Anime Lectio: When Will Ayumu Make His Move?

                                                            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.

It's not always easy to know what you want in any kind of relationship.  You may start by thinking you want one thing for the relationship, but eventually realize over time that you want the relationship to be something else.  There are some things that should happen in any relationship based on what the relationship is, like doing what should be done, but is this just what you think should happen?  And who is the 'you' thinking this?  What if several people in the relationship (there should be at least two) have different thoughts about what the relationship is and/or should be?  The answers to these questions, as well as these other thoughts, are seen in the anime When Will Ayumu Make His Move?

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 anime series When Will Ayumu Make His Move? is about a young man who has a crush on the female president of the school's shogi club that he's also in because she's in it too, even though he originally planned on joining the kendo club with his friend. He decides that when he can beat her in a game of shogi, he will confess to her, even though he clearly makes it known to her before that that he likes her in various way that also involve other friends. The other friends of these two, whether they are mostly friends with the girl or with the guy, also try to help them out in their own ways, but when the guy does beat his female club president in a game of shogi, he decides that their relationship doesn't need to go further because it's fine the way it is already.

7.  Reflect on the anime

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

I think that the issues of relationships seen in step 5 of this process of Anime Lectio are addressed in the anime series When Will Ayumu Make His Move? by the question that this title asks, starting by trying to answer it. When Ayumu will make his move depends on what he's trying to do, which at first is clearly confessing to his female class president that he loves her when he beats her in a game of shogi. But what does this mean since he also clearly confesses his feelings of love for her before that in other ways? She may not think it's very clear, or understand it as something else, but does confessing to someone mean asking them to date you? I guess this is what this means, but I also guess this didn't need to happen, or more like they guy didn't feel like he needed to confess to the girl after spending a lot of time with her.

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 for an understanding of what we want our relationships to be.