Anime Lectio: Even a Replica Can Fall in Love

                                                          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 part of you do you need to work on?  Is it the part of you that struggles with kindness, the part of you that struggles with courage, or is it something else that a part of you struggles with instead (or in addition to kindness and/or courage)?  These questions can be answered in the series Even a Replica Can Fall in Love.

5. Brief and written explanation of the anime

Pay attention to how the brief and written explanation of the anime seen on this blog, as well as seeing the anime for yourself since I think that's better than any explanation, might “speak” to you or shed light on the things that have been on your minds.

A girl who doesn't feel like going to school a lot has her replica do it for her.  She actually created this replica when she didn't know how to apologize to one of her friends when she was younger, which she wanted to do, so her replica was created in order to do that for her.  While this girl's replica goes to school for her, she ends up becoming close with one of the boys in the class who the actual girl isn't close with at all.  It turns out that the boy that the replica of the girl starts dating is actually the replica of that boy.  After spending a lot of time together, which involves the boy and girl of the replicas spending more time together too and new friends with or without their own replicas, they realize that other people can't see them (the replica and the creator of the replica) together.  Because of this, the replicas decide to merge with their originals in order to live on through them or live on their own (the ending isn't very clear as to what actually happens - the originals do let their replicas make the decision though).

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.

Based on what I have seen in this series, it seems like a replica is the representation of part of what the original, or creator of the replica, struggles with (or something like that), like kindness with the girl or courage with the boy. While this is an interesting way to deal with your shortcomings, this isn't how it can really happen. How that should really happen is to talk with people about your shortcomings, particularly people who can see them, since other people can usually point out what you need to work. Thinking about it can also help, but only if you don't overthink it to the point of not doing anything about it, which is why prayer is also helpful.

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 deal with the part(s) of ourselves by talking with others about it and thinking about that too.