Forum - View topicAnime with Russo-Japanese reference
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imaginary_num6er
 Posts: 53 Location: In the U.S, was in Japan for 18 years |
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I was just wondering what animes you know of that have Russo-Japanese references. Since there are plenty of anime references to the USSR and Communism, to be more specific, I mean stuff about the "Northern Territories".
For those who don't know what the "Northern Territories" are, it is a bunch of islands north of Hokkaido that are still in dispute between Russia and Japan. A not so well known fact is that Russia and Japan are officially STILL at war with each other since they never signed a peace agreement after WWII. One obvious reference to the "Northern Territories" and Russo-Japanese relations is in the entire Gits series. Etorofu, a place of major importance in Gits SAC 2nd gig is one of the disputed islands today. I remember it also comming out in Innocence as well. Also, I believe there must be some connotative meaning in the Russian lyrics of the openings and having a Russian singer (Origa). Another semi-reference is in Beyond the Clouds in which Hokkaido is taken over by the "Union". This is sort of related since there is evidence that Soviet Russia planned to take over Hokkaido in the last days of WWII as well as the "Northern Territories", but failed to due so since the Allies reached Hokkaido first. |
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Arkard
 Posts: 677 Location: Poland |
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Well you could always try Yugo Negotiator.
In his second negotiation Yugo visits Syberia which is simply the artists vision of the USSR. You also get to hear about some of its history, original names, locations and a few customs. The anime is not very good but still it looks into foreign cultures, and that is a big plus. |
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Chiroptera Rex
 Space Cowboy Posts: 262 Location: The Batcave, Gotham City, Wisconsin. |
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I've heard about the dispute between Russia and Japan over the islands. Wasn't Sakhalin Island one that had also been in dispute? Maybe it's part of the the Northern Territories. I seem to remeber Sakhalin being mentioned when I had first heard about the island dispute between the two countries. Pretty interesting that Japan and Russia are still at "war." Was it because both countries had other issues to deal with at the time to think about besides signing the peace papers or was it something else?
In Last Exile the Disith uniforms are very thick looking to ward off the extreme cold on the Disith side of the Planet. And the uniforms are red, the colour of the old Soviet flag. Of course the Anatoray side more closely resembles the British with the nobles and all. |
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kamiboy
 Posts: 570 Location: CA |
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The Japanese are still pretty pissed about the whole island deal. In fact I remember hearing that originally the Russian and Japanese modules on the ISS where going to be placed adjacent to each other but the Japanese module was moved elsewhere at the request of the Japanese government due to the island dispute. The Japanese are proud people and with their shortage of landmass I can certainly see why they so cling to the islands. Russia, I am sure, has her own reasons for not wanting to part with them, so bad blood might continue to exists between Japan and Russia for some time to come.
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CorneredAngel
 Posts: 854 Location: New York, NY |
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To the best of my knowledge, no anime (or manga) specifically deals with the question of the Southern Kuriles ("Northern Territories" my ass; Japan lost that war, and losing a war means losing territory to the victor - just like Japan *gained* territory after winning the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War.) In fact, the closest I've come to seeing any conflict between Russia and Japan portrayed in anime is in Raimuiro Senkitan, which *is* set against a (very fanciful) Russo-Japanese War background. It'd be *interesting* to see something on, say, the Khalkin-Gol Conflict, and I wouldn't be too surprised if manga like that do actually exist. Whether we'll ever see them translated, though, is another matter entirely. |
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Chiroptera Rex
Space Cowboy Posts: 262 Location: The Batcave, Gotham City, Wisconsin. |
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I didn't know what the battle of Khalkin-Gol was until I read a bit about it over the internet. It's amazing how many lives were lost in the two world wars and in previous wars. It makes the wars fought today look like a drop in the bucket. I would never seek to belittle the loss of life in any war though.
I think that it can always pose a problem when any anime, cartoon, movie, or television show decides to do something that will recreate the past. There are always place where it will not be received well. As I watched Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex's "Jungle Cruise" I was worried about how Americans would feel about what was being portrayed in the episode. In a later episode "Angel's Share" I was wondering how the British may react to wht is portrayed in that episode. |
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bnewhall
 Posts: 110 Location: USA |
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As an American who's proud to be one, I'm glad the GITS crew decided to make "Jungle Cruise." It made me think about my country.
As such, I don't view such episodes as "a problem." If people get upset over a fictionalized representation of something their country might do in the future, I have little sympathy. |
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Ryusui
 Posts: 461 |
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Hmm...well, there is one fun little joke...
One character in Maple Town Story is named "Johnny Karafuto". Pretty much everyone on that series has a surname that's a pun on whatever animal they are, and it took me a while to discover that "Karafuto" was the name of an island, and one of the two kanji it's written with is "inu"/"dog". Which explains one change made on a curious list of names that seems to have been for a less-hacked foriegn release, retaining most of the given names but changing the surnames to suitable English puns. On this list, Johnny Karafuto has been changed to Johnny Sakhalin, Sakhalin being the Russian name for Karafuto. Of course, this is one joke that the intended audience would never get. 
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 9902 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
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Paid a visit to Kinokuniya yesterday and decided to resurrect this thread.
 One manga title covers this issue extensively (in Japanese perspective, of course): Nichiro Sensou Monogatari (日露戦争物語). Its cover has the famous "Z" flag.
The flag on the Madosein mansion, modified to become a field hospital: 
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GATSU
Posts: 15520 |
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It's not just Russia. Japan is starting feuds with China and S. Korea over certain islands. They're way over their heads in that regard.
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Chiroptera Rex
Space Cowboy Posts: 262 Location: The Batcave, Gotham City, Wisconsin. |
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Thanks, Dormcat! I didn't even notice this. Last Exile portrays a whole new world and it's not really possible to classify any of the two sides into specific 20th century war machines. Gonzo is only trying to show elements of the 19th and early 20th century. More to the point they're just telling a story. |
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Joe Arizona
 Posts: 144 Location: Phoenix |
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Russia wasn't the only country to seize Japanese territory as the result of WW2. At the end of the war, the U.S. took possession of all of Japan's Pacific mandates, including the island I once lived on, Saipan. Besides the well known occupation of the main islands up untill the 50's, the US administered Okinawa and the Volcano Islands (Iwo Jima,etc.) untill 1967. While the vast majority of Japan's old island mandates such as Palau and the Marshall Islands (where the US detonated nuclear devices on Bikini and Eniwetok atolls) were later granted independence by the US, the Northern Marianas (Saipan, Rota and Tinian, etc.) voted to become a US Commonwealth. Nowadays, the Japanese are back on Saipan, though now they are considerably friendlier and armed only with cameras. I tend to agree with Cornerd Angel on the matter of the Russian occupation of the southern Kuriles, but if Japan can ever coax Russia to part with them, especially with Putin in charge, more power to her.
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kamiboy
Posts: 570 Location: CA |
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I doubt it, I think Russia is still kicking itself for selling Alaska off to the US. It sure could have come in handy during the cold war. Selling off or giving away territory -- no matter how useless I might seem -- is just about the most stupid thing any country can do. |
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CorneredAngel
Posts: 854 Location: New York, NY |
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Not to get too much into a geopolitical argument, but I disagree. For a country like Russia, it's not even a question of how "useless" a territory is, but of how expensive it is to maintain the people who live there. Russia has quite a problem nowadays with providing services to the hundreds of thousands of people who live above the Arctic Circle, and in other isolated areas (...like the Kuriles). The mines and factories they worked in during the Cold War have long since shut down; there is no real reason for any of them to live there anymore, and in fact, the government is offering them plenty of incentives to move somewhere where they are a lot easier to supply. |
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kamiboy
Posts: 570 Location: CA |
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I see your point but I still believe that selling off land, no matter how useless or economically strenuous it is to maintain, is just plain stupid and lacks foresight. I mean, who knew that something like Plutonium would become a sought after commodity 150 years ago? Or oil 200 years ago? Say some country sold off a piece of land and a couple of centuries in the future it was discovered that the land was rich in some valuable raw materiel that nobody thought would be useful when the land was sold. Or perhaps the geographical location of the land suddenly becomes very important in the future.
My point is, you just can't predict these things, so rather just put up with the hassle and keep the land for the future. When the people of the future look back at the history of their country 200 years ago what are they going to care about more? That 200 years ago their country saved a couple of million/billion or that today they have more landmass. |
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