Ask John: Do Americans Believe that Military Anime Reflects Japanese Politics?

Question:
I have a question to ask you from Japan, John-san. These days anime shows featuring Self Defence Force of Japan have increased. I’m curious how such military anime shows are consumed among the U.S. fan community. I’m afraid that not a few Americans seem to be concerned about the military power of our country. I’m interested how they see Japanese military anime purely as a military drama, apart from the viewpoint of politics.

I’m very curious their views of “Gasaraki,” which focused on SDF, and “Angel Cop” OVA, where major Jewish corporations plan to ruin Japan by dispatching a guerrilla band composed of communists.

Answer:
I may be ignorant of particular shows or recent trends in Japan, but I’m not aware of a significant recent rise in number of anime series dealing with Japanese military power. Since 2005, the only anime series I know of that has realistically dealt with the Japanese military has been Yomigaeru Sora. Other relatively recent series featuring Japanese military power including Tactical Roar, Innocent Venus, and Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu have been speculative science fiction series. Similarly, I don’t think that fantasy or giant robot titles like Tide-Line Blue, Glass no Kantai, Project Blue Chikyuu SOS, and Demonbane really reflect actual interest in the Japanese military. However, particularly titles like Innocent Venus, Zipang, and Gasaraki are noteable because of their attitude toward Japanese militarism. The Angel Cop OAV series is particularly noteable because of its overt anti-Semitism and extreme political spitefulness.

The 2006 Japanese political discussions about the legality of pre-emptive military action against North Korea briefly stirred American interest in the status of Japanese military power because the topic is a rarity in American news. However, as far as I can tell, international politics and the status of Japanese military power are remote concerns for the American anime fan community. The majority of America’s anime fan community consists of young adults, teens, and children to whom international politics are very or entirely foreign. At the least, anime seems to have little conjunction with concerns over the technicalities of the Japanese post war constitution in the minds of average American anime fans. To put it simply, American anime fans don’t think of anime in relation to real world Japanese politics. And military themed anime is typically not very popular in America.

The Zipang anime has a very small fan following in America. Interest in titles like Silent Service and Yomigaeru Sora is even less. Gasaraki, which deals heavily in Japanese political and military theory, has never been very successful in America, and it’s certainly not a popular title in America. In fact, in my experience, the majority of American anime fans dislike the Gasaraki anime series, calling it confusing and dull. Angel Cop is now out of print in America, and even when it was commonly available, it was never particularly popular. More importantly, the American release of the Angel Cop anime was censored. The subtitle and dub translations of the series were selectively edited to minimize or eliminate the potentially offensive anti-Semitic themes and statements made in the show.

I’m aware that this may be an unnecessarily long exposition to arrive at a simple conclusion, but I hope that it hasn’t been entirely uninteresting. In summation, I don’t believe that the American anime community has any particular opinion about the JSDF. The Japanese military is simply something that typical American anime fans don’t consciously think about to any significant extent.