In the first part of this post, I presented evidence to the
strong Christian undercurrent present in the storytelling of
Arpeggio of Blue Steel, complimenting the already broad list of
examples medievalotaku presented in his original blog post.
Because of those motives, medievalotaku views Arpeggio as a “spy
anime”.  However, I have my misgivings about the series being
branded as such. On the one hand, I would generally oppose the
idea of works of fiction being “spy anything”, since that
implies there being only one true interpretation, which is
untrue of any kind of deeper fiction. On the other hand, while
Arpeggio takes from the Christian worldview to create the
foundation of its setting and plot developments, it is not
afraid to criticize Christian ideals and discuss the present
state of Christianity.   One of the ways in which Arpeggio
transcends being a mere retelling and introduces its own ideas
is through its female lead: I-401 Iona. Unlike with Gunzou, the
obvious Christ figure of the show, it is not