Hi!
My name is Gaia_Riot(pronouns they/them)and I am curious, is there anime that explores the ideas of abolitionism?
I've seen SO many series about different forms police, military and prison systems may take. Some of them I do find intriguing are Ergo Proxy, Ghost In The Shell, Psycho-Pass, Gatchaman Crowds, Serial Experiments Lain. Then there's the massive mountain of bounty hunter-series, some of my favourites include: Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Bubblegum Crisis, Gunsmith Cats, Dirty Pair and El Cazador de la Bruja.
There is however a few series I would say flirts at least with anti-police sentiment such as Akira, Eve No Jikan, Durarara!, not to mention a lot of stories told from the criminal's perspective, whether comedic(Lupin the Third, Cat's Eye)romanticizing(Noir, Paranoia Agent) or with more nuance like Terror in Resonance, Tekkon Kinkreet.
The few animated series/movies that are possibly exploring some abolitionist-adjacent ideas. One of them would be Nausicaä from the Valley of the Wind with it's themes of environmentalism, antifascism and feminism, with the main character Nausicaä and her allies solving large scale conflicts through mostly nonviolent direct action. It's intriguing to find a character who resolutely avoids violence at every turn. You might say "but she fights though" and to that my answer is self defense isn't violence if you ask me. To inflict violence upon others there must be some aspect of force involved, as in someone utilizing the existense of a power imbalance to harm someone. This power inbalance can obviously look like many different things, whether situational or systemic, power informs how I define most things.
Princess Mononoke would also fall into that category. Then there is the more elusive ideology of series like Kino's Journey, Girl's Last Tour, Mushishi and Haibane Renmei which often more focused on some kind of divine judgement but still they do have different, often restorative aspects to their justice when present.
So, back on track; abolitionist thought in anime, does it exist?
One genre that introduces interesting ways of defining justice is Magical Girl Series. While Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura and Precure focuses more on deconstructing the concepts of good and evil, often making us sympathize with villains, there are some that are more complex like Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Earth Maiden Arjuna and Granbelm that go more into systemic oppression.
But at some point I've started noticing how much some magical girl-heroines act like actual law enforcement, with a monopoly on justice and violence defined only by their inherent "righteousness".
So what do you think? Is there any abolitionist ideas present in anime/animated movies? Or is anime mostly just copaganda?
I can't wait for your responses!!
Take care,
Gaia_Riot |
