Vatican unveils official anime mascot - I hope she (“Luce”) starts vtubing soon
(upload.wikimedia.org)
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they probably would have done better by making a full anime adaptation of the New Testament or something. But we all know that the Vatican isn't actually Christian enough to do that especially if it would make jews look bad or have Jesus saying bad things about jews
Superbook is an isekai. Over and over again.
I recently learned there was a revival of that show in 2011.
Learned about it the weirdest way--by looking up the dub actor for Mobile Suit Gundam's Ramba Ral.
Turns out it was a man named John Payne, and Superbook 2011 was his final voiceover role.
If you're talking about the CG one, there's also books of them. They're.... well, they're words and pictures on paper.
I feel like there's a "his work on Earth was done." joke or reference in there somewhere.
There's one MSG line of his that I wish had become a meme, especially lately.
"I hate politics. I'll be going back to space immediately."
It's clearly the right decision.
Death by cross-kun trope.
You ever seen a black weeb get told "dude, you're not the kun she's looking for"?
Very sad day.
The Vatican once commissioned Osamu Tezuka to make a series on the Bible to rival Pat Robertson's Superbook, but he died before completing the Old Testament. (The series was finished by Osamu Dezaki.) Unfortunately, him dying also obviously precluded making a New Testament continuation, the furthest they got with that was the final episode being about the birth of Jesus.
I'm not Catholic.
However, like Pepe the Frog, I'm sure this design can be used for good, regardless of the actual intent behind its origin.
Christ is King.
well i will slaughter heretics using vati-chan as an avatar on steam.
Luce? Luci?
I'm surprised it isn't a nigger with Down's
Even better for today's Catholic church: her name Luce (light) being an obvious play on Lucifer.
Modern day Catholics are giving everyone the perfect ammunition to hate Catholics. My first thought was how similar this is to Lucifer…guess I shouldn’t be shocked
Not to hate Catholics but they just want people to dislike the pope a lot as much as they do. A significant amount of them dislike the current pope as much as people hate Biden and Harris or the Labor party.
She does have a whole cast of POC "friends" unfortunately.
I heard about this because Legal Mindset was laughing about how, of course, the internet immediately lewded her. (There are a few cute ones before the timestamp, too.)
The internet is for porn after all.
It's supposed to be mud. Galoshes. She's in the rain for some reason.
Luce is supposed to be a pilgrim it seems, the scallop shells in her eyes are a reference to the routes of the Way of St. James (Santiago de Compostela where St. James/Santiago's shrine is being a major pilgrimage site since the Reconquista got underway, St. James himself being the 'Moor-Slayer'/Matamoros and the patron saint of Spain).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luce_(mascot)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2024/10/29/who-is-luce-the-anime-mascot-of-the-catholic-church-explained/
Based? Kawaii-Desu? Manmade horror beyond your comprehension? What are your thoughts on this?
It's a litmus test for having a soul. Right wingers and Nazis make wholesome memes with the character. The Righteous use the character as a beacon of light. Leftiods draw porn pictures with the character.
The Anti-Pope is Liberation Theology Communist making a mockery of Catholicism. He should be dealt with as the Catholics should deal with heretics and pretender popes.
As of right now, most Catholics seem to be humming and hawing their way to having a church that celebrates abortion. Schism now.
But why
Edit: nvm, it's for some expo in Japan, not a vtuber. Par for the course, I guess
Why do her eyes have clam shells in them??
The Wikipedia article says it's Catholic lore.
They represent scallop shells that pilgrims would return with as a token that they had completed the journey.
Something to do with St. James.
So what's the deal with the stick?
It's in the wiki article as well.
It represents a "pilgrim's or palmer's staff".
Supposedly it was brought on pilgrimages, deposited at the church then a new one was purchased for the trip home.
Very cute and very wholesome.
I was originally confused by the mud on her rubber boots. But reading that she's supposed to be on a pilgrimage makes a lot more sense.
At the risk of going there, I'm a little confused by her bare shins.
Her attire would seem to represent a raincoat but the bare shins would suggest she's wearing either shorts or a skirt that can't be seen.
Having her wear pants probably
wouldn'twould've been a safer choice given the pedophilia themes in both the Catholic church and the loli scene.I suppose choosing to have her wear a skirt is the more feminine/traditional Catholic choice.
But leaving it open to interpretation leads to all sorts of problems.
The raincoat but bareshins thing isn't uncommon for Japanese girls because they have that whole "can't get my ears wet" physical problem that necessitates the coat, but otherwise don't want to mess up their school skirt by putting on anything further.
So its really just an oddly deep cut piece of Japanese culture for their first mascot design.
I'm not enough of a weeb to get this reference.
I tried looking it up but all I got was Swimmer's Ear articles.
The Japanese schoolgirl uniform thing does make sense though.
I honestly didn't think about the bare legs thing until I came across an upskirt shot showing her knickers on a Luce caricature on my X feed on Day 1.
Its not even a weeb thing. Its a literal real Japanese thing that just happens in anime because anime is from Japan.
Due to that genetic difference, getting their ears wet is a really really bad thing (its why that cliche of "got wet for two seconds, caught a cold" exists). But if they have to do more than walk home in the rain, an umbrella doesn't cut it and so raincoats are also common.
Though its usually the clear ones not the bright yellow, but that would be less iconic.
God's little joke.
On the flip side, the island full of shutins and neets are immune to having body odor.
Closes door, opens window.
It's like sailors and Newfies not being able to swim.
My mind is still blown. I've never heard of any of this before.
So the Japanese have a genetic immunodeficiency that they get sick when they get wet?
Is it only specific to their ears? Or just getting wet & cold in general?
They have a gene difference (ABCC11) that determines if a human has wet or dry earwax and if they have underarm odor. One of the downsides of the dry wax is that if it gets wet then it can inflame very badly (swelling their ears shut) and allowing them to catch colds from cold, wetness easier (the reason for that isn't as known, might be unrelated).
Its why "ear cleaning" is a common thing in Japanese media too, because they genuinely need to clear out that powdery nonsense in a way that us sticky, wet ears don't.
Wet wax is the dominant gene, so only in the insulated East Asian countries can the dry wax be common.
Fascinating.
The predilection to otitis externa (swimmer's ear) makes sense with the dry wax gene/rainwater.
I'm more skeptical about the connections to the common cold.
It's considered a myth in the West that cold exposure increases the risk of acquiring the common cold. As I understand it, seasonal variations in upper respiratory rates are more associated with huddling indoors in the extreme cold/heat, more reliance on central air systems with weather extremes, drier air from such seasons and systems dessicating nasal mucosa and leading to increased viral infection risk, etc.
AFAIK, outer otitis externa ear infections aren't a major risk factor for other upper respiratory tract infections.
Its likely only correlated in some extent rather than a direct cause, but its a a belief held the world over from many unrelated cultures. In those cases, I'm willing to believe in old wisdom rather than assume all humans for thousands of years were just retarded.
Until science gets a direct answer of course instead of theories that are just as easily not the case a lot of the time.
Regardless, that's irrelevant to the point. I'm willing to guess their extreme ease of ear infection/inflammation from the wetness does a number on weakening/distracting their immune system to fight it and that in turn lets other otherwise weak or dormant infections come through.
But even if its not true, they certainly believe it heavily. And that's why its such a common trope for them, enough so that its reached the Vatican.
Christmas shopping. Lots of crowds, lots of colds.
they had an anime art company that did sodomite art and sex toy design collabs make the mascot, so obviously they weren't thinking much to begin with.
Well, they were already familiar with the “good works”.
I Love Luce.
Huh, kinda ironic that the Catholics originally tried to convert and takeover Japan and now anime has taken over the church.
This mean instead of the weak, hiding pedo officials now we get a more anime Church with hot busty nuns with shotguns and badass priests exorcising demons?
Ms. Dizzy Dokuro has been streaming in Luce's costume. It's not Luce herself but close and pretty damn funny.
Lucifer, Luce, ya know whatever it takes.
Oh I'm sure the Christian faithful will just love this affront to their religion.