What went wrong with the quest for the Warhammer Titan?

By

-

August 14, 2021

In Attack on Titan: The Final Season’s (AoT) Episode 5 “Declaration of War,” Eren Yeager launches a pre-emptive attack on Marley to secure the Warhammer Titan for the Yeagerists. Eren was successful in both engaging and acquiring the Warhammer Titan, thus, dealing a critical blow to Marley’s overall strategy in ending the Eldian Empire. Although Eren was successful in achieving his group’s goal in the attack, Eren’s actions violated key principles of international humanitarian law.

The Principles

Both in AoT and in war movies, we are shown commanders making difficult decisions quickly in times of war. At first glance, it may seem pretty binary: the commander chooses to attack or they choose not to attack. However, actions taken by commanders within an international armed conflict (IAC) and non-international armed conflict (NIAC) are not committed senselessly or without careful review. Attacks are like onions, they have lots of layers and are more complicated than on first glance. Commanders and the like are required to consider four principles prior to taking military action: 1) Military Necessity; 2) Proportionality; 3) Distinction; and 4) prevention of unnecessary suffering. Each of these principles work together to help answer that binary question and each requires careful consideration.

Military Necessity

The principle of necessity permits measures which are “actually necessary to accomplish a legitimate military purpose and are not otherwise prohibited by international humanitarian law. In the case of an armed conflict the only legitimate military purpose is to weaken the military capacity of the other parties to the conflict.” Similarly, in non-international armed conflict we apply this principle as well. Although we want war and hostilities to end quickly, this principle prevents us from using illegitimate means or methods to reach this result.

Proportionality

The principle of proportionality asks us to make a weighted judgment. It does NOT ask us to determine if our use of force upon an enemy is proportional to what the enemy used against us. Instead, this principle asks to evaluate that if we were to attack would the estimated value from the attack outweigh the harm that might be inflicted upon civilians? What we don’t want is to achieve a small military advantage at the large cost of harm to civilians.

Distinction

The principle of distinction speaks to the idea of being able to readily determine in a conflict who is a combatant and who is a civilian. The former being a legal target and the latter being non-targetable. This principle is outlined in Article 48 of Additional Protocol I (AP I) international armed conflict and similar language can be found in Additional Protocol II Art. 13(2)-(3) with respect to non-international armed conflict.

Distinguishing targets is not an easy task, especially so in the middle of heated conflict. When we look to determine if an individual is a combatant or civilian we have four criteria that must be asked of those we are targeting. These are derived from Article 4(2)(a)-(d) of the Third Geneva Convention and are as follows:

(a) that of being commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates;

(b) that of having a fixed distinctive sign recognizable at a distance;

(c) that of carrying arms openly; and

(d) conducting their operations in accordance with the law and customs of war.

The last distinction that has to be made is that of the target itself. Under Art. 52(2) of AP I, “military objectives are limited to those objects which by their nature, location, purpose or use make an effective contribution to military action and whose total or partial destruction, capture or neutralization, in the circumstances ruling at the time, offers a definite military advantage.” Outside of those, codified in Art. 25 of the Hague Regulations of 1907, are civilian objects which are not to be targeted by any means by armed forces.

Prevention of Unnecessary Suffering

War is by its very nature a violent enterprise. Loss is expected. It cannot be prevented. You might think that suffering too can’t be prevented too because it is war’s natural by product, which may be true, but we can limit it. And, we have been successful in limiting where we can in the past century and a half. But, when it comes to conflict both IAC and NIAC we have to ask ourselves two questions: First, will the tactic, weapon, or enhancement cause superfluous injury? Second, will the tactic, weapon, or enhancement cause unnecessary suffering? A “yes” to either disqualifies the tactic, weapon, or enhancements use from deployment to the combat zone. War is brutal enough. We don’t want to harm civilians or military members more than what is necessary to achieve the goal.

In the End, It Really Does Matter

Now, with all four elements laid out we can begin to see where Eren went wrong with his decision to attack.

First, when it comes to military necessity, Eren’s attack may be permitted. The attack was designed to eliminate Marleyan military forces and to acquire the Warhammer Titan. If both were accomplished it would help end the conflict between Marley, Eldian Empire, and the Yeagerists. Although this action would end the war sooner, the measures taken to secure it are violative of international law and thus should have stopped Eren from taking this course of action.

Second, is the issue of proportionality with Eren’s attack. It is true that the area Eren targeted had a large amount of high ranking Marleyan generals and there were many Marleyan military members surrounding the city square. However, the number of civilians present outweighed the number of military members, and the location was in the middle of a civilian sector. Inherently, the estimated loss of civilians and damage to civilian infrastructure far exceeded the value of the generals that were present. Throughout AoT, Eren has shown to have a track record of callous disregard to surrounding areas when he engages in combat, and this would not bode well for the area. With the completion of the attack, the entire square and surrounding sections of the city were demolished, hundreds were harmed and thousands were displaced. Eren should not have attacked this location regardless of its military concentration because the harm to civilians far exceeded any military advantage that could be gained.

Third, Eren did not have a hard time discerning who was targetable and who was not. The distinct uniforms of the opposing armies of Eldia, Marley, and the terrorists, the Yeagerists, allows us and Eren to not mistake civilians for combatants. Further, each organization wears their arms openly, responds to a clear chain of command, and attempts to adhere to the laws of armed conflict. There was no issue of commingling targets.

Additionally, Eren’s target did not qualify as a military objective. Eren understood that the host of the Warhammer Titan was present at the summit of world leaders in Marley. At this summit there also was a large Marleyan military presence with many high commanders present. However, neither Marleyan officials nor Eren had working knowledge on who amongst the Tybur family contained it. Compounding this issue is that none of the Tybur family were active military members and were classified as civilians. Eren should not have gone after the Tybur family at this event.

Fourth, Eren’s attack did not cause unnecessary suffering. This is because Eren has complete control over himself as a titan and that his actions did not have additional effects that would cause greater damage to victims beyond what would be expected from his initial attacks. Nor did his titan or its abilities cause superfluous injuries towards those he targeted.

Eren’s attack should never have been carried out. At face value, even after recognizing it could help end the conflict quicker, we can see that his targets were not military objects, that the result was grossly disproportionate, and that he did a poor job in distinguishing who he targeted. At least We can positively say that his actions didn’t cause unnecessary suffering or superfluous injury.

Throw Your Hands Up Only If You Mean It

By

Gage Dabin

-

May 25, 2021

0

How Not to Advance Your Position

Attack on Titan: The Final Season (“AoT”) throws us quickly into the middle of an international armed conflict in the first episode. Focusing on the young Eldian warriors forced to fight on behalf of Marley, we see the warriors fighting from entrenched bunkers reminiscent of WWI. The young Eldian warriors, led by Gabi, are pinned down by machine gun nests from the Mid-East Allied Forces and are quickly running out of options.

Gabi, driven by a need to prove her worth to Marleyan commanders, finds a way to advance her unit forward and eliminates the machine gun nests. How does a young girl with no weapons eliminate an entrenched machine gun post? She chose to falsely surrender and then used hidden grenades when the opposing soldiers dropped their guard because they didn’t perceive her to be a threat. Her victory came at the cost of violating long standing principles of war.

Surrendering Gone Wrong

Kids fight all the time. When one kid is losing the fight and doesn’t want to be harmed further, they tend to a variety of things. For instance, they may cry “uncle” or throw their hands up or say they surrender and then the aggressor tends to back off relinquishing their advantage. If the kid who surrenders lies and tries to harm the aggressor via their duplicity, understandably, the aggressor kid is angry because his trust has been violated and is harmed further because of it. Next time, the aggressor may not fully be willing to stop after another surrenders. This action of faux surrender in order to harm others is called “perfidy” and in international law it is especially prohibited.

When a party e.g., Gabi, intentionally fakes surrendering herself to gain a tactical advantage she committed the war crime of “perfidy.” Additional Protocol I (“AP I”) defines perfidy as “acts inviting the confidence of an adversary to lead him to believe that he is entitled to, or obliged to accord, protection under the rules of international law applicable in armed conflict, with intent to betray that confidence.” For international armed conflicts, Article 23(c) of the Hague Relations holds that is especially prohibited to “kill or wound an enemy who, having laid down arms, or having no longer means of defence, has surrendered at discretion.” Articles 41(1) and 85(3)(e) of AP I show further that when a party surrenders, they are considered hors de combat meaning they are not targetable and that the opposing force has the responsibility of handling them. This same principle is codified for non-international armed conflict via Common Article 3 and in AP II Article 4.

Where is the honor?

The laws of war have a baseline of reciprocity premised on the idea of mutual honor. Although honor is not explicitly codified, implicitly we incorporate honor into this reciprocity because we want both sides to be treated fairly. Why? Because without this mutual respect for each other and the rules, war is unbound and becomes total. War is not meant to be total. Neither can it be neatly contained. Instead, the mutual adherence helps to try and constrain war to prevent it from harming protected classes of people and breaching protected areas. The lack of adherence is a slippery slope. Gabi exemplifies these present dangers.

When Gabi returns from her perfidious assault, her teammate, Falco, rescues a fallen enemy soldier because he is hors de combat. She questions his motives and says that we shouldn’t care about the enemy. More importantly, she asks, tells Falco “you really think obeying the laws of war will earn you the spot of Armored Titan?” and then calls him a “weirdo” for his continued adherence. Gabi sees these laws as an impediment and that their adherence puts the risk of more lives on the line. To Gabi, war is total and better unfettered with laws. Gabi has no honor. Committing perfidy, even if it may save 800 men which was Gabi’s rationale for her actions, cannot be condoned nor will it ever be. Falco has the right idea. We adhere to these rules to protect ourselves and others and we cannot abandon it for the risk of total war is to great.

The Beginning of the End: Understanding the Scope of Attack on Titan’s Final Season

By

Gage Dabin

-

May 14, 2021

0

Attack on Titan: The Final Season is finally upon us. With the first half of it now completed we are left in anticipation in how it finally wraps up. Attack on Titan’s (“AoT”) 16 episodes covered a lot of ground and began to connect plot lines laid in prior seasons and caused some crazy shockwaves in terms of character arcs. More importantly, these 16 episodes offered up many great opportunities to discuss international humanitarian law issues and how we should go about approaching them. This article is the first of many that will be written about this show and for now the articles will focus on this current season. Before we dive into the deeper issues, we have to talk about the parties in play and the conflicts that exist and what kinds of laws apply to the different conflicts.

The Parties in Play

AoT has a lot of characters and factions within the show that makes it hard to track. However, AoT’s most recent season deblurred the lines of characters and factions which makes it easier to discuss. For this article, I will remain high level to talk about the groups and in follow up articles I will go deeper to analyze the different situations, individuals. This season there are four main factions that exist within AoT: the Marleyans, the Yeagerists, the Eldians, and the Hizuros. Going forward it is important to know what requirements have to be met for a party to be considered a state. Under the Montevideo Convention a state exists when it has a: a) permanent population; (b) defined territory; (c) government; and (d) capacity to enter into relations with other states. Therefore, Marley, the Eldian Empire, and Hizuro all are states under this rubric.

A. The Marley Empire

The Marley Empire acts as the central antagonist throughout the season. Marley co-existed on the central continent with Eldia and through its continued success in the Great Titan Wars acquired more power and territory; thus, it was able to overtake the Eldian Empire as the central power on the continent. Due to the power imbalance, the Eldians relocated to Paradis Island to prevent further losses. Marley prevented the Eldians from expanding by continually creating titans and depositing them on the island as a form of revenge for Eldia’s actions during the Great Titan War. Marley maintains a powerful army that is technologically superior to the opposing states and uses powerful titans as tools to subjugate their opponents and those on Paradis Island. It is shown to have tanks, machine guns, planes, and an extensive navy. Marley remains one of the most powerful states in the AoT universe and other foreign states are wary of angering it in fear of retaliation. Because Marley is a sovereign state and is engaged against Eldia its actions fall under rules governing international armed conflicts (IAC). Marley’s actions against the Yeagerists hold it to the rules required by Non-international Armed Conflict (NIAC).

B. The Eldian Empire

The Eldian Empire acts as the central protagonist for this season. The Eldian Empire’s last bastion is located on Paradis Island. Originally, Eldians shared the central continent with the state of Marley. However, due to their continual losses during the Great Titan Wars, King Fritz moved the state to Paradis Island which shielded them from harsher losses. The Eldians on Paradis Island were ignorant of this background because of King Fritz’ action of erasing every citizens memory pertaining to Marley and the past wars. However, the remaining Eldians on Marley were stigmatized, marked, and treated as a sub-class and were used to create titans that helped contained the Eldians on Paradis Island. The Eldian Empire exists behind three central walls designed to protect them from titan attacks. Their technology and military forces are underdeveloped compared to Marley and other foreign states. Its military forces are subdivided into three distinct units. First, the Survey Corps acts as the exploratory arm of the military looking for new, habitable territory while also eliminating titans they encounter. Second, the Garrison acts as the central defense component of Eldia and maintains the defenses of the three central walls protecting the citizenry. Lastly, the Military Police Brigade exerts central authority over the citizens within the walls. In this season, the Eldian Empire becomes an international player when it begins to engage Marley in multiple skirmishes via its military. The Eldian Empire’s international involvement beholds it to rules governing IAC. It’s actions against the Yeagerists hold it to the rules required by NIAC.

C. The Yeagerists

The Yeagerists are a new faction created out of the defectors from the Eldian Empire’s three military units. They came onto the scene this season. The Yeagerists belong to no state and are actively claiming to try and establish a “New Eldian Empire” in place of the current Eldian Empire. The Yeagerists operate centrally out of Paradis Island but have units within Marley’s borders. Although the Yeagerists are new to the conflict, they have quickly amassed power by destabilizing the current Eldian Empire, killing many Marleyan government officials and civilians, and acquiring some of the most powerful titans within Marley’s arsenal. The Yeagerists do not comprise a state and are thus operating as a domestic terrorist group within the Eldian borders on Paradis Island. This designation holds that when they engage other states it is guided by NIAC principles.

D. The Hizuro Nation

Prior to the Great Titan War the states of Eldia and Hizuro were allies. Hizuro maintained a presence in Eldia via a son of a Hizuru feudal lord who was close to then King Fritz. This son would go on to head the Azumabito clan which in turn would become connected to the Ackerman clan – both which are immune to King Fritz’ titan ability. Hizuro remained dormant throughout the series and didn’t become a player until its ambassador to Eldia agrees to help the Eldian empire combat Marley. Hizuro does not enter any conflict with Marley or Eldia with its military units. However, Hizuro’s support is nuanced and intentionally behind the scenes. Yet its financial involvement and active support of Eldia then the Yeagerists brings them in as a key faction. Their actions will be guided by NIAC principles when with the Yeagerists. However, their actions will be governed by IAC if they engage in hostilities against Marley or the Eldian Empire.

The Present Types of Conflicts

A. International Armed Conflict

International armed conflict or IAC is the most straightforward classification of conflicts. Under Common Article 2 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions IAC occurs when two sovereign states enter an inter-state conflict with one another. This status is affirmed even if one of the states in the conflict does not declare “war.” It also applies to situations when one sovereign state partially or totally occupies territory of another sovereign state regardless if the occupation doesn’t include violence. Additional Protocol I extended the IAC definition to armed conflicts in which peoples are fighting against colonial domination, alien occupation or racist regimes in the exercise of their right to self-determination. Ultimately, when analyzing if an IAC is occurring, we look to actual events occurring on the ground. No formal declaration or conflict threshold is required to establish the creation of an IAC. Within AoT this is the primary conflict that exists between Marley and the Eldian Empire. Both states actions are then governed by the Geneva Convention and other central governing documents.

B. Non-international Armed Conflict

A non-international armed conflict or NIAC occurs when a sovereign state is involved in an armed conflict with a non-governmental group (think terrorist group). The protections and responsibilities are laid out in Common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions. Unlike IAC, there is a threshold of conflict that has to be reached in order to distinguish NIAC from internal disturbances like riots, banditry, etc. This distinction is adopted from both Additional Protocol II 1(2) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslovia’s The Prosecutor v. Dusko Tadic case. The first threshold that has to be passed is the minimum form of conflict. To be a NIAC it has to be of such a collective character that the government is obligated to use military forces to counteract the insurgency. Second, the non-governmental groups have to be considered “parties to the conflict” meaning that they have a command structure and have the capacity to conduct military operations. APII Art. 1(1) offers a slightly different analytical framework for NIAC: “which take place in the territory of a High Contracting Party between its armed forces and dissident armed forces or other organized armed groups which, under responsible command, exercise such control over a part of its territory as to enable them to carry out sustained and concerted military operations.” Moving forward, NIAC is the form of conflict that the Yeagerists are engaged in with the Eldian Empire and Marley. In regard to actions between these groups, Common Article 3 and APII operate as the governing documents for handling issues.

Internationalized armed conflict is a subset of NIAC and occurs when a foreign state who is a non-party to the conflict provides material support to a party that is. The authorities that govern NIAC also are applicable to situations like this. For our purposes, this will cover Hizuro and its financial contributions to the Eldian Empire and then to the Yeagerists.

Conclusion

AoT has a lot of moving parts and can be confusing at times when trying to understand who is fighting who. This article endeavored to give a high-level gloss of the parties involved and the forms of conflicts that exist within the show presently. Further, this article provided the governing frameworks that will detail the responsibilities that the parties owe to each other and to the international community. However, these frameworks will not be the only laws discussed as states are accountable under many other treaties and under rules established through customary international law. The complexity of AoT and the many IHL violations committed will provide many articles to come. Please stay tuned for more!

You Cannot Escape the Long Arm of the Law: How Gendo, Cohorts, and U.N. Officials Will Be Punished

By

Gage Dabin

-

April 19, 2021

0

Quick Refresher

In my last post, I discussed how Gendo Ikari (Gendo), Misato Katsuragi (Misato) and Ritsuko Akagi (Ritsuko) and certain U.N. officials committed war crimes (collectively referred as “war criminals”) – enlisting and requiring children to fight in an international armed conflict. Their actions violated peremptory norms and multiple treaties including the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute. With that being established, the next issue is accountability. For this article, Gendo, Misato, and Ritsuko are citizens of Neo-Japan, and the U.N. officials are citizens of Switzerland as it has a headquarters in Geneva and had command authority over Germany in the series.

Basis For The Reach

Before the international legal system can hold people accountable, it first requires the specific states where the war crimes took place or where the perpetrators are from to try and resolve the issue with its domestic legal system. These requirements are embedded in the international treaties that those states ratified and therefore they are bound to their processes. This is an important component of the domestic, international law relationship. The international tribunals do not want to supersede a state’s sovereignty, but in some cases when a state consciously fails to uphold both the treaty obligations and customary international law then the tribunals will assert their jurisdiction. The war criminals can be tried by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and by domestic courts via the Geneva Conventions.

Geneva Convention

The war criminals clearly violated the Geneva Convention. For purposes of this argument, Neo-Japan and Switzerland remain to have ratified all the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols – Japan still hasn’t ratified Additional Protocol III. This means the states are bound by the responsibilities laid out within them for breaches of international law.

In Article 50(2) of the Fourth Geneva Convention (“GCIV”), it held that occupying powers were not to enlist children “in formations or organizations subordinate to it.” Pertaining to international armed conflicts (IAC) – Additional Protocol I (“AP I”), Article 77(2) states that “parties to the conflict shall take all feasible measures in order that children who have not attained the age of fifteen years do not take a direct part in hostilities and, in particular, they shall refrain from recruiting them into their armed forces.” Under Art. 147 of GCIV it is considered a grave breach to compel a protected person to serve in in the forces of a hostile power. Further, Art 148 of GCIV holds that no High Contracting Party shall be allowed to absolve itself of liability for any breaches incurred. GCIV doesn’t stipulate the specific forum that the grave breach inquiry has to start in; rather, Art. 149 states that interested parties need to decide the form of inquiry and the umpire to conduct the process. This is a highly dynamic approach that gives latitude to the reporting state and alleged violating state.

The states of Neo-Japan and Switzerland cannot absolve themselves of the grave breaches they committed when they required children to fight the Angels. Because GCIV does not specifically designate that the forum be domestic first, the war criminals could be given over to international tribunals. However, there exists a reluctance for the states to give up their authority to the international community to try individuals like this. This means it would be more likely that each state would individually charge their respective citizens with their domestic statutes for the breaches. Concretely, Neo-Japan would charge Gendo and his cohorts under its laws. Switzerland would do the same for the U.N. officials. Although disparate sentences may be created, this is a means of accountability. However, there are other avenues.

ICC approach

The war criminals violated the Rome Statute triggering the possibility of the ICC having jurisdiction over their actions. Echoing GCIV and AP I, Article 8(2)(b)(xxvi) of the Rome Statute states that if a state enlists children under the age of fifteen into armed forces or groups that action constitutes a war crime in IACs. Before the ICC can activate its jurisdiction two prerequisites need to be satisfied: first, the state needs to have ratified the Rome Statute; and second, the ICC has to determine that the state failed to properly prosecute those who committed the war crimes. The first prerequisite is straightforward and can be dealt with quickly – all states where the war criminals are from have ratified the Rome Statute and accept the ICC’s jurisdictional capabilities. However, the second prerequisite is where the international community may be hindered.

The Rome Statute allows for the ICC to have jurisdiction over war crime punishments if states where the criminals reside or where the events took place fail to effectively prosecute. This is referred to as the principle of complementarity and may be the most important part of the Rome Statute. Understanding the nuances of complementarity is beyond the scope of this piece, but there are breakdowns to help tease out the applications. What we really have to consider is the admissibility of the case before the ICC. Under Art. 17 of the Rome Statute, it lays out the jurisdictional requirements: is the state currently dealing with the case, did the state investigate the same case and did it not prosecute, or has the same case been prosecuted at the state level. The second jurisdictional action is two part: did the state investigate the same case AND did it choose not to prosecute – if the answer to one is no then the ICC can come forward. What makes this difficult is that even if the ICC takes the case, there exists a small success rate in holding parties accountable.

Collectively, the war criminals may not be punished by the ICC. As a court of “last resort” the ICC is restrained from acting until the states themselves finish investigating, and/or prosecute the individuals. This is designed to respect the sovereignty of the states but also to promote legal efficiency so that the ICC doesn’t hear every case. Since the states are members of the ICC it is possible to be brought before the tribunal, but Neo-Japan and Switzerland are more than likely to handle the punishments themselves. They would prosecute the citizens and handle the case in such a way as to prevent the Art. 17 jurisdictional triggers from activating. Handling the war criminals internally prevents continued international embarrassment and would allow for quicker results than what the ICC typically is able to produce. In the end, although they recognize and support the Rome Statute and the ICC, they wouldn’t let a supernational tribunal decide the fate of their citizens.

Conclusion

Any way the cake is sliced we will see the parties be held responsible for their violations of international law. The violations were blatant, the violations were repeated, and the ramifications upon the children constantly disregarded. The states will likely hold individual trials and will be publicized internationally to show how they are enforcing their commitments to the treaty obligations. With the state’s prosecuting the cases it prevents the ICC from intervening with the affairs. This enshrines sovereignty and reinforces the authority of the state. No matter how just they thought their cause to be, the war criminals cannot escape the long arm of the law. At the end of the day, children are not meant to be vehicles for war – they are to remain just that, children.

“Why Is that Child’s Eyes So Big?”

By

Krystal Laporte

-

December 29, 2015

0

Anime is a fairly fresh contender for the affections of geeks in America, but nearly all media has been touched by it in one way or another. Whether it’s through parodies in popular American shows such as The Simpsons, Phineas and Ferb or Family Guy, on T-shirts in Hot Topic, or through trolling around Toys R’ Us to find that Pikachu doll on your child’s Christmas list, the chances are quite good that you’ve seen something related to anime. The big eyes, poorly-timed mouth flaps, and seemingly inappropriate vocal reactions are all common stereotypes used when a creator wants viewers to know that they are parodying the style of anime.

However, anime has not just emerged into the view of the public through parodies. Within the last two decades, many anime have been given the spotlight on popular networks such as Cartoon Network, IFC, and Sy-Fy. Pokémon, Dragon Ball Z, and Sailor Moon are perhaps the three shows most attributed to the 1990’s, but if you were up late and watching television often, you may remember tuning in to the occasional episode of Tenchi Muyo and Yu Yu Hakusho. It may have been as recently as this week that you’ve had to tell your kids to finish their homework before they could watch Naruto, Parasyte or Bleach.

While you may have seen one (or all) of these shows at some point, you may still be scratching your head and wondering what anime actually is. It actually depends! “Anime” is the term that the Japanese use to describe ALL animation, a nickname created by shortening the romaji animēshon (“animation”). In America however, the term “anime” applies almost exclusively animation originating from Japan. Printed comics in Japan are known as “manga,” and just as with the term “anime,” Americans usually reserve the term for graphic novels with a Japanese origin.

Despite the fairly recent attention anime and manga has received from the general masses, it has been around far longer than many of us. The very first anime can be dated as far as 1907-1911, when a 3-second film loop tentatively titled Katsudō Shashin was discovered in Kyoto in July 2005. It consists of fifty frames stenciled directly onto a strip of celluloid depicting a young boy in a sailor suit who writes the kanji for “Katsudō shashin (moving picture,)”, turns, removes his hat, and offers a salute. The creator’s identity is unknown. However, it was not until the 1948 establishment of Toei animation that anime began developing into the serial cartoons that are so popular today. Osamu Tezuka, known lovingly by many fans as “the father of manga,” created the manga series Astro Boy in 1952 and it was animated for television in 1963. It set the stage for the modern structure of an anime; a serial animation with a combination of self-containing episodes, several episode-long arcs, and long-running plots weaved into the entire series. The majority of modern anime however, cannot boast a 193 episode count like Astro Boy. Today, most anime contains 12-13 episodes per season, and run for roughly 1-4 seasons.

Because the term “anime” did not always have the marketing pull on American audiences it once did, many shows were not touted as anime when they aired, which results in many adults not realizing that their favorite show as a child was in fact, an anime (Speed Racer, Kimba the White Lion, and Mobile Suit Gundam, for example. I distinctly remember my mother stepfather being extremely excited over the possibility of family bonding after finding out that Speed Racer was an anime).

However, there is a large number of steps between the original release of an anime and it showing up on your television. An anime is usually adapted from a pre-existing manga, just like how many movies are adapted from books. After the vast amount of planning necessary for any artistic project to come into creation, the main director creates a storyboard (organizes illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of providing a visual displaying how the show will unfold) the anime for the animators and writers. In most cases, the voice actors (or “seiyuu”) for the characters do not enter the picture until the visual portion of the show is in development.

Upon the completion of the anime it will air in Japan. At some point a show may be licensed by an American company which will usually then give the show a “dub,” in which the original seiyuu are replaced by an English cast for American audiences. I would like to think that the streamlining of the dubbing process has contributed to the rise in the popularity of anime because it allowed many shows to be suitable for broadcast television, and more appealing to those who prefer to listen to the show in a language they understand rather than read subtitles. I would also like to think that it contributed to the rise in popularity because well, that’s the part where I come in.

I have worked in the anime industry since 2013 as an English voice actress. The average dubbing process in my experience begins with receiving a phone call or email offering them a role (a decision made by the show’s automated dialogue replacement (ADR) director), and informing them the amount of hours it will take for them to record the role. After they have accepted, the recording dates are scheduled. Recording an entire show is often done in a matter of weeks, so depending on an actor’s schedule, the length of recording sessions may vary. The longest I have recorded, for example was 9 hours straight when I had to leave the state the following day. If an actor’s schedule is open, they normally opt for several days of 4-5 hour chunks if the role is a substantial one.

Each studio is manned by a director and engineer. The director is the one who gives us the information we to know about the character, and decides the lines should be read. Because we only get to see the scenes of the show that our characters are in, it is up to the director to instantly know what emotion we should be conveying, and any nuance or subtleties that should be included that are not apparent from the scene in front of us. A director needs to know their show inside and out, so watching the entire show several times before casting is not uncommon.

The engineer is, in my opinion, the human equivalent of a unicorn. They are mythical creatures who can turn the mundane into the extraordinary. Alright, maybe it’s not that extreme, but engineers are the people you can thank for the crisp, amazing sound coming from your television. An audio engineer not only records the dialogue, but also removes mouth clicks, pops, breaths, and any other kind of vocal ugliness in real time. They are the ones who can move our lines in the audio mix to fit the mouth flaps, which saves hours of repeating lines, and many heads of hair from being pulled out. Finally, when all of the dialogue is recorded, an audio engineer “mixes” the entire audio track, adding special effects and making sure the balance between the music and every single line is just right.

Then you’ve got the actor, who has been quarantined to the recording booth, a tiny sound-proof room within the studio, who reads the lines from the script. The way we do this is through a dual monitor set-up. One computer has the script, which the director scrolls throughout the session to allow the actor to see their lines. The other television has the show playing with lowered audio, so we can see the mouth movements and try to speak in a way that fits within those movements as closely as possible. The ability to read fast is a must for voice acting, because you may only have time for a quick glance at the script before it’s time to speak. As an example of a recording booth and the recording process, I’ve attached a video of a live recording session from the anime Beyond the Boundary. What you do not see is the scrolling script, but as I am recording I am also watching the same clip of animation.

As you can probably guess, the process of acting for anime is a fairly rigorous one, and very different from stage, screen and even Western animation. Some notable differences in the process is:

1. We may not even know our characters until we step in the booth, let alone our lines.

2. The scripts and our speaking styles need to be modified to fit pre-existing mouth flap animations.

3. We are always replacing an actor, and therefore we never are the sole face for the character.

Each of these factors present their own challenges for English Anime actors. The first two are technical difficulties; they make the job challenging, but a well-written script and honed cold-reading skills allow us to overcome those obstacles.

The third, however, is where I think the hardest part of the job comes from.

Geeks in any fandom are passionate, loyal, and have time after time proven to be one of the most efficient groups of people in getting their voices heard that I have ever seen. In anime, however, this can prove to be an extremely stressful fact for the actors. Being an anime voice actor usually does not provide a stable income at all, let alone enough to be considered an “A-lister” celebrity. It does not provide a person with any fame or recognition outside of a very niche group. Therefore, most actors are just your run-of-the-mill average Joe with perfectly ordinary lives and financial worries like anyone else. Many of us enjoy social networking and browsing the internet like anyone else, because unlike the “A-listers,” we rarely have to wade through thousands of tweets or messages directed at us on a daily basis. This means that when messages are directed at us, the chance that we’ll see them are pretty good.

Because we are have often replaced a prior actor from a different language version of the anime, the success of our performance in a dub is often determined by fans based on how “close” we came to the original performance, even if the determining fan is completely unfamiliar with the language. Because of the differences in the Japanese and English language structure, the difference in vocal chords between different actors, and the cultural barriers that may necessitate jokes or phrases being written differently for the dub, a dub is very rarely an exact English replication of the original material. To some fans, any difference at all is seen as “cheapening” the product rather than as an artistic decision made in hopes of improving the English language version of the show.

This is where that passion and loyalty to a given franchise can be very hard to deal with for actors. I often see actors chastised for fans for having an “ugly” voice, or not speaking in a pitch that a fan prefers, or simply for a fan’s distaste of one line-read. While celebrities in mainstream media have to deal with vitriol on a daily basis, they often do not have the time or personal accounts necessary to actually see it. Voice actors are much more accessible, through both online avenues and anime conventions. The ways in which this chastisement manifests, however, can sometimes be hard to deal with. The following are all responses over dissatisfaction over an actor’s performance in a dub:

“A number of years ago I was at an autograph session and as I was signing autographs for a young man, he said “I’m sorry.” I asked him, “for what?” The young man then said “this is for what you did in Gantz” and slapped me as hard as he could. He grabbed his stuff (which I had just finished signing) and took off running.” – Christopher Ayres (Kei Kurono in Gantz, Frieza in Dragonball Z Kai)

“[I] sent in a VO audition… and my agent called me later to say they thought I wasn’t Asain/Japanese enough for the role. I’m Nisei and full blood Japanese from a long line of Samurai and buddhist priests.” – Tadao Tomomatsu (Mr. Shake Hands Man in Banzai, Detective Furokawa in Heroes)

“I have a high pitched voice and get cast to play 12 year olds a lot. Due to the monotone delivery the characters require I recently read a message from a fan that I don’t deserve to be paid for what I do because I am a failure.” – Caitlynn French (Shiro in No Game no Life, Ai in Sunday Without God)

“I remember we were at Anime USA and this little girl went on for five minutes about how perfect the Japanese voice for Rei was and how much mine sucked in comparison. Then she ended it by telling me to say something in Rei’s voice so everyone could see what she was talking about.” – Amanda Winn Lee (Rei in Neon Genesis Evangelion, Heather Mason in Silent Hill 3)

“I’ve had fans message me to tell me if they ever met me in person they would “punch me in the face” for “ruining their favorite character.” The same girl said I “deserved to die for my terrible performance.” I also had someone on Twitter juxtapose a picture of me next to Predator (sans mask) saying we looked the same.” – Brina Palencia (Ciel Phantomhive in Black Butler, Mad Moxxi in Borderlands)

While this is a very small amount of examples, they highlight a very large source of apprehension and worry when it comes to recording for an anime. And while these are extreme, every actor will eventually deal with harassing messages, personal attacks and an overall air of hatred for each role they complete. Therefore, I believe that the hardest aspect of voice acting for anime is also one of the most crucial; developing the resilience and ability to self-care needed to handle these instances with dignity and acceptance.

That being said, while dissatisfied fans are often the loudest, they are merely a vocal minority. There is nothing better than finding the fans who have been brought even the smallest amount of joy by a project you worked on. I’ve always believed that at everyone’s core there is at least some desire to help others, and providing entertainment has been an unexpected way to do that while I work towards my law degree.

I’ve also been lucky enough to become a huge fan on many of the shows I have worked on. The anime I have had the privilege to watch after completion have had complex storylines and art direction that I never would have expected from a cartoon. The plots run the gamut; action, romance, fantasy, and even horror. While it may not seem up your alley, I think that if you look, there’s something for everyone.

If you’re reading this as a fan of anime, I’d like to take this moment to thank you for the support and loyalty that keeps this industry chugging. If you haven’t seen one before but are intrigued, here is a database of legal sites (both free and subscription services) where you can sample some anime and see if anything piques your interest;

www.legalanidb.com