You see discussions about the war in the oddest places. In youtube, I found a fierce discussion on Japan's role in ww2, all in the discussion board for an anime about a Kamakaze pilot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImMJpYX5xC8

And here's a link to part one of the entire video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krL4YWE2DXg

Wow, I dont even know what to say about that. I understand that this is a part of Japans history that they cannot hide, but why in the world did they make it when this is considered a dark part of Japanese history, and why did they make it so unrealistic? If those american planes are hellcats, and im sure they are supposed to be, then there is no way an AM6 Zero is going to out-manuever one. This is just kinda rediculous. Not only that, why does the Japanese pilot look white? This is honestly just strange.

That has long been the dominant style in "anime" Japanese animation. Remember "Speed Racers" cartoons?

As for historic detail in those kamikaze animes, well consider that young Japanese artists probably know as much about their country's history as does the average young American, which is to say, not much. Of course it's highly unlikely you would find a young American artist, or any American animation company, producing an animation that glorifies American warriors of WWII.

The Japanese are proud of the bravery of their troops just like we are. The thing about the anime is how you're made to feel some sympathy for the pilot. And the American's aren't portrayed as monsters. Matsumoto made this anime. He also created Starblazers and Interstalla 5555.

The anime style is somewhat copied from the Disney big eyed cute characters. A lot of the criticism from Japan about Akira is how the animators made the women not cute. To me they looked very japanese.

Aside from the fact that the Zeros were shooting down the hellcats, the Japanese were referring to their own planes as Bettys. You can hear the Japanese track. They call them Bettys. You'd think they'd know their own plane nicknames but I agree that most Japanese don't know a whole lot about what happened. Certainly not too much from the veterans.

There's a personal narrative from a Japanese Kamakaze wrote years after the war. He was due to go out just before August 6, 1945, and the Atom Bomb saved his life. Great book. Just goes to show you that the soldier narrative is the same, no matter what country or century.

I think the issue is that sixty years after the end of WWII, the Japanese are trying to both understand and to come to terms with what happened during WWII.

You have to remember that the population was fed a continuous stream of propaganda during the war. This went on right up to the end, and in some ways was even more effective than the German's use of propaganda on their population. After so many years of being told they were winning, the shock of seeing Americans on their soil was almost incomprehensible.

Even in the intervening years, the Japanese have never really had the full story of what happened. The Japanese press is very tightly controlled by their own self restraint. It has only been in the last few years that the most excessive stories have come to light. Aside from atrocities, the utter disregard for the care and safety of their own soldiers is a shock to a nation that prides itself on heros and honor.

Many of the films coming out of Japan on WWII are a coping mechanism as much as story telling. I haven't seen this one in full yet, but I am willing to bet it focuses on personal heroics and self sacrifice wasted on a losing cause. (Other fictionalized anime stories, many of them done as science fiction items, have been thinly disguised allegories about WWII.)

The comments about the main characters appearance are correct... most characters in anime do not look Japanese or even Asian. It is just a convention of the art form, partly due to Japanese animation artists learning their craft from the Americans. As for the supporting characters (such as the bomber crew) looking like charicatures, this has its roots in Japanese theater style and Kabuki.

I thought most of the aircraft and ships looked realistic in the preview. I am willing to bet that the Japanese fighters were not meant to be naval A6M Zeros, but rather late war Japanese Army Air Corps aircraft that would of had improved speed and characteristics. If I recall correctly, there would have been very few Japanese naval fighters left at this stage of the war as most of the carriers had been sunk and the naval air arm decimated.

For those interested, there is a live action movie coming out on the same or similar subject. (It is not unusual in Japan for a feature to come out in lesser cost anime first, and then live action later.) There is also already one out on the crew of the Yamato.

I can't recall the name of the book, but it was excellent.

In the Dallas / Ft. Worth area we actually had a former Kamakaze pilot who had a similar story. When I first heard of him, I was quite skeptical. But I eventually met him. He often frequented the gun and militaria shows, and brought along his WWII issue flight suit. And the most stunning thing... he was one of the quietest, most polite and gentle person that has ever walked the planet. Not quite the image you would have thought.

No, I thought the aircraft and ships were beautifully drawn. I was reffering to the tactics involved in the film. I am pretty sure those were Zeros, and yes you are right that most of the Japanese fleet, especially the carriers would have been descimated at this point in the war. There were Zeros though that were land based on some of the small surrounding islands that they used as Kamakazi planes when they were out of munitions. I cant remember what book I saw the picture in, I will have to find it, but it was a picture of 6 Kamakazi pilots in front of their Zeros, holding up their Saki cups about to go off to die for their country. I agree, I think the animation was VERY well done on the war machines, but I still find it kinda far feched, but this is just my opinion. Infact, most Japanese kamakazi planes were unarmed and fust loaded with fuel. Some of these planes are shooting back at the Hellcats. Thats just another thing I noticed wrong. I dont believe this film to be Anti-American at all, just wish they would research it a little more.

They're telling a story, so history takes a back seat. Try finding reference to the American Bund movement in our history books or documentaries. Or our complete inability to fight the German subs off our east coast in the early days of the war. (Didn't one German sub surface in broad daylight and shoot their cannon at one cargo ship, all in sight of people on the beach at atlantic city?)

Barefoot Gen is worth seeing if you want to see more anime about Japan in the war.

Its funny you say that about the German subs. I live very close (about 30 miles) to Galveston Island here in Texas. There is a German U-boat that was sunk off the Gulf Coast but I cant remember where. But yeah your right, there probably is little to go on as far a research for the Kamakazi pilots as most of them wouldnt have been able to write a memoire because, well, they never returned.

I'm sure there are plenty of people who trained to be Kamikaze pilots but never got their chance. Maybe ww2 wasn't necessarily taught or researched in Japan too much. Vets probably weren't talking too much about it.

In the early 70s, the last flying Japanese Zero made a tour of Japan. So who knows how much it's discussed.

In Lake Michigan, there's a german sub from ww1 that was towed in for target practice.

Read about military museums in Japan:

http://members.shaw.ca/nambuworld2/militarymuseums.htm

Planes of Fame museum in Diamond Bar California has the flying zero.

There were armed aircraft that escorted the Kamakaze missions. Their mission was to punch a hole through the USN air cover so the explosive laden aircraft could get through. The ones depicted as dogfighting with the Hellcats would have been escorts, and that is historically accurate.

There are military collectors and military historians in Japan. Similar to the collectors and historians in our country, they are better educated about the events of the war. (Although some would argue that their point of view is still somewhat filtered.) There are also some very strong veteran's organizations. But the broader public as a whole has less of an understanding about WWII than the American public does in our country. And that is who these movies are being made for.

Gunbarrel, this is an excellent website! I know not that many people are going to hop on a plane and go to Japan, but this is more information than I have ever seen on military exhibits in Japan. And the author of the site is correct about one thing: this information simply does not appear in the tourist brochures. It is a very hidden history.

Back to the subject of Kamikazes, on of the links found on this site is to a musem devoted to the "Special Attack Corps".

http://wgordon.web.wesleyan.edu/kamikaze/museums/kanoya/

The English language website is interesting because it has sections on both the American and Japanese views on Kamikaze missions. There is also an exhaustive list of US ships sunk or damaged by Kamikaze attacks, and a long list of films and books on the subject.

Gil,

I'm glad you enjoyed it. Below is a link to Teri's website. When you get there, scroll down to "Teri's Travels" and check out "Teri Visits the WWII Battlefields and Caves of Okinawa." I found it very interesting also.

http://members.shaw.ca/tju/jhg.htm