Summary
Most anime prefer to display their protagonists as good people, willing to do everything for their friends or for the sake of peace. However, among them are ones where the protagonists do not mind operating in morally gray areas to achieve their goals, be it opposing the government or causing mass destruction and being labeled as terrorists.
These characters are usually known for taking the law into their own hands or fighting for the freedom of their people in the most devastating of ways. These kinds of anime make the viewers question the true meaning of justice and how far characters can go to achieve it, even if it means losing themselves in the process.
While initially by accident,Shu Oma ends up a central figurein the resistance. Japan had suffered heavily at the hands of the Apocalypse Virus and relied on GHQ to help them in these perilous times. GHQ took advantage of them and their situation, which led to the founding of the resistance that Shu Oma finds himself in, the Funeral Parlor.
Although GHQ had a hand in the situation and was the cause, they were able to frame Funeral Parlor as terrorists, and their actions further solidified this. Their actions often contain extreme destruction and collateral damage, involving innocent civilians. Formerly led by Gai Tsutsugami, Shu Oma took the reins of leadership and adopted increasingly ruthless tactics that did not favor their stance as simply freedom fighters.
One would argue thatJormungandis about weapon dealing and mercenary action, but it is more than that. The actions of Koko Hekmatyar, an international arms dealer and protagonist of the story, and her team are often involved in engaging in violence, sometimes against government officials, which is one of the reasons the CIA is after them. She manages to avoid being caught while selling weapons to private organizations and the like, further fueling global instability.
Koko also has her grand plan called Operation Jormungand. This operation claimed to bring global peace, and involves the ceasing of all air travel and communication with the aid of multiple satellites and two quantum computers, endangering hundreds of people she deemed to be a necessary sacrifice.
The members of Tekkadan were onceorphans who were exploited as disposable fightersby a private military contractor. They managed to overthrow their superiors and began taking on mercenary jobs, with Mikazuki Augus and Orga Itsuka acting as their leaders. This group challenged the status quo, going against the Gjallarhorn military organization and other corporations.
However, the series portrays them as more of freedom fighters than terrorists, portraying their acts as acts of desperation and survival, considering they are products of a corrupt system. Nevertheless, their actions brand them as such, with them using violent methods and guerilla tactics such as assassination and sabotage that fit the bill of terrorism.
Thecyberpunk-like metropolis of Kansaimay initially seem to be a utopia, but it is a dystopian society that hunts down a group of fugitives referred to as Akudama. The Akudama were criminals with exceptional skill, and the protagonist somehow finds herself in their midst, impersonating Swindler, later becoming a full-fledged Akudama.
This group often engages in acts of terrorism, causing large-scale destruction and putting fear in the minds of people. They oppose the government and the enforcers, people tasked with hunting down the Akudama, which portrays acts of rebellion. While the fear placed in civilians might not have been intentional, the government used the Akudama’s destruction to label them as such, further justifying their oppression.
The acts of terrorism that Nine and Twelve, the protagonists of the series, carried out were mysterious yet in a public manner, always sending the government, the police force, and the people into a state of panic. Using the code name Sphinx, these two would plant bombs in the most absurd locations and then post riddles for the police to solve, with a time limit as the clock on the bomb keeps ticking.
While they posed a threat and instilled fear in the people, their main goal was not mass destruction. TheGovernment was engaging in unethical projectsin secret, and Sphinx were trying to expose them to the public while limiting casualties as much as possible. They are even referred to as pseudo-terrorists but are terrorists nonetheless.
3Attack On Titan
The Fight For Freedom
TheAttack On Titanseries started as a captivating shounen anime with all the intense action and bloody scenes as they fought against the Titans, who mindlessly invaded their lands and ate their people. However, the series progressed into something complex with the disunity among the Eldians, the Titans, and the Marleyans, which led to one of the most catastrophic eventsin anime history, The Rumbling.
Eren Yeager, the protagonist of the series, played a major role in this event that branded him as a terrorist. He initiated The Rumbling, which involved mass destruction and global terrorism in a bid to protect Paradis Island. This event killed about 80% of the world’s population, and this was just a few days after its commencement.
Light Yagami might have initially had pure intentions, but the more he took justice into his hands,the more he became a terrorist. He could see the world constantly letting criminals roam free after committing heinous crimes and was unsatisfied with such verdicts. The Death Note somehow ends up in his hands, and he realizes he could make the world a better place by doing what security officials did not do.
However, the deaths seemed unnatural, and not long after, the likes of L were already on his tail. To prevent himself from being caught, he began to take drastic measures that could be considered terrorism just to escape the law, becoming the embodiment of what he set out to erase in the first place.
TheCode Geassfranchise often features protagonists who rebel against the Holy Britannian Empire and are painted as terrorists as they take extreme measures just to fulfill their goals, usually for just cause. TheLelouch Of The Rebellionseries centered on Lelouch Lamperouge, who took drastic measures and actions with the aid of Geass to ensure his sister’s safety and overthrow his father.
He posed as Zero, a savior in the eyes of the Japanese and a terrorist in the eyes of Holy Britannia, as he wreaked havoc and instilled fear in all. TheDakkan no Rozéseries also featured protagonistswho became part of a rebellious groupagainst the remnants of the Holy Britannian Empire, engaging in acts of terrorism.
