so @dagny-hashtaggart made a really interesting post about how Japanese Pop Culture Stories About War are often about Japan's position vis a vis the world during the Cold War more than about WWII.
They're heavily informed by WWII, don't get me wrong. But let's be honest- it's easier to get your audience to identify with a plucky underdog than the agent of a fascist regime. Post-WWII Japan is much easier to spin into an underdog than WWII Imperial Japan.
And that got me thinking about the Fire Emblem Tellius games- y'know, the ones with Ike- because holy shit, looking at it with that interpretation in mind opens up a whole new avenue for analysis.
Spoilers for the whole subseries under the cut.