a recent episode of the Shaman King remake (episode 30), the main character meets a cat spirit before going on an adventure with him. The cat happens to be reading a book called Galaxy Railroad Night, which made me think of the anime movie Night on the Galactic Railroad. I never saw the movie, but I read about it in the book Anime Impact since one of its chapters is about this movie. When I took the time to watch the movie, I had to leave for my monastic community's annual cemetery visit shortly after finishing the movie. A movie about life and death is an interesting movie to watch before visiting a cemetery.

6. Brief and written explanation of the anime

Pay attention to how the brief and written explanation of the anime seen on this blog, or seeing the anime for yourself since that's better than any explanation, might “speak” to you or shed light on the things that have been on your minds.

The main character of this anime movie, which happens to be a cat (most of the characters are cats actually), is trying to care for his sick mother while also putting up with his peers about his father, who is away on some sort of hunting trip. He also takes the time to think about his other experiences, like what things really are, which he gets a lot of time to think about during a crazy night on a train ride with one of his friends.

7. Reflect on the anime

Has this brief and written explanation of the anime, or seeing the anime, shed any light on what's been on your mind? The following is an example of a reflection on the anime from me.

As I already mentioned, this movie is about life and death. Things like life and death aren't as simple as you think they are. For example, the movie starts out with a discussion of what the Milky Way is in a classroom setting. When the main character is asked what the Milky Way is, he has to think about it. He knows it's made up of stars, planets, and things like it, but he also knows that's not what it is, just what it's made up of. We may be able to see things like the Milky Way, but that doesn't mean we know what it is. The same goes for other things in life, like life itself, as well as death. We may be able to explain such things like life and death, which this movie does in an interesting way, but it is up to us to understand what these explanations mean.

8. Final Prayer

Please voice any prayer intentions for friends, family, or people around the world that relate to this anime. The following is an example written by me.

Let us pray that we can understand what explanations mean and not just limit our understanding to explanations for everything that happens in life, including life itself, as well as death. Praying for the living and the dead in various ways is also important (there's an example in the movie actually).