The Internet is replete with sarcastic memes of what it really means to be a Traditionalist, but at times it is difficult to discern the line when ardent truthfulness ends and unintentional irony begins. Some will say that the sportscoat-tie combo is undignified for the true Catholic gentleman and that you should wear your three-piece suit all the way to bed. I'm sure someone who says this seriously is nothing more than a Chesterton-LARPer, complete with a beer belly and an aversion to sunlight. Speaking of beer, this type will posit that the inherent hoppiness of IPAs breeds effeminacy and that Belgian ale is superior. Now I don't argue with the latter, but I can imagine that economic constraints would influence these keyboard-warrior trolls to opt for Bud Light over Chimay.
There is one slander that hits closer to home, though: viewers of anime are irredeemable degenerates, full stop. I'm going to have to pull two "well, actually" rebuttals on this one. First, no one is outside of redemption if they are truly sorry for their sins and ask for forgiveness from Christ's Church. Second, it really does matter what you mean when you use the word "anime." I have viewed Japanese animation for the greater part of my adolescent and adult years (which isn't altogether strange given my age demographic) and can attest to the fact that within this one genre of audiovisual media there is a plethora of sub-genres which run the gambit between sophisticated and debased. That is why, as an example, it is (un)fortunate and extremely telling that the Vatican chose to go with a chibi art style to promote the Jubilee Year.
So why am I going out of my way to defend this niche media and my consumption of it? Well first-off, my confrères know that I live life on the B-side, so the niche is my wheelhouse. But more importantly, my family has recently become enamored with the works of anime director Hayao Miyazaki, with one film having left a significantly lasting impression.
The Wind Rises is a partially-biographical film following the life of the meek and industrious Jiro Hirokoshi. From childhood, Jiro harbored a love of aviation and though his poor eyesight prevented any hope of being a pilot he nevertheless became a mastermind of an aeronautical engineer. Undaunted by technological shortcomings and failed projects, Jiro actualizes his conception of the beautiful airplane; beautiful in design, beautiful in flight, beautiful as a patriotic symbol.
Miyazaki's infatuation with aeronautics, omnipresent from Nausicaä's glider to Fujimoto's submarine, is on full display in this film. Additionally, Miyazaki is known for his meticulous attention to detail, whether it's a singular blade of grass bending in the wind or counting the scoops for a cup of cocoa. These two elements were expertly woven in his authentic portrayal of the work of an engineer. Apart from the glimpses of Jiro's daydreaming mind (which were fascinating in their own right), I was struck by the banter between engineers, the late nights finishing up designs, ignoring stakeholders with impossible demands and the interactions with technicians in the shop. This latter was especially heartwarming because it transported me back to my previous life as a mechanical designer of hydraulic pumps visiting the lab crew every morning and getting tips for improving my prototypes.
Jiro was really real and really famous for reasons that will become obvious soon, but with him there is a cast of fictional characters which help propel the story on screen. Early on, Jiro shares a dream (think Inception) with Giovanni Battista Caproni, 1st Count of Taliedo, famed Italian aeronautical engineer who pushes him forward in a similar professional trajectory. Later, Jiro meets the mysterious Hans Castorp, a German tourist vacationing at the same hotel who has a strangely pointed interest in naïve Jiro's life and work. Most importantly, Jiro has a chance meeting and then reunion with Nahoko Satomi, whom he eventually marries. To reduce spoiling the plot too much and to get closer to the point of this essay, I'll focus a bit on the non-historic inclusions of Caproni and Nahoko.
Miyazaki is very forward in his pacifist philosophy, making it a central element in at least half his films. In The Wind Rises, Caproni is candid about the transactional relationship he has with his government: he develops bombers for them and they give him enough money to build his luxury passenger planes. Jiro, portrayed as sharing Miyazaki's views, doesn't match Caproni in his moral frivolity but does end up working for Mitsubishi, a defense contractor with the Japanese government. When he reunites with Nahoko, she is forward both with her love for him and her severe tuberculosis diagnosis. In an act seen as impetuous and imprudent by concerned onlookers, they are married before Nahoko is remitted and while Jiro is putting in long hours at the office. The confluence of these storylines sees the successful flight test of the Mitsubishi A5M coupled with the declining health of the designer's wife.
In the film's epilogue, Jiro is seen walking towards Caproni in their kingdom of dreams. In the distance, they see a squadron of A6M Zeros, Jiro's magnum opus, join with a fleet as numerous as a constellation of stars. After Caproni commends him on his achievement, Jiro responds dispassionately, "Not a single one returned." History attests to this claim, as nearly all remaining Zeros were used for kamikaze attacks at the close of World War II. Having worked for nearly a decade on defense programs myself, either as a contractor or government employee, I have had qualms surface from time to time on the nature of my work. To assuage this feeling I usually tell myself, "I'm working on the weapon; I'm not wielding it." Since seeing this film, though, sleep has been hard to come by some nights.
In many ways, I am trying to structure my children's upbringing to be less sheltered than my own. Because we're Traditionalists, my eldest is no stranger to Latin or the Bible, knowing the stories from Adam to Ascension (and that Noe built the Ark, not Noah). Because we live in the country, he is no stranger to decapitated snakes, butchered chickens, cremated sheep or buried dogs. And because I work at an Air Force base, he is also no stranger to soldiers, and good Christian ones at that. So though it isn't surprising, I was caught off guard in more ways than one when he asked me at breakfast recently, "Papa, what is war?"
Militia est vita hominis super terram, et sicut dies mercenarii dies ejus.—The life of man upon earth is a warfare, and his days are like the days of a hireling.—Job vii. 1.
In the beginning of the profane Western literary tradition is the Iliad, the story of the Trojan War. In the beginning of the sacred Christian scriptural tradition is the Separation of Light from the Darkness, which some propose as referencing the heavenly war between the Angels and Devils. Cain slew his brother, David slew his ten thousands, dash the little Babylonians against the rock, all the war acts of Judas Machabeus are not written for they were very many, she comes terrible as an army set in array, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent bear it away.... War is more than human, it is real; it is an inherent quality of Reality until the Dies iræ.
So why this frog in my throat? Because I seek to do a beautiful thing at work, to program elegant software code or compose excellent flutter reports, so as to support the more beautiful thing, the raising of my family. But there is danger in the former beauty; I cannot control how others will use my work, either for good or ill. The answer I gave to my son's question was a bit more terse: "There are good men and bad men in the world. The bad men want to hurt others, including us. The good men go to protect us, and because of this they have to fight with the bad men. That is war." Paraphrasing Father Brown who was drawing from Saint Paul, the bad man is in us. I pray that only the good men, the ones who have warred with the bad man in themselves, view and use my work. With that I must be content, and I for my part will witness to the True, labor for the Good and realize the Beautiful.
All this introspection from a childish cartoon? I have different words to describe anime.
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