So crazily working on my paper, started doing research, and BAM. It hits me in the face like a ton of bricks how much FMA is a huge, massive product of post-WWII Japan
( Read more... )
I'd assumed a lot of FMA had themes related to WWII (I mean... Fuhrer Bradley, for one thing) but... unfortunately my history knowledge has never stuck with me very well despite many years of school, lol. What exactly are the parallels and problems here?
It's not so much parallels with the war as it is the treatment of it after the fact. I'll apologize in advance, this won't be very in depth 'cause I'm snowed in with everything
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Actually, it's the other way around. I don't think it was very intentional, unless Arakawa is a history or literature major, or something. These themes I mentioned are apparently quite common in the immediate postwar science fiction. So this many years after the fact, it could simply be reflecting some of the more "classical" Japanese sci-fi, without actually delving into the reasons and ideology behind it.
Agreed -- I can understand those kinds of opinions developing in Roy, who is very idealistic, and who has seen some corruption and has a reason to change (and the type of personality that would make his desire for such a drastic change more believable) but not in the majority of the characters who would have no real reason to develop it. Certainly not if there aren't any other countries that are already democracies, or any other groups in Amestris that have been pushing that philosophy (and it seems there aren't).
Thanks for this discussion, I hadn't thought about it that way before!
lol, no worries. And hey, I didn't really think of some of these things either, until I started doing this research.
The truth is, what bothers me about Roy is the idea that he's going to rise to the top, fix everything up ,and then martyr himself. Considering that right now he's one of the few people we've seen actually speak up for democracy, if he wants to do any good at all he'd better plan to stay in power a good long time. Without leadership, the nice little democracy he wants to create in Amestris would probably fall into shambles very quickly....
In that sense, Olivier is a very believable character. She's military, wants to stay military, wants to be the top dog. She'll be a much better dictator than Bradley, but she makes no bones about intending to be a dictator, if she got the job. The thing with Roy is interesting, in terms of his character, but it would be more believable if the series addressed the fact that he's sort of deviant, really XDD
Oh yeah, Roy's incredibly naive in that respect. xD There are a couple shout-outs throughout the series that his thoughts are new and drastic, I think, but it definitely hasn't made a point yet to show how unrealistic he's being. I guess we'll see!
I'm personally hoping that it DOESN'T work out the way he's planned it to, and that someone like Olivier does get the job. I can see Roy garnering some support for his philosophy and influencing things, and maybe eventually rising to the top, but not by series' end.
Boy, I'm glad I read through your replies, because the only part of the original post I actually understood was You can really tell that Arakawa grew up in a country which kinda despises its own army. :-D
Very interesting observations, I must say. I'm going to have to read this again tomorrow or over the weekend when I actually have the braincells to do it justice...
lol, well, it's not actually that deep. It was very spur-of-the-moment; the more impressive (and understandable) post will probably come after I've actually done the research and can back up some of these claims :) Still, glad it was interesting!
While I'm still reading the manga, I do have to agree. Ironically, I noticed that when I first started reading it. Then again, i love history and paid attention to the supposed timeline. 8D
*shrug* I'm learning about the Japanese during WWII in depth right now, so it jumped out at me. In my world history classes in high school we had a much greater emphasis put on the Holocaust aspect, as opposed to the war itself (which I can understand, not that I wouldn't have minded learning more about the war).
Once I do actual research and can do more than just spew ideas, I'll probably do a proper writeup. This post is more of a "golly gee" than anything particularly meaningful.
:) I was planning on it. It'll take me a while, though - we're talking about a pretty massive paper, and I just sort of changed my topic a bit. Also, exams. Yay.
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So this many years after the fact, it could simply be reflecting some of the more "classical" Japanese sci-fi, without actually delving into the reasons and ideology behind it.
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Thanks for this discussion, I hadn't thought about it that way before!
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The truth is, what bothers me about Roy is the idea that he's going to rise to the top, fix everything up ,and then martyr himself. Considering that right now he's one of the few people we've seen actually speak up for democracy, if he wants to do any good at all he'd better plan to stay in power a good long time. Without leadership, the nice little democracy he wants to create in Amestris would probably fall into shambles very quickly....
In that sense, Olivier is a very believable character. She's military, wants to stay military, wants to be the top dog. She'll be a much better dictator than Bradley, but she makes no bones about intending to be a dictator, if she got the job.
The thing with Roy is interesting, in terms of his character, but it would be more believable if the series addressed the fact that he's sort of deviant, really XDD
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I'm personally hoping that it DOESN'T work out the way he's planned it to, and that someone like Olivier does get the job. I can see Roy garnering some support for his philosophy and influencing things, and maybe eventually rising to the top, but not by series' end.
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Very interesting observations, I must say. I'm going to have to read this again tomorrow or over the weekend when I actually have the braincells to do it justice...
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Still, glad it was interesting!
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Once I do actual research and can do more than just spew ideas, I'll probably do a proper writeup. This post is more of a "golly gee" than anything particularly meaningful.
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For goodness' sake, I once came up with a plotbunny to make FMA communist. I'm quite sure this isn't healthy.
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