MARXIST ANIME LIST: Marxist Ideas in Anime Movies & TV Series - IMDb

MARXIST ANIME LIST: Marxist Ideas in Anime Movies & TV Series

by martintom-57275 | created - 31 Mar 2020 | updated - 25 May 2021 | Public

Otakus of the world, unite! * Anime movies & series which are focused on marxism, class conflict, anticapitalism, enviromental issues, anti-imperialism and feminism. List of marxist manga bellow. * https://bunkerchan.xyz/.media/93d53c2551fb1ca6988a2e44db7f2a9f-imagejpeg.jpg * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kanikosen.jpg * https://throwoutyourbooks.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/boku-no-mura-no-hanashi.jpg * https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/hotlink/thumbnails/fit450x450/cms/news.2/135831/red.jpg * https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/79/The_Legend_of_Kamui.jpg

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1. The Leader: Karl Marx (2019)

Animation, Drama, History

The Leader centers on the life of German thinker Karl Marx, focusing on his political and economic theories, his romance with Jenny von Westphalen, and his friendship with Friedrich Engels.

Stars: Xin Shan, Lin Hu, Rongshan Chang, Qingyang Li

Votes: 63

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T0a_jXHiDo Chinese propaganda, is it good? Bad? IDK! Is it even anime?

2. Castle in the Sky (1986)

PG | 125 min | Animation, Adventure, Family

78 Metascore

A young boy and a girl with a magic crystal must race against pirates and foreign agents in a search for a legendary floating castle.

Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Mayumi Tanaka, Keiko Yokozawa, Kotoe Hatsui, Minori Terada

Votes: 181,075

The idea of working class as life restoring power is motor of this story. Marxist Miyazaki at his best! To acquire inspiration for the films environments Miyazaki twice visited Rhondda, Wales, right during and after the great coal mine strike. In an interview with Helen McCarthy in 1999 he explained how the struggle of the workers affected the film: "I was in Wales right after the miners' strike. I admired the way the miners' union fought until the bitter end, for their workers' and communities' sake, and I wanted that the film would mirror the power of those communities."

3. Future Boy Conan (1978)

TV-PG | 24 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy

Long after a devastating war almost destroyed the entire world, a boy with superhuman strength fights to save his friends from those who seek to conquer what is left of civilization.

Stars: Noriko Ohara, Sabrina Pitre, Masatô Ibu, Lili Beaudoin

Votes: 4,961

Without a doubt, Conan has a Marxist bent. While it makes no attempt to defend the USSR’s own developmental urges, it alters the novel’s portrayal, in which High Harbor is the West’s successor while Industria is the Soviets’. Indeed, Industria in the anime represents not the sins of some supposed communism, but instead the faults of industrial society as a whole; there’s no indication, compared to the novel, of who began the war, but it didn’t matter much by the time the bombs dropped. Industria’s class structure, in which a great many workers are forced to slave away underground, all while the nation colonizes abroad in order to forcibly gather more resources and workers, is more reminiscent of the US than the USSR, but clearly, neither nation is meant to be viewed positively here.

4. Horus: Prince of the Sun (1968)

Not Rated | 82 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

A boy with a mythical sword wants to protect a Norse village from an evil ice wizard and his minions, who destroyed his family's village. However, the villagers don't fully trust him and a mysterious girl with a dark secret befriends him.

Director: Isao Takahata | Stars: Mikijirô Hira, Etsuko Ichihara, Eijirô Tôno, Masao Mishima

Votes: 2,489

The story was also inspired by the intention to address an adult audience, to reflect societal changes in contemporary Japan and to portray the socialist ideals in the portrayed village community, where the protagonists not only improve their own lot in a coming of age story but where their personal growth benefits society at large as well. The film shows a place where the people are able to shake off oppressive forces and derive pleasure from their communal efforts such as subsistence fishing.

5. Ninpû Kamui gaiden (1969)

24 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

The adventurous story of a fugitive ninja.

Star: Kôji Nakata

Votes: 38

Kamui den (カムイ伝) is a manga series written and drawn by Sanpei Shirato. Set in feudal Japan, it tells the story of a low-born ninja who has fled his clan. The series combines historical adventure with social commentary and themes of oppression and rebellion that reflect Shirato's Marxist convictions. The manga was adapted into an anime series

6. Lupin the 3rd (1977–1980)
Episode: Wings of Death: Albatross (1980)

TV-PG | Animation, Action, Adventure

A big aerial battle occurs between Arsène Lupin III's gang and a gang of atomic-bomb-carrying pilots.

Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Yasuo Yamada, Gorô Naya, Kiyoshi Kobayashi, Makio Inoue

Votes: 92

Critique of Imperialism and arms business

7. Lupin the 3rd (1977–1980)
Episode: Farewell My Beloved Lupin (1980)

TV-PG | Animation, Action, Adventure

An armoured robot soars through the skies of Tokyo, demonstrating amazing capabilities that would make it a valuable weapon... then Arsène Lupin III demonstrates a more peaceful and beneficial use for the robot.

Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Yasuo Yamada, Gorô Naya, Kiyoshi Kobayashi, Makio Inoue

Votes: 90

Antimilitarist message

8. Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (1999)

R | 102 min | Animation, Action, Drama

59 Metascore

A traumatized member of an elite para-military police force falls for the sister of a female terrorist courier who died in front of him on duty.

Directors: Kenji Kamiyama, Hiroyuki Okiura | Stars: Michael Dobson, Yoshikazu Fujiki, Sumi Mutoh, Moneca Stori

Votes: 18,582 | Gross: $0.09M

In one low-key scene near the middle of Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade, our two protagonists are talking in a desolate pocket park. Kei, a former left wing revolutionary who has fallen in love with the male lead, a member of a ruthless paramilitary group, notices a crumpled heap of debris. It’s the remains of an old building. She asks him what used to stand there; what building used to occupy the empty space? He can’t remember, and she opines that, perhaps, they never noticed it in the first place, much less remembered it. In the midst of a vast construction boom, the film forces us to take notice of the wreckage and entropy left behind by “creative destruction.” It’s one of a handful of subtly profound moments that make the work of Mamoru Oshii worthy of attention.

9. Les Miserables: Shoujo Cosette (2007)

24 min | Animation, Family, History

The classic novel by Victor Hugo returns to the world of Japanese anime in Nippon Animation's 52-episode adaptation "Les Misérables: Shoujo Cosette". The plot shifts its focus to include ... See full summary »

Stars: Atsuko Tanaka, Miyuki Sawashiro, Hiroshi Naka, Haruka Tomatsu

Votes: 420

Classical stuff <3

10. Moriarty the Patriot (2020–2022)

TV-14 | 23 min | Animation, Crime, Mystery

William James Moriarty lives as a regular noble while also being a consultant for the common folk to solve their problems. However, deep inside him lies a desire to destroy the current structure that dominates British society.

Stars: Sôma Saitô, Aaron Dismuke, Chiaki Kobayashi, Howard Wang

Votes: 3,774

class warfare

11. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)

PG | 117 min | Animation, Adventure, Sci-Fi

86 Metascore

Warrior and pacifist Princess Nausicaä desperately struggles to prevent two warring nations from destroying themselves and their dying planet.

Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Sumi Shimamoto, Mahito Tsujimura, Hisako Kyôda, Gorô Naya

Votes: 181,509 | Gross: $0.50M

The story of a post-apocalyptic world being swallowed by a poisonous jungle was obviously inspired by the environmental disaster in Minamata. The young female protagonist, the madness of war and nature that strikes back when it's threatened.

12. Metropolis (2001)

PG-13 | 108 min | Animation, Adventure, Drama

75 Metascore

Kenichi and his uncle Shunsaku Ban must find the mystery behind robot girl Tima.

Director: Rintarô | Stars: Toshio Furukawa, Scott Weinger, Yuka Imoto, Kei Kobayashi

Votes: 22,534 | Gross: $0.64M

Fight against those upper classes!

13. Arjuna (2001)

Not Rated | 25 min | Animation, Drama, Fantasy

A fatally injured girl is saved in her near death experience to become the chosen defender of Earth.

Stars: Maggie Blue O'Hara, Mami Higashiyama, Alaina Burnett, Britt Irvin

Votes: 515

Green marxism meets Sailor Moon.

14. First Squad: The Moment of Truth (2009)

Not Rated | 73 min | Animation, Action, Drama

Set during the opening days of World War II on the Eastern Front. Its main cast are a group of Soviet teenagers with extraordinary abilities; the teenagers have been drafted to form a ... See full summary »

Directors: Yoshiharu Ashino, Aljosha Klimov, Misha Shprits | Stars: Elena Chebaturkina, Mikhail Tikhonov, Damir Eldarov, Ludmila Shuvalova

Votes: 1,810

World War II on the Eastern Front (autumn and winter of 1941/1942). Its main cast are a group of Soviet teenagers with extraordinary abilities; the teenagers have been drafted to form a special unit to fight the invading German army.

15. Patlabor: The Movie (1989)

Unrated | 100 min | Animation, Action, Crime

The screwball cops of Special Vehicles Section 2 Division 2 must investigate and stop a spree of rampaging construction robots.

Directors: Mamoru Oshii, Kôji Sawai | Stars: Toshio Furukawa, David Jarvis, Doug Erholtz, Mîna Tominaga

Votes: 5,593

The Labor as machine is a perfect example of Marx's idea of the alienation of the wrokerfrom that which is produced.

16. Pom Poko (1994)

PG | 119 min | Animation, Comedy, Drama

77 Metascore

A community of magical shape-shifting raccoon dogs struggle to prevent their forest home from being destroyed by urban development.

Director: Isao Takahata | Stars: Shinchô Kokontei, Makoto Nonomura, Yuriko Ishida, Norihei Miki

Votes: 34,235

Basically the story of how the liberal movements in post-war Japan failed, according to Miyazaki.

17. Dragon Ball (1986–1989)

TV-14 | 25 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

Son Gokû, a fighter with a monkey tail, goes on a quest with an assortment of odd characters in search of the Dragon Balls, a set of crystals that can give its bearer anything they desire.

Stars: Masako Nozawa, Jôji Yanami, Brice Armstrong, Stephanie Nadolny

Votes: 65,375

DBZ is literally about a peasant kid rising up against a galactic landlord who is confirmed to be based on predatory real estate sharks

18. Tomorrow's Joe (1970–1971)

30 min | Animation, Action, Drama

Joe, a teenage orphan living in the slums of the Doya streets, meets Danpei, a homeless alcoholic and former boxing trainer. Danpei, seeing Joe's talent for boxing, decides to train him.

Stars: Teruhiko Aoi, Shunsuke Shima, Akira Shimada, Shigeyuki Hosoi

Votes: 853

"Tomorrow's Joe" is a young boxer fighting against all odds, while the protagonist of Star of the Giants, also popular among activists, is a young baseball player; both are youths from impoverished backgrounds who undergo intense spiritual and physical training in order to win glory by triumphing over rich-kid rivals. Although these characters did strive for upward mobility, the rigorous asceticism emphasized in the manga recalled an ethics of self-restraint that was vanishing from Japan at the time, and the opponents toppled were from the bourgeoisie.

19. Fujimaru of the Wind (1964–1965)

30 min | Animation, Action

Fujimaru is a young Ninja with mystical abilities. He seeks to prevent his enemy Japusai from obtaining a parchment that would greatly enhance his powers.

Stars: Midori Katô, Kiyoshi Komiyama, Kazuko Yoshikawa, Yoshiko Yamamoto

Votes: 37

Author of story was Sanpei Shirato. Sanpei — trying to live up to his father, a fine arts painter raising a son in tumultuous waters of left-wing politics and Marxist movements. (take a minute to Google some of this socio-political stuff if you want, I had to…) Somehow Sanpei comes out of it doing kamishibai performance art then manga and anime, replacing the marching proletariat with masked ninja.

20. Star of the Giants (1968–1971)

30 min | Animation, Drama, Sport

Hyuma Hoshi, is a big baseball pitcher with a bright future, who wants to be a top pitcher like his father.

Stars: Tôru Furuya, Seizô Katô, Fuyumi Shiraishi, Shingo Kanemoto

Votes: 31

"Tomorrow's Joe" is a young boxer fighting against all odds, while the protagonist of Star of the Giants, also popular among activists, is a young baseball player; both are youths from impoverished backgrounds who undergo intense spiritual and physical training in order to win glory by triumphing over rich-kid rivals. Although these characters did strive for upward mobility, the rigorous asceticism emphasized in the manga recalled an ethics of self-restraint that was vanishing from Japan at the time, and the opponents toppled were from the bourgeoisie. Significantly, both characters continue their strenuous training even after achieving higher social status, pushing onward until their bodies are utterly broken, as if punishing themselves for betraying their roots through social mobility. This ethic appealed to the moralistic tendencies of the student activists, who spurned material accumulation and cherished to the end the ideal of endless self-negation.

21. Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

Not Rated | 89 min | Animation, Drama, War

94 Metascore

A young boy and his little sister struggle to survive in Japan during World War II.

Director: Isao Takahata | Stars: Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi, Akemi Yamaguchi, Yoshiko Shinohara

Votes: 307,750

WAR IS HELL

22. Little Witch Academia (2017)

TV-Y7 | 25 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy

Akko enrolls at the Luna Nova Witchcraft Academy. She's not the best student, but her bright attitude is the key to her and her friends' success.

Stars: Megumi Han, Erica Mendez, Alexis Nichols, Fumiko Orikasa

Votes: 4,001

Comrade Akko and her solidarity with the oppressed faerie workers!

23. Steamboy (2004)

PG-13 | 126 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

66 Metascore

In 1860s Britain, a boy inventor finds himself caught in the middle of a deadly conflict over a revolutionary advance in steam power.

Directors: Shinji Takagi, Katsuhiro Ôtomo | Stars: Anna Paquin, Patrick Stewart, Alfred Molina, Anne Suzuki

Votes: 18,644 | Gross: $0.41M

In a sense its about how property holds back technological development. The British Imperial Government gets involved, and at first it seems noble compared to the O'Hara mega company, but it becomes clear that they wish to get a hold of the steam technology to develop their own weapons programs and prevent O'Hara from selling weapons to its Imperial rivals.

So neither government or capital come out of this film looking very good, they're both self interested and hypocritical. There's a battle scene between the police and a private security army, highlighting the similarities.

Our hero is a working class lad from Manchester and his inventor Grandad whom wanted to build a new society using the nearly unlimited energy of this new invention he largely pioneered. Its animation is beautiful, it has a very steam punk look, with tanks and fighter planes as they might have looked in the 1860s. It did get some criticism from purists because it was an early adopter of Computer Graphic animation, but it blends with the traditional animations pretty well in my opinion.

If you can, I'd recommend watching the English dub, the dialogue is full of nineteenth century colloquialism's and the cast even manage to pull off Mancunian accents.

24. Wings of Honneamise (1987)

Unrated | 121 min | Animation, Drama, Sci-Fi

In an alternative Earth, a young astronaut participates in a controversial fledgling space program.

Director: Hiroyuki Yamaga | Stars: Leo Morimoto, David Thomas, Mitsuki Yayoi, Heidi Lenhart

Votes: 5,735 | Gross: $0.06M

Wings is a lot like Steamboy, its about an attempt to put a man into space. Its like Yuri Gagarin the anime. It set in a world that isn't really earth, they're all humans but the nations and history and cultures are very different.

The space agency is incredibly underfunded, and the only way for them to get some support from their government to get a rocket ship and capsule built and ready for launch is to highlight its potential military capabilities. They're all dedicated to space exploration and have no interest in war but they're desperate for funds. One drawback is that a hostile nation now views the program as a threat and tensions between the two nations increase.

Again naked greed and self interest from the powerful actively impedes scientific progress and discovery. It ends with Lhadatt the cosmonaut getting into space and reflecting and praying for humanity to improve itself. And unfortunately I'm not doing it much justice, its very beautiful in both its looks and its music and sound design.

25. Princess Mononoke (1997)

PG-13 | 134 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

76 Metascore

On a journey to find the cure for a Tatarigami's curse, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a war between the forest gods and Tatara, a mining colony. In this quest he also meets San, the Mononoke Hime.

Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Yôji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yûko Tanaka, Billy Crudup

Votes: 430,680 | Gross: $2.38M

In 1997 the epic fantasy film Princess Mononoke was released, depicting the conflict between the human's in the Irontown and the spirits of the woods. The film distinguishes itself with its moral complexity. Irontown's leader Lady Eboshi wants to extract the resources of the forest, but she isn't driven by greed or a thirst for violence like the opponents in Nausicaä or Castle in the Sky. Instead her goal is to make Irontown into a sanctuary for the outcasts of society.

26. The Rose of Versailles (1979–1980)

TV-PG | 24 min | Animation, Action, Drama

The story of Lady Oscar, a female military commander who served during the time of the French Revolution.

Stars: Reiko Tajima, Tarô Shigaki, Hisashi Katsuta, Nachi Nozawa

Votes: 2,290

Respect for Jacobins!

27. Porco Rosso (1992)

PG | 94 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy

83 Metascore

In 1930s Italy, a veteran World War I pilot is cursed to look like an anthropomorphic pig.

Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Shûichirô Moriyama, Tokiko Katô, Bunshi Katsura VI, Tsunehiko Kamijô

Votes: 101,209

Antifascist movie

28. Fang of the Sun Dougram (1981–1983)

25 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

On the colony planet of Deloyer, an unexpected coup by a corrupt governor results in a dictatorship. A group of rebels, the 'Sun of The Fang', rise up to end the tyranny on their planet.

Stars: Kazuhiko Inoue, Banjô Ginga, Gara Takashima, Eiko Yamada

Votes: 42

Fang of the sun Dougram is about a guerilla war against colonizers.It is 75 episodes long and has good chunk of fillers, but time to time it touches the issue of running an armed struggle, an effective organization to make sure things are running smoothly, political and economic sovereignty and danger of sabotages by traitors and opportunists.

29. Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket (1989)

Not Rated | Animation, Action, Drama

In a space colony, a young boy discovers a cadre of terrorists and innocently decides to help them.

Stars: Daisuke Namikawa, Kôji Tsujitani, Megumi Hayashibara, David Hayter

Votes: 1,486

The franchise is famous for its criticisms of war and militarism and given that its been in existence since 1979 and is still going strong today, it maybe the longest running criticism of war and militarism in existence.

30. Berserk (1997–1998)

TV-MA | 23 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

Guts, a wandering mercenary, joins the Band of the Hawk after being defeated in a duel by Griffith, the group's leader and founder. Together, they dominate every battle, but something menacing lurks in the shadows.

Stars: Marc Diraison, Nobutoshi Canna, Carrie Keranen, Kevin T. Collins

Votes: 52,017

Domination be it economic, political or personal is never benign. The rich and powerful are cruel even if they don't intend to be, those whom pursue power and wealth do so at the expense of others.

As a consequence of this the series is full of depictions of violence, torture, emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, death in many forms, bigotry, discrimination, persecution, exploitation, slavery, etc. But unlike certain animes that indulge in these things for marketing its all key to the themes, plot and character development.

Guts the protagonist (with the big sword) is a damaged young man who was raised by a mercenary whom while teaching him how to fight and having a sort of paternalistic affection for him, also relentlessly exploited the power and influence he had on the boy and ultimately betrayed him. It takes him years to even start coming to terms with his trauma's and in a way he never has done.

31. 7 Days War (2019)

88 min | Animation, Action, Comedy

On a hot day right before the summer vacation, all first-year male students of the second class from a junior high school disappear. Was it an accident? A group abduction? In fact, they ... See full summary »

Director: Yûta Murano | Stars: Takumi Kitamura, Kyôko Yoshine, Rie Miyazawa, Megumi Han

Votes: 617

Proletariat seizing the means of summer from the filthy bourgeois adults, a true communist socialist movie for this capitalist world.

32. Flying Phantom Ship (1969)

61 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy

Hayato's peaceful life with his parents and his dog is brought to a dramatic, terrible end when a giant robot, said to be sent from a flying ghost ship, devastates the city, killing ... See full summary »

Director: Hiroshi Ikeda | Stars: Masako Nozawa, Akio Tanaka, Akira Nagoya, Gorô Naya

Votes: 763

This was also another early film Hayao Miyazaki worked on in 1969. It was also the first anime to be shown in theatres in the Soviet Union, and is so popular in Russia that they redubbed it in the 90s, though I've not been able to find a reason why.

Its a light mystery involving a ghost ship, a giant robot that menaces the city, and a conspiracy between private companies and the government complete with a Roger Moore era Bond villain secret base. It has something for everyone. I won't spoil the plot since its a mystery show, but I will tell you that involves the pushing of an addictive soda drink.

Its probably the most spotty in terms

33. Akira (1988)

R | 124 min | Animation, Action, Drama

68 Metascore

A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath who can only be stopped by a teenager, his gang of biker friends and a group of psychics.

Director: Katsuhiro Ôtomo | Stars: Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Mami Koyama, Tesshô Genda

Votes: 203,922 | Gross: $0.55M

"You´re all puppets of corrupt politicans and capitalists!"

34. KILL la KILL (2013–2014)

TV-14 | 25 min | Animation, Action, Comedy

A young girl arrives at a school of superhumans to find out the truth behind her father's murder.

Stars: Ami Koshimizu, Aya Suzaki, Toshihiko Seki, Shin'ichirô Miki

Votes: 16,656

The first scenes open on a lecture about the Nazi party and it uses school uniforms and clothing in general as a metaphor for social conformity and oppression. The main character Ryuko Matoi the girl with the black hair with the red stripe, (incidentally I don't think her red and black colour scheme is coincidental) is new student, she's a rebel at heart who rejects all arbitrary rules. She quickly finds herself in conflict with the school authorities whom have a regime based on strict discipline and hierarchy.

And its quickly revealed that theirs a whole social system being built on the same lines throughout Japan, and there's a clothing company that's busy monopolising the global textile markets in the background.

35. Tokyo Godfathers (2003)

PG-13 | 92 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy

75 Metascore

On Christmas Eve, three homeless people living on the streets of Tokyo discover a newborn baby among the trash and set out to find its parents.

Directors: Shôgo Furuya, Satoshi Kon | Stars: Tôru Emori, Yoshiaki Umegaki, Aya Okamoto, Shôzô Îzuka

Votes: 46,404 | Gross: $0.13M

Tokyo Godfathers is a film about three homeless people whom discover an abandoned baby at Christmas. They decide to look after the baby they call Kiyoko, for a night or two before handing her over to the authorities because they fear the baby will grow up to associate Christmas with abandonment. While doing this they decide to track down the parents to reunite the baby, or at least find out why the baby was abandoned in the first place.

This leads to a wacky adventure full of coincidences. The film is like a mix of Down and Out in Paris and London, a Charlie Chaplin era physical comedy. While their are jokes, the fact these people are homeless is never mocked or the subject of a joke, the humour comes from the personalities. Being homeless is depicted as rather bleak even with close friends and a sort of support network. It's full of examples of how homelessness in Japan is treated (about as poorly as everywhere else) and how the homeless survive.

36. Neo Yokio (2017–2018)

TV-MA | 23 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

Mourning the death of a recent relationship, an elegant and fashionable demon hunter struggles to stay afloat in the elite society of Neo Yokio.

Stars: Jude Law, Jaden Smith, Susan Sarandon, The Kid Mero

Votes: 3,578

Neo Yokio does eventually come down on the side of condemning capitalism, but only after it luxuriates in the nice things that capitalism can produce. In Neo Yokio’s version of New York, Long Island City is a decrepit, cramped slum with the upper class running extravagant Formula 1 races down its narrow streets. The rich are so desperate to cling to what’s theirs that they continue to live in neighborhoods that are completely underwater, and the underclass are absent from their lives until they appear as literal demons. In the very last episode, Kaan races through Queens and ends up in a wrong turn where he is assaulted by the residents there. “Can’t you see we’re dying down here?” they yell. This moment of realization for Kaz, and the audience, that there is a whole class of people in Neo Yokio that they have never encountered would have more weight if the show wasn’t just as invested in suits, cocktails and elegance as Kaz is. Kaz is the Caprese Boy, the number one bachelor, a magistocrat—a buffoon, but at times a loveable one. By the end of Neo Yokio, he has started to realize that the nice things he has surrounded himself with won’t make him happy. But to the people in the slums of Long Island City, or the demons he banishes, “nice things” don’t matter as much as human dignity.

37. Deca-Dence (2020)

TV-14 | 23 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

Humanity was driven to the brink of extinction by unknown life forms Gadoll. Until one day, Natsume, a girl who dreams of becoming a warriors meets Kaburagi, an armor repairman. They will shake the future of this world.

Stars: Katsuyuki Konishi, Tomori Kusunoki, Kôsuke Toriumi, Eri Kitamura

Votes: 1,455

strong anti capitalist message

38. Bubblegum Crisis (1987–1991)

TV-MA | 25 min | Animation, Action, Fantasy

A female mercenary team, armed with unique power armor suits, battle the forces of the corrupt mega-corporation, Genom in futuristic Tokyo.

Stars: Yoshiko Sakakibara, Kinuko Ômori, Michie Tomizawa, Akiko Hiramatsu

Votes: 1,750

Cyber punk and Blade Runner were also hugely influential in the 80s and 90s, so there are a lot of shows from those periods about fighting the big bad megacorps. Bubblegum Crisis is one that gets highly rated for this.

39. Fullmetal Alchemist (2003–2004)

TV-PG | 24 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

When a failed alchemical ritual leaves brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric with severely damaged bodies, they begin searching for the one thing that can save them: the fabled philosopher's stone.

Stars: Vic Mignogna, Aaron Dismuke, Romi Park, Rie Kugimiya

Votes: 77,121

basically spends its entire run pointing out how capitalist morality is an ex post facto justification for the horrific consequences of the relentless profit seeking inherent to capitalism.

40. Code Geass (2006–2008)

TV-14 | 24 min | Animation, Action, Drama

After being given a mysterious power to control others, an outcast prince becomes the masked leader of the rebellion against an all-powerful empire.

Stars: Jun Fukuyama, Takahiro Sakurai, Johnny Yong Bosch, Yukana

Votes: 79,368

A less favorable review was given by Carlo Santos of Anime News Network, who gave it an overall "C" and wrote that the franchise "in a way, [...] reflects the malaise of a generation: the realization that old, rich, powerful people have screwed up the world and that the young are helpless to do anything about it". According to him, Lelouch's actions exemplify the wish to see problems like "economic collapse, class conflict, political instability, radical extremism" solved by "Zero's vigilante methods" but Santos expresses doubt in such an approach and concludes that "the series is at its best when raising questions rather than offering a final solution" (the review is focused on the manga adaptation of the story, which has certain differences compared with the original anime).

41. Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)

G | 103 min | Animation, Family, Fantasy

85 Metascore

A young witch, on her mandatory year of independent life, finds fitting into a new community difficult while she supports herself by running an air courier service.

Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Minami Takayama, Rei Sakuma, Kappei Yamaguchi

Votes: 163,939

Struggle of unemployment, life of proletariat without boses.

42. Yûheisha - terorisuto (2007)

113 min | Drama, Thriller

During a suicide attack on an airport, the hand grenade of 'M', one of three terrorists, malfunctions and he is captured. Exposed to maltreatment in prison he slowly loses his grip on ... See full summary »

Director: Masao Adachi | Stars: Tomorô Taguchi, Panta, Taka Ôkubo, Jôji Kajiwara

Votes: 60

And Akasegawa in actor in this movie! ....

“Manga” here means something very different to the weekly offerings of Shūkan Shōnen Magazine, et al. Akasegawa belonged to the counterculture and avant-garde art movement that was immensely fertile during the post-war period, and as such his “manga” occupies very discrete territory to the regular entertainment titles being published at the time, although he was fortunate to find a very mainstream channel to serialise his work. “Manga” is a word with myriad implications and a subversive and irreverent figure like Akasegawa reminds us that the first character has connotations of the morally corrupt: “manga” can mean “irresponsible pictures”.(8)

His manga is much closer to the kind of political cartoons that are a staple of satire in the West — more Charlie Hebdo than Ashita no jō. That being said, Akasegawa’s comics are not political in the overt sense like the newspaper cartoons of European or American broadsheets. He did not depict and caricature politicians per se, though he was directly involved in the New Left movements of his time. He illustrated a poster for the propaganda film Red Army/PFLP: Declaration of World War (1971), which was essentially a recruitment film for what later became the Japanese Red Army, as well the cover for Narazumono bōryoku senden (Rogue Violence Propaganda), a 1971 anthology of the leftist firebrand Osamu Takita’s writings. Akasegawa’s palette was very much filled with red paint.

43. United Red Army (2007)

Not Rated | 190 min | Crime, Drama

67 Metascore

The film outlines Japanese students movements in the 60s, then shows the formation of the Japanese United Red Army, a communist armed resistance group.

Director: Kôji Wakamatsu | Stars: Maki Sakai, Arata Iura, Akie Namiki, Gô Jibiki

Votes: 880 | Gross: $0.00M

The tale of the so-called Yodogō Group — the members of Sekigun-ha (Red Army Faction) who carried out Japan’s first ever airplane hijacking in 1970 — is a strange one. The surviving hijackers, if they hadn’t tried to commandeer a JAL airplane and fly it to Cuba, would be collecting their pensions by now. Instead, they are stuck in limbo in North Korea, unable to return to Japan.