Anime Lectio: AYAKA - A Story of Bonds and Wounds

                                                            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. 

Growing up is challenging, especially when it involves experiences like moving back to where you grew up after being told to live somewhere else for a while.  Such experiences make it difficult to make friends, understand who you are, and understand why you had to leave and come back in the first place.  All of this can be seen in many ways, like in the anime series AYAKA - A Story of Bonds and Wounds.

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.

After spending some time away from his childhood home that was nearly destroyed when he was younger due to a volcanic eruption, the main character is brought back to his childhood home suddenly by someone who knew the main character when he was younger. However, the main character doesn't really remember anything about the childhood home he grew up in, the people there, or why he left, but can come back now. Over time though, he gradually remembers all of this with the help of the people he grew up with and what he has to do now. What he has to do now is protect his childhood home with the power to do that from his dead father, who died when protecting the childhood home of the main character when it was nearly destroyed when he was younger. He also does this with the help of old friends, as well as new ones, even if some of these friends have differences in thinking of how to deal with their enemies.

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 don't always refer to the full title of an anime when reflecting on it here, but I do find it helpful sometimes, like when the full title is a simple description. The anime series AYAKA does this because also referring to it as a story of bonds and wounds is a simple way to describe it, as well as a simple way to describe what growing up is like. Growing up can involve many experiences besides moving away from your childhood home and moving back there later. For example, differences in thinking between people you care about can also happen (this one most likely will happen), like how to handle enemies/opponents, which I alluded to in my description of this anime series. Not letting these differences stop you from being friends, like how these differences can't stop you from growing up, is one of the ways how growing up happens.

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 others and accept their differences, especially ones we live with, in order to grow up and do, as well as continue to do, what we need and want to do while growing up.