Western viewers are not the only ones taking issue. The debate has been fueled by a stream of examples: the literal evil Jewish cabal in “ Angel Cop,” (references to Jews were later removed in the English-language dubbed version), the Fuhrer villain in “Fullmetal Alchemist,” the Nazi occultism (in which Nazis channel the occult to carry out duties or crimes) in “Hellboy,” and the Nazi characters in “Hellsing” and “Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure” to name a few. As it continues to gain popularity outside of Japan’s borders, the Japanese animation medium as a whole has been hit with criticism for alleged glorification of antisemitism, fascism and militarism. “Attack on Titan” is only the latest manga (a specific type of Japanese comic books or graphic novels) or anime (TV shows or movies animated in the manga style) series on the chopping block. The New Republic in 2020 called “Attack on Titan” “ the alt-right’s favorite manga.”Įither way, in November 2021, the show’s production team announced it would cancel the sale of Eldian armbands - the ones Eldians were forced to wear in their ghettos - explaining that it was “an act without consideration to easily commercialize what was drawn as a symbol of racial discrimination and ethnic discrimination in the work.” Some viewers defended the series as a condemnation of those ideas and a meditation on moral ambiguity, but others said the plot’s condemnation of fascism was too weak. Fans debated the meaning on Twitter and Reddit as think pieces pointed to the show’s “fascist subtext” and possible antisemitism as ratings and viewership climbed. The implications that a race meant to represent Jews had made “a deal with the devil” to achieve power were too much for some to bear. Political prisoners were injected with a serum that turns them into the terrifying Titans. A group called the Marleyans later overthrew the Eldian empire and forced them into ghettoes, forcing them to wear armbands that identified their race with a symbol similar to the Star of David. In the third season, the Titans’ origins are revealed as a group called the Eldians, a group that made a deal with the devil to gain Titan powers with which they subjugated humanity for years. In the world of “Attack on Titan” - an extremely popular Japanese anime series now in its final season, which started in March and does not have a known end date - humanity has been trapped within a walled city on the island of Paradis, surrounded by Titans, grotesque giants who mindlessly eat any person who gets in their way.

TAIPEI (JTA) - When the Season 3 plot twist of “Attack on Titan” aired in 2019, viewers wasted no time in jumping online to discuss what they saw.

Hellsing manga vol 1