Anime Lectio: The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes

                                                            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 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. 

What if you had an opportunity to get something back that was lost?  Even if it cost you something, would you still do it?  Answering these questions, particularly the second one, depends on things like what you want to get back that was lost, what it would cost you, and whatever else that would involve.  Answers to these questions can be seen in the movie The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes.

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.

A boy and a girl happen to meet each other while waiting for the same train.  Since it's also raining, the boy lends the girl her umbrella, which means they'll have to see each other again in order for the girl to return the umbrella to the boy.  Even though they give each other their phone numbers for that reason, they end up seeing each other again when the girl ends up transferring to the boy's school, as well as his class.  As a result, they spend more time together and find out about a mysterious tunnel where you can get want you want, but times moves faster in the tunnel than it does outside of it.  They take the time to figure out how this works and in that time, they reveal want they want, which is for the boy to get his dead sister back and the girl to get the manga her dead grandfather never published.  However, the boy realizes that the girl doesn't need to go into the tunnel for what she wants because she can get what she needs instead outside of it, which is the confidence to trust in her own writing and publish it.  While she becomes a successful manga artist and writer, the boy spends time with his dead sister in the tunnel, but he can't take her out of it in order to be with the girl, which is what they both ultimately want, so he goes back to her after spending what was actually a significant amount of time in the tunnel.

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.

I think it's important for what you want and what you need to be the same thing. For example, if you have the talent to do something already that you want to do, then what you need to do is act on it by using your own talent and not just relying on the talent of others. There's no need to get back something that was lost, especially if it costs you something that you don't need to give up, which the boy tells the girl that she doesn't need to do in the movie (and is something that he eventually realizes himself too with the help of his dead sister). We all need someone or something to tell us this too when we can't see that what we want and what we need is actually the same thing.

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 understand that want what we want and what we need is the same thing.