Terror In Resonance Analysis

The anime, Terror in Resonance, indirectly points out the current Japanese government under Abe Shinzo as one of the source of neo-nationalism in Japan. Unlike many critical animes or shows, Terror in Resonance, addresses the name of the current Japanese government almost explicitly and even portrays the face of the current Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo. In the anime, many governors in Japan is found out to have a lot of connections with the right wing nationalist organization, the Rising Peace Academy. Among them, the anime especially highlights a connection between a politician whose election poster resembles that of Abe Shinzo. Although the anime used Democratic Liberal Party for fictional name of the government party instead of the real name of Abe Shinzo’s government party, Liberal Democratic Party, the similarity between the two names demonstrates that the anime is clearly accusing both Abe and his government party for being neo-nationalistic. Using such references, the director seems to be expressing his concerns about Japan’s nationalistic shift after Abe’s government because according to Mike Mochizuki and Samuel Porter, the House of Representatives in Japan has a single party majority in favor of Abe and “Abe emphasized nationalistic themes about history and constitutional revision and the need to strengthen national defense” in his autobiography (Mochizuki). By emphasizing the connection of fictional character that represents Abe with a powerful neo-nationalist organization, the director tries to make the audience to be aware of Abe’s strong control over Japanese government and his ability to force neo-nationalistic political agenda. Nevertheless, unlike many people’s concern, in his 2015 statement, Abe said, “we Japanese, across generations, must squarely face the history of the past. We have the responsibility to inherit the past, in all humbleness, and pass it on to the future”. Even though the danger of the Japanese government’s neo-nationalist movement remains until the end of Abe’s term, if the history without any distortion or edition can be inherited to all Japanese as Abe’s promise, Japan would be able to step away from its perilous shift towards neo-nationalism and prevent the tragedy of many people as in the anime. In the anime, the final goal of the main characters, Nine and Twelve, is to draw people’s attention to them and disclose the schemes of neo-nationalist and controversies in their beliefs. In real life, however, despite the trend of increasing support on neo-nationalism, many people are surprisingly still against the significant neo-nationalist movement, such as amending Article 9. One of the recent Japanese public polls revealed that no more than 11.5 percent of the respondents considered the amendment of the constitution more significant than other issues and even a significant number young Japanese citizens without the …show more content…
The explosion does not leave any victims, but instead, it reminds Japanese people what they are not supposed to forget, Japan’s past and the fact that tragic history should not be repeated. Therefore, Japanese neo-nationalists need to shake off their obsession towards the past glory and focus on Japan’s future progress as both peace-making and advanced country in Asia. Ultimately, the true proud and honorable country cannot be achieved without admitting the past mistakes and using the mistakes as stepping stones to earn trust and respect from both other countries and its own