In the extremist right spheres of the internet on platforms such as 4chan and more recently X, you might expect propaganda to take a certain form. There are classically fascist themes such as glorifying masculinity, violence and war, scapegoating a nation’s failures or perceived moral deterioration by a fabricated enemy within. While these are still prominent in alt-right media, there is a more contemporary anomaly in modern fascism. Ethno-nationalist myths, antisemitic conspiracies and fascist rhetoric are being juxtaposed by images of anime girls. This phenomenon is both widely documented by extremist watchdogs such as the Global Network on Extremism and Technology (GNET) and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD). So, why do the alt-right and a seemingly unrelated cartoon style coincide on online spaces?
The roots of the alt-right affinity for anime partially derives from anime itself and its origins in Japan, which has a series of cultural norms that make it appealing to the alt-right. This includes normalized racial homogeneity, a government heavily invested in the population’s health and a growing xenophobia towards outsiders. During the early 2000s in Japan, a wave of imported Korean culture reminiscent of the 1960s’ “British Invasion” in the U.S. invoked a nationalistic response. The marginal Japanese alt-right attached themselves to contemporary Japanese entertainment, like anime, during a time of Korean cultural influence. There began the connection between the alt-right and anime in early Japanese anime chat boards, which became cesspools of nationalist sentiments.
The most notable example of this was a site named 2chan, which served as the first major intersection of platforms between the online anime community and the alt-right pipeline. 2chan’s unmoderated algorithm rewarded users to post sensationalist or controversial statements, all the while protecting users from consequences by allowing anonymous posting. This essentially created a competition of who could farm the most engagement from hateful rhetoric. 2chan’s chat boards quickly devolved into an echo chamber of these deplorable posts from the alt-right. In the United States, an English chat board modeling itself off of 2chan, named 4chan, was soon created for the purpose of giving western fans the same type of space to discuss anime online. As they replicated the same anonymous model, this would carry the echo chamber effect with it, despite the best efforts of moderators. Those who came onto the website to discuss anime would be exposed to alt-right ideology, most notoriously the thread “/pol/” or “politically incorrect.”
The intersection of platforms does not completely illustrate why anime has been appropriated by the alt-right. There is also a significant parallel in the demographics of both the alt-right and the online anime community — men disengaged from society. This demographic of chronically online men is preyed upon by socially reactionary movements which promise brotherhood, power or validation such as online spaces like the manosphere or in-person paramilitaries like the Proud Boys or Patriot Front.
Using anime to depict fringe ideologies has become both a method of social signaling for these “extremist weebs” (a real term used by the GNET). For the extremists on a popular alt-right forum like 4chan, X or Reddit, using anime in their aesthetics is a way to both spread their alt-right perspectives, as well as receive a sense of social gratification by using a niche form of expression in their online circles.
From the perspective of alt-right movements, there are multiple advantages to incorporating anime into their propaganda. Using anime can be used as a recruitment method; it both appeals to the demographic they aim to radicalize and desensitizes people to the message. There is no telling where somebody enters or exits the pipeline, and it’s not guaranteed that certain social factors will force someone into the pipeline. Anime is not dangerous, but the medium in which it is leveraged against isolated individuals to radicalize them is detrimental to society.