Anime Lectio: The Summer Hikaru Died Season One

                                                              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. The only device you need for this is the one you use for this blog.

3. Deep Breathing - Open yourself to God’s Presence

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. 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 people you

know and don't know are like signs of God’s presence. 

4. 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. 

People change, or rather should change, all of the time (by all of the time, I mean daily), for better or for worse.  Accepting other people despite these changes, especially real friends, is important.  If friends can't accept each other because of these changes, then are they really friends?  This question, as well as a lot of other ones, can be answered in the first season of the series The Summer Hikaru Died.

5. 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.

When a boy goes out to the mountains and dies there, but comes back to where he lives to be with his family and friends, particularly another boy, he comes back in his body, but a monster is inside of him now.  The boy that the monster boy goes back to knows his friend is different now, but he still sees him as a friend as if nothing happened and he didn't die.  Unfortunately, this one boy is the only one who knows that his friend is a monster now and does everything he can to protect him, despite some of the other people he interacts with telling him he shouldn't do that.  Other people are also trying to figure out what's going on since strange things started happening in the village when the monster boy went back to it, which leads to getting an exorcist to help them figure out what's happening.  The exorcist likely figures out what's eventually going on when he finds the two boys talking about what they should do (the first season ends with this).

6.  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.

Change isn't always a good thing and while the change that happens with the boy who dies and has his body taken over by a monster isn't a change that normally happens, it still raises interesting questions about what change really is, can it be controlled, and other things, like what normal really is. Change like this can, and usually is, what tests friendship and determines if it's real or not, but if it influences other people that the friends interact with, then the friendship can get complicated. Two people can stay friends without the influence of others, but the influence of others is usually a factor in determining what happens.

7. 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 maintain friendships based on the change that happens in them because of what happens.