Attack on Titan is debatably the best and most popular anime in the world. I watched it when it first came out in 2013. The story's beginning setting is a fantastic example of Marxist Theory. This is because of the strong themes of class struggles, materialism, and alienation in Attack on Titan.
As the audience, we learn that three main walls protect the last of humanity from the world's threats. Each wall is circular and joins to make a circle, totaling three walls within each other. The story's main characters live in a challenging, cramped, poor space within the outermost wall. We, as the audience, learn shortly that most people struggle to eat and live their lives. All members of the family have to work in some capacity to support the household.
We learn that not everyone within the walls lives this way until later in the season. Near the mid-to-end part of the first season, we know about the Innermost part of the walls. Food does not seem like an issue at all. Around this time, we learn that this innermost wall area gives a small amount of food to the poor areas within the walls to make it look like they care and are there for them. But this is a one-way communication stream. The poor regions of the walls are mostly alienated from the truth of the actual condition of the walls and their resources.
Later in the show, we learn that education and police play a massive role in keeping people the same and not being curious about things that they don't know about. The education system does a great job of indoctrinating children. At the same time, the police are used partly to manage adults who get too nosey about some aspects of the government and organization. This mixture of ideologies can be a powerful control mechanism for the people of less influence in class and knowledge.
Many elements of Marxist Theory are expanded and twisted throughout the show's total run, changing elements of what is good and bad for society. Many of these themes change with every season. In doing so, the show subtly asks the audience, "Who are the real bad guys now?"
Would you watch a show that continues introducing more Marxist qualities the longer the show runs?
The timing of your blog post is perfect because I just finished watching this series myself over the weekend. By season four the Marxist elements are so strong that the main characters are entrenched in a full-blown class war due to the hegemonic belief that the Eldian people are devils/monsters.
ReplyDeleteI thought the way the show slowly introduced theses aspects of the plot was genius as it led viewers to understand how these ideologies could be perpetuated, even across all of humanity. This masterpiece of a show is more than a great watch; it has the potential to teach a valuable lesson in the dangers of perpetuating this type of system.