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cosmicjoke · 2 years

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Debunking misconceptions that Attack on Titan is pro-imperialist, pro-fascist, pro-nationalist or antisemitic:

I wanted to put together this bullet point list as a resource for anyone to use whenever they come up against the sadly rampant accusations made about AoT and Hajime Isayama being some sort of fascist, Nationalist propaganda, or in some way antisemitic. With just a little research and application of logic, it should be easy to come to the conclusion that these accusations are baseless and without merit. But, sadly, people are prone to hearing rumors or accusations and, without any effort of research or critical thinking, take what they heard at face value and believe it, often repeating it as fact, with no consideration or care as to the consequences of their carelessness. I aim with this post to counter some of that ignorance. So, here it goes.

1. Hajime Isayama is politically right-leaning and is pro-Nationalist and pro-Imperialist:

Incorrect. Isayama has never made any public statements regarding anything political, let alone to do with the history between Japan and Korea. This erroneous and widely spread belief about Isayama derives from an unsubstantiated rumor about him which has no substantive or concrete evidence to back it up. The truth is, a tweet touching on the subject of Japan’s invasion and occupation of Korea was written on an account which in no way is officially affiliated with Isayama. This tweet was seen by someone who decided the account belonged to Isayama and, already laboring under the belief that Isayama was a racist because, I’m assuming, of comments he made expressing his admiration for a Japanese General named Akiyama Yoshifuru, leaked the tweet onto a Korean website, claiming it was from Isayama. It then became news, which as all rumors on the internet do, spread like wildfire, resulting in Isayama receiving thousands of death threats and people lacking any sort of critical thinking skills to label him a pro-Imperialist and pro-Nationalist. Despite happening nearly a decade ago, this rumor persists to this day and continues to color people’s perceptions of Isayama’s work “Attack on Titan”, reading pro-fascist and pro-Nationalist subtext into a work which very CLEARLY is the opposite. One only need use basic reasoning and logic while looking at the actual messaging of clear denouncement of war, violence, prejudice and Imperialism seen in AoT to conclude that this rumor is in fact baseless and holds no merit. It makes absolutely zero sense in the context of Isayama’s messaging in his own art.

2. Hajime Isayama’s admiration of Akiyama Yoshifuru:

Isayama revealed that one of the characters from “Attack on Titan”, Dot Pixis, was based on the Japanese General Akiyama Yoshifuru. Many people, in their failure to know their history or do even the most basic research, don’t know that Yoshifuru wasn’t, in fact, alive during World War II, the second Sino-Japanese war, or even the Manchurian Invasion. He wasn’t around for any of the atrocities that that IJA would later be known for. He led successful campaigns during the 1st Sino-Japanese war, the Russo-Japanese war, and the Boxer rebellion in China. During the boxer rebellion both sides of the 8 nation alliance and the Chinese Rebels committed war crimes. This was all before WW1 and the Geneva Convention. He just led successful campaigns that captured territory early on thus kickstarting the Japanese Empire, but didn’t actually participate in any of the worst atrocities that. He’s a highly regarded figure in Japan, much the way Gen. Patton is in the US, and so it isn’t at all unusual for him to be an admired figure in that country, and shouldn’t in any way be used as a basis for judging what any person’s political leanings are. Further, Akiyama spent his whole life afterward regretting being in the military, mourning for his subordinates and the victims of his military campaigns. He campaigned to reduce military training in schools and disliked the totalitarianism japan was headed toward. He wasn’t pro-war, pro-nationalist, pro-imperialist at all. He was the exact opposite. Much like Dot Pixes himself ends up being by the end of AoT.

3. Erwin Smith is based on Erwin Rommel, a famous German General:

This rumor comes from the fact that Erwin’s birthday is the same day in which Rommel died, October 14th. What even a little basic research will reveal, however, is that Rommel was executed on Oct. 14th for taking part in the July 20th operation, an assassination plot to kill Hitler. Rommel was also not a card-carrying member of the Nazi party, and, while disputed by some historical studies, is and for a long time has been generally regarded as an example to be held up of how one should conduct themselves during times of war. He’s a well respected individual.

4. The Eldian’s are meant to be a 1 for 1 analogy for the Jews in Germany and Europe during WWII:

Incorrect. While the Eldian’s treatment by the Marleyan’s in Liberio shares similarities with how the Jews were treated in Germany and Europe under Nazi rule, the Eldian’s in fact share much more in common with Germanic and Norse cultures, including their names, their religions, their culture, their mythology, etc… Such as the references to Ymir, the giant who created the world, or Yggdrasil, the World Tree, which connects the 9 Realms and is the source of all life, (there are 9 Titan shifters, 9 being a numerically significant number in Norse mythology). The Eldian’s, in the flashbacks with Ymir the slave girl, are shown to be a Germanic tribe of people, Vikings, who of course were known for colonizing and taking over other groups and nations. Indeed, Marley oppressing and punishing Eldian’s for their ancestors sins parallels European powers enacting incredibly harsh reparations on Germany following WWI, essentially sinking it and it’s people into economic ruin and despair, which in turn lead to the sorts of desperate circumstances which allowed a person like Hitler and the Nazi party to gain traction and eventual control and power. Sound familiar? Just like how Eren is able to come into the power of the attack and founding titans, giving him the ability to destroy Marley and the rest of the world, being a direct result of Marley’s own oppressive and prejudiced treatment of the Eldian’s. This isn’t to say that the Eldian’s are meant to be a 1 for 1 analogy of German’s, but rather to demonstrate that Isayama obviously pulled from many real-world sources for inspiration in crafting the fictional world, people’s and nations that occupy “Attack on Titan”. The parallels are meant to demonstrate a cautionary tale against holding people accountable for sins committed by their ancestors, for blaming entire groups of people for things they didn’t do. It only ever leads to further hate, death, destruction and suffering. Interestingly, the character most directly linked to actually being Jewish, is Levi, with his first name being Hebrew in origin, and his last name, Ackerman, being German. A German Jew. What makes this significant, of course, is that Levi is the only truly, traditionally heroic character in the whole story. So make of that what you will.

I’ll leave this comment I found on youtube to further explain:

B Ch

The titans are "Eldians" by name but not by primary origin- anyone with Ymir's blood had the capability of turning into a titan due to a merge with a paranormal source (the "source of all organic matter"), and Ymir came from a nameless group of villagers that the Eldians colonized and enslaved, so Ymir by blood is not actually an Eldian, only further discrediting the anti-Semitism claim, since the "monsters" in question were ALWAYS the oppressed group and taken advantage of because of their abilities. The concept of Pure Titans only existed as a result of trying to duplicate one of the 9 titans only this could not be done either because simply injecting spinal fluid wouldn't do it, the shifter had to be sacrificed and eaten for this to happen (there is not reason why only 9 happened to come to existence, but it's likely just a notable numerical reference in Nordic mythology). Eventually existing Eldians all had Ymir's blood due to cleansing of their own people and others in order to pose a bigger threat to enemy nations, and those nations had associated Eldians with holders of the power for ages, no one ever knowing where it actually came from until we are shown through Ymir's memories: turns out, it was from another group entirely and a freak accident started by letting some pigs out of a pen. And tbh while I can't speak for Jewish people because I'm not Jewish, I will say that a lot of the backlash against Attack on Titan are made from Westerners, because they fail to realize that while the most prominent references are from the Holocaust and Nazi Germany, the full scale of references parallel several other tragedies of oppression and genocide, such as the Japanese internment camps in the US, the Rwandan Genocide, the Trojan War, etc. The Eldians aren't specifically meant to represent Jews but rather a general populace of oppressed people. It is more about the viscous cycle of trauma and hatred that removes and meddles with the history that would explain how it all began to being all but meaningless because there is no meaning beyond humans finding reasons to dominate over each other and believing they are the hero of their own story- the solution is to break free of that cycle so that freedom can be possible. Also while I'm not condoning Eren's ultimate actions, his words to stop being complacent to the circumstances and to go against the grain to make a change to your miserable situation can be a general moral for literally anything in life. Isayama has said the story was initially inspired by his drive to leave his hometown because as a child he felt very confined and trapped and restless-- and then he wanted to make a shape-shifting monster horror manga-- which then turned into a mystery that demanded some structure so, like MANY Japanese mangaka that make stories about war, you use parallels of real life occurrences and maybe focus a tiny bit too much on the European aesthetic and Holocaust. So that said, I can understand if the visuals are a bit too real for some viewers and that's totally cool, but that equally can't be used to dictate others of oppressed groups' opinions on the story.

#attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #hajime isayama

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elizainjapan · 11 months

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June 3rd- Imperial Palace and Yasukuni Shrine

Today we started off with a bit of a sleepy start. Class was early, and I had gone to bed pretty late the previous night. We took the train to the Imperial Palace, and I really enjoyed the walk there. I can’t believe there were so much land that wasn’t being used in such an important part of the city. The trees were gorgeous, but we couldn’t frolic in the park. We couldn’t see much of the palace because a lot of it isn’t open to the public, but from what we could see, it was gorgeous. We walked to the part where the public was allowed and it was a garden-type area. By this time, the rain had cleared and the sun was out. Raj and Vishnu got some crazy pictures here, and we all just walked around until it was time to head to Yasukuni. I was so hungry and my social battery had died some time ago, so as soon as the group got to Yasukuni, we spent 5 minutes there before finding lunch. Vishnu found an Indian place that so insanely good. We all ate so much, and our tummies hurt so bad on the walk back. I was being so brave. Once we got back to the hotel, I knocked out. I woke up about an hour ago to start the readings for tomorrow because we are going to Shinjuku tonight as a group. Lunch was definitely the highlight of my day, and I hope we have fun tonight!

Academic Reflection-

Today’s reading was on the controversy surrounding the Yasukuni Shrine. Because it is a memorial for all of the soldiers who died in World War 2, it memorializes 14 Class A war criminals. Their names are not in any designated area, and are just spread around the shrine. Even worse, the Prime Minister makes visits there to pay respects to the people who gave their lives fighting for what they believed was right - which I understand - but it still sends a very nationalist and dangerous message to surrounding countries. Before doing this reading, I had no idea that there were different classes of war criminals. As defined by a web article on Yasukuni, a Class A war criminal is someone who has committed “crimes against peace” with the “planning, preparation, initiation, or waging of wars of aggression”. It’s a very broad definition, and Ifeel like that could encompass a lot more than 14 people.

As a political science major, it is only fair that I was super fascinated with the World War 2 museum near-by, but no one wanted to go inside with me. It makes sense because it would be giving money to far-right Japanese propaganda, but I still would love to know the narrative that they chose to commemorate. The reading spoke about the different dimensions of issue that the shrine poses - one at the international level and the other at the national level. The international level is obvious, China and Korea feel like Japan still believes they were right in the Rape of Nanking and the use of comfort women. But the national level is a bit stranger. The Japanese Constitution prohibits the state from engaging in any activities that sponsor a specific religion. Yet, frequent trips are made to Yasukuni every year. The other aspect of this domestic issue is the youth’s newfound nationalist ideology that Japan should be completely independent from America. I understand the need to commemorate fallen soldiers, but there should be an exclusion of those who committed war crimes.

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rkhemlani · 11 months

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June 3rd - Imperial Palace/Yasukuni Shrine

Today I woke up around 7:45, got ready for the day, and met with the group upstairs at 8:30 for lecture. After half an hour, we took the train to the Tokyo Station, the central station located in the heart of the financial district of the city. Dr. Smith mentioned that it had gotten bombed several times in its history during WWII. After walking about 20 minutes, we reached the outer gardens of the Imperial Palace, which was nicely landscaped, included lots of open space, and was incredibly scenic. Vishnu and I took some pictures here. Dr. Smith mentioned that the emperor only opens the palace twice a year: for New Year’s celebrations and for the emperor’s birthday. We walked to the inner garden which was breathtaking. It included several ponds with beautiful flowering plants, koi fish, a waterfall, and outstanding backgrounds for some great pics. We spent about an hour here before we toured more of the palace gardens, which ultimately led to this hill that used to serve as the last reserve for the emperor just in case of attack. After the Imperial Palace walk through, we trekked over to the Yasukuni Shrine, which is dedicated to those who died in combat for Japan. There was a massive torii at the entrance of the shrine that stood about 70 feet tall. After spending a short time at the shrine, we were all hungry, so Vishnu and I were dying for food, particularly Indian food. We found an amazing restaurant about five minutes away and we completely inhaled our talis, which are these silver platters that have naan, rice, and different curries. Vishnu and I were teaching Nico, Eliza, Sam, and Sam (Sarah) about Indian food and they seemed to also enjoy it. We were all very hungry and tired from the walking from the day, but that meal was so good. The plans for tonight are up in the air, but a jazz bar seems like the place to go.

Yesterday’s reading was dedicated towards the controversy surrounding the Yasukuni Shrine, which has strained relations between Japan and China and Korea. The Yasukuni Shrine, as previously mentioned, is dedicated to those who lost their lives in battle. It war originally consecrated for the Boshin War, the civil war that issued in the Meiji Restoration in 1868, but it now includes many soldiers who lost their lives in battle. However, it also serves as a right-wing nationalist symbol in Japan. On the international level, this shrine has received backlash because many of the soldiers in Japan’s history have committed war crimes and terrors such as the Rape of Nanjing. Many of the Japanese people believe that Korea and China should not meddle into Japanese affairs and that this issue should be swept under the rug. Furthermore, the reading states that, “party members also believe that China and Korea are using the issue to promote domestic nationalism”, which also may be true. I do believe at times the reading went a little too far in stating the importance of the shrine in diplomatic relations by making claims such as “Both Chinese and Korean governments regard the correct understanding of past history, including the Yasukuni issue, as the fundamental basis upon whichto build political relations with Japan.”

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ghosts-of-the-midwinter-fires · 4 years

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Bit fucking ironic how you ‘hate nazis’ but dress as one ?? in public ?? on social media??? and think its acceptable to?? Hypocrite !!!

Okay, I’m going to be just as informative as I can here because it’s clear you’re someone I know in real life. One person in real life knows my tumblr, I won’t dox you don’t worry that wouldn’t be fair. Honestly I don’t know why you bother with the whole anonymous thing. And I think we’re well and truly past the threshold for me having to explain myself to you; but I will, since educating is what I love.

There is a very distinct difference between someone being a Nazi, supporting Nazi ideals, supporting what they did etc etc. And doing historical reenactment.... which btw is what I do. It’s not what I used to do. I did genuinely used to just have a collection of uniforms and yes, a German Wehrmacht uniform was one of them. But also so was an American 101st paratrooper, a British Tommy (ww1 variant) and also who can forget the single most amazing uniform of them all.... a women’s red cross uniform. Which btw, I look spectacular in, even if it’s a bit tight.

Anyway, also, do you have any idea how boring a war reenactment would be if there was only one team? Like you can’t have a battle of the bulge reenactment and only have American troops turn up.... you sort of need to have the bad guys there too. Also, reenactment is about entertainment and education. It’s meant to be informative and also fun to watch. In fact, most reenactment groups won’t let you join if they think you actually like the Nazis. They have a pretty good screening process before they let you join. Then you can buy a fake gun and dress up and ride on tanks and stuff - it’s like the worlds best game of Army Men. If you know, you enjoyed playing Army men as a child. Essentially me and everyone else who re-enacts are just really bad actors who don’t get paid - do you think that every actor who ever played a Nazi or German soldier on tv is a Nazi too? Do you think people who dress as Imperial Japanese soldiers are also imperialists who advocate and commit war crimes?

Also, when I dress up I dress up as a Wehrmacht soldier, who technically weren’t Nazis. Most of them were conscripts forced to fight for the Nazi party. Most of them thought they were fighting for home. And yeah, some of them were genuine Xenophobes who hated everyone who wasn’t white or aryan. But I personally won’t touch SS. I’ve got the uniform, I got a laugh out of it at 17 and now it just sits and takes up space. Why? Because SS is like genuine Nazi stuff. Even I was smart enough to realise that was a path I didn’t want to go down.

So, basically long story short.... yeah, I have Uniforms. Some are German, some are Nazi, some are just other uniforms. Do I wear the Wehrmacht one? A handful of days a year to sit in a muddy field without actually getting shot at. And on Halloween, because if you’d spent over £2000 on what is essentially a costume you’d fucking wear it too. It gets lots of compliments, it starts lots of conversations, people are positive about it because they’re willing to listen to why I’ve got them. Do they think it’s weird? Probably. But does owning something catogorise you into a group? Well let me ask you this, if someone dresses as Jimmy Saville for Halloween are they a Nonce? If someone dressed as trump for Halloween were they automatically a racist bigot? If someone owns a football top are they automatically a footballer? No. So yeah, it’s not hypocrisy. Hypocrisy would be saying I hate Nazis.... whilst also advocating, enjoying, supporting and encouraging the behaviour of Nazis. Whilst being a Nazi. Someone can hate something, someone can absolutely detest and loathe something to its very core... and still use that hate in a productive way, and that way for me is to help educate people. It’s to keep alive the memories and the experiences of those that lived it. It’s to give people a fun day out and to meet new people who also hate something to its core, but understand that it’s not something that can be swept under the carpet and forgotten about. It’s teaching kids that flags and uniforms may be associated an idea, an idealology, but it doesn’t always represent the people. The suffering, or the horrors committed, or committed against.

Anyway, I hope this has been informative for you. For the anon and anyone else who could be bothered reading the absolute bible that this ended up being. I hope it was all nice and clear enough, and you know, maybe you should be less concerned with what I like and dislike or what I’m doing with my life. I’m happy now, I’m in a good place now where I’m doing stuff I love. So remember, fuck Nazis, fuck neo Nazis, punch them in the face. Keep up the good fight, merry Christmas.

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weirdbananasblog · 3 years

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MOST POPULAR ANIME CHARACTERS

Firstly, An anime’s popularity highly depends upon its characters. Here are some anime characters which is popular over time. Secondly, Almost every time anime series comes with new characters like a cool guy, shy girl, badass villain, expressionless character. And other Anime girl characters.

1. LELOUCH LAMPEROUGE

Code Geass is maybe one of the most liked anime of all time. War tactics, intelligence, action-packed episodes, and intense story plot have helped it reach its global fame and fandom. And obviously the main protagonist Lelouch is one of the most beloved characters and popular anime characters you would find.

He is extremely wicked and his intellect helped him overcome every situation. In the series, Lelouch is a former prince from the superpower Britannia who is given the power of the “Geass” by a witch known as C.C. Using the Geass and his genius-level intellect, Lelouch becomes the leader of the resistance movement known as The Black Knights under his alter ego zero to destroy the Holy Britannian Empire, an imperial monarchy that has been conquering various countries under control from his father.

Anime: Code Geass

Character: Lelouch Lamperouge

Power: Geass, hypnosis, and brainwashing

Creator: Ichirō Ōkouchi

2. MONKEY D LUFFY

As we know, Luffy is the most beloved Popular Anime Character. One piece has become the longest-running anime series of all time. And Monkey D Luffy has become the most loved character. Firstly, Luffy is the captain of Straw Hat Pirate. He is the Grandson of infamous Vice-Admiral Monkey D Garp and Son of revolutionary army leader Monkey D Dragon.

In addition, He has a jolly and fun character. When the time comes Luffy will go against everyone to protect his loved one. However, Luffy went against numerous global powers. Starting with fighting the most powerful pirates in the East Blue and moving to clashes against the Marines, and moreover, Seven Warlords of the Sea, World Nobles, and addition, even the Four Emperors in the Grand Line.

Anime : One Piece

Character : Monkey D Luffy

Devil Fruit : Gomu Gomu no Mi

Abilities : Gear 2nd, Gear 3rd, Gear 4th, Gattling, Haki, and so on.

Pirate Group Name : Straw Hat Pirate

First Crewmate : Roronoa Zoro

Ship name : The Thousand Sunny

Creator : Eiichiro Oda

3. L LAWLIET

Death note is 37-episode anime television series, which is written by Tsugumi Ohba. And, the core concept is the “Death Note” itself, a black notebook with instructions (known as “Rules of the Death Note”) written on the inside. Moreover, It allows anyone to commit a murder, knowing only the victim’s name and face. In short, The storied director said that it is inspired by ancient Japanese concepts.

Meanwhile, Yagami Light found the notebook (death note) and started to provide justice to the world by using Death Note. Above all, he was killing people which he shouldn’t and, using the notebook in the wrong way. In conclusion, To spot that kind of violence L came into action and contradict Yagami Light.

Anime : Death Note

Character : L

Work : Detective

Creater : Tsugumi Ohba

4. LEVI ACKERMAN

Attack on Titan has recently become popular anime throughout the year. In other words, It is popular for various reasons like animation, direction, cinematography, character development, story. Levi is the captain of the squad lit ‘leader of the soldier he has shown his true potential after defeating the Beast titan in season 3. However, he is quite short. But, his physique is well-developed in musculature from extensive vertical maneuvering equipment usage.

He usually doesn’t show his expression so, he is expressionless. In short, he is the cool guy character of the anime attack on titan.

Anime : Attack on titan

Character : Levi Ackerman

Post : Survey Corps Captain

Abilities : 3D Maneuver Gear, strategies making and keen judgment, and so on.

Squad : Special Operations Squad

Creator : Hajime Isayama

5. NARUTO

Naruto is one of the most diverse anime with lots of different characters. So, Hand down it is one of my favorite anime. Firstly, Naruto Uzumaki is a shinobi of Konohagakure’s Uzumaki clan. Secondly, He has a carefree, energetic, and hopeful personality. Due to, having the power of nine tail fox other villagers didn’t want to get close to him. So, he wanted to do something big in his life. In short, His only dream is to be Hokage of the leaf village.

Meanwhile, At his early age, Naruto is assigned to Team 7, in which he meets his rival Sasuke Uchiha, a taciturn and highly skilled “genius” of the Uchiha clan; Sakura Haruno, who is infatuated with Sasuke and has Naruto’s attention and Kakashi Hatake, the quiet and mysterious leader of the team. In short, Their team name is team 7.

Anime : Naruto

Character : Naruto Uzumaki

Abilities : Nine tail fox, Rasenshuriken, Shadow Clones Jutsu, Sage Mode, Summoning Giant Toads, and so on.

Team mate : Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno

Leader : Kakashi Hatake

Creator : Masashi Kishimoto

6. SAITAMA

In this paragraph, I am going to talk about Saitama(One punch man). Saitama can literally defeat the enemy with only one punch. As mention in the series, he didn’t have hair and he is just ordinary looking blad guy. However, he faces a self-imposed existential crisis similar to depression and anxiety. As a result, he work out very hard. In short, his workout includes 100 Pushups, 100 Sit-Ups, 100 Squats, and a 10KM Run every day. After all, he loses all his hair by hard training. But, he is actually a funny and dedicated character.

Anime : Saitama

Character : Caped Baldy

Ability : Punch

Creator : artist ONE

7. GOKU

Son Goku is a fictional character and main protagonist of the Dragon Ball manga series. As an early 2000s kid, I clearly remember Goku is the main character of the series Dragon Ball. It was the most popular anime series back in the days. So, his character is based on Sun Wukong (Monkey King), the main character in the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West. In short, Many experts say that he is considered to be one of the greatest manga and anime characters of all time.

Anime : Dragon Ball

Character : Son Goku

Abilities : Kamehameha, Super Saiyan, Spirit Bomb, Dragon Fist, and so on.

Creator : Akira Toriyama

8. RINTAROU OKABE

Steins;Gate is an anime series about time travel. In addition, Okabe is a self-proclaimed mad scientist who often goes by the pseudonym Kyouma Hououin. He spent most of his time in a lab and has dubbed himself Lab Member No. 001. So, by spending more time in the lab he learns that he is the only one who possesses the ability to determine changes between different timelines, which he dubs “Reading Steiner”.In short, Steins;Gate is anime series of a variety of characters and my favorite character is Mayuri Shiina.

Anime : Steins;Gate

Character : Rintarou Okabe

Ability : Scientist , to determine changes between different timelines, and so on.

Creator : 5pb. and Nitroplus

9. EDWARD ELRIC

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is the story of two brothers. Brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric search for the Philosopher’s Stone hoping to restore their body from Philosopher Stone. When they attempted to use their alchemy skills to resurrect their deceased mother. Edward, who lost only limbs, joins the State Military, which gives him the freedom to continue the search of the stone. In short, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood has been popular for its strong variety of character and strong flow of the story. Actually, a strong villain can make anime 10 times better.

Anime : Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood

Character : Edward Elric

Ability : master of alchemy, can manipulate the environment and form weapons to fight, and so on.

Creator : Hiromu Arakawa

10. YAGAMI LIGHT

Death note is crime drama anime series. A high school student Yagami Light finds a notebook outside his highschool. Later on, he found out that he can kill people just by writing names of people and remembering his/her face.So, He tries to take action on his own and started to feel like a god. However, His main agenda is to kill criminals. He is brilliant, calculating, and manipulative.

Anime : Death Note

Character : Yagami Light

Ability : Notebook

Creator : Tsugumi Ohba

#animecharacter anime animemovie animeboy #naruto luffy onepiece deathnote l yagamilight

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avatarsymbolism · 7 years

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I Shouldn’t Have to Fight Against ATLA Fandom Imperialist Apologia in 2017, and Yet...

Hey dudes and dudettes!

So, I know a lot of you…most of you…are super excited about the LOK comic “Turf Wars, Part 1″ that just came out. And that’s great.

But of course, fandom and society being as it is, it appears that there’s been a lot of controversy about this comic and the themes found within. Not just about shipping, but about some of the ideas presented in the comic as well.

One particular panel that’s been the center of a lot of this controversy though is this little panel which features Kya telling Korra and Asami how the Fire Nation used to be relatively tolerant of homosexual relationships until everything changed when Firelord Sozin made that illegal:

Some of the complaints that I have seen about this panel (by people on all sides of this debate) include the following:

How can you talk about the Fire Nation being homophobic without also mentioning their many other crimes like the Air Nomad Genocide?

The Fire Nation being homophobic doesn’t make sense because this revelation came out of nowhere.

It doesn’t make sense for the Fire Nation to be homophobic because they were at the forefront of progress and wanted to spread their higher standard of living to the rest of the world.

It doesn’t make sense for the Fire Nation to be homophobic because they were the most egalitarian of the Four Nations.

It doesn’t make sense for the Fire Nation to have been homophobic because they were already imperialist and racist.

Now, it’s really not my place to talk about queer representation in media but, as someone who has spent a lot of time reading and learning about history, it really, really grinds my gears when I see people spewing this kind of garbage, especially when it reeks of an ignorance of history and a lack of historical understanding.

Let’s go over this point by point though.

Claim 1: How can you talk about the Fire Nation being homophobic without also mentioning their many other crimes like the Air Nomad Genocide?

Kya was specifically talking about same-sex relationships, and not stuff like Sozin’s imperialist endeavors, and the Air Nomad Genocide. While we we also learn that the Air Nomads were very open, chances are Kya wouldn’t mention the Genocide unless those two were somehow related.

Furthermore, Kya says that Sozin criminalized same-sex relationships when he first took power, which happened sometime during the 12 years that Roku spent traveling the world and training, and not when he started to go through with his imperialist plan. This means that same-sex relationships became illegal when Sozin was between 16 and 28 years of age.

With that said, it’s a basic rule of essay writing that you should always stay on topic. As such, Kya was keeping to the topic at hand: how same-sex relationships were historically viewed in each of the Four Nations, which is why she didn’t bring up the other atrocities that Sozin committed.

Claim 2: The Fire Nation being homophobic doesn’t make sense because this revelation came out of nowhere.

Ok, aside from the fact that maybe, just maybe, this issue didn’t need to come up in LOK or ATLA prior to the introduction of this comic (although it could have, but that’s a discussion for another day), this claim really intrigues me because this isn’t the first time that something happened “out of nowhere.”

For example,, the first time we’ve seen terms like ‘ashmaker,’ and ‘dirt girl’ thrown around as slurs was in “The Promise.”

Prior to that, the only time we’ve heard an Avatar character using anything close to a racial slur was when the Warden called earthbenders savages in “Imprisoned,” and when Sokka called the Fire Nation savages for burning down a forest. But even then that’s stretching it.

And yet, no one said a word when Smellerbee and her fellow Freedom Fighters suddenly started to call Fire Nation people ashmakers, even though it would have made canonical sense for someone like Jet to have used that slur prior to her.

But even more irksome is this panel with King Kuei from “North and South” which starts a whole little subplot about how King Kuei has some antiquated ideas about what is and isn’t civilization:

So apparently it’s “out of nowhere” for the Fire Nation to be homophobic, but King Kuei being an imperialist and Earth Kingdom/Fire Nationfolk suddenly throwing around racial slurs isn’t?

How does that work?

Claim 3: It doesn’t make sense for the Fire Nation to be homophobic because they were at the forefront of progress and wanted to spread their higher standard of living to the rest of the world.

Ok, first of all, Sozin, like many of his real life imperialist counterparts saw his nation as being superior to all those around him. Second of all, just like many of his real life imperialist counterparts, Sozin sought to share his nation’s prosperity with the rest of the world…through war and conquest.

That’s not “spreading your standard of living,” that’s being a warmongering imperialist and destroying the world around you in the name of “progress.”

Second, how are these two ideas incompatible?

You can can be the ruler of an imperialist nation but at the same time be any number of things. Mao, with his: Great Leap Forward” had homosexuals arrested. The West too has had a long history of having negative views of homosexuality and femininity alongside its imperialist history.

And while the Fire Nation draws a lot of its influence from Japan–which historically had a tolerant view of homosexual relationships until the nation began to Westernize–we shouldn’t forget that 1) there is no real 1 to 1 comparison when it comes to real world influences of the Avatar world, and 2) the writers are allowed creative freedom.

Claim 4: It doesn’t make sense for the Fire Nation to homophobic because they were the most egalitarian of the Four Nations.

This claim can probably pertain to two things:

There have canonically been female Firelords prior to Azula and Izumi

We’ve seen women among the Fire Nation’s ranks

And to that I say, so what?

For all its goddesses and views on homosexuality, the Greeks and Romans were still very misogynist. Sure, they were open about sexuality, but check out this snippet about Julius Caesar:

And to emphasize the bad name Caesar had won alike for unnatural and natural vice, I may here record that the Elder Curio referred to him in a speech as: “Every woman’s man and every man’s woman.”

And, while I should also note that views of homosexuality during this time were more about who took the penetrative or domineering role as opposed to the actual act itself, there was still a taboo regarding who took what role, with those taking the more passive role being seen as woman-like and weaker than those in the more dominant position.

On a similar note, when the Japanese and Chinese did allow for open, same-sex relationships, women were still thought to be inferior to men.

Furthermore, you can still have a female Firelord while also having misogynist and/or homophobic views. Just look at Queen Victoria or Queen Elizabeth.

And even beyond that, queens like Margaret of Anjou had to fight against patriarchal institutions that wanted nothing more than to tear them down. And sure, you also had your occasional Eleanor of Aquitaine who’d manage to hold their own, but a lot of the time it was a constant uphill struggle for women throughout history.

It wasn’t egalitarianism with these historical queens, but finding a way to make the system work in their favor.

And as far as the existence of women in the Fire Nation military is concerned, this appears to a recent development since all the women we see in the Fire Nation military are relatively young. In fact, the closest thing to have to older Fire Nation women fighting or commanding armies are Lo and Li who were Azula’s firebending instructors.

This has some real world historical backing too since we’ve see countries on both sides of WWII employ women as the war dragged on.

But again, this doesn’t mean that homophobia and misogyny are impossible. If anything, the slow inclusion of women within the Fire Nation ranks demonstrates that some progress can eventually be made in regards to the rights of women and people in the LGBT community.

Claim 5: It doesn’t make sense for the Fire Nation to have been homophobic because they were already imperialist and racist.

Sozin was already a racist, genocidal imperialism. Him also being a homophobe isn’t that much of a reach.

Also, “it doesn’t make sense for [person] to be [one type of bigot] because they were already [another type of bigot]?” Really? This is an argument?

You can be more than one type of bigot. History has proved this time and time again. How is this a valid argument?

Anyway, that concludes my rant. Thanks for reading.

#sozin #fire nation #atla #lok #both #influences #commentary #turf wars spoilers #commentary: influences #commentary: general from both

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writingwithcolor · 7 years

Text

Research:Large to Small Scale, Avoiding Homogenizing East Asian Cultures, & Paralleling Regions Appropriately

I’m currently working on a project set in a secondary world, but with nations that roughly correspond to major cultures in our world.

By that I mean I’m trying to create amalgamations of cultural groups. For example, one country corresponds to Germanic cultures, one to Celtic, one to Mediterranean. There are, so far, also countries that correspond to Eastern Asia - a mixture of Japanese, Chinese and Korean, mainly - South America, “Arab countries” and so on. My first question, in that regard, would be whether or not this concept - creating a “vibe” that reads Eastern Asian, for example, but is not one specific culture - is offensive and if it is, what I can do to solve it.

The project I’m working on makes use of so called FaceClaims, which means that, for example, actors are used to represent fictional characters. If I based the country on China alone, then I could only use Chinese FCs and would thus greatly limit the representation. A solution I thought of was to have each country be inofficially split up in itself, so the “East Asian” country would have a “Chinese” region, a “Korean” region and so on. Secondly, I have a desert region that I thought would be nice for an “African” (I am very much aware that there is no such thing as an “African culture”, so bear with me) cultural group. For this “country”, I thought of a loose union between different nations of people. There, I’m stuck - should I choose one region in Africa, let’s say West Africa, and base each nation on one specific peoples there? Or should I create my own “African-inspired” cultures? Or should I choose cultures from all around Africa and base a nation on each?

My third question goes along a similar line: The “cultures” I have chosen for the countries are by far not all there are in the world. There is no country for Native Americans, for example, none for South-Eastern Asians (unless I integrate them with my “India”), no Central Asian, etc. I know it is impossible to include all cultures there are in the world, but how do I choose which ones to represent in a concept like mine? I don’t want to exclude them, but I simply cannot create as many countries as there are cultural groups.

One possible solution I thought of specifically refers to Jewish people, since I feel it is important to represent them more in fantasy writing. My current idea was to have their story go similar to that of our world: Exile, long travels, and a split into groups, one of which would be the Ashkenazim, living somewhere near the Germanic country, and the other would be the Sephardim, which I imagined to live in between the “Arab” and “African” country, in a semi-autonomous city-state. But is it offensive to adapt what happened to the Jewish people in a secondary world or should I make it so that they have a more positive past and life, no exile like there was in our world? As far as I know, the exile is an important part of Jewish identity and cultural understanding, but I thought I’d ask anyway.

I’m going to preface this that some of this wording might sound very harsh, but I recognize you are genuinely asking out of a place of respect but you just aren’t sure what the best way to respect the world’s diversity is. The problem is it’s still not quite respectful enough, and shows sometimes glaring ignorance of nuances in the region.

I would also like to remind people that just because your exact question hasn’t been answered to the full scope you’re looking at, doesn’t mean you can’t get an answer as a whole. For example, we’ve discussed the concept of how and when to mix different cultures in the East Asian tag. Shira will cover your questions regarding Jewish representation below.

However, I’m going to specifically tackle this from a research and worldbuilding perspective, primarily talking about a history of forced homogenization and how to avoid recreating colonialism/imperialism.

Notes on Language and False Equivalences

For starters, basically all of these groups are too broad. By a long shot. Either they flatten sometimes dozens to thousands of cultures (“Native American country” is in the thousands, “West Africa” is in the hundreds, “China, Japan, Korea” is in the dozens, if not hundreds, same deal with India). This language use makes people pretty uncomfortable, because it implies that the basis is stereotypes. It implies you haven’t done research, or, at least, haven’t done enough. When discussing nuance, it’s best to imply you understand there is nuance— like you did with Africa and Jewish culture, but neglected to do everywhere else.

You also go very broad with all non-European cultures, but narrow down a general homogeneous part for your European analogues, by picking Germanic and Celtic.

This double standard is something that is exactly what we try to draw attention to at WWC: to our ears, it sounds like “I’m taking Germanic peoples for Europe, but I’m going to mix three East Asian countries because those two regions have the equivalent amount of sameness that I can pass it off.”

While that sounds specific to just you, it’s not. We’ve received this type of question dozens of times in the past and it’s a general cultural attitude we’ve faced lots and lots and lots of times. Western society makes you think the equivalence is equal, because they’ve flattened all non-European countries with the single broadest brush, but it’s not.

I would also caution you on relying on media images for face claims, because media images only represent the idealized version of beauty. We’ve written multiple description guides that point out how much variety exists within all ethnic groups and how people seeing us as all the same is a microaggression.

You are right that you can’t tackle all of the world’s diversity into your worldbuilding, because, well, there is so much. The core of your question is basically how to narrow it down, which is what I’m going to tackle.

My suggestion is twofold:

Research big, top level things, over a few centuries— namely, keep track of empires that have tried to take over places and look at what groups Western society lumps together when it spreads multiple regions.

Build small with a focus on a very specific place and group— namely, pick the smallest possible region you can and see what you have to build from there.

Researching Big

Researching big helps you catch what not to flatten, or at least, where flattening might be reinforcing situations that a government perpetuated. I’m going to focus on East Asia since that’s the bulk of your question, and it’s also where I’ve spent some time worldbuilding. The principles apply to all groups you’re trying to research.

East Asia— namely Japan, Korea, and China, although that is an oversimplification itself— is composed of two empires: China and Japan. This makes homogenization extremely risky because you’re touching two nerves of countries trying to take over in very recent history.

China has taken over a very large swath of land over centuries, and still has independence fights to this day from their recent history. As a result, they have both a roughly overreaching culture because the empire is so old, and a very fractured culture with over 50 recognized ethnic groups. When you think of “Chinese” you usually think of the dominant Han Chinese, but because of its old empire roots you can get a giant variety. In modern day, some provinces have kept their individual culture, while others have been part of China for so long there is a general “sameness” to them that can capture the flare you want.

Japan’s imperialism is similarly recent, only ending in 1947, and it left wounds across the Pacific (including Korea, China, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Malaysia). Many of their actions are classified as war crimes. They’ve also erased their own Indigenous population by insisting only one ethnicity lived in the country. Both of these factors make mixing Japan into an “East Asian” mix tricky. Japan’s culture, while heavily impacted by China and Korea, is pretty distinct because of its island status.

Big research also lets you see the neighbouring areas at a time borders might not have been the same. For example, in the 1600s, China was much smaller because the Manchu External Expansion hadn’t happened yet. As a result, places we now think of as “Chinese” actually weren’t, and you’ll have to account for these differences in your worldbuilding. You can determine this by looking up historical maps/empires, which might require book research (libraries are wonderful).

This does not mean you can ignore recent history, however. Because the story is set in modern day, people will be viewing it through a modern lens. You need to research both the modern and the historical context in order to understand how to go about crafting a respectful world.

So that’s stuff you would’ve discovered by big research. By tracking empire movements, you can see where old wounds are and what historical contexts exist within whatever region you’re pulling from. If you take North America, you can see how each individual tribe is cast aside in favour of settler stories; in Africa, you can see how multiple empires wanted to plunder the land and didn’t care who it was; in the Middle East, you can see both the recent military involvement, the historical Ottomans, and the historical Persians.

Build Small

You can also see what empires influenced their regions for long enough to create a similar-ish culture throughout multiple regions, which can help you extract the essence you’re looking for. I would add a very large caution to only do this for historical empires where those who suffered under the regime are not fighting in present day/ have living memory of it (such as incorporating too much of England, France, or Spain in the Americas, along with the two examples above).

Now you can build small. If you wanted to give a sense of, say, coastal China with a heavy amount of trade, you can pick a major port city in China and figure out the pluralism in relation to that city. What parts identify it as Chinese (architecture, governance, food, general religious practices— folklore changes by region, but the general gist of practices can remain similar enough to get a vibe), and what parts are borrowed from a distinct enough culture they’re noticeably different?

By going from a city level, you can imply pluralism by throwing in asides of differences “out there” that shows you’ve thought about it, without cramming your world full of cultures you can’t fit in the plot. You can then also narrow down what to include based on map proximity: if there’s an easy sea or land path to an Egyptian analogue, you’re probably going to at least hint at it. This is a known historical trade, btw. Egyptian blue and Han purple are made of similar substances, pointing to an ancient cultural link.

You can research this by simply googling the country and looking under its history in Wikipedia. If you look up “China”, you can see “Imperial Unification” as one of its history points. “Japan” similarly gets you the Meiji period. Turkey shows the Ottoman empire. You can also look up “empires in [region]” that will give you a similar overview. This even works for places you don’t think have historical empires, such as North America (the pre-colonization section notes several).

This also is a starting place for what the borders would’ve been during any given time period, and gives you places to potentially factor in military involvement and recent strife. This is where modern research comes in handy, because you can get an idea of what that strife looked like.

Hope this gives you an idea how to go about worldbuilding a diverse population, and how to avoid paralleling recent wounds.

~ Mod Lesya

Regarding Your Jewish Characters

I think it’s valid to reflect our real history in fantasy although if you dwell too much on the suffering aspects and not the “richly varied cultural traditions” aspects you’ll probably lose some of us because suffering-porn written from the outside gets old fast (if you’re Jewish yourself you 200% have the right to write this, of course.) Human Jewish characters living in pockets in fake-northern-Europe and fake-Mediterranea and fake-North-Africa (or even Fake China and Fake India; we’re there, too) is actually injecting some well-needed historical accuracy back into a genre that’s been badly whitewashed, gentilewashed, etc by imagining a Europe where nobody but white gentiles existed until they conveniently popped into existence during whatever era the writer thinks is appropriate.

In other words, if your fake Germany has a Jewish neighborhood in its largest city, that’s a way of making pseudo-European fantasy more realistic and less -washy, and is overall a good move, despite the fact that the destruction of the temple is the reason we were in Germany in the first place. (I mean… it’s not like you’re planning on sitting there writing about Tisha b'Av itself, right? You don’t have to say “And the reason there are Jews here is because a bazillion years ago, we wound up getting scattered” just to have Jews.)

By the way, having myself written secondary-world fantasy where entire countries, plural, get to be majority-Jewish, and 100% free of on-screen antisemitism, I think both ways are valid.

–Shira

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