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Does anime have a Nazi problem? Some Jewish fans think so.
TAIPEI (JTA) — When the Season 3 plot twist of “Attack on Titan” aired in 2019, viewers wasted no time in jumping online to discuss what they saw.
In the world of “Attack on Titan” — an extremely popular Japanese anime series now in its final season, which started in March and does not have a known end date — humanity has been trapped within a walled city on the island of Paradis, surrounded by Titans, grotesque giants who mindlessly eat any person who gets in their way.
In the third season, the Titans’ origins are revealed as a group called the Eldians, a group that made a deal with the devil to gain Titan powers with which they subjugated humanity for years. A group called the Marleyans later overthrew the Eldian empire and forced them into ghettoes, forcing them to wear armbands that identified their race with a symbol similar to the Star of David. Political prisoners were injected with a serum that turns them into the terrifying Titans.
The implications that a race meant to represent Jews had made “a deal with the devil” to achieve power were too much for some to bear. Fans debated the meaning on Twitter and Reddit as think pieces pointed to the show’s “fascist subtext” and possible antisemitism as ratings and viewership climbed. Some viewers defended the series as a condemnation of those ideas and a meditation on moral ambiguity, but others said the plot’s condemnation of fascism was too weak. The New Republic in 2020 called “Attack on Titan” “the alt-right’s favorite manga.”
Either way, in November 2021, the show’s production team announced it would cancel the sale of Eldian armbands — the ones Eldians were forced to wear in their ghettos — explaining that it was “an act without consideration to easily commercialize what was drawn as a symbol of racial discrimination and ethnic discrimination in the work.”
“Attack on Titan” is only the latest manga (a specific type of Japanese comic books or graphic novels) or anime (TV shows or movies animated in the manga style) series on the chopping block. As it continues to gain popularity outside of Japan’s borders, the Japanese animation medium as a whole has been hit with criticism for alleged glorification of antisemitism, fascism and militarism. The debate has been fueled by a stream of examples: the literal evil Jewish cabal in “Angel Cop,” (references to Jews were later removed in the English-language dubbed version), the Fuhrer villain in “Fullmetal Alchemist,” the Nazi occultism (in which Nazis channel the occult to carry out duties or crimes) in “Hellboy,” and the Nazi characters in “Hellsing” and “Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure” to name a few.
Western viewers are not the only ones taking issue. Fans of “Attack on Titan” in South Korea — which was subject to Japanese war atrocities during World War II that Japan continues to deny — have taken issue, too. Revelations from Hajime Isayama, the creator of the original “Attack on Titan” manga, that a character in the series was inspired by an Imperial Japanese army general who had committed war crimes against Koreans were met with heated discussion and later death threats from Korean fans online. Some also pointed to a private Twitter account believed to be run by Isayama that denies imperial Japan’s war atrocities.
“Ridiculous the lengths a fandom will go to downplay the blatant antisemitism in a series and protect and lie about the creator of said series,” wrote one Twitter user. “[Y]ou doing this and ignoring koreans and jewish people says a lot.”
These themes are so common in manga and anime that some independent researchers like Haru Mena (a pen name) have begun creating classifications for the many Nazi tropes that make regular appearances. Mena, a military researcher who lectures annually at the Anime Boston convention about World War II and Nazi imagery in anime and manga, says the phenomenon is a result of how Japan remembers its role in World War II — not as the aggressor, but as a victim of war.
“Japan does not want to be the bad guy. They love to have other people be the bad guy,” he said. “That’s why they’re using all these Nazi characters. We all agree Nazis are bad, war crimes are bad, no decent self-respecting nation would ever do [what they did].”
But many Jewish anime fans, like Reddit user Desiree (who did not offer her last name for privacy reasons), have taken issue with the way some anime and manga series portray Nazis while reducing the Holocaust to narrative devices.
“I think that most people who are telling these stories aren’t coming from an area where this would be as personally familiar,” she said. “There’s almost no resonance to it. Because they take away all these details they make it a big trope.”
hi
anime and manga have an antisemitism problem
good day
— Kay (he/they, she for friends only) (@Cayliana) February 19, 2022
East Asian interest in Nazi imagery has also bled over into the West in the form of news headlines in recent years — involving everything from Nazi-themed bars and parades to Nazi cosplay in Japan, Taiwan, Thailand and Korea.
But some experts say that repeated references to Nazi villains and World War II in manga and anime have more to do with Japanese history and culture than with antisemitism.
“There is a fascination with Nazism in Japan to some degree or another,” said Raz Greenberg, an Israel-based writer whose Ph.D. research examined Jewish influence on Japan’s “God of Comics,” Osamu Tezuka, an artist sometimes referred to as Japan’s equivalent to Walt Disney. In 1983, Tezuka released the first in a five-volume series called “Adolf,” a popular manga set in World War II-era Japan and Germany about three men with that name — a Japanese boy, a Jewish boy and Hitler.
“I think there’s something fascinating about Nazi aesthetic, certainly for countries that never actually participated in the war against the Nazis. But I don’t think it’s that different from, say, the way George Lucas made the Empire in the ‘Star Wars’ films very Nazi-like in its aesthetic,” Greenberg said.
As Greenberg notes, Western media is also full of Holocaust references — some more successful in its repudiation of Nazi ideology than others — like the numbered tattoos and recent use of a Lithuanian prison camp as a filming location in the Netflix hit show “Stranger Things.”
“What makes people angry is, people think when the Japanese approach it, they approach it without understanding. And it’s easier to think that they don’t understand it when you look at a show like ‘Attack on Titan,’” Greenberg said.
Liron Afriat, a Ph.D. candidate at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Asian Sphere program and the founder of the Anime and Manga Association of Israel, said while shows like “Attack on Titan” reference the Holocaust and use World War II-era imagery, it’s likely that Western viewers are misinterpreting its intended parallels to Japanese politics. … particularly Japan’s past of aggressive and corrupt militarism and late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s attempts to reinstate a non-defensive military.
“Western people are very eager to jump to conclusions when it comes to Asian media. This is something I see a lot in my work and it’s very frustrating,” she said. “There is a sense that because Japanese pop culture is so popular nowadays, it’s very easy to kind of dogpile on it and say it’s racist.”
In recent decades, anime series have been watched by hundreds of millions of people around the world, and the medium has gone from being seen in the West as a geeky niche genre to a mainstream phenomenon. Though show creators may be conscious about their references, some fans say the fascist and Jewish references, especially the more clear-cut ones — like the Jewish conspiracy in “Angel Cop” — have real-life consequences.
Many in the anime fan community today remember a 2010 incident at Anime Boston when a group of cosplayers dressed up as characters from “Hetalia: Axis Powers,” a series that anthropomorphized Axis and Ally countries, was photographed making Nazi salutes just around the corner from the city’s Holocaust memorial.
“It used to be like, I can go to an anime convention and they would be selling uniforms that were clearly meant to be Nazi uniforms, but sans the swastika,” Desiree said. “And then over time, I noticed conventions started banning that kind of thing.”
“JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure” features a Nazi character named Rudol von Stroheim. (Screenshot from YouTube)
Noah Oskow is the managing editor of the digital magazine Unseen Japan and a Jew who has lived in Japan for seven years. He recalled similar experiences at U.S. anime conventions.
“I think that it is problematic to portray Nazis and the Holocaust in the very frivolous way that it’s often portrayed,” he said. “Even in a place that is so far removed from Japan, that aesthetic of Nazis from manga or anime was seeping into somebody’s choices in a far-removed anime and manga event.”
Oskow says recent portrayals of Nazis and fascism in anime and manga lack the depth necessary to confront an issue like the Holocaust, but that some subtext in shows like “Attack on Titan” is likely missed by Western viewers since it is created for a Japanese audience.
Still, he says, as a Jew, there is a discomfort with these depictions, and the problems with simplifying themes like fascism and genocide should not be ignored just because the product came from Japan — particularly as stereotypes about Jews as having outsize influence remain common. In Japan, as in other East Asian nations such as South Korea, China and Taiwan, books and classes on how to become as smart and wealthy as Jews — believed to be among the most powerful people in media and finance — are not uncommon.
“In my years of discussing Jews with Japanese people…they really think of Jews as an ancient historical people or the people who were killed in the Holocaust unless they have some sort of conspiratorial idea. But most people have no conception of Jewish people,” Oskow said. “So when they’re portraying Jews in manga or anime or any sort of media, and when readers or viewers are engaging with that media, I just don’t think there’s this thought of how a Jewish person would perceive how they’re being portrayed.”
Jessica, a 29-year-old Jewish and Chinese anime fan from Vancouver who also requested her last name be left out of this article, said she deliberately chooses not to watch shows such as “Attack on Titan” and “Hetalia” because she finds the discussions about them among fans to be unproductive and frustrating. Desiree echoed Jessica’s experience of being ignored when raising the topic of antisemitism within the medium or within the fan community on platforms such as Reddit.
“I saw the reactions of other Jewish fans and, more importantly, saw the reaction of the goyish fans — the way ‘Hetalia’ fans did the sieg heil in front of a Holocaust memorial, the way that [‘Attack on Titan’] fans would swarm concerned Jewish fans in droves to tell them that they should perish in an oven, and I decided I didn’t want anything to do with anime that attracted that sort of fanbase,” Desiree said.
“Attack on Titan” returned to streaming services on March 4 with the first part of its final season. In the first episode, the protagonist Eren, whom audiences have followed for a decade, begins carrying out a global genocide known as “the rumbling” with the end goal of destroying all Titans for good and bringing peace. The end result is a wipeout of 80% of humanity, an act that Eren believes was the only path to freedom. He thinks humans must all suffer as a consequence of being born into the world — a nihilistic philosophy that can be found among the manifestos of school shooters and incels.
In the original manga series, Eren’s supporters on the island militarize in order to defend Eren’s violent act, chanting a slogan: “If you can fight you win, if you cannot fight you lose! Fight, fight!” The ending was seen as morally ambiguous and was not popular with fans, who mostly refuted it due to poor writing. Many hope that the anime series will go a different route in its final episodes, which have not yet been released or given future release dates.
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Sovereignty Is the Soul of Democracy
A general view shows the plenum at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in Jerusalem. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Democracy is often invoked as a slogan, yet rarely defined with precision. It is more than elections and campaign rallies. A true democracy rests on institutions that limit power, protect minorities, and uphold the rule of law even when it is politically inconvenient. A democracy requires an independent judiciary, a free press, and leaders who understand that their authority is temporary and constrained by law. Above all, democracy requires sovereignty: a nation must be free to govern itself.
By all of these standards, Israel stands as one of the most dynamic democracies in the world.
Israel’s parliamentary system is frequently misunderstood, particularly by observers accustomed to the American two party structure. Unlike the United States, Israel’s multi-party parliamentary democracy allows a wide range of political voices to enter the Knesset.
Coalition governments are formed through negotiation and compromise. This system may appear fragmented to outsiders, but in truth, it reflects a deeper level of representation. Communities that would be marginalized in a two-party structure can influence national policy. Power is dispersed rather than concentrated.
That dispersion of power is a democratic strength.
It also explains why Israel’s institutions continue to work, even amid intense political debate. The country has seen repeated elections, coalition collapses, and fierce public protests. Yet the army remains under civilian control. The courts continue their work. The press operates freely. These are not signs of instability. They are signs of democratic strength.
The legal proceedings involving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offer a powerful illustration. Whatever one’s political view of Netanyahu, the fact that a sitting prime minister can face prosecution demonstrates the independence of Israel’s judiciary. In much of the Middle East, leaders are untouchable. In Israel, no one is above the law. The trial proceeds through established legal channels, with the defense and prosecution presenting their arguments before judges bound by statute.
President Trump recently urged Israeli President Isaac Herzog to pardon Netanyahu. President Herzog responded appropriately. He emphasized that he is the president of Israel and that any pardon request would be considered only after legal proceedings conclude, in accordance with the law. That response was not defiance. It was democratic clarity.
Sovereignty is not a rhetorical flourish. It is the bedrock of self government. Critics frequently scrutinize Israel’s democracy, often holding it to standards not applied elsewhere in the region. Yet Israel remains the only state in the Middle East where self government actually happens — where civil society is vibrant, protest is protected, and the media is relentless.
Democracy is not the absence of controversy. It is the presence of functioning institutions capable of withstanding controversy.
Israel’s strength lies not only in its military or technological achievements but in its commitment to law and accountable governance.
Sovereignty is not negotiable. It is the soul of democracy itself.
Sabine Sterk is the CEO of Time To Stand Up For Israel.
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Tucker Carlson Did Not Even Leave the Airport During Quick Israel Visit to Interview Mike Huckabee
Tucker Carlson speaks at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, Oct. 21, 2025. Photo: Gage Skidmore/ZUMA Press Wire via Reuters Connect
Controversial podcaster Tucker Carlson spent only a few hours in Israel on Wednesday to interview US Ambassador Mike Huckabee and chose not to leave the Ben Gurion Airport complex before flying out of the Jewish state, of which he has been strident critic.
Carlson landed at the airport on a private flight, did not leave the premises while interviewing Huckabee, and then immediately returned to Europe, Israel’s Channel 14 reported.
Sources also confirmed to the Jerusalem Post that the visit went as planned: short and confined to Ben Gurion Airport with Carlson arriving and leaving on private flights.
Channel 14 correspondent Libby Alon noted on the social media platform X that Carlson opted not to spend time any time in the country “despite all the invitations from the Christian community in Israel.”
Carlson, who describes himself as an ardent Christian, has falsely accused Israel, whose Christian population is growing and well educated, of persecuting Christians. Critics have noted that the far-right media personality has seemingly devoted more time on his podcast to targeting Israel over its treatment of Christians than to other parts of the world, such as Nigeria, where Christians are being murdered and otherwise persecuted in large numbers.
On Wednesday, Carlson posted a “Greetings from Israel” message on X which included a photo of himself with his left arm over the shoulder of an unnamed man, both standing in front of fluttering Israeli flags.
Greetings from Israel. pic.twitter.com/1uBWvqBNST
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) February 18, 2026
Online disagreements between Carlson and Huckabee over allegations of Israel mistreating Christians had prompted the quick trip.
On Feb. 4, Carlson published a nearly 90-minute podcast on X, titled “Christian Persecution,” which he promoted by asking, “How does the US-funded Israeli government treat Christians in the Holy Land? We asked some. Listen carefully to their accounts. This will shock you.” He interviewed Anglican Archbishop of Jerusalem Hosam Naoum and Saad Mouasher, a Christian businessman in Jordan who serves as the chairman of Jordan Ahli Bank.
Carlson then highlighted such segments in his discussions as “The Christian Hospital in Gaza That Was Bombed Eight Times by Israel,” “How Many People Have Been Killed in Gaza?” “How Are Christians Treated in Israel?” “How Much Has Jewish Extremism Increased in Jerusalem?” “Why Israel Makes It Difficult for Christians to Visit Holy Sites,” and “Why Christians Are Safer in Jordan Than Israel.”
Huckabee shared Carlson’s X posting that day and responded on top of it: “Hey @TuckerCarlson instead of talking ABOUT me, why don’t you come talk TO me? You seem to be generating a lot of heat about the Middle East. Why be afraid of the light?”
Answering back, Carlson shared Huckabee’s post and wrote, “Thanks for this. I’d love to. We’ll reach out to your office today to set up an interview. Much appreciated.”
Carlson’s apparent eagerness to escape Israel contrasts with his enthusiasm for countries which he celebrates rather than criticizes. On Feb. 8, 2024, for example, Carlson published a more than two-hour episode featuring an interview with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, the authoritarian leader whose invasion to conquer Ukraine has now resulted in nearly 600,000 Ukrainian casualties and 1.2 million Russian soldiers’ deaths. According to reports, Carlson conducted the interview on Feb. 6 after arriving on Feb. 3.
Qatar received an enthusiastic endorsement last year from Carlson. On Dec. 7, Carlson interviewed Qatar Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani at the Doha Forum, where he revealed his plans to purchase a home in the desert monarchy known for its longstanding support of the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas.
“I have been criticized as being a tool of Qatar, and I just want to say, which you already know, I have never taken anything from your country and don’t plan to. I am, however, tomorrow buying a place in Qatar,” he said.
On Feb. 11, Carlson published an interview with Ron Paul, the former Texas congressman, paleo-libertarian advocate, presidential candidate, and longtime opponent of Israel who previously said that “Palestinians are virtually in a concentration camp.”
A study released in December by the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) analyzed podcast transcripts from Carlson and fellow far-right podcast host Candace Owens, finding that both had increased their content targeting Israel in 2025.
The researchers identified April as the turning point for Carlson’s refocusing on Israel, and that “the share of negative content about Israel rose sharply from 48.9% in the previous six-month period to 70.3% over the last six months.”
Some of Carlson’s decisions last year which drew the most attention included his promotion of Nick Fuentes, the white supremacist podcaster who has praised Adolf Hitler, celebrated Hamas, and advocated rape. This provoked a revolt at the Heritage Foundation with multiple resignations after its president, Kevin Roberts, defended Carlson.
Carlson also got in on the game started by Owens of blaming Israel for the assassination of Charlie Kirk, while throwing in some traditional collective blame against Jews for the crucifixion of Jesus.
In a Jan. 30 interview with podcast host Piers Morgan, Jeremy Boreing, the co-founder and former co-CEO of The Daily Wire, explained the distinction he saw between Owens — who he had previously hired — and Carlson.
“I’d be careful not to conflate Candace Owens — who is sort of the queen of the Grift Industrial Complex — with Tucker Carlson, who — like him or leave him — is engaged in an actual political project,” Boreing said. “As far as I can tell, Tucker is trying to create a new American majority out of a sort of amalgamation of left-wing economic populism on the one hand and right-wing social populism on the other.”
Describing the scope of the two podcasters’ apparent ambitions, Boreing called Carlson “actively engaged behind the scenes at the White House and staffing decisions,” stating that “he wields his influence to try to effectuate a political end.”
In a Jan. 28 interview on the “Triggernometry” podcast, Boreing expanded on the point, saying that Carlson “is part of a small cohort of people” including the likes of Fuentes, former US Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Steve Bannon, who formerly advised US President Donald Trump, in pursuing a “political project” to reshape the American political right.
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Madrid Museum Launches Investigation After Jewish Women Harassed, Kicked Out
Illustrative: Anti-Israel activists held a rally ahead of the game between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Real Madrid for the Turkish Airlines Euroleague, in front of the Palacio de los Deportes (Movistar Arena) in Madrid, Jan. 8, 2026. Photo: David Canales / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect
A national art museum in Madrid has launched an investigation after three elderly Jewish women — including a Holocaust survivor — who were verbally harassed over their openly displayed Jewish symbols were subsequently forced to leave, fueling criticism that the institution sided with the perpetrators rather than protecting the victims.
On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Museum Reina Sofía told multiple news outlets that the institution would “immediately launch an independent and transparent internal investigation to clarify what happened,” formally confirming the opening of a probe as scrutiny over the incident intensified.
“The museum wishes to unequivocally express its commitment to equality, religious freedom, and zero tolerance for any type of violence or discrimination related to antisemitism,” the statement read. “The museum’s staff is highly qualified in fundamental rights, conflict management, and the prevention of any type of discrimination.”
“Once again, we would like to highlight the importance that Jewish artists, patrons, and benefactors have had for the institution and its collection, especially in the avant-garde, without whose selfless collaboration the museum as we know it today would be inconceivable,” it continued. “For all these reasons, we will not rest until the unfortunate events that have taken place are clarified.”
Footage of the incident was circulated on social media.
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition in 2026, but watch Spain’s shame, as three elderly tourists, including a Holocaust survivor, are harassed & kicked out of Madrid’s state run Reina Sofia museum over Jewish symbols. Staff said visitors were ‘disturbed’ by their presence and… pic.twitter.com/XdAlSlfKzd
— Saul Sadka (@Saul_Sadka) February 16, 2026
First reported by the Spanish news outlet Okdiario, the three women were visiting the museum in central Madrid last Saturday when other visitors spotted them wearing a Star of David necklace and carrying a small Israeli flag.
At that point, a group of people started attacking them verbally, shouting antisemitic insults, and calling them “crazy child killers.”
Rather than intervening against the instigators, museum officials expelled the Israeli women, telling them to leave because “some visitors were disturbed that they are Jewish.”
A security guard also told the group to hide their Jewish symbols, insisting they could not be displayed inside the museum.
Even though one of them pointed out that Spanish law allows people to wear religious symbols and carry national flags in public institutions, they were still forcibly removed from the building despite not breaking any rules.
The Action and Communication on the Middle East (ACOM) group, a leading pro-Israel organization in Spain, announced Monday it will pursue legal action against the Museum Reina Sofía “for discrimination and possible promotion of hatred from a public institution.”
“The legal action will be directed both at the institution and its top official, the museum director, Manuel Segade,” ACOM wrote in a post on X, adding that the museum’s actions reflect “a persistent pattern of using political agendas, engaging in discrimination, and promoting narratives of hate against the State of Israel and the Jewish-Israeli community from a publicly funded institution.”
“A public institution should never be used as a platform for sectarian activism,” the statement continued.
As a state-affiliated cultural institution under Spain’s Culture Ministry, the Reina Sofía is internationally recognized as one of the country’s leading contemporary art museums.
In the past, the museum has also faced criticism for hosting anti-Israel demonstrations and presenting an exhibition titled “From the River to the Sea,” a popular slogan among pro-Palestinian activists that has been widely interpreted as a genocidal call for the destruction of the Jewish state, which is located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
Like most countries across Europe and the broader Western world, Spain has seen a rise in antisemitic incidents over the last two years, in the wake of the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Still, Spain stands out as one of the most extreme cases, with experts warning that antisemitic violence and anti-Zionist rhetoric have moved beyond a social phenomenon to, in many instances, being state-promoted and legitimized as a political tool.
In particular, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and several members of his left-wing party have come under mounting criticism from some of the country’s political and Jewish leaders, who accuse them of fueling antisemitic hostility.