Animation discussion by the dialectic materialism 14（2015）

Around the same time as the Iraq War, the Koizumi structural reforms, and the digitalization of video and broadcasting, the Internet broadband system was built, and was used as an effective means of resistance by citizen movements, especially after 3/11 (the Fukushima nuclear power plant explosion). However, the Internet also created the soil for the "Internet right wing" and "online xenophobia," and the new Internet right wing that would later support the Abe administration was organized under the surface. These became apparent after the second Abe administration was born.
Some local governments and companies that responded to and followed the Abe administration used commercial animation techniques to praise and jump on the bandwagon, and these methods penetrated people's subconscious on a daily basis. Some animation listeners interpreted the state's approval as "gaining citizenship," and a favorable attitude toward LDP politics was born.
While the Abe administration's far-right rampage occurred, many events occurred in the animation world that resisted it. Due to space limitations, I cannot introduce everything, but Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki and directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata have spoken out in various places about their thoughts on peace and their warnings against the current government. In October 2014, Hayao Miyazaki gave his support to a demonstration against the establishment of a national defense force in Omotesando, and in the same month, Isao Takahata participated in a SASPL demonstration. Both were immediately broadcast on the Internet, encouraging the protesters. (*The author attended both events.)

While several (relatively young) civic organizations established after 3/11, such as SASPL, have been active and showing resistance, a small number of people involved in the animation industry have also attempted to communicate in a variety of styles, mainly through the Internet. Triggered by the Japanese government's secrecy law, collective self-defense rights, and constitutional issues, attempts are also continuing to unite various civic movements, labor movements, political parties, and other cross-party groups.
In recent years, not only in the live-action film industry, but also in the animation industry, there have been a series of deaths of veteran technicians, writers, creators, and voice actors. There have been many reports of the deaths of people who worked tirelessly to improve the animation production environment, including voice actor Ichiro Nagai (82), who passed away on January 27, 2014, and who connected the Japan Actors Association with on-site staff and worked to abolish line shooting.