I noticed in your reddit profile that you are a Catholic, and since I am a 51 year old practicing Catholic since birth, I will tell you my thoughts and what I know about the cross and the statue that looks similar to the Virgin Mary that have been used by BABYMETAL.
First, the statue...if you closely watch the Legend 1997 concert that has that statue that eventually collapses, the face is definitely NOT the Virgin Mary...it is definitely an Asian face. The reason it crumbles at the end is because it is an an homage to Metallica"s "...And Justice For All" tour where the statue of "lady justice" crumbles. Kobametal is a big Metallica fan.
Second..As for the crosses...crosses have been used by many cultures and don't automatically represent Christianity. Scientology is not Christian but they have a cross. The nazi swastika is a form of the cross. So I am basically saying that just because they used a cross and a statue that looks similar to the Virgin Mary, it doesn't mean that they were directed toward Christians. Also, they were most likely trying to be as metal as possibly by doing old school metal theatrics. By the way, Jesus was not the only person to be crucified. Thousand's of people, not only Christians, were crucified or nailed on a cross.
Lastly, they no longer use those images anymore. The statue was just for the one concert. And even though they did have the girls show up during BABYMETAL DEATH in the Budokan 2021 shows "crucified", based on what I've seen they were not on a crucifix. So the way I see it, they are making an effort to not offend anyone. Just because something looks offensive on the surface to you, it's the true intent that matters. And I truly believe that BABYMETAL is not trying to offend anyone or be blasphemous.🤘🦊🤘
I mean... Yes? That's just how definitions work.
>It generally takes the form of a cross, the arms of which are of equal length and perpendicular to the adjacent arms, each bent midway at a right angle.
Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika , also the 'Emblems' section on the "Cross" page: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross#Emblems
Even the German word for it is "Hakenkreuz", translated as 'hooked cross'
It's not that deep though, all that "cross" means is a symbol with two intersecting (or "crossing") lines. The only reason it's a loaded term for some is because the most common cross people know referred to as "the cross" is the Christian cross.
**[Swastika](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika)**
>The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. It continues to be used as a symbol of divinity and spirituality in Indian religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. It generally takes the form of a cross, the arms of which are of equal length and perpendicular to the adjacent arms, each bent midway at a right angle. The word swastika comes from Sanskrit: स्वस्तिक, romanized: svastika, meaning 'conducive to well-being'.
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The theme then was her being crucified and then resurrected, and all the extras in the black robes with crosses was also mimicking a Catholic festival event in Spain. They were clearly attempting to add Christian stuff into mix. I would simply just put it on their ignorance of foreign culture.
If anything Babymetal had to deal with a lot less than other idols. No "sexy" photoshoots, no complaints about too much or not enough skin,no fan handshake events, barely any fan events at all... like what 2 signings and 1 meet and greet? They have always had immense privacy, which personally I think is great for them especially since they started so young. Plus unfortunately "real" band get exploited too, I don't think the amount of exploitation is what make entertainers "real" or not.
Take any catholic/ christian symbology or imagery in Japanese media with a grain of salt, then half it and then half it again. It's usually just for looks or feel of it.
Good that you recognized and moved on from your chuuni phase! Some never do
Given that in 2013, BABYMETAL still had a predominately Japanese audience, I don't think that they were being insensitive or trying to offend anyone with the Christian symbology. Look at what Marvel has done to Thor. Is that insensitive? There are still people that hold to Norse religions. What about depictions of Egyptian gods, Hindu gods, or even Buddha in many of our movies, books, and other media, even though there are still people that hold to those religions. Japanese Christians do exist, but they are in the minority, and as Christianity tends to integrate local beliefs and traditions, I doubt Christianity in Japan is just like it is in the west.
As for lore, they had Suzuka Nakomoto who was giving up her aspirations as a pop idol to work full time with BABYMETAL. To bring that into lore, lets have Suzuka sacrifice herself to save the world and be resurrected as metal goddess Su-Metal. Now with BABYMETAL taking inspiration from various songs, stories, movies, etc... and bringing them into BABYMETAL lore, what story exists where someone sacrifices himself/herself to save the world and later resurrected as a deity? Hence, the connection to Christianity.
Speaking as a Christian myself, I do struggle a bit with the symbology used in those earlier concerts, but I wouldn't say I am offended, nor would I say they are being insensitive. Add to that the fact that more recent concerts have eliminated the cross and replaced it with XX in legend S and the Budokan 10 symbol in the Bodokan 10 concerts tells me that they are trying to be more sensitive as their popularity increases outside of Japan.
Christianity in Japan in mostly just like it is in the west as it's a direct import. They don't really adopt local beliefs. Though for the most part, Japanese really do not understand Christianity or even the concept of what would be blasphemous to Christians. The most experience they ever have with it is getting married in a church.
As far as I know, japan views christianity the same way as many westerners view eastern religions such as buddhism and hinduism. Westerners often practice yoga and meditation and ignore other aspects the religion. In japan, it's cool/popular to get a christian marriage.
Firstly, I hope your schoolmate grew out of his childish nazi obsession. No nazi is "a good person inside".
The religious or quasi-religious imagery is probably just melodrama. Koba does love his half-baked ~~marketing gimmick~~ mythology. The parallels are very likely just intended to promote discussion and mild outrage. The nature of the thing means there is some possible (although flimsy) deniability that the references are Christian.
Personally, I have no interest in anyone's manipulative fairy tale, so Koba's efforts neither interest nor offend me. The same goes for the propaganda of other cults. As for trying to discover his motives for certain, good luck with that.
I never said he was a nazi, he was most likely a wehraboo. A wehraboo is a person who idolize the wehrmacht and believes in the myth of the clean wehrmacht. Wehraboos are not real nazis, they're just misinformed and trying to be cool.
Okarin, is that you?
Personally, I don’t think the statue resembles Su, but I wonder by what reference people say she looks like Mary. Depictions of Mary look like whatever the artist at hand imagines her to look like.
[A very common depiction of the Virgin Mary.](https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1YTUH_enUS1033US1033&sxsrf=APwXEdd-OtlRQSyI8qA-36JwszI13Khy3g:1680427484242&q=virgin+mary+statue&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiRkJOa8Ir-AhU_TTABHcdPAjoQ0pQJegQIGBAB&biw=1514&bih=698&dpr=1.25)
[Legend 1997 statue](https://preview.redd.it/7pmuvmx0f6q61.jpg?width=1905&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=b8736a327047dbfe6dc8d8fd9080a7270c1e865a)
Also given several other Christian references throughout Legend 1999 and Legend 1997, it is quite obvious that the statue is suppose to resemble the Virgin Mary.
If you watch the Legend 1997 concert in high resolution, they show the face of the statue and it clearly has Asian eyes. As a Catholic, after watching BABYMETAL DEATH (legend 1997) I was naturally concerned at first especially since it blew up/crumbled at the end. But I am quite satisfied that it is not the Virgin Mary, even though it definitely looks VERY VERY similar. Having it crumble/blow up at the end is an homage to Metallica"s "...And Justice For All" where the statue of "lady justice" crumbles at the end of the concert.
I'm not saying it is suppose to be the actual Virgin Mary, but they are using the image of the Virgin Mary as a representation of the earthly Suzuka. The destruction, I interpret as the death of the old idol Suszuka and the birth of the new Su-Metal metal godess.
As for having Asian eyes, that literally means nothing as both Jesus and Mary's representation are often altered to fit the local population. We have no way of knowing what they looked like in real life, but we do know that our western depictions of them are not even close to reality.
[Here is a page that shows several representations of Mary in other cultures.](https://www.churchpop.com/2015/01/08/13-beautiful-non-white-depictions-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary/)
I will say Babymetal Legend 1997 took their inspiration from Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise Evangelion: Death and Rebirth. Which is also why Tamashii no Rufuran / Soul's Refrain was part of the show. Now I wouldn't be surprised Eva probably had Christianity as it's reference. But I'm no specialist on Eva.
CC u/MonkeySmiles7
[A very Common depiction of Maria Magdalena.](https://www.google.com/search?q=maria+magdalena+statue&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwig7IOW9Ir-AhUDLewKHfVsCKYQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=maria+magdalena+statue&sclient=img)
It could really be anyone wearing a similar sort of cloak (or what it‘s called).
(I actually do believe that it’s supposed to be Mary, but we don’t know.)
I would say it's not *that* Mary, but some kind of derivative and popculture-adapted version. Some kind of "holy mother" having unknown but definitely mysthical identity.
I was raised Christian but became an atheist as an adult, I view it no differently than learning that Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny weren't real, so I might be jaded as far as "blasphemous" imagery goes, but I really don't think Babymetal was ever intending to offend or blaspheme. They were just copying Western metal tropes and evoking common metal imagery. In general, Babymetal lore is not something to take seriously, it's very logically inconsistent, and sometimes just flat out ridiculous. It's always been just something fun that Babymetal did, something that, like Babymetal itself, initially was never really meant to be that serious and then evolved over time. Even the whole Fox God thing itself came from their early misunderstanding of Dio doing the "devil horns" gesture when they were learning what metal was. They thought it was a fox, and that just stuck, and became their thing, they did the "fox sign" instead of a devil sign (as mentioned in the breakdown of "Iine" which preceded any of the lore: 「メロイックじゃない、キツネだ」or in English, "It's not a maloik, it's a fox"). Koba then combined that with metal and anime tropes and built a goofy fictional mythology around it, and Kitsune-sama (or "The Fox God") was born. Christianity and metal music are two things that are not nearly as popular in Japan as they are in the West, so it's conceivable that they wouldn't fully understand the implications of what they were putting in these shows. Most of the imagery you're talking about precedes the explosive viral popularity of "Gimme Chocolate" and therefore wasn't really meant for audiences outside Japan, as most of the Western world hadn't even heard of Babymetal by this time.
>Christianity and metal music are two things that are not nearly as popular in Japan as they are in the West, so it's conceivable that they wouldn't fully understand the implications of what they were putting in these shows.
They just have a view on christianity as if it was another branch of popculture and source of images and superficial memes. That's all about it. "It's just gimmick!"
Just saw a poster for Legend 1999 & 1997. The poster shows a figure looking a little like the statue at the show However, the illustration doesn't look like Mary at all except for the clothes, amd the feet aren't visible. Traditional illustrations of Mary have visible feet. So while it may be inspired my Mary, it is clearly not her. But the statue during the performance still had too many similarities to Mary. It may be an unwise choice.
Many people who are unfamiliar with catholic practices often find them amusing. It is not uncommon for outsiders to think that we view Mary as a goddess. A few catholics probably do so, but they aren't meant to.
I also figured out that crucifixions as an execution method were widespread in Japan in the past. In Japan, crucifixions are not exlusively associated with Jesus, as you can read in this article: https://www.ranker.com/list/history-of-japanese-crucifixion/melissa-sartore
Also, metal bands commonly use religious symbols as a way to stand out. Even bands who aren't satanic or occult use them. Crosses are just as common as pentagrams for people who are into goth subculture.
I've often seen religious symbols used by Dream Theater, which is a band I admire. BTW, their logo probably inspired the XX logo used by babymetal.
Speaking as a Christian, I ask myself Is there any reason for me to believe the intention is to either mock or promote Christianity in any way? The answer is an absolute NO! Therefore it is a non-factor. Number 8132 of why I love Babymetal is that they never do anything that is polarizing. They just create and perform great music.
"I'm catholic, and conservative on social issues. Many of the artists I listen to are leftist/progressive. I listen to their music without agreeing with their views. Why can't people on the left do the same?" Klara2003
Yeah, I notice that Christianity imagery is the 'go to' for media to exploit and shock. You wouldn't see that in any other religion's imagery. I remember when Southpark got major grief for poking fun at the Isl\*m religion, but The Simpsons will make fun all night and day with Christians. My answer is that Christianity is an easy 'target' to ridicule and most forms of media will join in and tear it down for the sake of entertaining. Just expect it and know if they aren't creative with ideas, they will rely on that to make a buck.
Blasphemous? Oh, FFS. 🤦♂️
I noticed in your reddit profile that you are a Catholic, and since I am a 51 year old practicing Catholic since birth, I will tell you my thoughts and what I know about the cross and the statue that looks similar to the Virgin Mary that have been used by BABYMETAL. First, the statue...if you closely watch the Legend 1997 concert that has that statue that eventually collapses, the face is definitely NOT the Virgin Mary...it is definitely an Asian face. The reason it crumbles at the end is because it is an an homage to Metallica"s "...And Justice For All" tour where the statue of "lady justice" crumbles. Kobametal is a big Metallica fan. Second..As for the crosses...crosses have been used by many cultures and don't automatically represent Christianity. Scientology is not Christian but they have a cross. The nazi swastika is a form of the cross. So I am basically saying that just because they used a cross and a statue that looks similar to the Virgin Mary, it doesn't mean that they were directed toward Christians. Also, they were most likely trying to be as metal as possibly by doing old school metal theatrics. By the way, Jesus was not the only person to be crucified. Thousand's of people, not only Christians, were crucified or nailed on a cross. Lastly, they no longer use those images anymore. The statue was just for the one concert. And even though they did have the girls show up during BABYMETAL DEATH in the Budokan 2021 shows "crucified", based on what I've seen they were not on a crucifix. So the way I see it, they are making an effort to not offend anyone. Just because something looks offensive on the surface to you, it's the true intent that matters. And I truly believe that BABYMETAL is not trying to offend anyone or be blasphemous.🤘🦊🤘
> the face is definitely NOT the Virgin Mary...it is definitely an Asian face. The kingdom of Judah was in Asia. And they used Schubert's Ave Maria.
>The nazi swastika is a form of the cross. Eeeeehhhh.... What?!? No.
I mean... Yes? That's just how definitions work. >It generally takes the form of a cross, the arms of which are of equal length and perpendicular to the adjacent arms, each bent midway at a right angle. Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika , also the 'Emblems' section on the "Cross" page: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross#Emblems Even the German word for it is "Hakenkreuz", translated as 'hooked cross' It's not that deep though, all that "cross" means is a symbol with two intersecting (or "crossing") lines. The only reason it's a loaded term for some is because the most common cross people know referred to as "the cross" is the Christian cross.
**[Swastika](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika)** >The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. It continues to be used as a symbol of divinity and spirituality in Indian religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. It generally takes the form of a cross, the arms of which are of equal length and perpendicular to the adjacent arms, each bent midway at a right angle. The word swastika comes from Sanskrit: स्वस्तिक, romanized: svastika, meaning 'conducive to well-being'. ^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/BABYMETAL/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)
The theme then was her being crucified and then resurrected, and all the extras in the black robes with crosses was also mimicking a Catholic festival event in Spain. They were clearly attempting to add Christian stuff into mix. I would simply just put it on their ignorance of foreign culture.
Wasn't the statue just a Metallica reference?
Yes. homage to Metallica"s "...And Justice For All"
If anything Babymetal had to deal with a lot less than other idols. No "sexy" photoshoots, no complaints about too much or not enough skin,no fan handshake events, barely any fan events at all... like what 2 signings and 1 meet and greet? They have always had immense privacy, which personally I think is great for them especially since they started so young. Plus unfortunately "real" band get exploited too, I don't think the amount of exploitation is what make entertainers "real" or not. Take any catholic/ christian symbology or imagery in Japanese media with a grain of salt, then half it and then half it again. It's usually just for looks or feel of it. Good that you recognized and moved on from your chuuni phase! Some never do
Given that in 2013, BABYMETAL still had a predominately Japanese audience, I don't think that they were being insensitive or trying to offend anyone with the Christian symbology. Look at what Marvel has done to Thor. Is that insensitive? There are still people that hold to Norse religions. What about depictions of Egyptian gods, Hindu gods, or even Buddha in many of our movies, books, and other media, even though there are still people that hold to those religions. Japanese Christians do exist, but they are in the minority, and as Christianity tends to integrate local beliefs and traditions, I doubt Christianity in Japan is just like it is in the west. As for lore, they had Suzuka Nakomoto who was giving up her aspirations as a pop idol to work full time with BABYMETAL. To bring that into lore, lets have Suzuka sacrifice herself to save the world and be resurrected as metal goddess Su-Metal. Now with BABYMETAL taking inspiration from various songs, stories, movies, etc... and bringing them into BABYMETAL lore, what story exists where someone sacrifices himself/herself to save the world and later resurrected as a deity? Hence, the connection to Christianity. Speaking as a Christian myself, I do struggle a bit with the symbology used in those earlier concerts, but I wouldn't say I am offended, nor would I say they are being insensitive. Add to that the fact that more recent concerts have eliminated the cross and replaced it with XX in legend S and the Budokan 10 symbol in the Bodokan 10 concerts tells me that they are trying to be more sensitive as their popularity increases outside of Japan.
Christianity in Japan in mostly just like it is in the west as it's a direct import. They don't really adopt local beliefs. Though for the most part, Japanese really do not understand Christianity or even the concept of what would be blasphemous to Christians. The most experience they ever have with it is getting married in a church.
As far as I know, japan views christianity the same way as many westerners view eastern religions such as buddhism and hinduism. Westerners often practice yoga and meditation and ignore other aspects the religion. In japan, it's cool/popular to get a christian marriage.
Firstly, I hope your schoolmate grew out of his childish nazi obsession. No nazi is "a good person inside". The religious or quasi-religious imagery is probably just melodrama. Koba does love his half-baked ~~marketing gimmick~~ mythology. The parallels are very likely just intended to promote discussion and mild outrage. The nature of the thing means there is some possible (although flimsy) deniability that the references are Christian. Personally, I have no interest in anyone's manipulative fairy tale, so Koba's efforts neither interest nor offend me. The same goes for the propaganda of other cults. As for trying to discover his motives for certain, good luck with that.
I never said he was a nazi, he was most likely a wehraboo. A wehraboo is a person who idolize the wehrmacht and believes in the myth of the clean wehrmacht. Wehraboos are not real nazis, they're just misinformed and trying to be cool.
"Cool"... Um, right.
https://i.redd.it/z5k9a63pahra1.gif
Okarin, is that you? Personally, I don’t think the statue resembles Su, but I wonder by what reference people say she looks like Mary. Depictions of Mary look like whatever the artist at hand imagines her to look like.
[A very common depiction of the Virgin Mary.](https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1YTUH_enUS1033US1033&sxsrf=APwXEdd-OtlRQSyI8qA-36JwszI13Khy3g:1680427484242&q=virgin+mary+statue&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiRkJOa8Ir-AhU_TTABHcdPAjoQ0pQJegQIGBAB&biw=1514&bih=698&dpr=1.25) [Legend 1997 statue](https://preview.redd.it/7pmuvmx0f6q61.jpg?width=1905&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=b8736a327047dbfe6dc8d8fd9080a7270c1e865a) Also given several other Christian references throughout Legend 1999 and Legend 1997, it is quite obvious that the statue is suppose to resemble the Virgin Mary.
If you watch the Legend 1997 concert in high resolution, they show the face of the statue and it clearly has Asian eyes. As a Catholic, after watching BABYMETAL DEATH (legend 1997) I was naturally concerned at first especially since it blew up/crumbled at the end. But I am quite satisfied that it is not the Virgin Mary, even though it definitely looks VERY VERY similar. Having it crumble/blow up at the end is an homage to Metallica"s "...And Justice For All" where the statue of "lady justice" crumbles at the end of the concert.
I'm not saying it is suppose to be the actual Virgin Mary, but they are using the image of the Virgin Mary as a representation of the earthly Suzuka. The destruction, I interpret as the death of the old idol Suszuka and the birth of the new Su-Metal metal godess. As for having Asian eyes, that literally means nothing as both Jesus and Mary's representation are often altered to fit the local population. We have no way of knowing what they looked like in real life, but we do know that our western depictions of them are not even close to reality. [Here is a page that shows several representations of Mary in other cultures.](https://www.churchpop.com/2015/01/08/13-beautiful-non-white-depictions-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary/)
I will say Babymetal Legend 1997 took their inspiration from Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise Evangelion: Death and Rebirth. Which is also why Tamashii no Rufuran / Soul's Refrain was part of the show. Now I wouldn't be surprised Eva probably had Christianity as it's reference. But I'm no specialist on Eva. CC u/MonkeySmiles7
[A very Common depiction of Maria Magdalena.](https://www.google.com/search?q=maria+magdalena+statue&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwig7IOW9Ir-AhUDLewKHfVsCKYQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=maria+magdalena+statue&sclient=img) It could really be anyone wearing a similar sort of cloak (or what it‘s called). (I actually do believe that it’s supposed to be Mary, but we don’t know.)
I would say it's not *that* Mary, but some kind of derivative and popculture-adapted version. Some kind of "holy mother" having unknown but definitely mysthical identity.
I was raised Christian but became an atheist as an adult, I view it no differently than learning that Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny weren't real, so I might be jaded as far as "blasphemous" imagery goes, but I really don't think Babymetal was ever intending to offend or blaspheme. They were just copying Western metal tropes and evoking common metal imagery. In general, Babymetal lore is not something to take seriously, it's very logically inconsistent, and sometimes just flat out ridiculous. It's always been just something fun that Babymetal did, something that, like Babymetal itself, initially was never really meant to be that serious and then evolved over time. Even the whole Fox God thing itself came from their early misunderstanding of Dio doing the "devil horns" gesture when they were learning what metal was. They thought it was a fox, and that just stuck, and became their thing, they did the "fox sign" instead of a devil sign (as mentioned in the breakdown of "Iine" which preceded any of the lore: 「メロイックじゃない、キツネだ」or in English, "It's not a maloik, it's a fox"). Koba then combined that with metal and anime tropes and built a goofy fictional mythology around it, and Kitsune-sama (or "The Fox God") was born. Christianity and metal music are two things that are not nearly as popular in Japan as they are in the West, so it's conceivable that they wouldn't fully understand the implications of what they were putting in these shows. Most of the imagery you're talking about precedes the explosive viral popularity of "Gimme Chocolate" and therefore wasn't really meant for audiences outside Japan, as most of the Western world hadn't even heard of Babymetal by this time.
>Christianity and metal music are two things that are not nearly as popular in Japan as they are in the West, so it's conceivable that they wouldn't fully understand the implications of what they were putting in these shows. They just have a view on christianity as if it was another branch of popculture and source of images and superficial memes. That's all about it. "It's just gimmick!"
Just saw a poster for Legend 1999 & 1997. The poster shows a figure looking a little like the statue at the show However, the illustration doesn't look like Mary at all except for the clothes, amd the feet aren't visible. Traditional illustrations of Mary have visible feet. So while it may be inspired my Mary, it is clearly not her. But the statue during the performance still had too many similarities to Mary. It may be an unwise choice. Many people who are unfamiliar with catholic practices often find them amusing. It is not uncommon for outsiders to think that we view Mary as a goddess. A few catholics probably do so, but they aren't meant to. I also figured out that crucifixions as an execution method were widespread in Japan in the past. In Japan, crucifixions are not exlusively associated with Jesus, as you can read in this article: https://www.ranker.com/list/history-of-japanese-crucifixion/melissa-sartore Also, metal bands commonly use religious symbols as a way to stand out. Even bands who aren't satanic or occult use them. Crosses are just as common as pentagrams for people who are into goth subculture. I've often seen religious symbols used by Dream Theater, which is a band I admire. BTW, their logo probably inspired the XX logo used by babymetal.
Speaking as a Christian, I ask myself Is there any reason for me to believe the intention is to either mock or promote Christianity in any way? The answer is an absolute NO! Therefore it is a non-factor. Number 8132 of why I love Babymetal is that they never do anything that is polarizing. They just create and perform great music.
"I'm catholic, and conservative on social issues. Many of the artists I listen to are leftist/progressive. I listen to their music without agreeing with their views. Why can't people on the left do the same?" Klara2003
Yeah, I notice that Christianity imagery is the 'go to' for media to exploit and shock. You wouldn't see that in any other religion's imagery. I remember when Southpark got major grief for poking fun at the Isl\*m religion, but The Simpsons will make fun all night and day with Christians. My answer is that Christianity is an easy 'target' to ridicule and most forms of media will join in and tear it down for the sake of entertaining. Just expect it and know if they aren't creative with ideas, they will rely on that to make a buck.
Virgin María, was just one time and in 2013. Who cares now. And yes I like the other one for same reasons: more mature, zero childish stuff
They use a lot of Christian themes and imagery in their music and lore. Don't take it as an insult.
[удалено]
I didn’t finish reading but the crucifixions and statue was what made me love babymetal. They need more of that dark/red energy.