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Allusion to Fascism: What Have We Learned from the Last Attack of the Titans? (Topic)

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Allusion to Fascism: What Have We Learned from the Last Attack of the Titans?

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The latest season of Attack on Titan cannot go unnoticed. He revealed to us the main intrigue that the anime has kept since the release of the first season in 2013. Our site called the third season the best anime of this spring, so it's a sin to get around it and not discuss the aftertaste that the second part of the third season left behind. On the Polygon website, for example, they saw clear allusions to fascism in the plot. We have translated the material for you and diluted it with our reflections.

[Spoilers for manga and anime]

Targeting an older audience than the big anime troika [Bleach, Naruto, and One Piece], Attack on Titan attracted a huge number of casual audiences who began watching it as the series hit peak in 2014. And although the anime hype has subsided, in the West it has a huge pile of loyal fans who buy up every new game or spin-off.

There was even an original comic book series in the west and a crossover with Marvel characters, where Spider-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers fought the Titans on the streets of New York. Although the original manga is in its final round and is nearing completion, the end of the franchise is not yet near.

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But as with any long manga, the closer you get to the finale, the more you understand the true meaning of the work and its inclinations.

Key turn

Throughout all the series' arcs, Eren was motivated by two things: to kill every titans to one to avenge the death of his mother and the destroyed homeland, and secondly, to get to the mysterious basement in his house and use the key that his father gave him. Even despite all the difficulties and problems that accompanied him, the Jaeger never refused these two things.

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In Episode 85, he finally made it to the basement, where he found a photograph of his father with another family [wife and son]. From the diary read by Grisha Jaeger, the characters learned that he really is from the outside world.

And the fact that all of humanity was destroyed by the titans, and the remnants of people hid behind the walls, turned out to be a lie. Grisha, and everyone outside the walls, are from the Marly people, known as the Eldians.

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Once upon a time, they were a powerful people who ruled the earth for almost 2,000 years. During that era, a woman named Ymir Fritz gained the power to transform into a titan. After death [all who have the power of the titans die 13 years after receiving], her soul was divided into 9 titans, who inherited the power of Ymir and staged terror. They began to conquer other peoples on Marlia and created the Eldian Empire. The other races were treated as inferior by the Eldians, oppressed and committed genocide.

145 King of Eldia Karl Fritz did not want to maintain this order, and took most of the Eldians to the island of Pradise, and with the help of the power of the Titan Founder, he erected three huge walls there. At this time, the peoples of Marlya rebelled against Eldia, took the forces of almost all the titans and power on the continent. As a result, everyone who remained on the mainland was either killed or driven into a ghetto, and King Fritz, who created his city on Pradise Island, announced an ultimatum: if the Marlians try to attack the island, he will free hundreds of titans hidden inside the walls and attack the continent.

All Eldians driven into the ghetto wear one-star armbands and are considered criminals for generations to come. Eldians violating the law are taken to Paradise Island, where they inject a liquid that turns them into mad titans to ravage the local lands.

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Grisha Yeager was involved in a revolutionary movement fighting to bring back the monarchy of Eldia. He even married the king's heiress. They had a son, Zeke, but he betrayed them and surrendered their parents to the government of Marlia. As a result, the entire movement was taken to the island and turned into titans [Grisha's wife, by the way, became the titan who killed Eren's mother]. But Grisha was saved by one of the gauze soldiers, who turned out to be the secret leader of their resistance. He gave Grisha the power of the Titan, and sent him to find the power of the very first Titan Founder, so that with its help he would regain power on the continent.

The manga is now in its final stages, and in it, Eren has formed a militia for four years that will fight to restore the Eldian Empire. They attacked the people of Marlia without the permission of the government of Paradise Island. What's more, they plan to awaken the Titans in the Walls to triple their massive offensive.

The good, the bad and the very, very bad

From our point of view, the way the story has changed is like a rather thoughtful plot twist, telling not about the good and the evil, not about those who fight for a just cause and for a lie, but about the human essence, where there is no black and white. Only ideologies and hatred. The situation with Eldia and Marlia is very easy to compare with real historical events in Nazi Germany between the First and Second World War.

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The heroes we were rooting for turn out to be the descendants of the oppressors, eager to regain power in their land. So, heroes turn into villains. This is not the last season of Game of Thrones.

Polygon believes that the anime contains anti-Chinese and especially anti-Korean, nationalist ideas with a pro-Japanese subtext. Even more, the whole story is not based on the history of the Aryans and Jews, but rather on the confrontation between Japan and Korea.

Firstly, there are two types of titans in anime and manga, and one of them: these are ugly, hyperbolic and weak-willed freaks with hypertrophied body parts. They are opposed by pure titans like Eren. And then there are the Eldians from the ghetto. Also in the anime, militarism is presented as the only sure weapon against the enemy.

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Secondly, once the creator of the manga, Hajime Ishiyama, admitted that General Dot Pixis was written off from the Japanese commander Akiyama Yoshifura, who served the Japanese Empire and bore the title of hero. He is also responsible for the massacres in Korea during the Japanese occupation wars, including the assassination of the Korean Empress Myung Sung. At the same time, during his activities, the euphemism "Comfortable woman" appeared - this is how thousands of women who were taken from Korea to Japan for sexual slavery were described.

After this fact, threats from Koreans began to appear on Ishiyama's twitter, who promised to kill him, burn him or beat him to death with a bat.

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By the way, China simply banned Attack of the Titans in the country.

Many believe that Eren's idea of bloody revenge on the entire dirty world reflects the radical thoughts that the author of the story lobbies.

Why just now?

However, that manga, that anime are coming to an end. What caused such a violent reaction, and the thought that Attack of the Titans is a right-wing radical work with almost fascist overtones?

The author of the material Polygon believes that Ishiyama's work coincided with several unpleasant moments, for example, the prime minister of the right-wing militarist Shinzo Abe came to power in Japan, who carried out a number of controversial military reforms. Also now, as a response to the development of liberal thinking, groups of hatred, authoritarianism and nationalism began to appear [in Japan, including]. Also the dawn of "Titans" came with the release of the right-leaning anime GATE, urging young Japanese to join the army. The revival of the Happy Science cult, which sponsors some anime to promote their ideology, has added fuel to the fire. For example, some of their ideas were spotted in Darling in the Franxx.

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All this is now in people's heads. With Attack on Titan culminating, they can't figure out if there really is a right-wing perspective or if they think they are. To say that in Isayama's head is difficult. Therefore, we have to decide for ourselves whether we want to listen to this story to the end or not, and how to interpret it.

The Topic of Article: Allusion to Fascism: What Have We Learned from the Last Attack of the Titans?.
Author: Jake Pinkman


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