I read a lot of manga and watch a lot of anime. The impression I get from the stories and the way they are told in manga and anime is that they are narrowly focussed on their primary market which is Japan and the Japanese people who are mostly insular and xenophobic. Sales to Western markets are not really taken into consideration when the writers plan their stories for publication.
As for overt racism in anime I think the series Niea Under 7 gives you the best bang for the buck -- the storyline involves aliens from space who are refugees in Japan, an immigrant underclass. The focus alien character is Niea, the lowest caste of the alien race which is itself stratified to the point where they deny Niea's caste level even exists (shades of the Japanese burakumin caste). To add to the racism/immigrant fun there is a recurring Indian character, another immigrant to Japan who is portrayed as a seat-squirming parody complete with turban that would not seem out of place as thick-lipped Rastus in an American 1930s comedy. But that's not all! The producers topped this confection off by adding a live-action clip at the end of each episode where a real Indian immigrant talks to camera in very accented Japanese about living in Japan, just to give the Japanese viewers another outsider to laugh at. Deary deary me.
Opening markets
Date: 6 Aug 2010 10:11 am (UTC)As for overt racism in anime I think the series Niea Under 7 gives you the best bang for the buck -- the storyline involves aliens from space who are refugees in Japan, an immigrant underclass. The focus alien character is Niea, the lowest caste of the alien race which is itself stratified to the point where they deny Niea's caste level even exists (shades of the Japanese burakumin caste). To add to the racism/immigrant fun there is a recurring Indian character, another immigrant to Japan who is portrayed as a seat-squirming parody complete with turban that would not seem out of place as thick-lipped Rastus in an American 1930s comedy. But that's not all! The producers topped this confection off by adding a live-action clip at the end of each episode where a real Indian immigrant talks to camera in very accented Japanese about living in Japan, just to give the Japanese viewers another outsider to laugh at. Deary deary me.