Forum - View topicAnime And Pearl Harbor
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Snomaster1
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A few weeks ago,we commemorated the eightieth anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. It was the event that launched America into World War II. While it's a major historical event,it hasn't really gotten a lot of treatment in anime. While World War II has been covered in anime and manga,it's rare that it has and that's understandable. It wasn't a good time in Japanese history and it's reasonable to assume that few would want to touch such a sensitive topic like it. It's not like it is in America,where there's an immense pride in that war. And,looking at some of the things Japan did during that time is also very sensitive.
But,that doesn't mean that there isn't an anime connection there. I'm going to tell you about three connections that anime has to that sad day. One that happened before the attack ever took place,the second one,a propagandistic version of what happened,and a more sober vision that took place years later. Now,there are those who will say I'm making all this up,exaggerating this,or this is another attempt by me to turn ANN into an anime version of "The National Enquirer." Well,try to trust me on this. I hope that it'll be worth your time. Our first part begins a year before the attack,in 1940. It concerns a secret group with Toei Animation called the Shadow Staff. Their primary function was to work on projects like military training and propaganda films for the military and the government of the time. In many ways,it was similar to what American studios like Disney and Warner Brothers did during the war. One such project was called "The Principles of Bombardment." One of the people behind this film was a man named Soji Ushio. At the time,he was one of those who made these types of training films for the military. To insure realism,he went up in a plane and dropped dummy bombs into the ocean off the coast of Japan to make sure he was doing this right. Unfortunately,he and the other members of the Shadow Staff did their jobs well,because it helped contribute to the devastation that occurred on December 7th. Eventually,he would go on and do other sorts of projects for the Shadow Staff. But,there's a possibility that they may have had some misgivings about what they were doing. They might have loved their country,but privately,they may have also felt that Japan may have been fighting for a bad cause. Ushio and those like him got into animation to entertain people,not engage in this type of work. So,what happened to "The Principles of Bombardment" and other stuff like it? You're probably wondering why this stuff isn't on YouTube as a relic of that time. You see,when the war was nearly over,this film and others like it were destroyed by Toei,possibly so that they wouldn't be reminded of what they did. A few years after the war,Soji Ushio would open his own company and do stuff like anime and tokusatsu shows. In the wake of the Pearl Harbor attack,both sides would make propaganda films depicting this event. It's not difficult to imagine how we felt about it and the tone of the films from our side was one of unbelievable rage. As you can also imagine,how the Japanese felt was,as you could expect,rather different. In fact,it was quite celebratory and their films reflected that. One of those films was 1943's "Momotaro's Sea Eagles." It featured one of Japan's folk heroes,Momotaro. You see,during the war,Momotaro was a popular figure in many wartime propaganda anime,similar to how American cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse,Donald Duck,Popeye,Bugs Bunny,Daffy Duck,and others were used at the time. Basically,it's a retelling of the legend of the Peach Boy and his animal friends going to an island full of demons and defeating them. In this version,they went on an aircraft carrier and recreated the Pearl Harbor attack,albeit in a kid friendly manner. Surprisingly,they used Bluto from the "Popeye" cartoons as a stereotypical drunk in this film. This film was a massive hit and would be followed up in 1945 by "Momotaro's Divine Warriors." It would be Japan's first anime film and it would continue Momotaro and his animal friend's fight against the demons,but in this one,they're British and Dutch. I read that somewhere that near the end of this film,they were practicing parachuting...on a chalk outline of the continental United States. For us Americans,we're relieved that didn't happen. For years,it was thought destroyed during the American occupation of Japan. That was,until 1983,when a negative copy was found in a warehouse owned by Shochiku Studios and was re-released in 1984. Surprisingly,Funimation would make this available in 2017. Although there are those who'd find it a bit creepy,there are also those who'd find it interesting. A few decades later,a less propagandistic anime would come out about the day that would live in infamy. It was made in 1971 and called "Animentari:Ketsudan." It was made by Tatsunoko Productions for television. It's first episode was on the Pearl Harbor attack. Believe it or not,this show's on YouTube and while it looks interesting,I sincerely doubt it would have been brought to America at the time for a lot of reasons. For one thing,there wasn't a lot of anime reaching the U.S. at the time and for another,it would have been controversial. There were still plenty of World War II veterans around in 1971 and would have opened up some pretty old wounds. A year earlier,a live-action movie made of the same attack hit American screens. It was called "Tora! Tora! Tora!" and was a U.S.-Japan co-production. For a lot of reasons,it didn't do well here,but it was very successful in Japan. Although "Animentari:Ketsudan" wasn't as propagandistic as it's earlier version,by in large,it plays it right down the middle and is interesting to anyone willing to look for it. I'm sure there are other anime depictions of December 7th out there but it's hard to know if anyone outside of Japan would really want to see them. The prospect of that is a little iffy for most people and I don't know if that would be really necessary to see. Last edited by Snomaster1 on Wed May 04, 2022 5:25 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Errinundra
Moderator
 Posts: 6585 Location: Melbourne, Oz |
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Thanks to reading your original draft of your OP I became aware of Animentari Ketsudan for the first time and, because of my interest in Pacific War history, I've started watching it. Eleven episodes in, I'm fascinated by the Japanese take on the famous battles and campaigns. As it's portmanteau name - Animentari - suggests, Decision is an documentary with animated backgrounds and with dramatised scenes, which are also animated.
The first things to notice about the series - it's from 1971 after all - are the crude artwork and very minimal animation. Anime has come a long way in fifty years. Next, looking at the episode titles at the YouTube channel the series devotes more episodes to Japanese victories than defeats. So far these first eleven episodes have only covered the early stages of the war, where the Japanese army and navy had success after success. The Japanese leaders are decisive, the soldiers heroic and local populations welcome liberation from their colonial masters. Their enemies - Macarthur excepted - have been portrayed as weak, incompetent and ill-equipped. The difference is stark and the analysis overall has been simplistic, but, in fairness the British and Dutch performed poorly in their defence of their colonial outposts. To me the series glamorises war. Martial virtues such as decisiveness, bravery, duty and loyalty are held up as ideals. I'm interested to see how the series deals with the inevitable upcoming disasters and whether, or how, the tone is changed. The pro-Japanese bias of the series is quite apparent in some episodes. In episodes four and five, covering the Malayan campaign and the fall of Singapore, General Percival is depicted as an obstinate, arrogant fool (which isn't too far from the Australian perception of him). The more aggressive Australian General Bennett is used as a contrasting example of how a military leader ought to behave, though even in Australia he is viewed as insubordinate. That's mild compared with episode 11 - viewed earlier this evening - which covers the invasion of the Philppines, the Battles of Bataan and Corregidor and, briefly, the Bataan death march. This is how the Japanese commander, General Homma, and the Bataan march are descibed (I'm relying on the fansub).
The lowest estimates of the deaths on the march are over 5,000, most of whom were Filipino. After the war General Homma was extradited and tried before a war crimes tribunal. His defence was that, even though he was the area commander, he was unaware of the atrocities that took place. He was found guilty and executed by firing squad. |
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Snomaster1
Subscriber Posts: 2916 |
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Well thanks a lot for replying,Errinundra! Much of your reply dealt with "Animentari:Ketsudan." Now,I haven't seen a lot of it,but like you,I've also studied the war on both the Atlantic and Pacific sides. It's not too surprising that "Ketsudan" would take a pro-Japanese position. It was made in Japan in 1971. While it is very crude,something you would expect from something like that back then. But,there was something in your post with got my attention. You said that the show had the locals welcoming the Japanese in to liberate them from their colonial masters.
Here's something that "Animentari:Ketsudan" probably wouldn't have depicted. However long their "liberation" from their colonial masters had been,the Japanese occupation of those areas was far worse! I remember reading in a history book I had from when I was a teenager that they committed war crimes in those areas. They did things so horrific that it made the earlier colonial rule and I'm quoting here,"seem like a pleasant memory." Again,I haven't seen a whole lot of this series,but I don't know if I ever want to see episode 11 of this series. I would end up thinking that the people that made this whitewashed what happened there. Let me tell you what this series left out! In documentaries in the U.S. both made in 1971 and more recently,that the Death March was a lot worse then the creators of this series could have ever imagined. In one of those documentaries,one of the veterans told a story of Filipinos risking a lot to give them water. The reason why that was risky because the Japanese would kill anyone who did that. Another veteran would say in another documentary done years later said that during the march,an American prisoner had collapsed on the ground. A Japanese tank swerved around and ran him down. Other Japanese vehicles did this until the poor man became part of the roadside. There were other stories in which the Japanese would cruelly beat American prisoners with unrestrained brutality. Any prisoner risked being beaten if they got out of line! I find it hard to believe that someone like General Homma wouldn't have known or approved of what was going on. There's a good reason we in America remember this. The horrendous cruelty visited upon American soldiers is a little hard to forget. I'm not trying to bash the Japanese here,Errinundra but they've never admitted these sort of hideous things happened during the war and I can see why it's a possibility why a lot of Asians and Asian-Americans could be so angry with the Japanese. On the Asian-American side,they would have had people in their families that suffered terribly under Japanese rule. That might have also occurred in Asian-Australian families as well. It would be safe to say that "Animentari:Ketsudan" isn't going to see an international release anytime soon. It would have been controversial in 1971,when there were still a good many WWII veterans still around and would have opened a lot of old wounds. And,I can't see it getting a release now,because it would be seen as whitewashing a great deal of the less savory aspects of Japan's war in the Pacific. It's better off staying in Japan where it belongs and not getting an official release anywhere outside of that country. It's a relic of it's time and a reminder of how far the Japanese have to go realizing the true history of what they did during World War II. |
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