Anime may be entertainment, first and foremost. But art is almost always political. Anime is no exception.
Many of the most popular and beloved anime have explicit political ideologies. Sometimes theyโre expressed overtly. Other times they lurk beneath the surface. In this article, Iโll be exploring some of those anime, from the Marxist to the fascist and everything in between.
“Left” and “Right”: Cross-Cultural Context Matters
Good art doesnโt force an ideology on the viewer. Along those lines, many of the shows Iโll go on to discuss in the article are up for interpretation, and often are understood in ways that are very different from what the author may have intended. For the purpose of this article, Iโll be examining the politics in anime that the original creators explicitly or implicitly intended.
While “left” and “right” refer to similar ideologies in Japan and the U.S., we canโt ignore the culture gap. This can be seen in one of the major themes that most casual viewers pick up from watching anime: namely, pacifism. Pacifism in anime is often seen in a hyper-realistic depiction of the evils of war. This is a far cry from idealized depictions of war that are common in the U.S. This gap may stem from the Japanese experience of defeat in World War II. It means that shows that idealize the military may have a more explicitly right-wing tone to a Japanese viewer than an American one.
Additionally, Japanโs history of imperialism and allyship with Nazi Germany has inspired a lot of anime to depict fascism. This includes characters and countries that are obvious facsimiles for either imperial Japan or Nazi Germany. Representing such a charged history is going to naturally give shows explicit or implicit political themes.
One important trend that I wonโt be covering in this article is misogyny and sexualization. A lot of smart people have written about the objectification of women and the sexualization of children that can be commonplace in anime. (And Unseen Japan has tackled some of the objectification controversies surrounding anime and manga characters in Japan before.) While misogyny can be a part of far-right ideologies, itโs too much to unpack in this one article.
One last disclaimer: Iโm not a scholar, so this is purely based on my analysis and research from both Japanese and English language sources. Without any further ado, anime from the left and right!
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Antifascist Liberalism
Shows that idealize the military may have a more explicitly right-wing tone to a Japanese viewer than an American one. Share on XA common liberal-to-moderate-left leaning ideology seen in many popular and classic anime is what Iโll call โantifascist liberalism.โ These anime tend to have basic liberal values like portraying democracy as good and war as evil. They depict societies ruined by war and power-grabbing. The heroes fight against corrupt existing governments or conspiracies that use violence ruthlessly to achieve their goals. Itโs a broad pattern that can be seen in anime ranging from Naruto to Grave of the Fireflies. It’s anti-war, anti-fascist, and pro-democracy.
The hit anime Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (2009) is a great example.