As promised, here's part two of Lessons from Anime Characters.
6: People change: Sadao Mau aka Satan
https://www.animecharactersdatabase.com/character.php?id=58660
Just fyi, this satan and the satan in Blue Exorcist are completely different (although these two animes make for a hilarious crossover). In The Devil is a Part-Timer, Satan flees to earth from the hero bent on liberating their land from his tyranny and winds up getting an apartment and part-time job at McRonald’s (yes, you read that right). As you’ve probably guessed, this anime is ridiculous (in a good way), but viewers are still reminded of an important life fact: people change. Emi Usa, aka Emilia the Hero, follows Satan to earth in order to destroy him. However, after seeing that he’s living a quiet life as an upstanding citizen, treating humans with respect and even dignity, she reconsiders her plans. He is not the monster that she knew before coming to earth, and she has a hard time adjusting to this fact throughout the anime. Although she is still wary of him due to the atrocities he committed in their world, she refrains from attacking because she no longer sees a reason to kill him. She sees that the being she once loathed is now different somehow. This applies to real life as well: people change based on their environment, job, school, life circumstances, social circle, or any combination of these. In some cases, it’s better to give them the benefit of the doubt and let them show you who they’ve become/who they’re trying to be.
7: You have more to offer than you realize: Cyan
Cyan comes from an anime called Show by Rock, which is basically a music-and-friendship-solves-everything anime (it’s still an adorable show, though; I loved it). In the first episode, Cyan, the main character, is lying on her bed playing a rhythm game on her phone, trying to get her mind off of figuring out how to ask to join her high school band. She is very shy, lacks self-confidence, and worries a lot about others’ opinions (so basically me if I could play guitar). In the middle of her game, she gets sucked in through her phone into a place called Sound World after winning a special item: a guitar called Strawberry Heart. The viewer discovers later that the villain, Dagger Morse, actually pulled her there to further his plans, but she was intercepted by someone else. After falling onto a sidewalk, she is approached by the manager of the band Plasmagica, a rising three-person female band that Cyan joins because she longs to make music with others. After joining, she begins feeling comfortable around her new bandmates and slowly opens up to them. One night when she goes to her room, her guitar, Strawberry Heart, speaks to her and explains why she’s there: to stop Dagger from creating monsters and wreaking havoc on Sound World. It also tells her that she is the only one who can save that world. Cyan, still doubting her abilities, reluctantly agrees to stop Dagger. Throughout the rest of the show, she gains more confidence in herself and her abilities and eventually defeats Dagger. She had more power than she let herself believe, all because she lacked self-confidence and a strong sense of self-worth. She’s a fictional example of what happens when you come to believe in yourself: you find out just how amazing you really are and learn that you have a larger role to play in life than you previously thought.
8: If God calls you, He won’t let you go: Yato
Although this anime isn’t related to or promotes Christianity, I can still see some ways that it reflects some aspects of Christianity, such as grace, mercy, and love. In Noragami, the shrineless god Yato grants wishes for humans for a small price in an effort to raise money to eventually buy his own shrine. He, like the other gods in this anime, also have another purpose: defeat phantoms, spirit-like creatures that feed on negative/despairing thoughts that cause harm to, and sometimes even kill, humans. In order to defeat phantoms, gods use regalia, spirits of deceased humans who now have the ability to transform into weapons. Yato’s regalia quits in the first episode, but he later finds another one when out trying to protect a girl he recently met, Hiyori Iki, from a phantom. He sees a spirit hovering over a sidewalk and sees that it was once a teenage boy. He names the spirit Yukine and uses his weapon form, a sword, to defeat the phantom. After reverting to his human form, the viewer sees that Yukine is stubborn and a bit bratty. As the show goes on, Yukine sees other boys his own age having fun with each other living what he perceives as normal lives. He becomes jealous and angry, saying it’s not fair that he is no longer among the living and, therefore, cannot interact with them. In his anger, he begins stealing and lying and even vandalizes part of a school building. He seems to have forgotten that every evil action he commits, even every perverted thought he has, hurts Yato and blights him. Blights appear as a dark spot on a god’s body. Usually, they can be cleansed with water from a shrine, but in more extreme cases, they require an ablution: a ceremony performed by three other regalias in which the tainted regalia is purified by burning. Yukine’s actions causes Yato’s blight to worsen to near death. An ablution is held for Yukine, but the only way for an ablution to properly work is for a regalia to confess all his/her sins. If not, they become a phantom. Yukine, refusing to admit his wrongs, begins turning into a phantom. Yato was told repeatedly by other gods to either sever his ties with or kill Yukine because of his actions, but he refused. During the ablution, Yato, close to death, calls out his name, says that he’s sorry that he can’t live among people anymore, and that he gave him a human name so that even in the afterlife he can still live as a person. Yukine, now crying and feeling sorry for all he’s done, confesses his sins and is cleansed, healing Yato as well. Although Yukine was severely hurting Yato and repeatedly taking advantage of Yato’s kindness, Yato never gave up on him or let him go. He saw Yukine’s potential and called him back when there was still time. I believe this is how God treats His children: no matter how many times we sin and hurt Him, He never lets us go. He’s still there, waiting for a time we’d be most apt to hear, obey, and return to Him. That’s what His love, grace, and mercy are all about: even though we don’t deserve them, He still chooses to give them to us because He loves us.
9: Past abuses don’t define you: the “Handy Men”
Although Gangsta isn’t really a moral compass in any sense, you can still learn a few things from the characters. Worick Arcangelo and Nicolas Brown are the “Handy Men,” employed by the police and whoever else needs them to handle criminals they can’t deal with on their own (so basically batmen who get paid by cops). As the series progresses, viewers learn about their backstory. Worick was born Wallace Arcangelo and was the son of an abusive, alcoholic father and mother who was never around when he was beaten. Nicolas, the son of a leader of a mercenary group who is later hired by the Arcangelos to protect them and their estate, was also beaten by his father. Worick and Nicolas bond over this. As they grow up, they find jobs and a place to live. It is even implied that Nicolas had an intimate relationship with someone sometime before the events of the actual series happened. Although they were beaten physically, they were not beaten for life; they found ways to overcome their traumatic experiences and make names for themselves. Many that experience abuse wonder if they will ever feel good about themselves, if someone else will love them, and if they’ll be able to carry on somewhat normal lives. The “Handy Men” show that this is, in fact, possible.
10: You can surpass others’ expectations of you: Kyoya Ootori
http://www.planetminecraft.com/skin/kyoya-ootori-ouran-high-school-host-club/
Ouran High School Host Club was among the first animes to which I was introduced. This anime is about six boys (and a nonbinary character who gets blackmailed into joining) who entertain the girls at Ouran Academy with tea, sweets, and lots of flirting. One of the hosts, Kyoya, appears charming on the surface, but viewers find out later that a lot of times he wears a mask. A few times in the show, he mentions that he is the third son and, because of that, will never be able to become his father’s successor. Since then, he’s resigned to donning a charismatic façade and tries to help his father’s business in other ways, such as being friendlier to the children of his father’s potential clients. One day in middle school, he meets Tamaki Suoh, a transfer student that quickly gets under Kyoya’s skin. Normally, Kyoya excels in reading other people while hiding his own emotions, but Tamaki sees through him. When he finally learns about Kyoya’s family situation, Tamaki tells him that he is the one holding himself back, not his family. From then on, Kyoya finds ways to surpass his brothers’ accomplishments, which his father even recognizes in the final episode. He never expected him to be so brilliant, let alone perform as well as his older siblings. Like Kyoya, you can surpass others’ expectations of you, too; it’s your life, and it’s up to you how you choose to live it.
These are just a few lessons I was reminded of in these animes. Of course there are many more, but it's probably easier just to watch them instead of listen to me rant about them. Just as these lessons stuck with me, I hope they'll stick with you, too.
