According to TVTropes (Gratuitous German, AoaB examples page) it looks like they lean less on German names and more on nouns like Angriff (attack) and Leidenschaft (passion). Japan particularly seems to like choosing German as the gratuitous foreign language.
cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com 18 hours ago
Japan and Germany were allies in World War II.
That’s why when anime takes place in a foreign land, it’s either outright declared to be Germany, or it’s heavily implied to be Germany. Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan) appeared to be Germany until the country was named… in season 3 which was 5-6 years after the show started. At the end of season 3, I should add. Fullmetal Alchemist was set in a country that was based on Germany. Their head of state was called the Fuhrer and the whole thing was set to resemble Nazi Germany. SPYxFAMILY takes place in Cold War-era Germany, except East Germany becomes Eastonia and West Germany becomes Westalis. The capital? Berlint. They’re not even hiding it. Then you have The Saga of Tanya the Evil where a cruel Japanese salaryman dies (is murdered) and he is reincarnated as the little girl version of Hitler, plus magic. The country is called the Fatherland and it’s very obvious what they are going for. Oh and of course she’s leading the charge to take over the world. To be fair she is called Tanya the Evil, so they aren’t glorifying her actions… but the Japanese creative empire we all love is a bit weirdly comfortable with Nazis and Nazi-era Germany… less weird when you realise that historically, they were allies in that war.
Funny that they’re both our allies now… but while anything Nazi related is strictly forbidden in Germany, it’s practically celebrated in Japan, to this day. Fullmetal Alchemist came out in 2003 (the anime, anyway). SnK, 2013 or so. Tanya the Evil was around that time. SPYxFAMILY is new and new episodes are coming out weekly. Though to be fair their show is post-WWII and Eastonia (East Germany) is portrayed as the enemy, and Westalis (West Germany) is seeking peace, though they’re using the exploits of their top spy (the main character’s adoptive father) to do it.
Wrufieotnak@feddit.org 15 hours ago
While you are right in general, Fullmetal Alchemist isn’t an example of glorifying Nazi Germany. The country is a military dictatorship, they committed a genocide while conquering a neighbouring region and are not portrayed as the good guys. The war and genocide was shown to have long lasting bad effects both on the victims and the perpetrating soldiers. And the leadership is literally working for the big bad.
Just wanted to clarify, as this is one of the few examples where they play the Nazi card straight instead of going: “nice uniform and marching music”.
IronBird@lemmy.world 5 hours ago
it’s interesting seeing people examine a work, confidently working out the most surface stuff while completely missing the forest behind it
Siegfried@lemmy.world 15 hours ago
Godwin’s law