Just this week, the Vatican brought out a brand-new mascot to represent the Church’s upcoming year. Named “Luce” (“light” in Italian), the cute character caught a ton of attention and went viral in large part because she’s drawn in anime-style. That’s right, the Vatican meets anime!

Even gigantic institutions that may have once avoided anime are embracing the medium as it’s become so widespread. It’s no surprise, for instance, that the Vatican would work with tokidoki company to develop Luce and her friends since anime is—and this is said with hardly any exaggeration—rivaling Catholicism in popularity in many traditionally Catholic countries.

But Luce isn’t some turning point; she’s the hundredth or thousandth step forward in just the past few years. A wider look at the Christian landscape and my own experiences partnering with and talking to others as I lead this ministry reveal the Christian Church coming around and acknowledging (if not yet fully embracing) anime as an art form and medium that can be used to communicate with the precious people the Church wants to minister to. Because anime is at the forefront of digital entertainment, practically all anime fans are connected through online platforms; there are such rich possibilities to convey messages of love, grace, and salvation to this audience.

The idea of being able to reach all anime fans has been weighing on my heart for many years. The possibility is there, but Beneath the Tangles cannot do it alone, not by a long shot! Thankfully, the heart I have for anime fans is shared with countless; I’ve witnessed this desire in VTubers chatting with their followers on Twitter, churches on mission at conventions, and TikTokkers posting their thoughts on faith and anime. A movement is occurring. God is mobilizing his Church to reach a group of people he loves through the digital sphere.

We want to be right at the center of that. But to do so means that Beneath the Tangles must broaden its vision. Here’s what it used to be:

Beneath the Tangles is developing a transformative community where our staff members can use their passion for anime and Japanese media; love for God and for people; and skills and talents to grow into brand that is well-known and regarded among anime fans in order to facilitate a mission to reach out to the otaku community and share the gospel message through our words and actions, thereby participating in Christ’s command to teach about faith and make disciples, and care for the church by offering authentic and loving support to Christian believers who are part of the otaku community.

Although it’s now several years old, this vision statement is one I still love and could live with if I made just a few modifications. But I’ve realized that there’s a fundamental problem with the vision—we’ve already accomplished it. Over the past few years, through the relentless work of our volunteers, we’ve built the community we wanted, shared our faith with many, and supported Christian otaku across the globe. And while it remains our mission to create disciples in this manner, our “vision” must be an action we want to accomplish in the future, something we aspire to attain.

And we want to dream big. We want to rely on the very bigness of our God.

So today, we launch our new vision statement:

Our vision is to reach every anime fan with the life-giving hope of Christ, building communities where lives are transformed through faith, fellowship, and a shared love of anime.

Every anime fan? Yep, that’s right. That’s huge, but I believe it’s also attainable. With the proliferation of digital connection—the mode through which anime fans communicate and enjoy their fandom—I believe it is possible to reach all otaku. But as I mentioned above, it can’t be done by BtT alone, nor is it meant to be. The Holy Spirit is working in hundreds if not thousands of people to “build communities” where discipleship is occurring*, and we’ll support these ministers as they do the work of reaching otaku with the love of Christ.

You’ll see a lot more of this support in the coming year, so stay tuned! In the meantime, we hope that you’ll assist us in our mission and with this new vision for the future. Join our community. Plug in. Pray for us. And help us to be Jesus’ hands and feet for his beloved otaku!

*If you’re one of these amazing people using anime in some way (calling Christian VTubers, anibloggers, artists, cosplayers, and others!), we invite you to join our Anime Ministry Network!

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