For those interested in the use of propaganda in children's media, S-Cry-Ed would be a worth object of study. S-Cry-Ed is an “anime”, or Japanese animated show. While anime can be geared towards any demographic, this particular show is aimed towards a child audience. The story begins 22 years after a powerful event called “The Great Uprising”, in which a part of Japan is shattered. “Uprising” can be taken on more than one level. In one way, it is a description of how the land was completely destroyed be the, apparently, natural event. The word is also a description of how society has been completely transformed by the devastation that resulted. While The Great Uprising is not discussed in detail, it is clear that this is the flash-point from which all other events develop.
The creation of The Lost Ground, the new name for the section of Japan that has been devastated, mirrors the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Although occurring as a seismic event the destruction is no less severe, scarring the geography, destroying cities, and ruining both lives and society. The social structure radically mutates into two groups: those that sacrifice stability by resisting outside help or influence, and those that crave stability and embrace outside forces as a result. Within the world of S-Cry-Ed, this is portrayed as the conflict between the independent spirit and the need to compromise or given for survival. Those determined to maintain independence live in a lawless land with minimal resources to develop and maintain society. They have freedom, but also chaos. Those who accept outside influence live in luxury and safety, but with increasingly little control over their own destinies as the show progresses.
The order-vs-chaos and obedience-vs-independence memes are enforced and developed by the characters and how they deal with the seemingly omnipresent forces of The Mainland and it's enforcement militia, HOLY and HOLD. As with Japan after World War II, The Lost Ground is practically devoid of a home-grown enforcement agency. Instead, control and order is provided through The Mainland, a general name for the vague and undefined forces outside The Lost Ground's boundaries. The Mainland provides control and order via HOLD, a militia that provides policing and order throughout the controlled areas of The Lost Ground. As the show progresses, HOLD begins to expand into the more chaotic areas of The Lost Ground as well.
Of particular interest to The Mainland and HOLD are the Alters. Following The Great Uprising, and the creation of The Lost Ground, less than 1% of the population began to exhibit “Alter power”, or the ability to rearrange matter into specific forms or functions. Alters are literally able to recreate reality, metaphorically reformatting their own destiny. To control this new demographic, HOLD forms a subdivision called HOLY, comprised of young Alter users who pledge allegience to HOLD and act as enforcers against non-allied Alter users (who are considered lawless rogues). It is within this context that much of the show takes place.
The competing ideologies become more concrete through the two main characters of the show, Ryoho and Kazuma. Ryoho is an alter in the service of HOLY and Kazuma, a rogue later living outside any organized control. The conflict between the two is psychological, physical, even cultural. Ryoho was born to a wealthy family, still in power after The Great Uprising. Although Ryoho's memories of his past are vague, the audience learns that his family was killed by a being composed of pure alter power, drawn to the physical plane by the destruction recently caused. Although anthropomorphic, the creature is largely morally neutral, and more or less a force of nature rather than an actual being with motives and ideas. Throughout the show it appears, sometimes with benefit to the main characters, and sometimes not. In this particular case, Ryoho is traumatized by the creature's arrival, and eventually becomes a member of HOLY, developing into one of their premier enforcers. Although his chosen allegience turns out to be malign, Ryoho is not one of the “bad guys”. His experiences have taught him the need for stability in order to protect the people around him, and establish a foundation for progress. He is led to believe that working for The Mainland accomplishes this goal. Within the views of the Japanese Neo-conservative movement, he has made the error of submitting to outsiders (The Mainland), giving up certain innate freedoms for the chance at peace and stability.
For his part, Kazuma is exactly the opposite. Born in the territories beyond Mainland-controlled areas, Kazume displays a fierce independent sprit, and is unwilling to submet to any authority beyond his own personal sense of ethic and morality. Kazuma's mentality represents the unquenchable fighting spirit that the show supports, displaying repeated resistance to control by virtually anyone outside of himself. Much of his philosophies and ideas can be found in one particular episode where he describes a younger version of himself, desperate for work and money. He sneaks into an area controlled by The Mainland, hoping to find work, money, or food. Given the chance to observe people who live under the aegis of The Mainland, Kazuma develops an instant disgust with them and leaves. In his view, the people who live under Mainland control are cowardly sheep, and have forfeited freedom for safety, leading, in his view, weak and ignorant lives.
Kazuma's view is, at its heart, a dramatic re-telling of the Japanese nationalist view of America's occupation and influence of Japan (as well as undue outside influences from world powers in general today). This is to say that the nationalist viewpoint is that Japan has too long allowed outside countries to have a hand in its affairs, and should freely reject such influence to pursue its own destiny, regardless of how such actions are perceived by the world at large. This perspective has influenced even the upper echelons of Japanese government as shown by the repeated visits of various Prime Ministers to the infamous Yasukuni Shrine, and perhaps most notably in Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishikawa, who authored “The Japan That Can Say No”, calling upon the Japanese population to collectively resist the influence of the United States. The idea that the show supports these views seems to have weight when considering The Mainland's enforcement agencies are named HOLY and HOLD. HOLY in particular is relevant due to it's reflection of assertions made in Ishikawa's book that the introduction of Christianity in Japanese society is little more than a form of cultural imperialism.
Of all the characters that exist through the series, the third and final characters of thematic importance is Kyoji Mujo. Where Ryoho is the archetypical misguided loyalist, and where Kazuma is the archetypical freedom fighter, Mujo is the both a traitor to his people and the ultimate representation of The Mainland and it's desire to dominate The Lost Ground. Through the Neo-Conservative social and political lens, Kyoji Mujo can be described as the continued efforts of the outside world to destroy the value of the native land and its autonomy. By Mujo's own account, he was born destitute and weak. Jealous of the luxury provided to people by The Mainland, Mujo turned his back on his homeland and submitted himself to The Mainland for study and experimentation. In this sense, Kyoji Mujo not only becomes the archetypical sellout, forsaking his homeland and heritage for personal gain, but he is also transformed into the very personification of The Mainland itself. He essentially represents all malevolent outside forces trying to destroy or control The Lost Ground.
The personalities and thematic purpose of each of the characters form the nature of their individual Alter powers. Kazuma's and Ryoho's alter powers operate in a similar, specific manner – nearby matter (almost always inanimate objects) is disintegrated and reformatted into armor, weapons, or other objects. In essence, this is an act of transforming the old into the new, taking something that was just sitting there and turning it into something new that can be used for a desired purpose. Kyoji Mujo's Alter power is quite different. He literally devours the powers of others. This means that, thematically, he takes but does not give back. He is a type of vampire, draining the indigenous value of The Lost Ground, and leaving nothing of value in his wake, save for the suffering of an abused people.
A rough correlation can be drawn between Mujo's characterization and the Japanese Neo-Conservative views on the Yasukuni Shrine. Built in 1864 as a war memorial, the shrine is ore well-known today for housing the remains of Japanese soldiers who died in World War II. In particular, the shrine houses a number of recognized war criminals who were found guilty by a war crimes tribunal. This is relevant because the shrine publishes a pamphlet that states the war criminals were “cruelly and unjustly tried” by a “sham-like” court. In addition, displays at the shrine indicate that Japan was not an aggressor in World War II, but mere trying to defend itself against malevolent outside forces. This meme is not restricted to the shrine itself. It is also the center of the Japanese school textbook controversy in which schoolchildren are taught that Japan was unjustly attacked, and as such was a victim of the war rather than an aggressor and perpetuator of it. Within this context, Kyoji Mujo's thematic purpose is clear – he is the malevolent outside force invading an innocent homeland (The Lost Ground), with the sole purpose of aggression against a largely defenseless people. It is up to the defenders of that land to find their national pride and rise up to defend against an unjust invasion. As a show with nationalist overtones, this is, of course, the point of the series.
As Mujo develops more power by devouring the powers of others, he begins to warp the land in a grotesque manner, reflecting his own twisted vision. Ryoho, seeing the carnage, realizes his foolishness in aligning himself with The Mainland, and joins forces with Kazuma. The two are able to finally turn away the invasion, killing both Mujo and an incoming Mainland navy in the process. The last episode's final moments are, in fact, portrayals of an older Kazuma and Ryoho declaring that no outside force will ever hold sway over The Lost Ground, and the only result of any attempt will be destruction. This demonstration implies a support for the opinion of Neo-Conservatives that Japan be allowed to form it's own military force. Due to Japan's role in World War II, post-war Japan was stripped of it's military power, and in fact had its constitution written to guarantee that Japan could not and would not develop it's own military power. This forced Japan to rely on the United States for military support. There are many Japanese that feel this section of Japan's constitution should be repealed, a notion that has caused some discomfort in other asian countries, many of whom still have memories of Japan's aggressive military nature during the last World War.
With regards to the show, the themes of fighting and independence favor Kazuma over Ryoho. While both are acknowledged by the end of the show as the most powerful of their kind, Kazuma receives the focus of the show. The audience witnesses his rise from a relatively low-powered Alter user to an unrivaled force only approached in power by Ryoho himself. That the show focuses on Kazuma reveals the show's preference for fierce independence, undertones of nationalism, and a strong desire to expel or destroy outside authority. Ryoho, initially much stronger of the two, is shown to have his power almost as a matter of course, rather than having to fight for it. Born into wealth with nearly unbeatable abilities, he exudes privilege, and shows it through a haughty, even cold demeanor. It is only when he comes to reject The Mainland, and is force to live in the territories outside its control, that he begins to change. He witnesses the hand-to-mouth existence of those who do not have The Mainland's support, and he sees the destruction caused by HOLY and HOLD's attempt to expand The Mainland's control. It is only then he comes around to Kazuma's point of view and organizes with him to re-take The Lost Ground. In the final episode, Ryoho and Kazuma decide to settle their remaining differences in one last fight with each other. Although the battle is fierce, it is Kazuma who wins, symbolizing the superiority of those who fight from the start rather than those who prefer safety.
These overtones of nationalism make S-Cry-Ed an interesting show to study. In the wake of the textbook controversy, Yasukuni Shrine, and other attempts at revisionism, including film, it's not hard to see the show as an attempt to instill or reinforce feelings of unfair pressure from an outside world. It is possible this was not a deliberate choice by the show's creators, but regardless the show indicates a national feeling of discontent with Japan's place in the world, especially in this time of economic crisis. Of particular interest is whether or not S-Cry-Ed is an anomaly, or part of a larger trend towards nationalist indoctrination. That, however, is beyond the scope of this essay.
