Tag: Attack on Titan

Militarism in Shounen Anime

In light of all the controversy surrounding Attack On Titan, it is hard to ignore militarism/fascism in Anime. It is one of those things where it is hard not to notice once it has been pointed out to you. With all that said, people vastly exaggerated it for Attack On Titan, but it is still worth taking a closer look into since it fits a larger pattern within the genre.

Compared to other countries, Japanese Anime has a shocking number of shows dedicated to children serving in the army. Or, if not the army, some other organization like The Demon Slayer Corpse in Demon Slayer, or the Hunter Association in Hunter X Hunter, or the Postal Service in Tegami Bachi. However, if you are looking for directly serving in the army, Attack on Titan, Black Clover, and FullMetal Alchemist are your best examples. You would be hard-pressed to find many examples like this in western media.

Many people draw this as a correlation between imperial Japan and the culture of that time. However, the times have changed, and sub-text is essential to understand. A surface-level plot summary may have people hesitant since there is a trend of literally depicts children fighting in wars. Rather than glorify war and nationalism, these shows often pose philosophical questions that are critical of fascism.

The de facto best example of this would be Fullmetal Alchemist. The country where our protagonists live is based on WW2 era Germany, and the ruler had title Fuhrer. In fact, in a FMA movie, the parallel dimension of their country was Hitler’s Germany. Yet, despite these parallels, nobody would say that the show was pro-fascist. This is because our protagonists were skeptical of authority and refused to cave blind ideology. The Elric brothers ended up changing the country for the better, and not once did they become mindless “military dogs” –a term given towards state Alchemists.

This brings us back to Attack on Titan. The issue with this show is that it put itself into a morally gray zone by mid-season 4. Attack On Titan started as a black and white fight against monsters. But, AOT has evolved into a vast geopolitical dispute where characters on both sides can be viewed in a negative light. This complexity reflects the reality of geopolitics in the real world. Each country has a long and complex history, and balancing everyone’s interests is hard to do. However, Attack on Titan has conveyed this vast story while not glorifying the imperialistic country of Marley, and not praising the violent and rash tendencies of Eric. AOT does an excellent job at depicting the humanity of both sides and the suffering that this conflict has caused.

Shounen titles like Hunter X Hunter, and Demon Slayer, have had great success without invoking strong war imagery. However, I don’t think it is fair to race to the conclusion that something is fascist since it depicts war from the perspective of a country that isn’t a democracy. It is possible to both tell a war story and be critical of war at the same time. People

The subtext is vital to discuss, and it is not just Anime. Several avengers movies have received similar criticism due to their portrayal of the US military. Moreover, if you look at American media at large, you will find an infatuation with law enforcement and the military. But, we can save analyzing American media for another blog post.

Attack on Titan: Season 4 Part One

Season 4 was shocking– nearly unidentifiable from season one. Rather than a story about saving humanity from man-eating monsters, Attack on Titan has become a complex geopolitical war thriller that touches on universal concepts of human nature and what it means to be free. There is nothing to not love about season 4. There is a lot to unpack from season 4, part one, and I don’t think a single post could ever do it justice.

No post about season 4 can avoid discussing the character transformation of Eren. Season 4 takes place four years after the conclusion of season three. And in that time Eren changed from a hurt angsty teenager to a cold-blooded war criminal who is willing to sacrifice everything to bring the end of titans.

This shocking change in Erin hurt me. We see the naïve shounen protagonist that we are all cheering for turn into a monster willing to kill civilians and even plans on using his powers to turn all eldians infertile in his euthanasia plan. Unlike the Game of Thrones ending where Daenerys Targaryen changed suddenly, the change of Erin felt natural since it makes sense given the context and it was foreshadowed.

It is prevalent for shounen protagonists to have a tragic back story. Consider Tanjiro in Demon Slayer or the Elric brothers in Fullmetal Alchemist. Despite tragic, painful backstories, the heroes never towards revenge or sinister because of their past. I was expecting the same thing to happen to Erin, he would come out of his funk and become the shounen character this genre expects, but I think it is too late for Erin to change.

Within the first few episodes of the first season, Erin had his home taken from him, watched his mom get eaten by a monster. All he had left were his two friends. But, the world is a cruel place, and Erin suffered more. Driven by the burning desire to kill titans, he joined the military at a young age and watched scores of men die gruesome deaths. These problems only became exacerbated by the fact that he himself inherited the powers of the founder titan from his father. No longer is he just a soldier; he bears the burden of protecting the entire island of Paradis from threats both foreign and domestic. On top of all that, he has faced betrayals from close comrades, and hundreds of people have died to save his life.

Simply put, it makes total sense that Erin would make the drastic change that he did in season 4. That puts the story in an interesting place since we no longer know who is right and who to cheer for. This is commonly known as the Rashomon effect, a story where from the view of each character, they are in the right. From this point of view, the story can discuss issues such as: human nature, genocide, freedom, war. Each of these topics themselves warrants a full blog post. Amazingly, Attack on Titan has managed to build up such a complex story with a vast set of characters while never feeling overbearing or disconnected.

Attack on Titan Season 3

This post is going to discuss through season three of Attack on Titan, spoilers warning.

Season one of Attack on Titan pulled you into the universe and captivated you. It was fast-paced, and the action was breathtaking. At first, I was hesitant about a show where you were fighting giants, but this blew away all my expectations and then some. It had me at the edge of my seat, yearning to see where this story would take it. Season two slowed down a bit and built up the supporting characters in an emotional way.

Season three. Season three was a piece of art. It had great action, and it was emotionally thrilling at the same time. This was no longer your typical shounen title. It elevated itself to be on the same level as Fullmetal Alchemist. And to understand why it is worth it to look at the world-building and the nuanced discussion of themes discussed during the show.

Attack on Titan could have easily fallen into tropes and had a very one-dimensional antagonist. It is quite literally in the title of the show; they are fighting titans. Titans = bad. End of the story. However, as the show goes on, the plot thickens. And oh boy, does the plot thicken. Yes, season one had us fighting giants, but there was always an era of mystery to it. Why did Eren turn into a titan? What are all these flashbacks about? What is in the basement? Who is trying to destroy the wall? What was once a one-dimensional villain became anything but that.

After learning about the Eldian empire’s bloody rise to power with titans, the first kings’ pacifism and tyrannical rule, the genocide of the Eldian people by the Marley empire builds layered complexity to the antagonist. Who is in the right? What happens next, now that we learn that the biggest enemy is not Titans but a hostile country that has far superior technology. How does Eldia recover after being isolate from the rest of the world for over 100 years? Was isolation their only option?

I loved the continual debate throughout the show about what it means to be free and live a life with meaning. The walls were described as a cage and the people cattle. Eren yearned to get outside of the walls to experience the vast world. To Eren and Armin, being free means experiencing the world. After learning all this Eren, he finished season three by saying this:

And just across that sea, freedom is waiting. That is what I always believed, at least. But I was wrong. I know what is across the sea now– it is our enemies. Everything we see is exactly as it was in my fathers’ memories… Hey, if we did cross the sea, and we killed our enemies; after that, would we finally be free?

— Eren