Is Anime racist?

[Izanagi009_v1legacy]

Setting aside some of the presumed instance of "black face" in certain shows (Mr. Popo, Jynx, etc.), there was the bit on GameOverthinker that touched on anime style and how it was adapted from Disney into early manga, but leads to interpretations of characters stated to be living in Japan who look more Caucasian than anything else. Granted, this is the medium that famously sports hair and eyes of every color of the rainbow, but it is odd when someone like Usagi Sailor Moon looks decidedly Aryan or that a *Super* Saiyan or Sonic means becoming blonde (though the former is more serious and brutal in nature and the latter, as I've heard, was for a time depicted as pure evil in the comics). I've also seen a few shows with minor character sporting stereotypical features - narrow eyes and buck teeth - who are often liars and schemers.

Time out, I think game theory did something on Jinx and stated that it was more based on Yama Uba


Regardless, It does seem valid that some black face might occur but I'm not sure they have any malice in it compared to actual black face

 

[Izanagi009_v1legacy]

Yes and no, some are, some aren't. Some authors are xenophobic nationalists while others (especially among the younger crowd) are more open. It varies. Japanese culture tend to be monolithic and VERY resistant to change (which can rightly be categorize as xenophobic in those cases). This can be seen in the various government sponsor campaign to do X, Y, Z (like the "Stay Cool" campaign after companies were asked to lower than electric consumption after the nuclear shutdowns and during rolling brownouts/scheduled blackouts) throughout the years. They still have a relatively conservative mindset and have still have certain expectations in gender roles. For example, women were (and still are to a certain extent) expected to be able to cook in the family kitchen, but not in certain types in restaurant (they've a saying that roughly say women should never be in a professional kitchen).

They also have a two-faced attitude in regards to how they speak, they will say things to appeal to the accepted norm even when they personally don't believe it. This isn't a criticism as much as a fact for life for them (this survey was done by the NHK iirc), especially when it comes to business dealings.

They have one of the biggest gap between individuals and a culture since they take the separation of private life and work life pretty seriously (been relaxing for a long while, but it's still there). Do some of them have superiority complex? Hell yeah, but that's true for all cultures. Does that make them racist, not necessary (but they ARE highly susceptible to perceived stereotypes). The average japanese would be nervous talking to certain foreigners (but I'll be damned if they don't at least try to be helpful in most cases, especially among the professions like station workers and cops). The same is true for producers of anime. They are limited by their own experiences, and sometimes, they just make shit up while other times they do so much research that it would make a native of the culture they are trying to portray drop their jaw in the accuracy or completely flabbergasted that they didn't know that about their own cultures (just look that anime about bath, roman baths vs japanese bath, and the level of details involved).

With your statement about the separation of private and public life and the two-faced attitude, you are refering to Uchi/Soto and Honne/tataeme I assume.

Japan is a very collectivist culture that can be very closed off at the same time also seems to express interest in other cultures. Shows like Index and Problem Children love to pull different myths and religions and reinterpret them in fascinating ways.

As for Thermae Romae, I find it intriguing that they did the research for it like the time period, the emperor in charge, the technologies of the day and more. The amount of time they put into research seems to vary greatly. Even Eva for all it's butchering of Christianity did some research on what each angel represented and tried to match them to the design and scene.

 

[Ramzal]

So my question is,is Anime racist?

(just a random thought for today I thought was worth discussing with my betters, and no I do not understand grammar)


In my opinion it?s not inherently racist as to be racist there really has to be negative concepts at paly, though while not inherent it can and has been done. Since Anime is Japanese who tend to be polite xenophobists it makes the content at times woefully stereotypical. But even so do stereotypes that are not inherently negative equal racism? Even if in these days if it bleeds its racist/sexist/negative/unfair?

"Racist" is a term that gets flung around so easily, it's not even funny. To answer your question, no. Anime is not racist. It's impossible for an entertainment medium to be racist. I don't even---- *sigh*.... It used to be that for something to be racist, you'd have to outright be racist. KKK level of racist.

 

[Izanagi009_v1legacy]

Anime represents Japanese culture, and Japanese culture unfortunately is not too inclusive. There are very few anime that are outright racist, but at the same time there ain't many that show much diversity.

Back in the 80's and early 90's it seemed to be a lot more diverse, but it was pretty crudely done probably just to appeal to Western markets.

Anime isn't rasict, but it does expose Japan as a very closed off society.

Japan being closed off is not surprising, being forced to open the gate by the US in the 1800's and then destroyed during their expansion. That combined with the very collective culture they have and the focus on inside/outside with Uchi/soto and it is certainly a recipe for some misunderstandings.

That said, I still find it odd that some shows like Index or Problem children have the attitude of just pulling as many myths and legends as possible and reinterpreting them. For a culture that is very closed off, they have a surprising interest in other cultures in certain facets.

P.S. to all who have read my posts, sorry, I just like this topic a lot.

 

[hermes]

In a way, yes. They are not intended to be racist, but they can be seen as such...

The problem is, anime is primarily Japanese, with very little influence of the outside world. As such, it is closely defined by its cultural and social structure; and Japanese culture and society are very, VERY different than American (Western) culture and society. So to apply Western cultural values to Japanese culture and judging it based on it, is as unfair as taking an orange and judging it for how good of a banana it is.

 

[Izanagi009_v1legacy]

Well the obvious answer is that no anime the medium is not racist unless it is made to be racist.

That and the comments about Japan being closed off or xenophobic are a bit to minimal because I think this is a more broad and complex thing than just "look at the anime it proves it". Japanese culture is diverse as many others with individuals and picking sensationalist articles to describe the whole country is like someone looking at the Florida Man Twitter page and saying this is America.

Also we have to look at context like in the 70s and 80s all those popular space operas like Space BattleShip Yamato and Captain Harlock wear there analogies of post war Japan on their sleeves and the enemy can interpreted as the United States looking back at it. Now is this racist I mean these anime writers and artist grew up in the post war or born after and around others so obviously that is going to influence the work. This can make for interesting critical analysis but the reductionist "is xenophobic" or is "closed off" wont allow that.

Now to the Miyazaki comment now I love his work and respect the man but he been saying that since like the 80s. The fact that that comment is still under review for him talking about artistry or "going outside" is up for debate. And while yes I do respect him I think his comment is a bit on the old man kids these days compounded by his strong opinions so I will not see his comments as some proof about the state of the industry or xenophobia in Japanese society most of that just comes off as confirmation bias.

And yet what about shows that seem to delight in taking other cultures for their shows.

I love Index for how it takes different religions and myths within them and reinterpreting them but it seems odd that a culture hat is a tad collectivist and obsessed with Uchi and Soto can find an interest in other cultures to this degree.

Miyazaki does have a point, some of the anime made are made for people who really only have fantasies about interacting with people. The whole waifu thing is some evidence for me but this is more confirmation bias against slice of life and cheap waifu so take my comment as you will.

 

[Therumancer]

So my question is,is Anime racist?

(just a random thought for today I thought was worth discussing with my betters, and no I do not understand grammar)


In my opinion it?s not inherently racist as to be racist there really has to be negative concepts at paly, though while not inherent it can and has been done. Since Anime is Japanese who tend to be polite xenophobists it makes the content at times woefully stereotypical. But even so do stereotypes that are not inherently negative equal racism? Even if in these days if it bleeds its racist/sexist/negative/unfair?

On a lot of levels it is because the Japanese are still culturally racist and pretty militant about it when you get down to it. They however remain polite about it nowadays, in part because they are an independent country in name only, being largely a puppet regime of the US and effectively one of our territories. The US pretty much conquered Japan but allowed it a degree of independence to get away from the whole "conquest" thing. While they seem to operate independently at times and clash with the US at times, especially in terms of trade, it's pretty much a show on a lot of levels. The bottom line is they have a very limited military because they are allowed to have one, and the US otherwise bases a truly massive amount of our Navy there, pretty much meaning we have a gun to Japan's head 24/7. Of course because of their racism and war crimes, and their lack of any real sincere apology or reform, odds are without the US being there they would be wiped out in an act of genocide, and they know it, which is why they don't protest the occupation to the extent one might expect and the way we've seen in cases like Ireland, though at the same time the US is fairly gentle about it, as I said, allowing them a great degree of autonomy. This is also the lens through which you need to look at certain regional politics, one of the reasons why the US didn't just let The Japanese die out at the hands of their victims is because Japan represents a powerful strategic position in the Pacific. China recently conflicting with Japan over control of certain islands is actually them conflicting with the US over those Islands as that kind of Japanese territory is why we keep the nation under the gun, our Navy being there means we have that location as a jumping off point against nations like China, it allows us to wield a lot of power in the region despite it being on the other side of the world. It's also why with China's military ambitions they want us out of there. This is also the logic behind some of the incursions into Filipino territory, while not an official US Territory anymore it's VERY friendly to the US and another one of our huge staging areas. Between that and Japan we've got nations like China and Russia in a rough spot, and especially with current interception technologies (which Russia was upset about due to previous disagreements) arguably ICBMs carrying WMD warheads of various types represent a minimal threat with us in the region like this due to our ships and bases, while at the same time we could in theory keep them very well contained and ensure in the case of a big war most of the initial fighting happened in their back yard, instead of ours, giving the US plenty of time to get on better footing. On a lot of levels nations like Japan and The Phillipines hosting so much US military (and let's be frank, we doubtlessly have missiles, and not just defensive ones, located there despite what we say, including in all likelihood nukes) represent a similar position to what you saw going on with "The Cuban Missile Crisis" albeit not quite that close. Preventing Russia from getting into a similar position with the EU is also one of the big reasons people are concerned about Russia trying to take over Crimea/Ukraine. Look at a map and consider what happens if Russia gets control of The Black Sea, not the location of Poland, and then consider Poland is a huge US ally (one of our biggest ones in fact) and also tends to get a lot of crap from the rest of Europe that like to use it as a tripwire as opposed to defending it and it's interests even when allied, despite what they say. As a result Poland has been a central battleground in some of the most brutal east vs. west fighting throughout history. That as much as promises we made is a big part of why we don't want Russia to take over Ukraine, if it wasn't for the position it occupied people wouldn't care as much as coldly pragmatic as that is.

At any rate, I was rambling, and back to the subject of Japan. Japan has a weird love/hate relationship with the US because we are the ones that defeated them while representing everything they hate. A lot of their current culture, including a lot of Anime, all comes from American tropes and ideas which is why it translates so well to our marketplace. That said they tend to look down on pretty much everyone else, and also see themselves as biding their time until the "proper" state of affairs re-asserts itself. China has similar attitudes on a lot of levels. Culturally speaking Japan has a sort of racial pecking order where of course Japanese are on the top. One of the big things they now accept is that exceptions can exist within other races and a few individuals can be as good as Japanese, but they tend to portray the rank and file of other races as being inferior to one degree or another. They also tend to look at conditions in the US and while giving exceptions, tend to match a lot of attitudes, taking the approach that basically if White Americans and Japanese both agree on black people (to their perspective and limited understanding of social conflicts in the US) then it must be true, while at the same time still allowing for possible exceptions.

Anime represents a specific cultural view combined with a broad way of stylizing art. Despite some protests, it can be said that yes, Anime is generally racist, within the cultural guidelines. Meaning you'll see horrible stereotypes, and 3D characters existing side by side to the point where it can seem chaotic, sometimes being quite glaring when it just suddenly appears in a story you wouldn't expect it to. It can be argued that if Anime ever ceased to be racist on some level, it would cease to be Anime anymore as the culture that created it would have effectively ceased to exist. Much like how collectors of Native American artwork draw specific lines on what they collect and how "genuine" it is based on how westernized and assimilated the tribe in question was. Something 50-60 years old can be worth a LOT more money than say something you buy from say Navajo or Cherokee nowadays (both of whom sell a lot of stuff) even if crafted in "traditional style" by a real Native American and costing several hundred dollars or more due to it being a unique piece, the basic idea is that things have changed subtly (or not so subtly) based on perspectives, experts in this kind of thing can point it out, and refer to the newer stuff as "Neo-Indian" and similar terms to differentiate it, the point being that the culture that made the other stuff no longer exists due to the passage of time. Anime can be used similarly, on a lot of levels the somewhat naïve, ignorant, and uninformed attitudes are part of what makes Anime stand out. It could be argued REAL anime is dying, or no longer being produced, already. Part of the entire "appeal" of Anime early on was how "wrong" a lot of it was with the pedophilia, racism, and crazy misguided politics and world view behind some of it. Today you see Japan wanting to get away from those things, the businessmen at least care about the money and possible international appeal, not wanting to offend anyone, as well as realizing (and not reacting well) that people were literally laughing at them. It's not something that can be faked either, sort of like a "faux bad movie" the sincerity leaks through. Back when I was a borderline weeaboo, I read translated Japanese periodicals related to games and Anime, and noticed a lot of things being said about developers "selling out" and demands for things remaining "Japan Only" with people insisting they would boycott titles, and even entire companies if something was going to see a US release. Certain things like "Final Fantasy X: Final Mission" and the so called "International" edition took a long time to make it to the US for this reason apparently. Snubbing the US in particular is popular. Of course at the same time we can also blame our own censors when Anime stopped flying under the radar. Right now it seems like there are very few hold outs, like the company that made "Rapelay" apparently insisting that it wasn't going to change and simply cut off the US market if "we can't handle it", and similar things... and honestly that "infamous" title sort of represents the point and the change of attitudes in a way, because it became an issue, where a couple of decades ago half the point of Anime when it was smaller was how warped the Japanese were in thinking something like that was okay. As old school fans would have pointed out half the appeal of things like old school Hentai was to find things that could still somewhat shock the jaded (before we became jaded to it) seeing little girls being raped by giant tentacle monsters was less "OMG this gets me off" for the most part than the whole "WTF" factor and realizing that Japan found this appealing and okay and produced it by the truckload. Every year you see less stuff of that sort being produced on a wide level due to increasing international consideration by the producers and so on. The thing to also understand is that a clear line was also not drawn, sometimes you could watch stuff that was almost normal for it's genera and only got released as "Hentai" in the US because of a single, really over the top sex scene.

That's my thoughts at any rate, as much as many might disagree. I'm not going to go around insisting people start coming up with other terms, though I imagine it will happen eventually, and honestly it only tends to matter to fanatics (sort of like how people who aren't fanatics about "Indian Art" don't feel any need to designate, most people who say drop $500 for a Navajo blanket do it because they think it's pretty, and like the way it was hand crafted, they don't care about the techniques, specific meaning of the symbology, etc...). I'd guess it was around 2005 or so that Anime really started to clean up it's act, or make an effort in that direction. With that effort instead of "just letting it flow" I think one could argue it became something else, even if it kept using the basic art style. They also started becoming a bit less... extreme, with some of the politics. I'm not sure if something like "Gasaraki", or "Angel Cop" would be made today. "Angel Cop" involves a plot where the US is dumping radioactive waste into Tokyo bay at the behest of the "Worldwide Jewish Conspiracy" which controls it (it's been a long time, I don't remember the specific reveal, but it sounded like something an Iranian leader would rant about). This done to make things seem "hip" and "contemporary" at the time it was released you know "ripped from the headlines, could happen" type stuff spliced with science fiction as opposed to tin-foil hat conspiracy theory stuff. A guy in Gasaraki your supposed to sympathize with literally cut his eyes out over seeing Japan surrender to the west and change, and was plotting what amounted to economic terrorism against the US to pretty much starve us all to death by getting control of the wheat market (which is sort of funny when you consider how much food the US can produce on it's own). "Blue Seed" had an entire climax about the selling out of the culture, where apparently the bad girl was wiping out Japan because of how it sold out to the rest of the world, and they couldn't bear to see it. It's been a while but basically they had plant demons wiping things out and at the end the "Evil Americans" were on their way to nuke Japan again to you know... try and contain the skyscraper sized plants that had the potential to wipe out humanity to create a kind of time crisis to stop things before the US decided to launch. It's been a while, but a lot of it came down to indirect characterization, and really I was trying to figure out how this wasn't a reasonable solution to the problem, especially in Anime where it seems like Japan gets flattened as a matter of course. I guess it's only wrong if an American does it to stop the monsters, as opposed to a properly Japanese hero or military organization.

Also don't forget that Japanese politicians have gotten flak over the years for doing things like visiting war memorials, and there is a lot of attention paid to how much Japan likes to gloss over history. At least Germany takes some responsibility, and makes a show out of how it treats symbols of it's socialist militant past, Japan seems to view things very differently and does not seem even remotely remorseful, treating it's former soldiers like heroes, compared to how Germany treats the Nazis and those who fought for them.


Such are my thoughts and observations for those who navigated the text wall.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

So my question is,is Anime racist?

(just a random thought for today I thought was worth discussing with my betters, and no I do not understand grammar)


In my opinion it?s not inherently racist as to be racist there really has to be negative concepts at paly, though while not inherent it can and has been done. Since Anime is Japanese who tend to be polite xenophobists it makes the content at times woefully stereotypical. But even so do stereotypes that are not inherently negative equal racism? Even if in these days if it bleeds its racist/sexist/negative/unfair?

"Racist" is a term that gets flung around so easily, it's not even funny. To answer your question, no. Anime is not racist. It's impossible for an entertainment medium to be racist. I don't even---- *sigh*.... It used to be that for something to be racist, you'd have to outright be racist. KKK level of racist.

Yes but dose not it being a medium made up of mostly X skin color equate to the possibility of racism?

So my question is,is Anime racist?

(just a random thought for today I thought was worth discussing with my betters, and no I do not understand grammar)


In my opinion it?s not inherently racist as to be racist there really has to be negative concepts at paly, though while not inherent it can and has been done. Since Anime is Japanese who tend to be polite xenophobists it makes the content at times woefully stereotypical. But even so do stereotypes that are not inherently negative equal racism? Even if in these days if it bleeds its racist/sexist/negative/unfair?

The concept they have, Uchi and Soto, is based on the separation of the pure "inside" and the impure "outside". This leads to a lot of issues when it comes to immigration and their receptiveness to the outside world and this leads to people in Japan being very closed off

In addition, the closest to the plight of black people during the age of slavery is the Burakumin, a group of outcasts due to their ancestors working in professions dealing with death which according to Buddhism makes them impure (executioners, undertakes, butchers, tanners, and so on). In other words, they never had anything like our civil rights movement so race was never a thing for them but simply a same or different mentality

I wouldn't call it racist but xenophobic but that will have to change in the near future.

Would call them more insular these days or mostly xenophobic? Japan kinda reminds me of a futuristic south(US) only without the blatant racism and ignorance issues. They have as much arrogance and superiority complexes as us southerns do tho LOL (disclaimer :that was said in a lighthearted manner desu....ignore this you will tho desu.....)

So my question is,is Anime racist?

(just a random thought for today I thought was worth discussing with my betters, and no I do not understand grammar)


In my opinion it?s not inherently racist as to be racist there really has to be negative concepts at paly, though while not inherent it can and has been done. Since Anime is Japanese who tend to be polite xenophobists it makes the content at times woefully stereotypical. But even so do stereotypes that are not inherently negative equal racism? Even if in these days if it bleeds its racist/sexist/negative/unfair?

There is WAY too much anime to paint it with any kind of brush, broad or otherwise. Some anime is racist, some isn't.

Yes but I wonder by the sheer lack of other races in anime its a medium that one sided with its demographic make up. Which begs the question, or at least one of the reasons why I asked. Yes I asked poorly I tend to do that ><

Perhaps I used to strong a word,insular might have been a better term?

And yes its a mixed bag but I was wondering what others thought and this place has a wide enough demographic,ect the comments would be interesting to read. Tho my question is poorly stated.

My objection was more to your attempt to describe Japanese culture as a uniform aggregate rather than the strength of the word you used. There clearly are some monstrous xenophobes in Japan, and they deserve every bit of scorn anyone chooses to throw at them. But there's more to Japanese culture than the xenophobes, and there's more to anime than the xenophobe's voice. Or the insular voice. Or the welcoming, culturally curious voice. If you want to say there's a xenophobic trend in anime (and have evidence you can cite, especially clips, stills, or descriptions of scenes you can share with the rest of us to support your position), I think you'd have a pretty damn informative thread.

There are a lot of Japan-bashers out there. And though they're maybe not as numerous as the "weaboos" who think everything that comes out of Japan is awesome, they're marginally more destructive. The way your thread was originally written seems to me to encourage a battle between those two groups. I think there's a lot more potential here if we shut them out of the conversation and describe anime with more nuance.

Mmmmmm I over focused on the question itself rather than the information as to why the question. My thought process is geek culture tends to be insular and when you have a insular culture you get skewed results that o the surface can seem to be a black and white yes or no answer when its a bit more complicated than that. But like always I blow the question with my botched grammar, either I put so much info into something its gibberish or put to little in.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

wall o text

*drool* I might hate reading and have issues with it but I am reading it and it pretty much correlates with what I have in my head. This is a great read!

 

[JPArbiter]

One thing the OP needs to keep in mind is that Anime, which by it's definition comes from Japan, is born from a monocultural place. everyone looks the same, everyone acts the same, everyone worships the same. an Ex Girlfriend described religion in Japan as such. "Everyone is raised Shinto, Marries Christian, and dies Buddhist. it is just the way things are done over there."

because of the monolithic culture of Japan itself, artists and writers have a very narrow frame of reference that borders on massive insensitivity to other cultures, and so how female characters are treated or even drawn, or how people from other races or portrayed becomes ridiculous to the point of parody to an American because all most writers have to work on is stereotypes.

is that inherently racist? not really given their relative cultural isolation of Japan, but it IS insensitive.

 

[Lightknight]

This question is almost like asking if oil painting is racist. It's just a style of story telling. The answer to this question relies entirely on the individuals telling the story and designing the characters.

The thing about Japanese Anime is that it is somewhat reflective of their society. Sure, there isn't a lot of racial diversity but there isn't in Japan either. Not like in the US where more just over a quarter of our population is non-white. So I'd expect the representation of minorities to be drastically different in countries whose composition is drastically different. Even in the US, we're a very large nation and media from say, Wisconsin, should be very different from California or Louisiana in representation.

What's more is I don't consider representation of characters or non-representation of characters to be racist. I don't consider Madea movies to be racist just because they're overwhelmingly black and so we shouldn't necessarily consider movies that are dominantly white or Asian or anything else to be racist either. It's only when prejudices or stereotyping is particularly reinforced. Like when the other groups (minority or majority, both would be racist) are depicted they are only ever bad or negative portrayals.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

This question is almost like asking if oil painting is racist. It's just a style of story telling. The answer to this question relies entirely on the individuals telling the story and designing the characters.

The thing about Japanese Anime is that it is somewhat reflective of their society. Sure, there isn't a lot of racial diversity but there isn't in Japan either. Not like in the US where more just over a quarter of our population is non-white. So I'd expect the representation of minorities to be drastically different in countries whose composition is drastically different. Even in the US, we're a very large nation and media from say, Wisconsin, should be very different from California or Louisiana in representation.

What's more is I don't consider representation of characters or non-representation of characters to be racist. I don't consider Madea movies to be racist just because they're overwhelmingly black and so we shouldn't necessarily consider movies that are dominantly white or Asian or anything else to be racist either. It's only when prejudices or stereotyping is particularly reinforced. Like when the other groups (minority or majority, both would be racist) are depicted they are only ever bad or negative portrayals.

Not really as oil painting is done world wide anime is a Japan thing which has a very insular culture. Which skews things greatly tho at the end of the day I still say its not inherently racist.

 

[Lightknight]

This question is almost like asking if oil painting is racist. It's just a style of story telling. The answer to this question relies entirely on the individuals telling the story and designing the characters.

The thing about Japanese Anime is that it is somewhat reflective of their society. Sure, there isn't a lot of racial diversity but there isn't in Japan either. Not like in the US where more just over a quarter of our population is non-white. So I'd expect the representation of minorities to be drastically different in countries whose composition is drastically different. Even in the US, we're a very large nation and media from say, Wisconsin, should be very different from California or Louisiana in representation.

What's more is I don't consider representation of characters or non-representation of characters to be racist. I don't consider Madea movies to be racist just because they're overwhelmingly black and so we shouldn't necessarily consider movies that are dominantly white or Asian or anything else to be racist either. It's only when prejudices or stereotyping is particularly reinforced. Like when the other groups (minority or majority, both would be racist) are depicted they are only ever bad or negative portrayals.

Not really as oil painting is done world wide anime is a Japan thing which has a very insular culture. Which skews things greatly tho at the end of the day I still say its not inherently racist.

Ok, let me edit it then. This question is almost like asking if Japanese oil painting is racist...

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

This question is almost like asking if oil painting is racist. It's just a style of story telling. The answer to this question relies entirely on the individuals telling the story and designing the characters.

The thing about Japanese Anime is that it is somewhat reflective of their society. Sure, there isn't a lot of racial diversity but there isn't in Japan either. Not like in the US where more just over a quarter of our population is non-white. So I'd expect the representation of minorities to be drastically different in countries whose composition is drastically different. Even in the US, we're a very large nation and media from say, Wisconsin, should be very different from California or Louisiana in representation.

What's more is I don't consider representation of characters or non-representation of characters to be racist. I don't consider Madea movies to be racist just because they're overwhelmingly black and so we shouldn't necessarily consider movies that are dominantly white or Asian or anything else to be racist either. It's only when prejudices or stereotyping is particularly reinforced. Like when the other groups (minority or majority, both would be racist) are depicted they are only ever bad or negative portrayals.

Not really as oil painting is done world wide anime is a Japan thing which has a very insular culture. Which skews things greatly tho at the end of the day I still say its not inherently racist.

Ok, let me edit it then. This question is almost like asking if Japanese oil painting is racist...

And my answer to that it could be due to most of the subject matter revolving around people being of one race or having odd visual stereotypes. Mind you I say could be and that's mainly due to once again how insular Japan is, just beuse something has a low possibility dose not make the question pointless....even if it is inept like the person asking the question(me) LOL.

 

[Riot3000]

Well the obvious answer is that no anime the medium is not racist unless it is made to be racist.

That and the comments about Japan being closed off or xenophobic are a bit to minimal because I think this is a more broad and complex thing than just "look at the anime it proves it". Japanese culture is diverse as many others with individuals and picking sensationalist articles to describe the whole country is like someone looking at the Florida Man Twitter page and saying this is America.

Also we have to look at context like in the 70s and 80s all those popular space operas like Space BattleShip Yamato and Captain Harlock wear there analogies of post war Japan on their sleeves and the enemy can interpreted as the United States looking back at it. Now is this racist I mean these anime writers and artist grew up in the post war or born after and around others so obviously that is going to influence the work. This can make for interesting critical analysis but the reductionist "is xenophobic" or is "closed off" wont allow that.

Now to the Miyazaki comment now I love his work and respect the man but he been saying that since like the 80s. The fact that that comment is still under review for him talking about artistry or "going outside" is up for debate. And while yes I do respect him I think his comment is a bit on the old man kids these days compounded by his strong opinions so I will not see his comments as some proof about the state of the industry or xenophobia in Japanese society most of that just comes off as confirmation bias.

And yet what about shows that seem to delight in taking other cultures for their shows.

I love Index for how it takes different religions and myths within them and reinterpreting them but it seems odd that a culture hat is a tad collectivist and obsessed with Uchi and Soto can find an interest in other cultures to this degree.

Miyazaki does have a point, some of the anime made are made for people who really only have fantasies about interacting with people. The whole waifu thing is some evidence for me but this is more confirmation bias against slice of life and cheap waifu so take my comment as you will.

We are talking about a medium where a man Named Osamu Tezuka considered then grandfather of anime cited Walt Disney as his influence.

I don't think this "obsession" with uchi and soto is as strong as you think and the whole closed off angle is overplayed. Every country has displayed an insider/outsider attitude any immigration issue can tell you that.

I mean if this was so Chad from Bleach would not of had a speech about being proud of his Mexican heritage in a series based on Japanese concepts of the afterlife caught me off guard.

People can groan about Killer Bee from Naruto but the man is a walking Wu Tang Clan reference and I love em not being an awesome character both strength wise and intellect and thrives on people not taking him seriously to win his fights which went unnoticed.

One Piece the entire Fishman Island arc is an allegory to the civil rights movement even had a part about the persuction of Christians in Japanese history. Again out of no where in a manga about a pirate with stretching powers.

And anyone who is fan of JoJos Bizarre Adventure knows Ariaki's love of american music and culture and that is one of the most popular manga in Japan.

I can not cosign to this idea that some anime is made for shut ins because that is a all too common jabs at shows the person doesn't like. The waifu thing is just pedantic I can't take the thing seriously. I mean my friend messaged me that "Hyrule Waifu Warriors is so fun" and I had good laugh at that.

Honestly I find all of "concern" over waifu's to be pretentious as hell attempts at edgy no nonsense spiels at "pinnacle of true evil" the lonely shut in which is almost hysteria at points.

Sheesh that was longer than I thought had more to get off than I thought.

 

[Lightknight]

This question is almost like asking if oil painting is racist. It's just a style of story telling. The answer to this question relies entirely on the individuals telling the story and designing the characters.

The thing about Japanese Anime is that it is somewhat reflective of their society. Sure, there isn't a lot of racial diversity but there isn't in Japan either. Not like in the US where more just over a quarter of our population is non-white. So I'd expect the representation of minorities to be drastically different in countries whose composition is drastically different. Even in the US, we're a very large nation and media from say, Wisconsin, should be very different from California or Louisiana in representation.

What's more is I don't consider representation of characters or non-representation of characters to be racist. I don't consider Madea movies to be racist just because they're overwhelmingly black and so we shouldn't necessarily consider movies that are dominantly white or Asian or anything else to be racist either. It's only when prejudices or stereotyping is particularly reinforced. Like when the other groups (minority or majority, both would be racist) are depicted they are only ever bad or negative portrayals.

Not really as oil painting is done world wide anime is a Japan thing which has a very insular culture. Which skews things greatly tho at the end of the day I still say its not inherently racist.

Ok, let me edit it then. This question is almost like asking if Japanese oil painting is racist...

And my answer to that it could be due to most of the subject matter revolving around people being of one race or having odd visual stereotypes. Mind you I say could be and that's mainly due to once again how insular Japan is, just beuse something has a low possibility dose not make the question pointless....even if it is inept like the person asking the question(me) LOL.

The entire point of my comment is that it's just a form of conveying a story. It is like oil painting or live action filming or any other medium. No medium is inherently racist. It's only the content of it that makes it either racist or not racist. You saying that anime could be used for racist purposes doesn't have anything to do with an inherent quality of a medium. Sure, quilting could be used to make racist depictions and is predominantly done in the south and rural areas where racism is more common, but is quilting racist? No, that'd be a weird question.

As I said in my larger post, racism isn't depiction or lack of depiction of races. It is how the depiction takes place. For a nation that has less than .6% "other" demographics in relation to the overwhelmingly Japanase, Korean, and Chinese population, a lack of depiction isn't anything to look twice at. But if anime depicts other races and if they are inevitably the bad guy in ways that don't necessarily make sense (for example, a white American being a business bad guy coming in to squash small stores isn't necessarily racist so much as social commentary but to just have one other race that is coincidentally the bad guy without motivations that make sense could be taken that way).

So I look at the content like this. Madea movies aren't necessarily racist even though they represent black demographics at a far higher ratio than the common US population. But movies like "Dear White People" that cast the white depictions as the villains because they're white would be racist. Same as movies with white protagonists that make the black characters the villains unnecessarily. Racism implies making judgments or perpetuating stereotypes of other races. It isn't a null comment environment and it certainly isn't a medium that can be used in any which way.

Here's a question for you, would you consider the Madea movies racist?

 

[crazygameguy4ever]

Japanese culture is very different then here in the US.. there area lot of things in Japan that no ones bats an eye at that would be considered racial, sexist, and in the pedo territory here in the USA and other places to.. they just do what they want and have the right to.. not saying I agree with everything they do, as I certainly hate the overabundance of underage schoolgirls appearing naked or partially naked in so many manga and anime.. but you just have to accept the bad with the good with most things including Japan.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

This question is almost like asking if oil painting is racist. It's just a style of story telling. The answer to this question relies entirely on the individuals telling the story and designing the characters.

The thing about Japanese Anime is that it is somewhat reflective of their society. Sure, there isn't a lot of racial diversity but there isn't in Japan either. Not like in the US where more just over a quarter of our population is non-white. So I'd expect the representation of minorities to be drastically different in countries whose composition is drastically different. Even in the US, we're a very large nation and media from say, Wisconsin, should be very different from California or Louisiana in representation.

What's more is I don't consider representation of characters or non-representation of characters to be racist. I don't consider Madea movies to be racist just because they're overwhelmingly black and so we shouldn't necessarily consider movies that are dominantly white or Asian or anything else to be racist either. It's only when prejudices or stereotyping is particularly reinforced. Like when the other groups (minority or majority, both would be racist) are depicted they are only ever bad or negative portrayals.

Not really as oil painting is done world wide anime is a Japan thing which has a very insular culture. Which skews things greatly tho at the end of the day I still say its not inherently racist.

Ok, let me edit it then. This question is almost like asking if Japanese oil painting is racist...

And my answer to that it could be due to most of the subject matter revolving around people being of one race or having odd visual stereotypes. Mind you I say could be and that's mainly due to once again how insular Japan is, just beuse something has a low possibility dose not make the question pointless....even if it is inept like the person asking the question(me) LOL.

The entire point of my comment is that it's just a form of conveying a story. It is like oil painting or live action filming or any other medium. No medium is inherently racist. It's only the content of it that makes it either racist or not racist. You saying that anime could be used for racist purposes doesn't have anything to do with an inherent quality of a medium. Sure, quilting could be used to make racist depictions and is predominantly done in the south and rural areas where racism is more common, but is quilting racist? No, that'd be a weird question.

As I said in my larger post, racism isn't depiction or lack of depiction of races. It is how the depiction takes place. For a nation that has less than .6% "other" demographics in relation to the overwhelmingly Japanase, Korean, and Chinese population, a lack of depiction isn't anything to look twice at. But if anime depicts other races and if they are inevitably the bad guy in ways that don't necessarily make sense (for example, a white American being a business bad guy coming in to squash small stores isn't necessarily racist so much as social commentary but to just have one other race that is coincidentally the bad guy without motivations that make sense could be taken that way).

So I look at the content like this. Madea movies aren't necessarily racist even though they represent black demographics at a far higher ratio than the common US population. But movies like "Dear White People" that cast the white depictions as the villains because they're white would be racist. Same as movies with white protagonists that make the black characters the villains unnecessarily. Racism implies making judgments or perpetuating stereotypes of other races. It isn't a null comment environment and it certainly isn't a medium that can be used in any which way.

Here's a question for you, would you consider the Madea movies racist?

And its these answers I love best. Thank you for taking the time to expand on your answer sometimes I get caught in too simplistic thought processes which make my questions and answers to simplified.

 

[Casual Shinji]

In general racism in anime is less a matter of "Hahaha take that, ethnic group X" and more a matter of "I am an animator who has never left Japan and has met only three Westerners and my boss wants an anime about plucky girls in Central Europe SHIT time to watch Heidi again." If you don't have personal experience for a culture you're depicting you have to go to research and stereotypes, and the results just won't be perfect. That's why so much anime takes place in nations that are just vague mishmashes of all over Europe: towering, mountainous fjords with Monte-Carlo style posh modern towns on the coast and hills littered with towering forests, medieval villages full of old mustachioed men, and impossibly huge gothic castles. It's a foreigner's romantic idea of a place instead of the real thing. America is usually similarly exaggerated as gigantic and busy and impossibly big just really huge, and full of crime to the point that stepping outside is nearly a suicidal act.

This is a recurring thing in anime that takes place in a European setting; It embraces the beauty and ignores the ugly. The scenery in Kiki's Delivery Service was specifically designed to show a Europe where World War 1 and 2 never happened. Not that I have too much against it, because they do know how to make it look like a place you'd want to live forever.

Another thing they tend to do in these types of anime is give characters foreign names with a very Japanese inflection, like Kiki, Tombo, Pazu, and Sheeta.

 

[QuicklyAcross]

Dunno why the guy received a warning for stating the obvious, japanese culture IS xenophobic in general or a more suitable way to say it would be "It caters and only cares for its own audience".
I learned this the hard way studying abroad for 3 years over there so yeah, as far as that old statement goes: Yes and no.
It caters very specifically to one demographic, their own that is.
At the same time it isnt strictly "racist" since it nowadays rarely paints other "races" in an inferior light...except maybe americans i guess lol