The intricate relation between anime and conservatism: An Indian Perspective

(Pic: Lelouch Vi Britannia, from the anime “Code:Geass”, a nationalist personality who wanted to liberate Japan from the rule of Britannia. Similar to Subash Chandra Bose, from the Indian viewpoint.)

Anime as an entertainment medium has gained remarkable popularity in the last two decades. It has evolved as a Japanese hallmark — contributing significantly to its soft power, spreading Japanese art styles and culture abroad, and has made rapid progress in its sales and profits both at home and outside Japan. Since popular streaming sites such as Netflix have started paying more attention to anime in recent years, this article tries to analyse the intricate, subtle relations we can observe between anime and conservative ideologies, from an Indian perspective.

Before analysing the ideological correspondence of conservatism and anime, I would like the readers to have a summary of the current political scenario in Japan, the birthplace of anime. Long story short, modern Japanese nationalists are currently in power under the Suga administration, after Shinzo Abe resigned. In modern times, Japan has seen a significant resurgence in nationalistic emotions and thus the LDP, the Right Wing party in Japan (Liberal Democratic Party) came to power under Shinzo Abe. The Japanese Right Wing viewed the Pacifist Constitution as a great humiliation, and rightly so, because it makes the Japanese military way too overdependent on the US, and incapable of ensuring its security and strategical interests. After the LDP assumed power in Japan, under Shinzo Abe, significant improvements and upgrades have been provided to the JSDF, Article 9 of the Constitution was amended, which permitted Japan to use military force if its allies were attacked and the government has also considerably increased the Defence Budget. His government was also uncompromising to China’s demands (something which was rare to see) and openly defended Japan’s maritime rights in the South China Sea and the Senkaku Islands.

The first thing which I observed to be pretty much conservative is the social hierarchy in anime itself. Take the classic example of Naruto Shippuden — a very popular anime which narrates the tale of shinobi (synonym of ninjas). In this Shinobi world, they are divided in three ranks — Genin, the lowermost, Chunin, the middle ones and Jonin, the elite Shinobi. The salaries and rewards for Genin, Chunin and Jonin are substantially different, and their societal positions vary according to their ninja rank too. Jonin are respected, while Genin are not given much importance. If you are more interested in knowing the exact details, surely watch this video.

And this is not the only case, there are plenty of such cases. Take for instance, in the anime Overlord, adventurers are grouped as Bronze, Iron, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Mythril, Orichalcum and Adamantite. As was the case in Naruto, Adamantite adventurers are respected, while Bronze adventurers are usually ignored. Infact, the Adamantite-class adventurers were almost shown to be revered and feared.

Also, consider the Hero Ranking System from the anime One Punch Man. According to this system, the top-tier heroes are placed under S Class, followed by A Class, B class and the lowest of all, C Class. Yet again, S Class heroes are shown in a positive light — noble, powerful and having a heart of justice, with some exceptions and unique quirks in each of them. And the C Class heroes are often considered to be the last resort to call in during a fight. Yet another example is the Class hierarchy in My Hero Academia: the best and most powerful heroes study in class 1-A, while the lesser powerful ones occupy other classes. There are plenty more such examples of hierarchies in anime. In many cases, this hierarchy itself becomes an important tool in the story.

Notice how comparable these social hierarchies are to the Chaturvarna system in India, where society is classified into four different varnas based on their skills and occupation. The very existence of a clearly-defined hierarchy indicates a strong influence of conservative ideologies, since Liberals are all gung-ho about “everyone is equal” and “equal rights for everyone”. Liberals would want inexperienced Genin to have the same respect and liberties as that of advanced Jonin. Also, they would demand for equal salaries and rewards for Copper as well as Adamantite adventurers, would demand that Class C heroes be sent on Class S-level missions and would demand the lesser powerful students to be allowed to seek education in Class 1-A. Notice how frighteningly close these demands are to real-life ‘Liberal’ demands: “Black Lives Matter”, “Tax The Rich”, “Smash The Patriarchy”, “Equal Pay For All” and their obsession with their self-interpreted notions of ‘equality’, ‘justice’ and ‘empowerment’. What they do not understand is that such utopian ideas can never be accomplished with the limited resources the world has, and such a world will itself collapse under the astronomically huge amount of resources and effort it will require to sustain itself. In short, such an egalitarian world will never be achievable, and can be a dream at best.

Moving on, the second aspect in anime which I found to be pretty conservative is the glorification of monarchs. Take for instance, the anime Naruto Shippuden. The village is ruled entirely by the word of a monarch, who is regarded to be the most “powerful shinobi” amongst them all. The title of this position is referred to as the Kage. The Kage of every village has a unique title. There are 5 types of Kage introduced in Naruto — Hokage, Tsuchikage, Mizukage, Kazekage and Raikage. All these five are the most powerful shinobi in their respective lands. To the irony of liberals, all of them are elected in an “undemocratic” manner, without consulting the opinion of the people. Instead of showing such monarchs as reckless, greedy authoritarian dictators, anime beautifully portrays them as the saviours of the world, uniting together to save humanity from the imminent danger ahead.

In Pic: The Five Kage in Naruto Shippuden L to R: Ay, (Raikage), Tsunade (Hokage), Gaara (Kazekage), Ohnoki (Tsuchikage) and Mei (Mizukage)

Another popular anime which idolises a monarchist dictatorship is Code: Geass. In this anime, the protagonist, Lelouch Vi Britannia is the exiled son of the Emperor of Britannia, Charles Zi Britannia. He, alongside a well-organised armed group, aim to overthrow the ruthless monarch from Japan, after Japan was colonised by the Holy Empire of Britannia. It may seem quite libertarian and even socialist at the face, but this definitely is not the case.

Lelouch actually becomes an absolutist monarch, the kind which liberals and communists despise the most. He unites over half of the world into his authoritarian regime and did not let go of the title of “Emperor”. But in the end, we realise, that he had conquered the world only to “rebuild” it. By making himself the target of everyone’s hatred, he succeeded in uniting the world and bringing lasting geopolitical and global peace. The way Lelouch was romanticised in the end, with his ex-crewmen, his best friend and his sister crying, he had assumed a legend’s status. Many anime fans in the community don’t hate him and many are diehard fans of him, impressed with his intellect and his plan of bringing world peace and restoring stability. Rarely one hates him for all the deaths he has caused, or for human rights violations, or for all the massacres and murders he had ordered during his Rebellion. He resembles Subhash Chandra Bose, an Indian militant freedom fighter, who established the Indian National Army (INA) and led an armed revolt against the British, to liberate India from colonialism. He too, believed that people must rise up in rebellion, not peaceful protests and also dreamed of establishing a military autocracy, one which is comparable to Emperor Lelouch’s rule of Britannia.

Another example of the glorification of emperors was in the curious case of Legend of The Galactic Heroes. I don’t even need to elaborate here, a communist got angry and even wrote an entire commentary lambasting it! Here is the link, if you are interested. Do read the comment sections though, where Conservatives have bashed him, and have made many solid arguments in defence of this politically controversial article. PS: Don’t take the author seriously, he is a communist, and communists are sore losers.

Yet another fantastic example of hyping the monarch is the popular Isekai anime, Overlord. The protagonist, Ainz Ooal Gown, has been depicted in even more of a glorious form — a God, frankly. Extremely powerful, a total behemoth, and has been proclaimed the “Supreme Sorcerer King” of his kingdom, Nazarick. His word is absolute, has followers which have sworn total allegiance and submission to him, without even questioning, or showing the slightest doubt in his decisions. The very way he interacts with his subordinates reveals that they revere him as a God- an extremely powerful one, and rightly so. He has the strength to defeat an army of over 70,000 armed cavalry and infantry units with one single spell. Humans shiver upon his arrival — a magician vomited out of fear upon seeing his true power. He is called as the “Supreme One” by the inhabitants of his kingdom. Such is his glory, his power and his authority. He is equally brutal, and did not hesitate killing of humans who infiltrate his kingdom- even if it was by mistake. This depiction is authoritarian and totally anti-”liberal”.

Mind you, Liberalism, and even Communism, were created to defeat the monarchy of ancient Europe. The French Revolution, regarded as the founding movement of democracy, took place because the lower classes were angry on the privileged class and monarchy sucking up all the benefits. The same can be said about the February and later, October Revolution in Russia, although the October Revolution took place because the Mensheviks refused to fulfil the Bolsheviks’ demands, while the February Revolution took place for the end of the Tsar’s rule. Many conservatives, especially on Twitter, are fed up and have lost faith on democracy, since it has become increasingly inefficient and redundant and rather believe that a skilful dictator who is capable and trustworthy should be given power. Had anime really been influenced by liberalism and communism so much, we would have seen corrupt and greedy kings as a pretty common trope- which is not the case. Infact, the legendary, born-to-defeat-evil, harbinger-of-justice and noble kings are much more commonplace in anime, as we have seen in Code:Geass, where Lelouch was hailed as a bold, brave, revolutionary Godsend leader who was sent to bring back Japan’s sovereignty, instead of depicting him as a ruthless, scheming tactician who killed people. Well, Code:Geass shows both the sides of him, but in the end, it always leaves behind a positive, bold and respectful image of Lelouch, who is often hailed as being a freedom fighter, and an undying legend.

Another example of the praising of nationalistic emotions in anime is the portrayal of Itachi Uchiha in Naruto Shippuden. Itachi Uchiha hailed from the Uchiha clan, which had been constantly sidelined since the rule of the Second Hokage, due to mistrust and hatred. The hatred and contempt for them had grown so much that they were relocated to the corner of the village- which infuriated the Uchiha clan head, the father of Itachi. He was so enraged that he planned a secret meeting of all Uchiha clan members and decided on a coup-d’etat (armed rebellion) against the village and the Hokage. Itachi had grown up in Hokage and loved his village dearly. He then made up his mind. He consulted the Hokage and asked for the permission for the assassination of the ENTIRE Uchiha clan- even going as far as sacrificing his father, his mother and his love. He spared not a single Uchiha alive, except for his younger brother who was a kid back then. His massacring was successful, the village was saved from an imminent danger of secessionism, collapse and internal stability. Of course, liberals will get extremely angry and would demand the death of Itachi Uchiha- similar to how they were asking Aung Saa Suu Kyi to be detained for Rohingya, or recently, how they are demanding Shri Narendra Modi’s resignation and terming counter terror operations as “genocide”. The irony of loving your own enemies can definitely be learnt from these idiots, who do not understand the grave situation Kashmir is right now, undergoing a consistent, secret operation to emancipate Hindus and cause their genocide, without having to be held responsible. Had anime really been so “liberal”, it would have portrayed Itachi in a light similar to Narendra Modi or Aung San Suu Kyi. But instead, he is later hailed as a nation-loving individual, and rightly so, because even after his betrayal of the village, he continued sharing secret information about the organisation he had joined-the Akatsuki. This crucial information saved the village later on. Instead of portraying him as a genocidal, ruthless maniac, he is hailed as a hero, a saviour and an undying legend. This clearly shows the influence of staunch nationalistic ideologies in Naruto Shippuden.

(In pic: Itachi Uchiha during his final moments, smiling at his younger brother and told him that he will always continue loving him, regardless what he thinks of him.)

The third thing which I found particularly conservative is the way militaries and armed groups were romanticised in anime. As seen before, the glamorisation of the armed rebellious groups in Code:Geass as a group which will undo the grave injustice done by the Britannian Empire and will restore the lost glory of Japan’s legacy. Also, the battle units of Ainz Ooal Gown in the anime Overlord were shown to be extremely powerful and nearly God-like. The way the Survey Corps are depicted in Attack On Titan as the “warriors of humanity”, the manner in which Captain Levi Ackerman is nicknamed “Humanity’s Strongest Soldier” and the glorification of the Marleyan Military by the people of Marley is yet another example of military romanticism in anime. The way the Allied Shinobi Forces were portrayed as a united army for saving humanity from imminent collapse is another example. Yet another instance is the way the Japanese military has been shown in a brave, noble light in the anime GATE. This anime narrates the story of an Otaku (term for people who watch anime) who becomes a member of the JSDF, and has been sent by the Japanese Government to investigate and gather details about another world unknown to humans. The military was shown as nationalists who were willing to risk their lives in order to protect their nation’s interests (and rightly so), the media was shown as a hypocritical bunch who wants to defame the JSDF, and the leaders are shown as a bunch of indecisive geezers need to depend on the United States of America for Japan’s defence. This is exceptionally similar to the conservative Japanese narrative. In all the above cases, military force and use of combat has been glorified instead of being shunned upon, which of course will anger many “liberals” who oppose use of military, even when it is extremely essential for national security or strategic interests. Had anime been really “liberal”, we would not have seen so many anime depicting use of violence as a good thing. Use of violence when it is for the greater good and can protect your dear ones has been emphasised in anime, which has been rightly done.

The fourth thing which I found to be conservative is the gender “stereotyping” as many liberals complain. Of course, there are many exceptions of women breaking gender stereotypes — like Mikasa from Attack On Titan, or the infamous Aisaka from the anime Toradora, amongst many others, but in quite a number of cases, especially the romance genre of anime — women are shown to be well-mannered, elegant, prudent, dressed in classic kimonos and behave appropriately outside. This may have more to do with Japanese philosophy and etiquettes itself- in which women sit in a proper manner, which is called Seiza, which is exactly similar to the Indian position of Vajrasana. Although there are extremely weird cases in anime too, where women are excessively obsessed with male characters. This is definitely not an aspect of conservatism (as I define it) and is added for fan-service purposes only. They are meant to be taken jokingly and nor should I be talking about that extensively.

The fifth aspect which I found strikingly similar is the reverence given to human emotions and mystical feelings. Whether it be the undying willpower and perseverance of Naruto Uzumaki, or the unbreakable love of Taki Tachibana and Mitsuha Miyamizu in the movie “Your Name”, the nationalistic feelings of the revolutionaries in Code:Geass, the importance of friendship as portrayed in Naruto Shippuden, the strong feeling of fear and helplessness faced by the children in The Promised Neverland, or the tearjerker death of Koro-sensei, emotion has a crucial role to play in anime. The similarity of giving importance to human emotions is clearly visible in conservative Romanticism (Europe) and even the Nationalistic movements in Colonial India during which human emotions, mystical feelings, and folk culture were given more importance, which had emerged as a reaction to the Age of Enlightenment, which had placed more importance on rationalism and secularism (seperation of Church and State). Liberals, as usual, patronise the Age of Enlightenment and the Renaissance- movements which denigrated human emotions and culture. Had anime been influenced by liberal ideas, it would not have placed such immense importance of human emotions. There are many instances of anime displaying sheer wisdom and godly intelligence as virtues such as Ishigami Senku from Dr Stone, but even in such anime, human emotions end up having a huge role. The feeling of continuing the knowledge and astounding achievements of science is what drives Senku and his friends to successfully recreate the most arduously impossible scientific achievements in the Stone World Era. Also, the fierce compassion of Senku to revive each and every of the 7 billion people on earth, and the unwavering trust his friends put on his intellect clearly underlines the gigantic role of emotion in anime. Thus, there is no doubt that conservatism and anime have yet another aspect in common- respect for human emotions. A beautiful quote by Kakashi Hatake which validates the above claim:

Moving on, the sixth and perhaps the last thing which I found to be pretty common between conservatism and anime is the emphasis on culture and traditions. Whether it be the beautiful depiction of Shinto traditions in the movie Your Name, the depiction of Japanese folklore in Naruto Shippuden, the intricately decorated kimonos, the pleasurable scenery of Hanabi (Japanese fireworks similar to that Indians see during Diwali), the elegant cherry blossoms, the artistic depictions of Mount Fuji, or the multiple references of Japanese High School experiences such as School Festivals, School Clubs, bowing down to elders (Ojigi) etc. are instances where anime aptly captures and represents Japanese cultures and traditions. Meanwhile, Liberals, just like Atheists and Communists often believe such traditions to be outdated, regressive and pointless. They simply cannot apprehend the inherent beauty of human culture and society. This is strikingly similar to how Hinduism and Hindu traditions are often mocked in Indian society — even going as far as calling the Gods fat, ugly and whatnot. Anime is totally conservative in this sense. I am not claiming all anime show traditions in a respectful manner, but majority of them do. And this same sense of preserving culture and expressing it elegantly is one of the cornerstones of culturalism.

(In Pic: Mitsuha Miyamizu from the movie Your Name in a traditional Shinto dress, performing the Kagura, a Shinto dance.)

A beautiful still of Japan’s unique Sakura (cherry blossom trees) from the anime Your Lie In April.

(In pic: Gintoki Sakata, wearing a Japanese Yukata (dress) and wielding a Japanese Katana) from the anime Gintama. Japanese culture has heavily influenced the anime.

Anime has been undeniably influenced by many aspects of conservatism, partly due to the nature of Japanese society being pretty conservative itself. The way in which human emotions are given importance, cultures are expressed beautifully are classic examples of a considerably conservative viewpoint. Conservatives may enjoy anime as a refreshingly unique style of entertainment. This article in no means is trying to claim that liberals cannot enjoy anime. If people can relax and lay aside their political ideologies, they can easily enjoy any source of entertainment. The sole aim of this article was to analyse the influence of conservative ideologies on anime. With this, I shall conclude this article.

Thank you for reading.