I'm pretty sure the short answer is: "Well, 4chan, right?". But it goes a bit beyond that.

If there's something that I have learned is that your standard :le-pol-face: is nearly IDENTICAL to ISIS, it's just a matter of whether they want to be a Christian CHUD or a Muslim CHUD. Osama Bin Laden was found to be a fan of anime too, among many other ISIS/al Quaeda members. Hell, ISIS members are frogposters just as much as "defend the west" CHUDs. There's a joke online about how fashy a lot of weebs are and I really don't understand it.

Anime is Japanese and Japan fought on the side of the axis is the only connection I can think of, but it's not like Japanese people are considered white in the US, the country that these hogs apparently love so much. Hell, hogs demonized the FUCK out of Japan in the 70s and 80s too despite being a fellow capitalist nation. Now they're coming around?

Also, look at two of the most popular anime: Pokemon is pretty pro-environment and Dragon Ball Z: where Frieza talks almost identically to your average chanbrain and was inspired by real estate speculators because of how evil they are.

Is there a deeper connection besides "4chan lol"?

  • UlyssesT [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    I've been fond of the medium since it was called "Japanese Animation" or even "Japanimation" and was a weird thing you had to buy on VHS tapes from booths at swap meets and conventions. Yes, I'm aware of just how different and varied older stuff was, not just compared to more modern tendencies to pander to otaku but also compared to different competing franchies. Even if they had their own problematic elements, New Dominion Tank Police was very different from Akira which was very different from Super Atragon which was very different from Nausica of the Wind which was very different from Record of Lodoss War, and so much more never had official releases in the west at all.

    The medium was more experimental back then and didn't quite have its cliches and troupes pre-loaded and ready to go over and over again. It wasn't yet possible for a studio to simply sit down and say "let's make yet another maid harem isekai, and all we have to do is move the personality cliches and the hair colors and styles around" and expect it to print money.

    Let me stress that I said "tendency" before I likely receive hostile replies from treat defenders. Yes, I know that even now there are good recently-produced anime out there. I'm talking about market trends and specifically the inescapable capitalist mandate to pander to the big spending creepy people that buy the majority of the discs and the figurines and the posters, where much of the money is made.