The polarization and criticism isn't unfounded as it comes off as 3 parts:
Hey there fellow kids!
Have you heard about our lord and savior jesus, totally not a sponsored ad.
We totally have no perception of reality with the infamous history of kids and churches.
This just reminds me of When Art Restoration Goes South in that the Vatican REALLY should've asked people and perhaps professionals in the Anime sphere before going all in on this idea, although with the blowup in free publicity maybe this would still be considered a win for the Vatican?
Yep, I can't believe it is (according to the article) kind of working for some people. It's just a mascot for one of the most powerful religious organizations that's ever existed.
You don't get to be cute now to appeal to the kids. To me, this is blue raspberry flavored cigarettes, just as calculated and insidious.
I seen a suspicious white cargo van parked outside an elementary school near my house. Someone had spray painted "Free Anime's" on the side, in an apparent attempt to lure children. I called the police but they said it was fine; it was just the local priest.
What's to understand? Euphoric fedora tippers will shit themselves to death about anything connected to religion as a point of principle and papists will defend anything Catholic to the death, usually other peoples' deaths.