The History of Anime and Manga Through WWII
The 20th century was a time of change and growth worldwide. Cultures changed and adapted, some even merged, but there's no culture without its pop culture. Japan's famous «moe» and «kakkoii» aesthetics were some that would later blossom into what the world knows as, «Japanese anime». Despite it being but a mere genre of entertainment, anime has a broad and lengthy history.
As with anything, all forms of entertainment started from somewhere or something. While origins may differ, the fact remains that history plays a part all around. Even the beloved creatures in Yokai Watch stemmed from old Japanese folklore and the native religion of Japan, that is Shinto. Another example is anime such as Inari Kon Kon Koi Iroha, which has roots in history with more of an emphasis on deities based on location.
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1940's Japan was divided politically, to say the least. Amongst citizens, some were in favor of the war and some were against it. Though there was surely a governmental bias overall; especially in terms of law enforcement. Any and all kinds of protests were prohibited at the time — but only if it was recognizable.
Many artists turned to making manga with political underlying themes. While manga had always been popular among the masses, it didn't fully enter the main stream until the war.Even so, there already existed tankobon (or serialized magazines) in which artists submitted their works. Shounen Sekai, which would later on branch off to become other male-targeted demographic tankobon magazines such as Jump and Big Comic Spirits, would be one of these.
Although there were undoubtedly a variety of politically driven comics, some of the more popular ones were Fuku-chan and Norakuro, which were adapted
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