Ask John: Do the Bullied Ever Fight Back?

Question:
Are there anime which strongly deal with the topic of bullying and which have a strong anti-bullying message? The closest I can think of is Beck, whose protagonist is long-suffering and acts meek and humble and turns the other cheek virtually every time he gets bullied by other students, yet he never really stands up to any of his bullies and seems to just let most of them walk all over him without even a whimper of protest. So, is there an anime equivalent to “Revenge of the Nerds” or “Angus?”

Answer:
Childhood is hard in every culture. Humans have a competitive instinct, and adolescents don’t yet have the maturity or self-discipline to curb their antagonism or comprehend its consequences. Bullying in Japanese schools is just as commonplace as it is in American schools, as is the institutionalized willful ignorance of the misfortune. A singular difference, however, lies within the cultural framework that dictates appropriate response to bullying. Americans are culturally encouraged to be independent, self-justified, and able to defend themselves against tyranny, whether governmental, criminal, social, or from peer networks. Japanese culture indoctrinates a sense of communal selflessness, of not standing out, not being independent. So while the American reaction to bullying is to propagate both social awareness and individual assertiveness, the Japanese response is strictly social consideration. The 2011 Ijime ~Ikenie no Kyoushitsu~ OVA and 2012 Shinranpuri TV special both specifically revolve around school bullying. Both anime depict characters that oppose bullying but do nothing to stop it, only expressing their empathy for the victim after the fact. These two anime do not encourage the victim to fight back, be assertive, or be defensive. Both of these anime rather attempt to convince the surrounding society that victimizing an individual is shameful and immoral. Anime including the 2002 Koroshiya Ichi Episode Zero OVA, 2003 Narutaru television series, 2004 Elfen Lied episode 8, and last year’s Psycho-Pass all depict a victim of harsh bullying eventually fighting back. Yet these anime criticize the victim’s response, depicting the victim’s surge of assertive defensiveness as extreme and even more vicious and unjustified than the original bullying. Unlike series such as Accel World, Gokusen, Heroman, and Kimi no Todoke, in which the victim of bullying either silently endures the punishment or is rescued from persecution by a classmate or external force, or the aforementioned Narutaru, Elfen Lied, and Koroshiya Ichi that depict the victim over-reacting with unreasonable force, two different 1996 anime depict a middle-ground response. The Hana Yori Dango anime series is actually the only anime I can immediately recollect that commends the victim of bullying for standing up for herself and refusing to accept victimization. Makino Tsukushi retorts in kind, refusing to allow herself to be victimized. But she doesn’t over-react and, as a result, gains the respect of her tormentors. Seiichirou Kitano in the two-episode Angel Densetsu OVA series ends up standing up to his bullies largely by bizarre coincidence and circumstance, not over-reacting but also not consciously trying to defend himself from bullying.