Azur Lane is really weird

[Anon]

So there are these ships personified as girls right? And they're sort
of playing out the naval engagements of World War II except not
really. But what's weird about it is that this is a Japanese cartoon
in which what are basically the Japanese are still portrayed as very
clearly the villains. This is not something I expected to see. I
mean sure the Eagle Union and Royal are weirdly Japanese themselves no
matter how red white and blue their socks are but the Sakura Empire
are the ones who have all the Japanese ships from World War II and
they're all "The world belongs to the strongest" and "You are my
prey".
Of course the original source material is a Chinese game. Still it's
a weird thing to see in a Japanese cartoon.

Japan, or at least a sub population of Japan, have already moved past
the childish "be offended"/political correctness culture that pervades
much of the West currently. For example, Nazi uniforms show up
frequently because their uniforms look sexy/cool as fuck, and Hitler be
damned we're not giving up an awesome uniform just because some dead guy
did bad things.

Warships are cool, the girls are cute/sexy, and WWII is interesting, so
it doesn't really matter that the Japanese are the "villains" (they
don't really do anything too horrible in the story anyway). It was
something in the past and we've all moved past it.

[Bobbie Sellers]

Post by Anon

So there are these ships personified as girls right? And they're sort
of playing out the naval engagements of World War II except not
really. But what's weird about it is that this is a Japanese cartoon
in which what are basically the Japanese are still portrayed as very
clearly the villains. This is not something I expected to see. I
mean sure the Eagle Union and Royal are weirdly Japanese themselves no
matter how red white and blue their socks are but the Sakura Empire
are the ones who have all the Japanese ships from World War II and
they're all "The world belongs to the strongest" and "You are my
prey".
Of course the original source material is a Chinese game. Still it's
a weird thing to see in a Japanese cartoon.

Japan, or at least a sub population of Japan, have already moved past
the childish "be offended"/political correctness culture that pervades
much of the West currently. For example, Nazi uniforms show up
frequently because their uniforms look sexy/cool as fuck, and Hitler be
damned we're not giving up an awesome uniform just because some dead guy
did bad things.
Warships are cool, the girls are cute/sexy, and WWII is interesting, so
it doesn't really matter that the Japanese are the "villains" (they
don't really do anything too horrible in the story anyway). It was
something in the past and we've all moved past it.

Not everyone has moved past it especially Japanese politicians who are
upset by references to the conscripted sex workers in WW II.
We put up a memorial in San Francisco to these women and there was quite
some controvesy from the Japanese politicians.

The Chinese haven't fogotten the Rape of Nanking and the massacre of
hundreds of thousands of civilians.

The Koreans both sides of the truce line are quite able
to recall the colonization by Japan and though they recognize
that this is quite a different government still harbor resentment.

If people in the Philippines have forgotten their mistreatment
under Japanese occupation I would be quite surprised. However they a
really unpleasant government to deal with presently so I do not expect
to hear much about the problems of WW II.

Singapore of course suffered too and doubtless have some people
who pay attention to the insults and humiliation inflicted by the
Japanese in WW II.

Of course later generations of Japanese were not fully
educated as to the Wartime government's mistakes and misdeeds so
they can play with the ideas mentioned by previous posters without
connecting the horrors of WW II with the casual treatment of such
matter in anime and manga.

Have you read "Barefoot Gen" as antidote to this glossy
treatment of the War? Watch "Grave of the Fireflies" to see how
badly the government treated the people of Japan in WW II or as
they like to call it the Pacific War. The people had to support
15 years of Military Adventurism by the Government in Manchuria
and in China as well as the Western Pacific. It starved them
and took all joy from their lives.
The best treatment of this period so far that I have seen is
the magnificent "Showa:History of Japan" from the 1920s to the
end of Hirohito's long reign, manga in 4 volumes by the
great Shigero Mizuki.

bliss