For some reason, there is a narrative that Hayao Miyazaki is the most Leftist creator of Japanese Animation and Manga. The problem is even when Miyazaki was still identifying as a Marxist he was always a Malthusian and that’s mutually exclusive with Marxism.
This list will still likely be incomplete as my own knowledge of Anime is itself still far from complete, for example I haven’t consumed much of anything from Leji Matsumoto or Osamu Tezuka and they were both known JCP members.
This is not a ranked list of how good or how Communist they are. I’m going to start with those that from what I’m aware of have the most external confirmation of the creators Leftist politics and then work down to ones that are arguably just my personal interpretation. I am a Death of the Author advocate so I believe some stories are Communist in spite of Authorial intent.
The Rose of Versailles. The original Manga was written by Riyoko Ikeda who was a member of the Democratic Youth League of Japan, the youth wing of the Japanese Communist Party. It’s a shame only two of her Manga have ever been Animated. And I consider it a personal shame that I still haven’t watched Dear Brother as both a Yuri Fan and a Communist. But I suspect it’s a safe bet that the one about the French Revolution is more explicitly Political. The original 40 episode series is on Retro Crush and Prime Video but has no Dub, a new film version should drop on Netflix with a Dub the day before I post this, but I’m skeptical of the story’s ability to work as a single film.
Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway’s Flash. This is a film adaptation of the first novel of a trilogy written by original Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tommino who we have on record talking about how he and most Anime creators of his generation were Communists at least in their youth. While Malthusianism also seems like a theme in UC Gundam stories I don’t think Tommino is accepting it as uncritically as Miyazaki does, especially given the themes of Brain Powered. Hathaway is what I’m putting on this list because for once the narrative is principally on the side of the Revolutionaries rather than the defenders of the Status Quo. It’s on Netflix. But it’s not the best entry point to Gundam, it’s best to have at least seen the Mobile Suit Gundam Trilogy and Char’s Counterattack for context, fortunately they’re also on Netflix though the Dub for the Trilogy isn’t on any official streaming site. [Update June 18th: So the Trilogy and CCA are leaving Netflix now. The Trilogy is up on YT now and CCA is on Crunchyroll as "season 2" of the original series but this is still annoying, it was very convenient when I could recommend people to watch this whole saga on the same App.]
Mawaru Penguindrum. Leftist readings are pretty common for all of Kunihiko Ikuhara’s works, but I think Penguindrum is the most about society as a whole and not more specific forms of oppression.
Robotics;Notes is a show I’ve often defaulted to as an example of good Leftist Collectivism in Anime.
Durarara!! Is also a story with a practically Anarchist sense of Community. But it does at times undermine itself, I mostly wish they hadn’t backed out of how they first depicted the Cops.
Lupin the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine episode 7 Music and Revolution.
The Loudly Laundry episode of Princess Principal.
What I’ve seen of the .Hack franchise also lends itself well to Leftist readings, it’s a reminder of the Revolutionary potential the Internet once had, and could have again.
Hugtto Pretty Cure has a really interesting final arc.
Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya. No, I’m not joking.
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