It’s difficult to know how to react to art with a political agenda. I couldn’t say if Sanctuary is swinging towards the right or left, but that it is developing an ideology at all has left me feeling a bit concerned, because when the characters start arguing about how Japan is good at this and America is bad at that, it’s like the art itself is trying to influence my real opinions of these countries, and considering the origins of the debate (i.e. Japan), I feel a bit uncomfortable about it all.
Perhaps the problem is that I’m not used to reading nationalistic text that isn’t of Western (as in UK and North American) origin? Obviously I’m not Japanese, so my views are a tad more objective when it comes to reading things like this; any sign of aggression seems to set off my internal alarm bells, but at the same time, it is fascinating to read and understand how some Japanese have come to view their country’s state (and the world at large) from the inside looking out.