Anime Lectio: Buddy Daddies

                                                            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.  

Do you live a life that you want to live or do you live a life that others want you to live?  Answering this question requires thinking about what you like to do, or would like to do instead of what you are doing, who you want to do what you like to do, or would like to do, with, and why you want to do that.  This is a question we should all think about, which I'm doing now as I decide between two different things I can do with my life in addition to or instead of what I do now in this life.  An interesting example of this is seen in the anime series Buddy Daddies.

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.

In the anime series Buddy Daddies, two hitmen end up raising the young daughter of the guy that one of them kills since he was the target for one of their missions. After trying to continue their missions while raising her, one of these hitmen searches for and finds the girl's biological mother so she can raise her instead, but since she isn't fit to be a mother, this hitman decides to raise the girl with his partner. These two hitmen also get help in raising the girl from a daycare they manage to find and get her into, as well as their friend they get missions from. Everything seems to be going well until one day, the girl's biological mother shows up waiting for her daughter to get out of daycare. She appreciates what the two hitmen have done for her, but she wants to raise her daughter herself since she wants to be a mother for her daughter before she dies from cancer, but unfortunately, she gets killed by a henchman working for the one hitman's father. This one hitman's father wants his son to continue the family business, which he raised him to do, but this hitman wants to raise the girl with his partner. They find a way to do this after deciding to give up their lives as hitmen and live new lives that are better for not only them, but also their daughter.

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.

Living a life that you want to live versus living a life that others want you to live is an important decision that can impact lives besides your own. Is the life you want to live something that others need? Is it even what you need? What about the life that others want you to live? Is it just based on the needs of others? Do you need to fulfill these needs or do these others just want you to do that? These are questions that I usually ask myself when deciding what I want to do, as well as why I want to do it. What I want should also be what I, as well as others, need, which is especially important to think about when you live with others. Even if you don't live with others, or even work with others (I do both), it's important to think about what you want, what you need, and how what you want and what you need can be the same thing.

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 how what we want and what we need can be the same thing, as well as how that influences others, not just ourselves.