Shingeki no Kyojin and Japanese Nationalism

[Atsumari]

SPOILERS BELOW
For those who do not know, Shingeki no Kyojin is a manga about humans fighting for their survival against titans who want to do nothing more than to kill them. The manga was later adapted into an anime which has become unbelievably popular and is even watched by people who would normally not watch anime. Since then, the series has turned into a huge franchise which has included novels, video games, live action movies and hoards of cosplayers at anime conventions. If you have not read or watched the series, check it out, it's pretty cool.
However, as much as I enjoyed the series, it has many themes which are rather disturbing which can be seen from the very beginning. In the first episode, Armin is getting beaten up by a gang of boys for his views on anti-pacifism and belief that the humans should expand outside the walls, a feeling that many Japanese nationalists feel. Like Armin, they believe that Japan should not be trapped within a small island and are shunned and hated by society for speaking against pacifism blissful ignorant sheep. Later in the episode, the elite Survey Corps return from an unsuccessful operation with many of them in bad condition. As they walk through the city streets, the civilian population looks at them with disgust and complains about why their taxes are being used on them and Eren responds by hitting one of the civilians with a stick.
But to keep things short, here is a small list of nationalist and fascist themes in the show.
-In the episode where Mikasa is being kidnapped, Mikasa and Eren goes into a small monologue about survival of the fittest
-Contempt for the clergy, civilian population, merchants, or anyone who does not see combat.
-Glorifying self-sacrifice, death, and military heroism.
-Pixis (http://0-gate.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/pixis-1024x576.jpg) looks very similar to Akiyama Yoshifuru (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akiyama_Yoshifuru) which angered many Koreans, especially when the mangaka gave him praise in a tweet.
-The humans and titans are often seen as an analogy for Japan and China

But even with all this militarism and anti-pacifism, I would not call it imperialist propaganda like American Sniper is. 99 percent of the people who watch Shingeki will not even consider these themes at all, they will sit back and enjoy the adrenaline trip that the show provides. And unlike most shows that provide a militarist perspective on war, Shingeki is unique with its unheroic fighting, pervasive political and military corruption, and filled with strategic errors with a feeling of despair and regret.

[Brandon's Impotent Rage]

Funny, I always interpreted the plot as anti-isolationism and anti-militarism. The reason that civilization has regressed and decayed so much is because they've completely walled themselves off from the rest of the world in fear of the titans themselves. There's also the fact that the MPs are shown in a VERY negative light.

[Mr. Piccolo]

I have seen a few episodes of the Shingeki no Kyojin anime with English subtitles. I didn't catch too many militarist or fascist themes, but as I said I am not too familiar with the work as a whole. I am sorry if I have this wrong but I thought that Hajime Isayama was influenced by bullying, that is, the Titans represented bullies.

[Anglo-Saxon Philistine]

I don't think the Survey Corps is an elite force. They're pretty much the frontline troops, with the Military Police taking the place of the glamorous elite... that is corrupt and inefficient when it comes to actually fighting.

Also, the parallel between the Titans and China doesn't really work. China wasn't regularly besieging Japan prior to the Japanese attack, and the "expansionism" of the remaining humans (those humans who are not Titan shifters, of course) is once described, I think, as being in order to secure resources such as farmland for the people in the outer walls and so on. For the parallel to make sense the Titan area would have to hold resources necessary for further military expansion (and that would make the Titan area Indochina, Indonesia and Malaya instead of China, I guess).

Also, the glorification of Japanese military personnel and militarist figures is nothing new when it comes to anime... just look at the way Rurouni Kenshin, an otherwise outright pacifist work, treats one of the progenitors of Japanese militarism, Takasugi Shinsaku.