Anime

Do all anime movies have apocalyptic endings? I recently saw Metropolis; I won't give away too much by saying that, as in Akira and Princess Mononoke, the only other anime films I've seen, the entire world is threatened by a superhuman force out of control. I wonder if the Japanese are so sick of their hyper-urbanized existence that they secretely yearn for it all to come crashing down. Or it could simply be that my sample size is too small. Walker Percy saw a correlation between technological achievement and lust, which might also explain the Japanese obsession with porn.

By the way, one more instance of overt religiosity here: an Assembly of God church in town is going to show a Christian anime movie called Game Over. I told K. at work I'd go with him.

Do the Flaming Lips like anime? I'm wondering about "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots." My first listen to the album was promising; they use retro-synths like Stereolab and write flower-power style harmonies along the lines of Sgt. Pepper's or Pet Sounds. Not the sound you would associate with a group from Oklahoma.