Review: Aoi Hana/Sweet Blue Flowers (Reverse Thieves Secret Santa Anime)

I participated in Reverse Thieves's Secret Santa event, where various bloggers suggest anime for each other to review. One of my suggestions was Aoi Hana, known as Sweet Blue Flowers in English, and perhaps best known for being a full-on yuri show. Whether or not the suggestion was based on my previous posts on the possible value of yuri shows for Christians, I figured I would take up that show both in the interest of looking at more yuri shows, and also because at only 11 episodes, I could finish it pretty quickly.

As it turned out, I rather enjoyed the show on its own merits. Even beyond the yuri elements, the show works well as a slice-of-life with moderate drama.

I'll avoid any major spoilers in this review, but do be warned that there will be some minor spoilers as well as some spoilers in the form of "this is what the show does not do". The full review follows after the jump.

The four main girls. From right to left: Akira, Kyouko, Yasuko, and Fumi.

Sakura Trick: Yuri for Christians, Revisited

Some time ago, I wrote a post asking the question of whether or not yuri shows like Sakura Trick were good for Christians to watch. In this post, I will look back at that specific show and what, if any, are its good points for potential Christian viewers, as well as what pitfalls it might have.

Posting a picture of manga art because I actually like it over the anime art in this case.

As a reminder, this post addresses things from the perspective of Christians who consider homosexuality a sin, but who, in the name of love, do not judge others who are in same-gender relationships. Others with differing views are welcome to comment on this post, of course. For all commenters, please be respectful of others regardless of differing views.

Also, there are some small spoilers after the jump, as usual.

A Sakura Trick Question: Is It Good For Christians To Watch Yuri Anime?

Whoo, time for probably my most controversial post yet on this blog.

First of all, a bit of a clarification: this question isn’t really a “trick” question (I was just trying to make a pun off the anime title) in the traditional sense. That is, a traditional trick question has a seemingly obvious answer which is actually wrong; however, I have no right or wrong answer for this question, and am posing it to offer it as a point of discussion.

If there is a “trick” to this question, it’s that I did not ask “is it okay for Christians to watch yuri anime?” I think when we Christians discuss discernment in terms of media, we focus too much on whether something (R-rated movies, stories about magic, etc.) are “okay” or not. And to an extent, that is an important question to ask, too. But that question’s nature is simply one of whether a show’s value is negative or not. A show can have absolutely no value for viewing; it’s not offensive and is perfectly “safe” for Christians, but they won’t get anything from it, so what’s the point of watching it? It just feeds into the criticism of entertainment as a brainless waste of time.

In asking if it is “good” to watch something, we instead flip the perspective of the question to whether something has positive value: whether or not there is something worthwhile in spending time on something. Of course, a lot of “good” things are not “safe”, and there may be some things that are “good” in various ways that are just not “okay” for certain people, and they need to avoid it for their own growth, at least for the moment. That is something that is ultimately up to personal conviction. But if we do decide that something is “okay”, we must then decide if it is “good”.

The focus of this post will be on yuri anime—that is, anime featuring romance between two girls. In particular, I will be focusing on the currently-airing Sakura Trick, quite possibly the first “true” yuri show to come about in a while. That is, unlike shows like Yuyushiki and Kin-iro Mosaic, which hint at romantic feelings between girls strongly but avoid anything explicitly romantic, Sakura Trick is pretty clear-cut in its romance, with girls kissing each other frequently and treat each other, if not completely like girlfriend and girlfriend, then definitely as two people in a budding romance.

And what's a budding romance without some jealousy and clinginess?

Before the jump, there are some things to note. Most importantly, I am writing this from the personal belief that homosexuality is a sin, according to the Bible. And in particular, when I ask whether it is good for Christians to watch this show, I specifically mean those Christians who believe the same way. (That said, I have no hatred of gay people. I love all people regardless of who they are or what they do.) That said, I welcome those who do not believe the same to keep reading and participate in this discussion from their own perspective, especially as this post will cover things about gender and relationships that are worth talking about regardless. For everyone commenting, please be respectful of others’ opinions and do not personally attack anyone, or else don't expect your opinion to be taken seriously. 

With that said, let's take a look at what value there is in a show like Sakura Trick…