Loading
Search
▼ ANIME AIRWAVES / Depicting Politics in a Fictitious Nation
- Category:Other
The Dowa Kingdom is divided into 13 autonomous territories. Peace in the country is maintained by ACCA, a gigantic private governing organization that presides over every sector, from police to firefighters.
When a story is set in a fictitious country, it tends to be seen as a fantasy. Yet that’s not the case with “ACCA Jusan-ku Kansatsu-ka” (ACCA: 13-Territory Inspection Dept.), which is aired on Tokyo MX TV and other channels.
There are countries like the United States where each state has its own culture and regulations. Japan was similar in the past, when each “han” had more distinctive characteristics than today’s prefectures.
The autonomous territories in this anime are concepts that correspond to states or han. Each territory is operated according to an independent way of thinking and a set of laws.
The 13 autonomous territories need to be united under one nation. There has to be a national organization that checks things like whether the territories’ budgets are properly used, whether there is any political turmoil or if there is any injustice going on.
In the real world, countries have organizations beyond local governments. In the world depicted in this anime, the territory inspection department of ACCA takes charge of that. The protagonist, Jean Otus, is the deputy chief of the department.
What do you think? Reading about the story’s setting as I have explained it so far may be enough for you to understand that this anime is created not as a mere fiction but as an allegory of the real world.
What’s more, the story starts at a point where the top five people of ACCA make a decision to scrap the territory inspection department, insisting that it’s no longer needed in their world because there is prolonged peace. However, this is only a prelude to a conspiracy designed by someone who wants to manipulate the world.
The lead character’s nickname is Moraitabako no Jean (Jean the tobacco beggar). Tobacco is subject to a hefty tax and has become a luxury item in his world. But Jean, whose monthly earnings are supposed to be modest, always smokes.
It’s interesting that tobacco becomes a conversation starter everywhere the protagonist goes because tobacco is such a rarity that everyone grows curious just by seeing it.
I don’t think poorly of works that use certain props like food and drinks, having characters talk with each other over those items. In this anime, characters often eat, drink and talk. That’s why I like watching it.
It’s extremely difficult to portray political moves without boring viewers. In this work, however, it’s easy to understand how each character behaves — in their own positions and from their standpoints — and why they do so, as Jean finds it out in his job at the department.
It’s natural for people based in a particular territory to have different interests from those who only visit there for an inspection on an irregular basis. It’s also natural that some agree with a particular territorial philosophy and others oppose it.
This anime is a realistic work indeed, as it is linked to the news of the
world we face every day.
Thankyou-Tatsuo is a manzai comedian and a linguist of the Japanese language.
The lead character’s nickname is Moraitabako no Jean (Jean the tobacco beggar). Tobacco is subject to a hefty tax and has become a luxury item in his world. But Jean, whose monthly earnings are supposed to be modest, always smokes.
It’s interesting that tobacco becomes a conversation starter everywhere the protagonist goes because tobacco is such a rarity that everyone grows curious just by seeing it.
I don’t think poorly of works that use certain props like food and drinks, having characters talk with each other over those items. In this anime, characters often eat, drink and talk. That’s why I like watching it.
It’s extremely difficult to portray political moves without boring viewers. In this work, however, it’s easy to understand how each character behaves — in their own positions and from their standpoints — and why they do so, as Jean finds it out in his job at the department.
It’s natural for people based in a particular territory to have different interests from those who only visit there for an inspection on an irregular basis. It’s also natural that some agree with a particular territorial philosophy and others oppose it.
This anime is a realistic work indeed, as it is linked to the news of the
world we face every day.
Thankyou-Tatsuo is a manzai comedian and a linguist of the Japanese language.
- March 7, 2017
- Comment (0)
- Trackback(0)