I don’t know of any other anime especially in the last twenty years to actually make mention of capitalism, capitalists, or anything to do with socialism, not just the concepts but the words themselves
It’s amazing how entire concepts that define human existence can just be obliterated wholesale from an entire medium of creative expression and entertainment
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (and second gig, the second season) explicitly mentions capitalism and makes it pretty clear that the world they're in is cyber-hellworld.
It's probably uncommon because anime is really expensive to make so you need some :porky-happy: to fund you.
Probably also uncommon because of Japanese broadcast law. Broadcasting stuff on TV, like anime, requires a license that can get rescinded and by law requires "political fairness." Journalists often censor themselves without oversight because of hypothetical formal censorship. So since Japanese media is often very wary of losing their broadcast license, they try to avoid topics that would be confrontational against establishment neoliberalism.
Also the target audience for most anime are otaku with money to throw around. Also Japan is a neoliberal hell that while theoretically has stronger unions and more social services than a lot of capitalist countries, is still in effect an imperialist ideology factory. Bunch of factors going on.
Probably also uncommon because of Japanese broadcast law. Broadcasting stuff on TV, like anime, requires a license that can get rescinded and by law requires “political fairness.”
Chapter 2 Article 4
lmao I fuckin knew it, watching Kaiji tipped me off that there must be some background constraint with broadcasting
The broadcaster shall stipulate standards for the editing of the broadcast programs (hereinafter referred to as “program standards”) in accordance with the classification of the broadcast programs (meaning the categories of cultural programs, educational programs, news programs, entertainment programs, etc.; the same shall apply hereinafter) and the target audience of the broadcasts, and shall edit the broadcast programs in compliance with such.
Article 5 is also pretty sus
That makes a lot of sense. I'm curious if there's more political content in OVA/direct to video and movie stuff. It wouldn't surprise me if not, because otaku are more willing to buy expensive laserdiscs with sex/violence stuff on them, but it's interesting that one of the first OVAs was Mamoru Oshii's Dallos, which is explicitly leftist (kinda ehh, though, unfortunately).
Also Japan is a neoliberal hell that while theoretically has stronger unions and more social services than a lot of capitalist countries, is still in effect an imperialist ideology factory.
That kinda happens when :amerikkka: destroys and rebuilds your country. :yea:
Apparently there was a 2019 series named The Leader: Karl Marx, so likely not.
That one was done by a Chinese studio, and literally funded by an office of the CPC.
That said there is a Japanese one that's even better, although it's only a manga. Capital is an approachable story about a cheese maker which demonstrates a lot of core Marxist concepts.
Deca-dence mentioned capitalism explicitly (once, I think), and thats about all I can think of.
Was going to mention this, the ending was hamfisted and sent the wrong message but the series was explicitly about a class uprising.
Yeah there are a lot of shows that deal with vague anti-capitalist themes. Kaiji is a good one. Uchoten Kazoku deals with class struggle too. Bunch of other good ones mentioned in this thread.
I'm pretty sure Monster mentions socialism and capitalism explicitly a few times, but socialism is presented negatively. Parts of it take place in former East Germany and some characters were Stasi. I'm also pretty sure Legend of the Galatic heroes mentions capitalism directly by name at least once and negatively. Also there's a workers' rebellion at one point.
Porco Rosso is very explicitly anti-fascist and also my favorite Ghibli movie
Kaiji is a good one
This is what actually prompted the thread, I'm 20 episodes into Kaiji and while it's an amazing anti-capitalist piece, never is the dominate economic system ever mentioned, not even once, even when the main villain poetically outlines the reality of class struggle to the main character, it's all filtered thru metaphor, symbolism and "sayings"
Made me start to wonder if there's some censorious law in Japan that prevents media from being overtly political, even one about debt and surviving in the middle of Japan's lost decade
Another Manga by the same guy, Strongest Legend Kurosawa, features a character who resembles Che, and steals food to give to the homeless.
"I'd rather be a pig than a fascist" is pretty close from porko rosso
There's been vague mentions in plenty, but most anime is made from manga for young teens about either lots of action or wacky romantic hijinks, so I can see why the authors don't try to address socio-economic systems while the protagonist is trying to defeat a vampire or trying to confess during a fireworks display. Some have dealt more with the concept usually metaphorically, and a lot have commented on the current awful state of Japanese society. More mature series are a bit more of a gamble, so there's less chance of someone taking a risk on an explicitly anti-capitalist story.
Good point, but I still think my ideas hold for the majority of the mainstream. Manga and anime are also just produced in orders of magnitude higher amounts than other comics, so cooler stuff gets by on sheer volume of stuff made.
yes, but less so than any film hollywood has ever produced
Exactly. I was socially obligated to see the new Jurassic World movie. Just go with me here for a second, but there were some activist types breaking into a black market dinosaur breeding facility. They rescue a lil smolbean dino, have a chase scene, almost die. Afterward, one of the activists wants to go back and rescue more, but the other says "I can't. I have a job offer where I can make a real difference and I have to take it."
The next time you see the latter character, they're pushing their way through a door with a giant CIA logo on it. I almost screamed in the theater, but fortunately I was sitting next to a comrade that told me "Hey, the CIA probably funded the whole dino thing to try and kill Castro and it got out of hand."
:joker-troll:
At least in anime the :cia: is torturing children :shinji-screm: just like they do in real life :didnt-kill-himself:
no. at the very least i remember seeing it come up in the form of jokes at leftists expense (shitty high schoolers the show doesn't like complaining about their lot in life), or when you have a leftist terrorist as a villain which shows up from time to time. mostly it's jokes like that, but i'm pretty sure there are a couple other more sympathetic examples. i can't remember any names rn because i'm exhausted, but if i remember maybe i'll come back to this after a nap or something.
Capitalist as a description for buisnessmen i have seen mentioned a lot of time. Capitalism in and of itself or even more so as a critique less so but not never
Urusei Yatsura had some fun marxist language use but also for gags mostly
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DxBF46VUcAAgdw9?format=jpg&name=large
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DxBF4k8VYAA-sZK?format=jpg&name=large
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DpcBNN7WwAANPwa?format=jpg&name=small
Pretty sure Code Geass does in passing, and I'm sure the older Gundams do.
