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Shelf Life - Angel Cop

So the whole Holy Trinity of Suck's finally been license rescued thanks to Discotek for those digging horrible ultra-violent retro anime schlock.

What are the other two parts of the Trinity? I'm guessing Mad Bull 34 is one.

There's something I don't get. There are anime series with the Catholics secretly ploting modern day crusades with the intent to wipe out the protestants, others about the UN being an evil agency with world domination aspirations, some involve the US as an evil imperialist country while others feature conspiracies about the Japanese government and others about international businessmen wanting perpetual warfare just for profit... With all of this being merely considered "Interesting stories" and no one claiming they're actually suppose to support some sort of evil agenda but are just fiction. So why is it that when the Jews are involved it immediately becomes anti-semetic and evil? Legit question by the way, I find it strange how all conspiracies are fair game in art except for the one.

animefanworried wrote:

There's something I don't get. There are anime series with the Catholics secretly ploting modern day crusades with the intent to wipe out the protestants, others about the UN being an evil agency with world domination aspirations, some involve the US as an evil imperialist country while others feature conspiracies about the Japanese government and others about international businessmen wanting perpetual warfare just for profit... With all of this being merely considered "Interesting stories" and no one claiming they're actually suppose to support some sort of evil agenda but are just fiction. So why is it that when the Jews are involved it immediately becomes anti-semetic and evil? Legit question by the way, I find it strange how all conspiracies are fair game in art except for the one.

That sort of thing confuses me too. And really, it's much broader than that. Most anime contains a lot of fantastical elements: Martial arts masters with the ability to destroy entire planets. Idol singers who turn into crime-fighting superheroines by night. All manner of magical powers, ancient loli catgirl vampires, strange religious cults, demonic armies hell-bent on world domination, all sorts of gender-swapping shenanigans, portals to alternate worlds, characters pulling 100-ton hammers out of thin air, etc. Countless characters exist who are nothing more than silly caricatures of various racist, sexist, and otherwise offensive tropes....and yet we never take any of those things very seriously. This is fiction, after all. And yet while we don't take those things seriously, suddenly this antisemitism is to be taken seriously? That seems a bit inconsistent. To me, it's just another ridiculous premise like so many others in anime, and there's a huge and important difference between fictional media like anime and real-life instances of discrimination and prejudice.

There are three big things:
The Catholic Church is an institution, and one with a history of having its own military and political power at that. Jews are a people, and one with no history of having any equivalent institution. There's a pretty big difference between saying an institution does things and an ethnic group.

Idols who turn into magical girls are generally part of a show's premise, or at least quirk of the world. Either way, it's presented as a particular part of the fiction rather than a fact of the real-world grounding.

The slander of Jews conniving to bring down the pure common people using sinister secret control is a standard element of antisemitism, kind of like attaching animalistic attributes to blacks. There's a reason you never see the Zulu, Swahili, Tibetans, or Hispanic filling this role in narratives.[/list]

There's something I don't get. There are anime series with the Catholics secretly ploting modern day crusades with the intent to wipe out the protestants, others about the UN being an evil agency with world domination aspirations, some involve the US as an evil imperialist country while others feature conspiracies about the Japanese government and others about international businessmen wanting perpetual warfare just for profit... With all of this being merely considered "Interesting stories" and no one claiming they're actually suppose to support some sort of evil agenda but are just fiction. So why is it that when the Jews are involved it immediately becomes anti-semetic and evil? Legit question by the way, I find it strange how all conspiracies are fair game in art except for the one.

Because under the pretense of these particular conspiracy theories six million jews have been murdered. And there are still many people out there who believe them. Every time someone cries "Oh, George Soros and his minions!" what they mean is "Oh, the Jews and their minions!". There is no violent anti catholicism that Catholics have to be afraid of, but Jews are afraid of these anti-semitic conspiracy theories, for good reasons.

I think the key distinction is that anime such as Angel Cop (etc.) is fiction rather than reality.

Shiflan wrote:

I think the key distinction is that anime such as Angel Cop (etc.) is fiction rather than reality.

A rather convenient excuse. You can say that about every kind of dangerous and/or hurtful message in a story. I'm glad that Discotek included the unaltered subtitles but I'm also glad they included bonus material that gives context to these subtitles.

Anime, (as well as hollywood movies and TV) has made fun of my race, my country, and elements of my personality countless times. I don't find it offensive and it's not meant to be taken seriously.

Shiflan wrote:

Anime, (as well as hollywood movies and TV) has made fun of my race, my country, and elements of my personality countless times. I don't find it offensive and it's not meant to be taken seriously.

And I guess someone tried to destroy your country, exterminate your race and nearly succeeded... Not everything is for the lulz...

Martin G. wrote:

And I guess someone tried to destroy your country, exterminate your race and nearly succeeded... Not everything is for the lulz...

Real-life discrimination and prejudice is no joke, and is indefensible no matter what form it takes.
I just don't see how that applies to fiction, especially over-the-top silly fiction at that. Perhaps it's some kind of a shortcoming on my part? I mean no offense, I just don't get it.

Maybe you don't "get it" because you are not a jew nor have you a jewish family whose oldest members still recall the horror of the Third Reich?

Just food for thought....