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[When video turns on, Jaime doesn't exactly greet the network with a smile, but he doesn't look distinctly unhappy either -- just a little contemplative, in his own way. He still gives the screen a little wave, though, seated comfortably at his desk. It's where he winds up posting most of the time.]

Hey, guys. I was thinking about something the other day, and I figure some people here might have answers. See, back home, me and my family? We went to Church every Sunday, but once I got here...

[He just shrugs with a tiny grimace that says every excuse anyone ever has, but really boils down to: he got lazy.]

Nnnnnnot so much. But I figure that other people here must've gone to something back home, like a Mosque, or Synagogue, or whatever five thousand other religions there's gotta be. Has anyone actually bothered trying to keep it up once you got here? It's probably harder if your religion isn't an Earth religion, but I'm sure you guys have ways of keeping it up. I feel like it'd be kinda hard to just pop into a Church somewhere too, like they'll make as big a deal out of the whole imPort thing as everyone else here.

[He pauses for a second, looking as if he's going to say something, but he seems to change his mind halfway through.]

Oh! And I know there are some people around here who are technically Gods, like we've got at home? But they're still kind of... well, not human, but, I guess, available? Like the New Gods? [He flaps one hand at the camera.] Thaaaat's not really the sort of religious thing I'm talking about, but maybe you guys have your own rituals too.

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I'm sure if you went to a church in a city like De Chima or Nonah, nobody would mind. I think there's a problem if a religious groups tries to treat you differently just because you're from a different world.

Only on Sundays though? Was there a special reason for that?

I think so too. If they did, it'd be sort of missing the point.

[Everyone is here for the soothing of their soul -- ooh, look, a celebrity!]

People who're really religious go every day, but most of us go Sundays 'cause that's supposed to be the day of rest, and that's when they have the big service. There's a lot of technical reasons for it, but these days, I think it's got a lot to do with the fact that people're working nearly every other day.

Services? Oh, so they're organized things. It's Christianity...?

Yeah, that's right. And the service is where the Pastor gives a sermon to a whole group of us.

Christianity's a monotheistic religion, right? It's interesting how different that is from what we have in Japan. Were you thinking about going to church again or something?

Thinking about it, yeah. It's been around a year now, and...

[And he craves something bigger to hold onto, in the wake of so many things that seem so utterly out of his control.]

I kinda miss it, I guess. Did you go to --

[Oh, no. What religion do they practice in Japan? Buddhism? That sounds right, but he's not sure.]

I actually don't know where you'd go, in Japan. I guess I should be asking if you're religious, Ken.

I think it's worth a try. You might find it fun or comforting since it's something familiar to you.

[Ken's sitting at his own desk, too, tapping his pencil against an open notebook page. It's got writing in it, but it's Japanese and upside down from Jaime's point of view but there are doodles of what look like faces to one side.]

And um... I guess, if we're defining "religion" as something similar to Christianity, then the answer's no, but I still went to the shrine at Iwatodai every day. Technically, that's a place of worship for shintoism. [He trails off there, raising his pencil to chew briefly on the end of it, then he lowers it to tap on the paper again.]

Pretty much anybody Japanese would go to a church, though, I think, but nobody does that sort of thing while thinking, "I'm shintoist."

Oh. [He looks a little curiously at those doodles. He didn't know that Ken liked to draw. He can't really make out whether or not he's any good at it yet, but it seems like a nice thing for him to pick up.]

You know, I've never actually heard of shintoism. Did you go to the shrine for a reason, or was it just because you liked it there?

Mm. I don't think it's very well known, at least not as much as western or other eastern religions. You'll probably hear about Buddhism more.

[They're cute doodles! But none you'd really call good. Ken's no superb artist. But the one closest to the camera looks suspicious like it has bull horns, and the one next to it is a dog.]

And well, the Naganaki shrine was where the priest and Koromaru lived, and I definitely went there to pray. That's probably a little different from your praying, though.

Yeah, Buddhism's the one I was thinking of.

[Because he's uncultured swine.]

Would you mind telling me what praying's like for you, then? I'd like to know.

Sure. Um, I think I should start by explaining that I don't think we really think about things in terms of religion. Whether we're visiting a Buddhist temple or a Shinto shrine, it's customary to pay our respects, and a lot of people will go to both.

I guess that's what it is. Customary, and paying respect? I mostly started visiting Naganaki Shrine because that's where my mom's grave is, but since I stepped foot on that sacred ground, it'll be rude to come and go without thanking the god there for their hospitality. It's not really about faith.

[When he actually prayed and made any sort of communication with That Side, it was stuff like asking his mother to watch over him back when he was still a ball of vengeance and that-- they don't need to talk about that.]

So... it's more about tradition than it is actually believing? Is that what you mean?

[The way Ken is describing it is just so foreign to him. Gods, but not gods you believe in, paying respect to something you don't worship...]

Or is it that you believe in them, but you just don't think about them unless you're on their ground?

Mm, I guess it's kind of like that.

I mean, it's not like we know whether the gods really exist or not. They might. They might just be stories people made up in the past to explain natural disasters. But we'll never really know so we might as well pay our respects just in case. In the past, people would pray it make offerings to the god that protected their village or lived in the area because if you angered them, they might keep the crops from growing as punishment. But you'd also want to pray to the war god Bishamonten if you wanted their blessing in war. A lot of students ask gods like Tenjin to give them luck for exams because he's the god of teaching. If they're actually there, they might help us. If they're not, they're just not.

I think a lot more people in the West do that than you probably think, too. It's just not so open. People who aren't really sure about God - or gods - figure that it can't hurt to believe.

[Jaime's in that boat... sort of. He's not sure what he thinks, or that if there is the God, if they're even listening.]

I guess that's a natural thing. Religions all over the world probably have a lot in common.

Anyway, um, I don't think I know enough about your religion to really compare, but I think you're right when you say it's tradition. I don't really think about it when I do it -- when I go to the shrine, I think I 'talk' more to my mom than any real god.

Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense.

[It's nowhere near the same level, but Jaime had done the same thing when his grandma had died. He'd been young, and she'd died of old age, as peaceful as she could have gone, but he still liked the idea she could hear him.]

Do you still do that here?

I've done it a few times, yeah. Someone told me before that she's always with me [he gestures to the front of his shirt to demonstrate the "in his heart" part that Kotetsu told hkm] and that's not really the sort of sentiment I usually think about, but I guess it's a similar idea.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking about too. It's a little harder if you don't have a specific place for it, but... it's a good thing to do, I think. And it's like you said -- you don't know if she can hear you, but you don't know that she can't, either. So why not?

Yeah. If she can hear me, I don't want her to get lonely if I stopped talking to her. That's kind of how it is, in Japan. People are really sensitive about the spirits of things, so a lot of people would have altars in their own houses for passed away family members. Um, usually at the house of the head of the family. You can light incense for them, say hello, that sort of stuff...

That sounds really nice. If they really can see those things, I'm sure they really appreciate it.

[Jaime does, at least, sound genuine. A little altar for incense and deep thought sounds like a positive sort of thing to him. He wonders if anyone set anything like that up for Shinji, after...

Maybe Akihiko did.]

Did you have anything like that set up in the dorms?

Huh? Oh-- an altar?

No, a dormitory wouldn't be an appropriate place for that. People come and go, so it's not permanent enough for the spirits -- altars are private things for families to set aside a place for their ancestors. Um, for example, your parents could have an altar for your family, and your grandma would have a place there. But you wouldn't have your family's altar at your school, right? And your friends wouldn't put their family's altar in your house, either.

Yeah. Yeah, I guess that makes sense. That would make it pretty tricky to have a set-up here, then, wouldn't it? You never know how things go...

[And who will be left behind for upkeep. There's little sadder than any place of remembrance gone forgotten, left in disarray. They visit the graveyard where his grandmother is buried sometimes, and he always feels the need to tidy up the graves around hers.]

Unless you get a more permanent place, I s'pose you'll just carry them with you.

That's what the shrine is for. My mom's resting place is at Naganaki, and I wouldn't want to disturb her.

Anyway... I guess. I don't know if most of us from SEES are even into that sort of thing, but if it were me, I'd want to make sure I was settled before I thought about something like that.

That makes sense. And I'm sure that everyone else has their own ways of doing things, and remembering the people who aren't here anymore.

[Minato's parents, Shinji's parents, Akihiko's parents and little sister, Ken's Mom... they're just a bunch of outcasts and orphans, aren't they? At least they have each other to lean on while they remember the people who are gone.]

It's kinda nice that everyone has their own rituals, don't you think?

Yeah. [Ken glances down a moment, looks up again, and he grins.]

There's a ritual for every bond. If someone's going to put in that effort to remember, then that means there was a bond. I think that's nice -- even if you can't be with them physically, whether it's because of death, or even if you just move away, that bond never disappears.

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