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Kawaii: Anime, Propaganda, and Soft Power Politics. [video]

21 points by surprisetalk 2y ago

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ViktorRay 2y ago
I also don’t think anime is propaganda. Same thing when it comes to Hollywood. I see people accusing Hollywood of “cultural imperialism.” But Hollywood is just filled with folks making movies they want to make and that producers think other people will pay money to see. If folks in other countries end up watching Hollywood movies and emulating them that’s because these people are individuals who might chose to make the choice to do that. It’s not imperialism in that sense. Some people even use cultural imperialism as an argument when talking about folks in the rain forest wearing t shirts and jeans. Maybe the folks in the rain forest just like wearing jeans? Hell jeans are comfy. T shirts too. Same argument. Note: this comment was originally written as a reply to someone in the thread who said he disagreed that anime was propaganda. I typed this comment to reply to him. But by the time I tried to post it he deleted his comment. So I am posting the comment here anyway
- marcosdumay 2y ago
  The US armed forces literally pay Hollywood to say the things they want in movies. And nowadays, China too. I don't know about anime, but it wouldn't be very surprising. (I just don't see who would be paying.) Anyway, other people watching them isn't imperialism. That's right. But they are propaganda.
  - sweeter 2y ago
    The point being made is about "soft power" which has a pretty large scope and can vary from fairly harmless, to outright nefarious. One very recent example is the US using soft power to spread vaccine misinformation in China and the Phillipines to undermine them https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-covid-propaganda/ https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-covi... but pretty much every country does some form of this as a method to subtly propagandize citizens of other countries. Its surprisingly easy to pull off.
  - lithos 2y ago
    There's a few "nationalistic" anime that hit big out of the boarders, "Gate" being the one that most comes to mind.
soraminazuki 2y ago
As always, anime attracts a lot of hate by those who barely watch it. Both in Japan and outside of it. For decades, mainstream Japanese culture has ridiculed anime and those who watch it. The media even went as far to treat them as potential criminals because why not? In their view, anime fans are nerds who lack people skills. When police finds anime in a suspect's home, they lay out the entire collection at press conferences for the whole country to see as if it has anything at all to do with the crime. Only very, very recently has that kind of animephobia within Japan subsided. Now after all of this, the author is claiming that it has been a tool for propaganda all along? Seriously??
- JoeyBananas 2y ago
  What's objectively true about anime is that it's not folk art. Anime is created by corporations for profit, and it is not popular by accident. It's popular because a firm has invested in a planned/funded advertising campaign to make it popular. Anime is inseparable from propaganda. There's nothing neutral about anime, it should rightfully be viewed for what it is, despite the layers of tactics employed to conceal it's true nature
  - soraminazuki 2y ago
    There's nothing "objective" about your argument. It's boilerplate nonsense that can be used to selectively attack anything that you don't like. It might've made some sense if you're talking about a specific title. But you're attacking an entire form of art with some unspecified grand conspiracy and nonsense arguments implying that there's no folk art surrounding anime. It just proves my point that anime attracts tons of hate from people who barely know it. And what are you even replying to? Because it sure doesn't look like a response to any of what I wrote. Just boilerplate hate.

21 points by surprisetalk 2y ago

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ViktorRay 2y ago

I also don’t think anime is propaganda. Same thing when it comes to Hollywood. I see people accusing Hollywood of “cultural imperialism.” But Hollywood is just filled with folks making movies they want to make and that producers think other people will pay money to see. If folks in other countries end up watching Hollywood movies and emulating them that’s because these people are individuals who might chose to make the choice to do that. It’s not imperialism in that sense. Some people even use cultural imperialism as an argument when talking about folks in the rain forest wearing t shirts and jeans. Maybe the folks in the rain forest just like wearing jeans? Hell jeans are comfy. T shirts too. Same argument. Note: this comment was originally written as a reply to someone in the thread who said he disagreed that anime was propaganda. I typed this comment to reply to him. But by the time I tried to post it he deleted his comment. So I am posting the comment here anyway

marcosdumay 2y ago
The US armed forces literally pay Hollywood to say the things they want in movies. And nowadays, China too. I don't know about anime, but it wouldn't be very surprising. (I just don't see who would be paying.) Anyway, other people watching them isn't imperialism. That's right. But they are propaganda.
- sweeter 2y ago
  The point being made is about "soft power" which has a pretty large scope and can vary from fairly harmless, to outright nefarious. One very recent example is the US using soft power to spread vaccine misinformation in China and the Phillipines to undermine them https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-covid-propaganda/ https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-covi... but pretty much every country does some form of this as a method to subtly propagandize citizens of other countries. Its surprisingly easy to pull off.
- lithos 2y ago
  There's a few "nationalistic" anime that hit big out of the boarders, "Gate" being the one that most comes to mind.

soraminazuki 2y ago

As always, anime attracts a lot of hate by those who barely watch it. Both in Japan and outside of it. For decades, mainstream Japanese culture has ridiculed anime and those who watch it. The media even went as far to treat them as potential criminals because why not? In their view, anime fans are nerds who lack people skills. When police finds anime in a suspect's home, they lay out the entire collection at press conferences for the whole country to see as if it has anything at all to do with the crime. Only very, very recently has that kind of animephobia within Japan subsided. Now after all of this, the author is claiming that it has been a tool for propaganda all along? Seriously??

JoeyBananas 2y ago
What's objectively true about anime is that it's not folk art. Anime is created by corporations for profit, and it is not popular by accident. It's popular because a firm has invested in a planned/funded advertising campaign to make it popular. Anime is inseparable from propaganda. There's nothing neutral about anime, it should rightfully be viewed for what it is, despite the layers of tactics employed to conceal it's true nature
- soraminazuki 2y ago
  There's nothing "objective" about your argument. It's boilerplate nonsense that can be used to selectively attack anything that you don't like. It might've made some sense if you're talking about a specific title. But you're attacking an entire form of art with some unspecified grand conspiracy and nonsense arguments implying that there's no folk art surrounding anime. It just proves my point that anime attracts tons of hate from people who barely know it. And what are you even replying to? Because it sure doesn't look like a response to any of what I wrote. Just boilerplate hate.