TOTW: Anime

What’s with anarchists and anime? Go onto most anarchist spaces of the internet and you’re bound to find at least a few anime avatars. Attend an anarchist gathering of size and you’re bound to find some anime shirts, pins and tattoos among those attending.

Some of this is only skin deep, a look that’s increasingly popular, and some may be the fact that, well, a lot of anarchists are nerds. But there can be a politics to it as well - Sailor Moon tats as part of the anarcha-feminist uniform, Princess Mononoke backpatches next to black-and-green flags, or the ubiquitousness of Iwakura Lain avatars among people into tech. Or maybe, despite how a lot of anime tends to do gender and sexuality, and despite how some of it repackages normie values in the guise of big-eyed, brightly-colored magical girls and touching, hot-blooded dramas among high school teammates, or maybe because of some of these things, you just like fucking anime.

What is your relationship to anime as an anarchist? Do your politics make you enjoy it more or less? What are some of your favorites, and why?

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"Anime was a mistake. It's nothing but trash." - Hayao Miyazaki (fake quote)

So it's not just anarchists. You will find tankies, fascists, liberals, libertarians with anime PFPs. Among IRL anarchists I have met, I have not found as much of an interest in anime.

Myself, I do not watch a lot of anime. I have never liked the "magical schoolgirl" subgenre, and a lot of anime works do fanservice in a way that is incredibly off-putting. Others manage to avoid it or do it more tastefully, but they are few and far between.

I have seen and enjoyed most of the "normie" animes, including:
- All of Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki's works
- Akira
- Cowboy Bebop
- Ghost In The Shell 1, 2 and SAC
- Black Lagoon
- Serial Experiments Lain

I tried to get into more of the cyberpunky animes such as Bubblegum Crisis and Neon Genesis Evangelion, but couldn't get past more than a couple episodes.

they're screening anime at the philly bookfair so there most be some hold among irl anarchists. some genz and younger millenial anarchists in the millieu watch some anime, but probably arent weebs

it’s common for people to look past the flaws of what they like. some people claim to have “problematic faves”. one can ask of anything when engaging with mainstream culture, if one can do so without being subsumed by it. if it is possible to challenge it or detour it.

anime is just one in a long list foci around which profitable subjects are produced. the fandom is the factory of consumers, the will to fandom is no different from any other mass following dynamic. show me an anime fan, and i’ll show you a shelf full of overpriced collectible figurines, a waifu body pillow cover, and other imported luxuries. it’s no different from sports fans who need to have everything decorated in their team’s colors and buy signed balls.

although some could make an argument for the gregariousness of anime fans, pointing to this or that convention, or gaggle of mall goth/ninjas sitting down in some hallway playing card or board games, there is a strong anti-social trend within the anime fanbase in which they isolate and replace all their social interactions with the parasocial relationship with their preferred media product.

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I think it's just that if you have a lot of time at hands, you eventually come to watch anime and later potentially learn about anarchism as well, for example if you end up being a long-term NEET and then get poorer and poorer and then end up learning about anarchism.

I think anime is actually an interesting medium but yeah it does have its flaws.

Daddy Stirner was a catboy that inspired anime creators. You can find concept art on reddit uwu

I'm struggling to think of many anime that promote anarchist ideas. A huge portion of anime is escapesed wish fulfillment "anon was a normal high school student with a milk toast personality until -place holder anime bs- happened! Now they are thrust into a new world of adventure and have a harem of cute suitors trying to jump their bones!" The save the world plot isn't just an overdone trope it's also a call to protect the status quo, more often well written villains are proper revolutionaries where the protagonists fight to maintain the hegemonic power structures. Not to come down to hard on an escapesed art form that I do enjoy and engage with, I literally met my wife because of Fate Zero lol

i like satoshi kons movies but thats about it. i dont really get it but thats ok i guess

I've just started One Piece but from what I've heard about it from anarchists plus watching the show it has a lot of anarchist themes.

which i think have anarchist themes to some extent thieving and pirating are at least related to anarchism

Captain Harlock was my childhood hero, and perhaps the most badass fictional anarchist hero. His invincible ship kicked some imperial ass a great many times!

Anime Anarchists vs Anime Tankies! First group to do 10 pushups wins!

I have no relation to anime. I have never watched it and don't care too much. I have nothing against it.

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