I’m probably going to get some flack for this, but I know it needs to be said…
It’s okay to like the anime; it doesn’t mean you like the creator.
It’s okay to like the anime; it doesn’t mean you like the creator.
It’s okay to like the anime; it doesn’t mean you like the creator.
It’s okay to like the anime; it doesn’t mean you like the creator.
I repeated that 4 times on purpose so that people reading all the reblogs might see this and hopefully get curious enough to read the rest.
It’s perfectly fine to like the anime. On the surface; it’s just a cartoon about humans desperately defending their own existence against giant monsters. Attack on Titan is not the first to make stories like this, and they’re not all some kind propaganda piece.
It’s okay to enjoy it for what’s on the surface. You don’t have to take anything else away from it.
Enjoying it does NOT automatically make you a Nazi or Japanese Imperialist supporter.
Enjoying it does not mean you support or like the creator. I didn’t even know about him before I found this today; and I enjoyed the anime. I’m not going to lie about that just because I found out about all this.
Do I support the creator? No.
Am I going to become an Imperialist or Neo Nazi because I watched AoT? No.
Does watching the anime automatically make ANYONE a bad person? No.
Honestly, if you’re watching an anime or ANY cartoon to help guide your moral compass in life; then you’re the one that needs help. Anime is the least of your troubles at that point.
And you know what? History is LITTERED with examples of horrible people making stuff that everyone seems to love.
There are musicians who made iconic pieces of music; but they do drugs and other horrible stuff. Does that mean everyone who enjoyed the music is doing drugs? No. Does that mean the songs encourage people to live the exact same lifestyle? No.
If a psychopath made a scientific discovery that is legitimately saving lives and curing diseases, are we going to stop using it just because we know who discovered it? No. Does using it make the rest of us psychopaths? No. Use some common sense, please. Anyone can divorce the product and themselves from the creators.
If you want to boycott or ban AOT, feel free to try. I feel like it’s a little pointless, but do whatever your heart calls on you to do. Personally, I would rather people hate the creator, not the product. Don’t support Hajime Isayama, don’t support anyone with similar beliefs. Don’t support anything that actively encourages people to have such beliefs! However, don’t destroy art, and don’t deny anyone’s right to interpret or enjoy that art however they feel like.
Watching AoT DOES NOT mean you support Hajime Isayama, it doesn’t make you anything like him, it doesn’t mean you support his beliefs, it doesn’t have to mean ANYTHING.
You are who you choose to be. The media you observe only has power over you if you LET it have power over you.
I quoted the above statement for truth. There are others here who have made similar statements (like @cookingwithroxy and @electricpike), but I felt like this point needed to be hammered in.
So to all the people out there who liked Attack on Titan and had NO idea who the creator was, nor do you agree with his beliefs…
It’s okay if you’ve reblogged photos and clips from the show.
It’s okay if you made memes from the show.
It’s okay if you quoted the theme song tons of times.
It’s okay if you’ve flooded my dashboard and other people’s dashboards with this stuff thousands of times to point of being annoying.
You haven’t done anything wrong.
Enjoying this anime doesn’t mean you’ve done anything wrong, and it doesn’t have to make you a bad person. You are whoever you choose to be.