Empires in anime are a fairly common phenomenon, especially in science fiction series. Looking at Japan’s history with being an empire and encountering others, here’s a rather too long post about how I see history perhaps influencing anime in the portrayal of different kinds of empires. This editorial is reconstructed from the main ideas of a paper I wrote during undergrad but have since lost everything but the images from, so bear with it if it’s not as polished as it was in its original form. It’s also been cut down heavily to save space, but it’s still a pretty long post. Since it’s been heavily cut, if you’re interested in the full version just contact me and I can send it to you.
I. Japanese Historical Experiences with Empires
Japan entered the international scene at the height of the ‘golden age of empires’, after the country opened at the prompting of the Americans in the late 19th century. The Meiji Restoration which soon followed created the political change necessary to begin looking outward into the wider world. At this point in history the Japanese leadership saw two main things. One, Japan was far less advanced than the imperial powers in terms of technology and political theory. And second, they looked to their neighboring countries and saw Western colonies and encroachment. A strong state and industrialization were seen as the means to both defending Japan from foreign interference and as the path to prosperity. Following a Prussian model of a highly centralized state with the individual subservient to its will, and combined with military inspiration from the fellow island nation of Britain’s command of the seas, Japan rapidly industrialized and developed. At first seeking to secure itself against the other colonial powers, it later joined with them to make territorial gains in Asia as well as competed with them in a realist sense and on an ideological level where Japan viewed itself as a ‘protector’ of Asian peoples against the Western powers. This ideology was sincerely believed by some, and used by the less sincere to gain their support for imperial expansionism.
II. British-styled Empires in Anime
Given that the British Empire was one of the most threatening empires to Japan as it first opened to the outside world, it is not surprising then that British-styled empires in anime are often portrayed as conquering, corrupt, and ‘the bad guys.’ However, possibly due to the British Empire’s preeminence during most of the imperial age, these empires are also often shown as the most refined and sophisticated. The members of the empire may be conquerors or ruthless, but the imperial citizens live in fabulous estates, host grand ballroom gatherings, practice chivalry, and live the romanticized aristocratic lifestyle that is often associated in both Japan and the West with the golden age of empires. The setting of Hakushaku to Yousei, for example, while not overly concerned with Victorian politics and international relations, still sets up the ideal vision of Imperial Britain at its height, technologically advanced, elegant, and cultured. The Read or Die OVA features an alternate timeline where the British Empire exists to the modern day, and while adding the more modern touches to the concept, it is notable the protagonists work for a British Empire and not the modern nation-state. In R.O.D. the TV the British Empire becomes an antagonist to the main characters, changing form from cool and elegant force for good to the more common antagonistic form.
Case Study: Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion – The Holy Britannian Empire
The invasion of Japan by the Holy Britannian Empire showing Britannian holdings and bases.
The premise of Code Geass is that, in an alternate reality, Great Britain remained an absolute monarchy and also never lost its colonies in North America, expanding further into at least 18 ‘Areas’ including Japan via the power of its Knightmare Frame mecha. However one day a 17 year old student become caught in a recovery attempt by Britannian forces and receives an experimental power to force others to obey his orders. This boy, Lelouch, is an illegitimate son of the current Emperor and blames his mother’s murder on him. Thus he begins to utilize this power to realize his plans of destroying the entire empire, uniting various factions of the as yet unsuccessful Japanese insurgency.
The Holy Britannian Empire represents a common portrayal of the British influenced empire in anime. It is an expansionist empire that is also in competition with other large nations, the EEC (presumably mainland Europe) and the Chinese Federation. The Britannian Empire is also discriminatory and aristocratic. Elevens, the new name for the Japanese, are discriminated against and most live outside the settlement areas, in places like the Shinjuku Ghetto. Rule by the emperor is absolute, and positions are often based on birth. Suzaku Kururugi, the son of the last prime minister of Japan, is a gifted Knightmare test pilot and Honored Britannian, but still faces discrimination. While Suzaku attempts to prove his worth and reform the system from within, his long time friend Lelouch takes on the hidden identity of Zero with the goal of bringing down the empire through “the path of carnage.” He lives in the dormitory of his private academy, a huge, mansion like building. Complete with rose garden and landscaping reminiscent of a British estate, the academy is the bright side of Britannian rule. A sense of nobility also comes across in the Britannian military, as seen in the uniforms and titles of its members. Knightmare pilots are referred to as 騎士 (‘kishi’), or knights, and a common acknowledgement of orders is “Yes, My Lord” or “Yes, Your Highness” especially when a member of the royal family is commanding in the field.
III. German-styled Empires
German-styled empires in anime are often shown with a wider degree of variance between good and bad guys, reflecting two major perceptions of Germany from the 19th to mid 20th centuries. And there is as well a third strand relating to Germany’s and Japan’s shared place as defeated nations of WWII, as I will address at the end of this section. German-styled empires modeled after the Prussian and pre-Nazi German states are more often shown as strong, militaristic, but enlightened empires that protagonists often work with or alongside. Fullmetal Alchemist for example has a very Prussian state, and although problems develop involving its leadership and some of its past actions, the perception is that it is not on balance a negative force. The Reich/Empire in Legend of the Galactic Heroes also uses this model, to beautifully illustrate one of the main themes of the series, the advantages and disadvantages of dictatorship vs. imperfect, but rule-of-law oriented democracy. Given that Japan used this model to successfully industrialize, it is not surprising that it is often viewed favorably.
The other concept often used for a German-styled empire is based on elements of WWII Germany’s Nazi regime and is obviously an antagonistic state. Since they are so, at most we get protagonists who serve them out of loyalty to homeland, because they’re just caught in the middle or drafted, or because knowledge of the terrible actions committed are hidden from them. From this model though, we can find some cases of ‘sympathy for the devil’ or even downright historical revisionism. And this latter phenomenon is somewhat troubling, as it seems to be on the same wavelength as some of the historical revisionism seen in the fringe right-wing of modern Japanese politics and even among some otaku.
Case Study: Mobile Suit Gundam (U.C. 0079 through 0083) – The Principality of Zeon.
Left: Gihren Zabi giving his famous speech. Right: Oliver May striking a heroic pose at the end of the revisionist MS Igloo: Apocalypse 0079.
In that classic of anime, Mobile Suit Gundam, humans have expanded from an overcrowded Earth to orbiting space colonies. A peaceful independence movement led by Zeon Zum Daikun emerges in the colonies, but after his assassination by the Zabi family they seize power and declare the authoritarian Principality of Zeon independent. Utilizing their newly developed mobile suits, Zeon uses poison gas against several Earth-loyal and neutral colonies, dropping one dead colony on the Earth as a weapon. The Earth Federation eventually turns the tide with its own mobile suits, and with the death of the Zabis Zeon surrenders at the end of UC 0079. Remnant forces, feeling betrayed by this surrender, persist and in 0083 use a stolen, nuclear-armed Gundam prototype to destroy a large portion of the EFSF fleet and drop another colony on the Earth before being wiped out.
Connecting with Japan’s past, we have a high-minded philosophy and political movement taken over by militarists using the same language to rally support. The surrender of Zeon when it was not utterly defeated could be seen as either Germany’s position after WWI or the feelings of some in Japan after WWII was ended by nuclear blasts and surrender instead of grueling, bloody invasion of the home islands. There are also some material influences from both this era in German history and some from Japan’s experiences. The Zeon weapons are drawn to look very much, or in some cases exactly like, WWII German weapons, as are uniforms, helmets, and symbols. The EFSF symbol looks very much like that of the Japanese naval infantry anchor symbol, EFSF rank tabs are the same as Imperial Japanese ones, and the standard color scheme of the RGM-79 mobile suit is somewhat reminiscent of that of the Imperial Japanese Navy’s naval infantry uniform (red chest section on the MS with lighter colors elsewhere, subdued reddish-brown vest/jacket for the infantry with khaki for the rest.) We also get from this franchise a bit of the historical revisionism of the sort seen by right-wing extremists in Japan with the first two MS Igloo series, Hidden One Year War and Apocalypse 0079. Revisionist Zeon propaganda, these OVA series show the Zeons fighting a hopeless yet noble, mostly defensive war against the cackling, merciless EFSF forces while acting shocked when they witness the colony drop and thereafter even the worst characters like Cuspen are redeemed as being at worst fanatics in defense of their homeland.
IV. Japanese-styled and Pseudo-Japanese Empires
This type of empire in anime seems somewhat less common, but it is still noteworthy. Japan’s rise to becoming a great power was an amazing achievement. In a short amount of time the country went from a small, feudal, insular country without modern technologies to a centralized state with modern industry, new laws, and a military on par in most respects with that of the Western powers. All this in comparison to what was happening elsewhere in Asia: colonization by Western powers, the splintering of China into various warlord regions, the Unequal Treaties, and territory trading among the great powers (which later included Japan as it took control of various holdings on the Asian mainland.) It is a tantalizing prospect to imagine what might have been if Japan had continued on its initial path and/or made different choices, and some series directly play with this scenario while others seem to take inspiration from it. Sakura Taisen is an example of the former, with the protagonists part of an elite imperial corps of soldiers, agents, and mecha pilots. Set in the 1920’s in an alternate timeline, we see an idea of what the Japanese Empire could have been. Although this does ignore the expansion that had already taken place at that time (Korea was annexed in 1910 for example), it is still an idealistic picture of Imperial Japan as a benevolent force in the world. Less clearly connected, but I believe still influenced by Japan’s history, is a sort of pseudo-Japanese-styled empire. I would define the characteristics of this type as having some or all of the following: new and/or advanced technology, a monarch with a central role or influence in policy, benevolent policies in general, and a disposition towards neutrality or only reluctantly taking sides. While I wouldn’t in all instances say this is a one-for-one comparison, I think this type of empire is influenced by the Japanese perception of an ideal empire that might have been. The Abh Empire in Crest of the Stars/Banner of the Stars would be an example of this.
Case study: Crest of the Stars/Banner of the Stars – The Abh Empire
The crest of the Abh Empire.
The Abh Empire in Crest of the Stars/Banner of the Stars is a bit different in that they aren’t exactly normal humans, though they do readily accept normal humans from vassal planets into their ranks if of important birth or political standing such as Jinto Lin. This empire is technologically advanced, tries to remain neutral, generally treats its subjects well, and has a strong role for its royal family. The three other spacefaring powers in CotS/BotS all make demands of the Abh Empire, though they clearly plan from the beginning to militarily make territorial gains at the Abh Empire’s expense. This can be viewed in two ways. The idea of ‘foreign pressure’ (外圧 ‘gaiatsu’) is very common in Japanese politics and popular perception to the present day, often used by politicians in relation to Japan’s post-WWII relations with America in particular, by saying that they have no choice due to pressure from their US ally. The argument is also made by some as to how Japan became involved in the Pacific War (WWII) against America, that it had no choice due to resource embargoes in retaliation over Japan’s invasion of China. The other way to read this is that the human powers, seeming either devious or clumsy (and whose clothes look rather Western whereas the Abh wear futuristic garb. And the ambassador from the United Mankind looked like Mikhail Gorbachev for crying out loud) are a way of presenting Japan’s feelings of being surrounded by other, older empires who were ethnically different from Japan. In the ideals of the early Japanese Empire, Japan was as strong as the Western empires but a benevolent protector of other Asian countries (a common propaganda phrase was “Asia for Asians”.). One of the ambassadors specifically refers to the Abh Empire as “the professed protectors of [the regions in dispute].” Perhaps these historical ideas have influenced in some ways the construction of the Abh Empire and its society.
V. Other Points of Interest and Conclusion
What of other empires, such as the Roman, Persian, Russian, Chinese, or others throughout history as models of fictional empires? Or an American Empire, if you want to get all Andrew Bacevich (though given the modern predominance of US power, this would take us into a more modern concept of empire than the traditional ones I’ve mostly discussed. Perhaps Union from Gundam 00 would fit this concept.) One could argue (and I would) that the East Europan Empire in Valkyria Chronicles is as much Imperial Russian as German both by geography and organization. We have a bit of a Chinese empire in Code Geass R2, but in the scope of the story it is rather insignificant.
In sum, anime is a product of its culture, as is all fiction. I hope that I have presented here the points of my argument that the portrayal of empires in anime is linked to Japan’s history with them and with being one, and that there are three predominant forms of portrayal. As this is not an academic paper I haven’t included citations (digging up all those old citations would have been much more work than I’m willing to do for fun), though I am drawing from various courses, readings, documentaries, and personal perceptions over the years in writing this. I welcome your own insights and interpretations on this topic (if you’ve managed to read this whole damn thing.)
19 Comments
From my experience, anime has a large tendency to play off anything Chinese as
1) mere caricatures. People who end every sentence with ~aru. People who religiously follow martial arts. Chinese food, ect…
2) A civilization that is past its prime and can only speak of past glories. Tell me, how many supposed Chinese characters have you heard sprouting the phrase “4000 years of history”? For me it’s quite often.
Though if you want recommendations, I would suggest 12 Kingdoms
I have a fundamental disagreement with the way Prussia was perceived by most civilians it’s militarism wasn’t about high minded idealism or rapid expansion, at least under Bismark. It was never about super weapons, but largely tactical and technical elegance (with a woeful disregard of politics and the nuances of managing a strategic situation) that defined the Prussian and subsequently German military machine during the days that it was largely run by the Prussian officer caste. Even during the Wehrmacht years most of the generals were interested in achieving the second Cannae (as does almost every other military commander) than wiping out the Jews. The obsession with military matters was significantly due to Prussia being sandwiched between Russia and France which essentially meant they had to be dominant on land if war ever broke out.
Similarly the perception of the British Empire in anime is woefully shallow, Old Blighty never had the population to keep all those colonies under the boot of their villainous tyranny, rather it was the astute playing of local conflicting groups against each other to get the Union Jack waving over much of the world at it’s height. The military muscle that welded it together largely by a powerful Royal Navy with the use of the British Army only where needed. The British Army of the Empire days counted troops that were Africans, Sikhs, Gurkhas, Malays, Irish, Scots, etc., if one takes into account that the color of one’s skin doesn’t entail homogeneity then you also have New Zealanders, Australians, South Africans, and Canadians. Though much decried these days the British Empire did end slavery before the US, and made efforts to fight the slave trade with the Royal Navy.
In terms of military power the Japan was on par on paper, but they were to prove woefully deficient in mechanized units and the ability to alter production lines, and most importantly in the crucial arm of logistics. In terms of doctrine both the IJN and IJA were similarly handicapped when it came to doctrine. At least in the case of the IJN the concept of having a powerful carrier battle group was undeniably brilliant the only weakness was that it was under Nagumo who wasn’t really a carrier or naval aviator at heart, the only reason why he was put in command was because of his seniority. To Yamamoto’s credit he did at least assign Genda to try and make up for Nagumo being a surface and torpedo man. Nevertheless the obsession with the decisive showdown like the one at Tsushima under Togo was about as fatal as the German General Staff with the second Cannae. The shortcomings of the IJA was that they only focused on light infantry at the expense of just about everything else. They had technical superiority in many areas, but they had many deficiencies as their first encounter with Zhukov demonstrated.
For an empire I would like to see, the Mongols seem to get a lot less love. Now there was a rather controversial one, on the one hand they did integrate other peoples and rewarded those who served them, but they were not afraid to wipe out whole empires or populations if they chose to resist or burn the beards of their ambassadors (so the story goes). Despite being barbarians they had the makings of a modern army, they used a decimal system for organization, emphasized reconnaissance, gathered intelligence, and were not held back by some backward notion of chivalry or entrenched aristocracy. Subutai being wheeled around in a cart despite not being much of a warrior anymore was a testament to how they were a meritocracy and valued ability rather than lineage that most of the civilized peoples still clung to in the ye olde days.
Art has a subtle hypocrisy in it, don’t you think?
Criticism through art in Japan has not really aimed at the flesh of their shame. They played down everything in regard to their past colonialism. It is, somehow, an implied consensus that they leave out the most shameful part of their history on the dustbin of their annals, and nothing of that sort should be expressed in art (or, to put to further extent, to the screen).
Really, they still hate MacDouglas – but just ask people from countries colonized by Japan and their romusha. The perception of the West as being military hegemony is also a subtle playdown of them being also a hegemony in the East.
Interesting work here! However, there is a conspicuous absence of one Galactic Empire that is quite Germanic: see Legend of the Galactic Heroes.
Man Oliver May has nothing on Aryan sensation Jean Luc Duvall and futuristic SS Commander Herbert Von Kuspan. Also it should be noted that originally Zeon wasn’t intended to be that much of an allusion to Nazi Germany outside of Gihren Zabi as “Hitler’s Tail”. It really just sort of morphed into one over time with the various U.C Side Stories and especially with MS Igloo where Zeon was as you mentioned outright glorified and made to look like patriotic heroes fighting a war they have no chance of winning. I think it’s the absence of Gihren Zabi as a visible character in the series. Interestingly enough MS Igloo 2 turns the tables by showing the part of the war where the Federation was losing (and from their perspective) and has them portrayed as the patriotic heroes trying to stave of Zeon’s Earth invasion and push them back into space. I have no doubt the series is well aware of the fact that things look very different depending on which side of the conflict it is focusing on. That’s why I think it’s one of the best side stories for portraying what war is really like.
It’s also funny you should mention that Zeon surrendered before they were actually outright defeated and I think this happens to be yet another case of the original series cancellation actually helping to lay the groundwork for the franchises eventual timeline expansion. This is because originally the story was supposed to continue after the battle of A Baoa Qu as the Federation would eventually push it’s way into the Zeon homeland of Side 3 and occupy it, thus resulting in total defeat for the Zeon instead of a chance to retreat and recover over the next 8 years. How different could the potential sequels of the series have looked if that had happened.
Wow, that was amazing. Quite a bit of insight. I would definitely be interested in seeing the entirety of you paper.
I’m interested in reading the original paper you wrote. Can you send it to me at thegreekie [at] gmail.com? Thanks!
@thegreekie: Actually, I think he lost the original.
It was Wilhelm the Second, who forced the expansion to colonies and a larger fleet which imbalanced the power politics in Europe and with some stupid decisions resulted in WW1. It was the time of imperialism and he dreamed of German colonies and feared the reduction of power… read a book about it
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@ Crusader
In the last years the impression of the “clean” Wehrmacht in WW2 was corrected in an exhibition – and the result is far from what you probably know. Since this exhibition stired large emotions about misusing material etc, it was reviewed but proven correct.
The Wehrmacht planed, helped and cooperated with the SS in the eastern areas not only locally but organized by their commanders.
These facts are long known but ignored by the public opinion until this exhibition.
The hope, that even a part of the German military was generally clean from this dirt was proven wrong.
Just for the records: The basic quotations and the assemblage of links can be found in the German Wiki: “Wehrmachtsausstellung” (Wehrmacht exhibition), “Generalplan Ost” (Plan East: the plan to do Germanization in eastern europe)
Besides, animes tend to ignore the fact that knowing and not hindering a massacre/sabotating the regime somehow means to be guilty.
The German soldier has the right to decline every command that helps or leads to crime. He is strongly encouraged to do so.
This includes declining orders to develope software, which can be used as aiming help in the Iraq etc (this is actually happening).
This is the reason why in example Wernher von Braun is an American but no German hero. He helped to construct the Saturn V but knew about the concentration camps and didn`t deal with it in any appropriate manner afaIk.
Animes tend to treat blind followers heroically because unity is the big thing for “them“.
Unity /being connected till the ”end” seems to have a higher value than correcting mistakes / to criticise. If one looks carefully, one can see that in so many animes – its a recurring stereotype of taking action in many daily / larger scale situations in the series.
I call it brainless behaviour but that is only my opinion.
But the movies from a country reflect in their way the country`s culture and problems. It widens the horizon.
longtime lurker who finally saw a good writeup and wanted to throw in just some small comments:
first, i thought it was ironic that code geass portrayed Japan as the victim of western imperialistic expansion when Japan actually either tried its best to mimic that imperialism (occupation of Korea, Formosa, Manchuria, and the offensive against China) and eventually struck the first blow (forced or not) against those western powers (USA, British Empire, Dutch, etc…)
much more importantly though, i thought it was extremely awkward that code geass portrayed the Japanese as the freedom fighters fighting against an empire who tried to destroy their identity (ie made them “elevens”) when they perpetrated that exact crime against the Koreans (a la forcing them to take Japanese names and forbidding the teaching of Korean in schools)
considering the huge attention and popularity of the series, and their creation of the monstrous “holy britannian empire” i wonder if they recognized the striking similarities between their series’ antagonists and their own past…
@ T_I
That’s pretty much been my experience in shows that I have seen Chinese empires in. The Chinese Federation in Code Geass was portrayed as weak, barely holding on to power, and ruled by a court comprised of selfish, effeminate nobles. Xing Ke stood up to this with foreign backing (the Black Knights) and then joined the ‘Japanese’ faction against Britannia. Hmmm wishful thinking about the Japanese Empire what?
@ Crusader
On Prussia, I think that’s why that system is predominantly shown as a ‘good’ to ‘good-neutral’ type of empire. Mostly concerned with a strong, organized, militarized but not necessarily expansionist state, which also seemed to be the original dream of the Japanese Empire though that didn’t last long once they figured out they could beat up on their neighbors.
I find it interesting that you say many have used the term ‘second Cannae’, because while it was tactically brilliant the victors ended up having their city destroyed and its earth salted. Probably not the best model to strive for, even if tactically it is a classic.
Much agreement on the British model, you never really see the indigenous soldiers in this model in anime. Code Geass had Suzaku, but that was about it. Though maybe in that case you could argue that with Britannia controlling all of North America they had enough of a homeland to meet their troop needs since they were a high tech/low numbers force.
I remember reading Miracle at Midway back in 5th grade (Battle of Midway has always been one of my favorites) as well as books on Guadalcanal and seeing capture Japanese battle plans. Battles timed down to the minute, plans that didn’t last very long against decent opposition. And let’s not forget the IJA’s ‘tanks’ if you could even call them that by the standard of WWII tanks (though they’d fit right in with WWI French infantry tanks.) The decisive battle theme is another very Japanese concept, and something that bugged me as an IR student. There’s one big battle, enemy commander is defeated, and somehow peace just happens. Perhaps I’m looking for a little too much realism and cynicism, but I absolutely adore the series that do address this angle.
The Mongols would make for some very interesting anime source material if any studio or author was so inclined. Granted I’m very early into Macross, but maybe the Zentradi could have elements of this? A warrior organized species that’s on the move and seems meritocratic. They don’t seem to have incorporated other species, but they do seem like they could be genetically modified/engineered, so maybe they were different species engineered to a norm?
@ revthemilk
There is a strong tendency in Japan to downplay their colonialism and the abuses that occurred during that era. This manifests frequently in the concentration in TV drama specials, movies, and other media on ‘The Pacific War’, the war against the US, but very little about Japan’s war in Asia. And in this it almost always concentrates on the latter phase, where Japan was losing and in retreat across the Pacific. But war crimes committed against US and other allied POWs are also usually left out of the official perception.
To be fair, there have been numerous official government and royal apologies over the years. And China, both Koreas, and other countries in the region are often all too eager to play up historical hatred of Japan for domestic political distractions (the one exception being Taiwan). This has probably impaired relations in the region nearly as much as Japanese societal denial or ignorance. The two often feed on each other.
You must have meant Douglas MacArthur, and the relationship between him and the Japanese during the US occupation is an interesting one. On the one hand, as you say, there is the perception of him as foreign overlord, helping to Westernize the country and alter Japanese society (like in the last scene of MacArthur’s Children.) But on the other hand there was almost a hero worship element to his administration of the occupation, with some Japanese even demonstrating in his favor during the Korean War.
@ ghostlightning
Glad you liked it. Legend of the Galactic Heroes is such a rich show in terms of political philosophy (among many other facets) that only 2-3 paragraphs on its depiction of empire would be a damn shame. In the future I may address the political philosophy of LoGH in an editorial, once I finally finish off the last episodes of that masterpiece
@Kaoshim Sama
That’s really interesting about Gundam. While I knew that it was cancelled before the planned total run, I didn’t know that the intention was to have the EFSF make it all the way back to Side 3. That would have definitely made it a different setting, and probably not as interesting of one. I always thought that Zeon’s surrender speech by their newly re-empowered Prime Minister was supposed to be similar to the end of WWI, and Delaz’s Operation Stardust modeled after the ‘stab in the back’ idea that Hitler used to blame the civilian leaders for Germany’s (in his view) premature surrender in WWI when (again in his view) they were not exhausted and could still fight.
One of the things I love about UC Gundam is that it presents multisided views of the war. Even going back to the original series you had people on both sides with a range of motivations and moralities. 08th MS Team expanded on this very well too. MS Igloo takes a very gung-ho, almost propaganda approach to things, but I call the first two revisionist because they present Zeon as only defensive, fighting a cackling and cruel enemy, and show the characters completely surprised by the colony drop while omitting all their other crimes. MS Igloo two is mostly defensive, but the EFSF really was fighting defensively on Earth for most of the war, which is why I don’t find it as disingenuous as the first Igloo. Zeon are shown as a faceless, often cruel enemy though, going along with the more gung-ho attitude of the series.
@ kwantum0, the greekie, and Dorian Cornelius Jasper
While I did lose the original paper (damn my 3-years-ago self for not having a flash drive!) but I’ve reconstituted most of the ideas from memory. I have a longer, 11 page version if you’d like. Email me at executiveotaku AT yahoo DOT com and I’d be happy to send you the longer version. I wish I still had the powerpoint presentation…
@ Mel
I tend to see the Prussian/early German model in anime as primarily the Bismarkian model, usually not expansionist or only mildly so.
Hehe, I’ll let you and Crusader fight out that Wehrmacht point.
Without getting into a much larger, real world discussion of duties and responsibilities of soldiers, German soldiers may have had that ability to not follow commands they felt were immoral, but in practice in any society there are large positive and negative incentives to not get oneself in the way of your leaders. In particular with Wernher von Braun, he wasn’t in much of a position to affect change against the regime other than to potentially sabotage his own work or defect to the allies (at such a heavily secured and remote place as Peenemunde would be pretty hard to do.) Scientists also have a tendency to concentrate more on their science than the politics around them, and von Braun saw his military rocket developments as a necessary step to eventual space travel. From all that I’ve read about the guy, he seemed very detached from things that didn’t immediately impact his science.
Unity and social cohesion is an important aspect of Japanese society, and an interesting one to look at in anime. But it’s another big topic and probably outside the scope of this post’s topic. Thanks for the idea though, maybe it could be an idea for a future editorial.
@ Kasrkin519
Welcome to the fray, former lurker! Pretty much exactly. I remember other authors commenting on the similarities back when Code Geass came out. It was a very fun and interesting show, but if you look at it it reveals/almost seems to promote some rather revisionist ideas Japan holds about the age of empires and its role in that period. As you say Korea, as well as Taiwan were places where Japan tried to forcibly assimilate the culture and destroy traditional identities. Though the occupations in different areas varied. Places administered by the Imperial Japanese Navy (Taiwan) tended to take a bit more of a British approach where they assumed that they could never completely assimilate the natives and tended to allow more latitude to traditional social structures. The IJN also tended to rule a bit less harshly. But areas administered by the Army were much harsher and more aggressive in trying to force assimilation on an unwilling populace in China and Korea. They seemed to follow a more German-derived approach seeking a uniform populace standardized to better serve the state (and violent contempt for those different from this standardized population).
May I question something? If I recall correctly- feel free to correct -, it was under Bismark that Franco-Prussian and Prusso-Austrian wars took place. It was under him that Germany was “unified” after most of those who disagreed were beaten to bloody pulp. I would guess that some of the Bismark’s non-expansionism comes from belief that he tried to unify “Germany”, but as most IR/Polisci people you should be well aware of the difference between constructed “ancient” nations and the recency of nationalism. See Benedictine Anderson among others. If I stretch this, I can argue that in anime, the fantasy empires are based on imagined history of real states.
There is also a problem with the notion of chivalrous empire or knights. Both of these ideals were constructed much later and before the serious study of the periods to which they refer. So in essence, the chivalrous knight is a fiction that is as realistic as to quote Crusader “pixie dust”. Again, the fiction builds of fantasy.
2 Crusader: I remember that during Nuremberg trials a couple of people of German High Command who talked at length about code of conduct, honour etc. got caught – mostly through documents either written or signed by them – doing some rather unsavoury things.I’ll continue this at your later post
Japan ruled Taiwan comparatively well, especially in contrast to the Kuomintang. (It’s pretty sad if the locals think you govern worse than the freaking Empire of freaking Japan.) But that’s an aside.
Anyway, the idea of a Mongol Empire in anime would certainly be interesting. And probably not at all Glam. Unfortunately, I doubt that a truly representative depiction would be as visually appealing, though I would imagine the Zentraedi channel the Mongols via the Klingons–the first big-name sci-fi Proud Warrior Race Guys.
Always fun
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The law to decline orders if they are not in tune with the UNO or national law was introduced after WW2 to stop excuses like “but it was a command”.
In the trials after WW2 German scientists used the interest for their sience to excuse their ignorance to their surroundings.I study Computer Science/Bioinformatics and we are forced to visit lectures about ethics. In school we have to visit ethics / religion classes until graduation (in most German states to be precise). We are trying
For me, most of these German – style Empires completely ignore the past 60 years.
They stay in the past and reuse is as long as they wish. Well and the reuse isn`t even well done in many cases.
Oh yeah, I am sulking over this.
@Dorian Cornelius Jasper
That’s more historical revisionism by groups of pre-war pro-Japanese elites than the actual case, for most of Taiwan’s improvements were created by KMT initiatives (based on the 3-year plans intended for Mainland China). Those elites were simply pissy about losing their privileges as Japanese vassals (who btw always intended Formosa as an subordinate agricultural colony.) But that’s another point.
@ExecutiveOtaku
Although many other countries have outstanding territorial disputes (even in Europe), the Japanese tendency to whitewash history and even claiming it as a hoax (such as the many atrocities committed during the war) adds a corrosive element that other disputes don’t generally have. Part of this is the idea that acknowledgment of the stronger party is expected, but perceived ‘lesser’ parties are to be treated as dirt. The Russian’s were seen as such until the major defeats they inflicted on the Japanese changed things as an example.
@acs
Wasn’t aware of that, but it makes a whole lot of sense.
@Mel
My understanding of the situation was quite the opposite the Wehrmacht was branded as a criminal organization. The savagery that went on in the Ostfront was always well documented, but it would be foolish to brand the entire Heer, Luftwaffe, and the Kriegsmarine as being mere clones of the SS. People forget that the Wehrmacht encompassed the all branches of the German military not just the Heer (army). Admiral Canaris for instance actually sneaked out Jews after cursory training that made them “agents,” he and many other Wehrmacht conspirators of July 20 were hung for their beliefs. Generalizations are easy to make but it glosses over the fact that the truth is much less black and white and far more complex. Roping in the crew of the Bismarck with the same lot who crushed the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, glosses over the fact that most of the crew of the Bismarck died or were captured and had no part in the latter operation when it sank.
Pleasant as the ability to simply question orders and outright refuse, it basically puts the soldier in a catch 22 situation, if he complies he will be jailed, if he refuses he gets tossed into the brig. It’s easy to be on the outside passing judgment, but if you were the one who had to choose between your ass and the ass of some stranger would you really choose the guy you don’t even know? A soldier is expected to obey because usually there is no time to argue when bullets are flying. It’s easy now to say how bad or evil it was but back then it was perfectly acceptable to treat people differently, racial attitudes between now and then are worlds apart.
If you think too much about morality then essentially all of Germany was guilty as every one paid the criminal regime taxes to fund criminal activity, and therefore were legitimate targets for retribution. Such an attitude is not acceptable in war these days, it was perfectly fine then but it’s not like Bomber Harris and LeMay are touted as heroes without some controversy.
Many of those who served in the Wehrmacht also served in the Reichswehr which crushed the Beer Hall Putsch, one might wonder how things would have turned out differently had they been more uncompromising and draconian in dealing with it. In the end I think the desire for a gross generalization ignores the simple fact that, some where good, some where bad, and some just didn’t give a rat’s ass. Keitel kissed ass, Rommel never misbehaved, and Guederian never cared much about anything other than his panzers. At least in North Africa the Afrika Corps was pretty well behaved, so it’s not like every front was like Ostfront.
@Executive Otaku
It worked so wonderfully in the Russo-Japanese war that they seemed to be beholden to the concept, but by then it failed to take into account that the USN wasn’t looking to fight a Jutland. Moreover the USN was not above using plays from the enemy’s play book, our Submarine offensive was modeled on that of the U-boats…
@revthemilk
Dugout Doug was talented but he was notoriously hard to work with given his huge ego. He had his fair share of enemies even on the US side.
@Dorian Cornelius Jasper
It pretty much came down to the implementation of plans that were shelved during the period of cooperation between Wiemar Germany (mostly Reichswehr) and US aid after the formation of the PRC.
See, wars are important part of nation building myths. Most school history books i’ve encountered can be divided into three sections. The least important one and least voluminous is “Anywhere other than your country”. Then goes the “Cultural greatness of our country” which is rivaled by the “Great Military Victories and People’s Revolutions”. I remember how much space Napoleonic war took in my textbook and how it was called The Great Patriotic War. The Borodino was hailed as great victory of Russian arms, etc, etc. Same happened with 2nd World war or Second Great Patriotic War as it is know in Russia. Note that WWI occupied very little space in the book primarily because there was no way of manufacturing the story of “Great Victory”.
I’ve seen textbook of other countries over the years and they are mostly the same. They attempt to build a nation. There is little wrong with that, apart from self-reflection and self-criticism that get kicked to the curb. The “national myth”, the story of great destiny and single past needs good narrative and most wars can be easily shaped into such narrative. Where am I heading you might ask? I heading to the following point: wars are ugly and messy business and neither side is just, virtuous and enlightened. But for the purpose of national continuousness, the power structure of the state shapes the narrative of wars into glorious and chivalrous acts against barbaric oppressor.
P.S. A curious linguistics feature of “barbaric oppressor” is that “barbaric” simply means foreign in ancient Greek.
Cultures develop relationships with other world powers, and such relationships and their outcomes have repercussions that run deep. It really should be no surprise that their entertainment, even years down the road, still have subtle (or not so subtle) hints of these long in-grained attitudes and prevailing perceptions.
It’s not even just other powers, but certain things become “accepted” and propagates, such as how the East views Dragons and continues to view them as Benevolent. The fact that dragons don’t actually exist doesn’t even matter, just as it doesn’t matter for Japanese culture that they tried to mimic the very thing they depict now as evil.
Or how the idea of the Mandate of Heaven is still strong in Chinese people, as depicted by the 2002-film Hero, despite it not really having much relevance in the political climate today.
As I like to say, the shortest distance between two points is perception, and no further.
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