Anime is no longer just for geeks: it's revolutionary

In Kathmandu, amid clouds of tear gas, Hundreds of young people raise a pirate flag with a straw hat, a symbol of the crew from the cartoon series. One PieceIn Jakarta, truck drivers, students, and artists are defying the government with the same symbol. What began as a Japanese series about pirates has become in a global emblem of political resistancePopular culture, often dismissed as light entertainment, has seeped into the realm of protest and dissent. As researcher Alba Torrents, lecturer at the Faculty of Communication Studies at the UAB and expert in Japanese animated series, explains, "l'anime It has become a global cultural language: it is no longer just a Japanese entertainment product, but a shared space in which new generations project common values, emotions, and imaginaries.” Corruption. Truckers, students, and artists began to raise the pirate icon as a symbol of unity and defiance against the government. Its spread was meteoric: in a few days, the Jolly Roger The pirate flag (traditionally known as the "pirate flag," typically featuring a black background and a skull and crossbones) spread from social media to the streets, to the point that some authorities labeled it a threat to national unity. Despite attempts at censorship and official warnings, the flag became established as a shared language of dissent and political creativity.

In Nepal, the symbol gained prominence in early September when the government imposed a social media blackout amid widespread discontent over corruption. Generation Z-led protests were concentrated in KathmanduAnd the police response—with tear gas, water cannons, and rubber bullets—only fueled the mobilization. Amid the chaos, the Jolly Roger The Straw Hat Pirates emerged as a symbol of freedom and resistance: a shared icon that allowed for mutual recognition between strangers and a quick way to say "we are here." The government eventually lifted the ban, and the Home Secretary fell.anime He had literally entered politics.

To understand how a symbol ofanime To understand how it can reach that level of power, we need to look back. In the 1990s and early 2000s, theanime It was perceived as a geeky or marginal product outside of Japan, despite occasional phenomena such as Dragon Ball either PokémonIn Catalonia, TV3 was a pioneer in incorporating it into public television, creating powerful shared imaginaries among the children of the time and normalizing its consumption. As Torrents recalls, "those of us who grew up with Dragon Ball We did it in a synchronous and collective context. It was almost a community ritual closely linked to mainstream television." That synchronous model produced a very homogeneous shared narrative, which today contrasts with digital fragmentation.

In recent decades, the landscape has changed radically. The platform economy and social media have globalized theanime and have altered the way it is consumed. "Generation Z has grown up in a digital and transnational ecosystem," explains Torrents. "Thanks to streaming and social media, they can see My Hero Academia either One Piece when they want to and participate in global communities on Twitch, TikTok, or Reddit. They don't just watch them, but comment on them, remix them, turn them into memes, create art, or make analytical videos." This new relationship—active, participatory, and global—has transformed theanime in a shared space of cultural production, where symbols circulate freely and can be reappropriated with new meanings.

The transition from pop culture to politics is also related to affectivity. Many young people establish intense emotional bonds with fictional characters and worlds; when these universes become shared repertoires, they can naturally cross over from private space to public space. The Straw Hat Pirates' flag functions as a condenser of simple yet powerful ideas—freedom, friendship, resistance—and at the same time as a code of recognition among transnational communities that mobilize and organize in real time.

The case of Kathmandu and Jakarta is paradigmatic: what was once an element of youth culture has become a tool for articulating collective dissent in very different political contexts. Unlike previous generations, who often consumed anime With a certain degree of stigma, Generation Z has incorporated it as a structural part of their symbolic universe. Figures, flags, or phrases ofanime They become shared repertoires that transcend linguistic and geographical boundaries. What unites these young people is not just a fondness for a series, but a shared visual grammar that can activate complicity, affection, and even political movements.

Limits and risks of the phenomenon

At the same time, this phenomenon raises questions about its limits and risks: to what extent can global commodification neutralize symbolic power? Can aesthetics displace political content? So far, the creativity of fans and their capacity for self-organization have shown that it is possible to reclaim commercial symbols and imbue them with a collective and emancipatory meaning. Alba Torrents believes this process is still expanding: "We are facing a cultural language in constant transformation, which new generations adapt and redefine at a speed that institutions have not yet fully grasped."

The change in perception is also economic and industrial.anime It has gone from a niche market to a global one, with decentralized production chains and platforms that release series simultaneously in multiple countries. For example, a few years ago it would have been impossible to see a series premiere in theaters. anime like the one from Kimetsu no Yaibawhich has been a spectacular box office success, generating over $1 billion in revenue. "These kinds of events are clear proof of the extent to which anime consumption has become normalized and gained visibility worldwide," Torrents points out.

This environment has broadened the audience and broken the old stigma: saying "I like theanime"It's no longer a confession of geekiness, but a cultural statement shared by actors, athletes, and creators from all over. In Catalonia, TV3's early commitment sowed a habit that is now reinforced by digital consumption and fan communities."

There is also a generational factor that explains the speed of this phenomenon. Generation Z is not only a consumer; it is a constant producer of meaning. Clips, edits, cosplay, fanfiction and political interpretations circulate with unprecedented ease. When a symbol like the Jolly Roger The Straw Hats' flag appears at a protest; no translation is needed, as thousands of users have previously shared images, jokes, and interpretations. This reduces the symbolic entry cost and transforms the flag into a common, immediately understandable language.

In this context, theanime It acts as an intercultural bridge. Its stories of perseverance, community, and justice resonate in very different societies, offering a flexible ethical framework that each context reinterprets. When the protests in Jakarta begin, Jolly Roger Against a regulation perceived as unfair, or in Kathmandu when digital censorship is rejected, it is not a closed Japanese identity that is being invoked, but a constellation of values that young people have embraced and can project onto local conflicts.

This plasticity, however, is not unlimited. The risk of trivialization always exists, and the possibility of turning the protest into merchandising The idea that a flag is merely an aesthetic gesture without consequences is very real. However, the events in Indonesia and Nepal point in another direction: the collective and persistent use of the symbol has been accompanied by organization, concrete demands, and real political effects. The flag is not an end in itself; it is an interface between effect and action. Today, what some dismissed as "drawings" is a powerful system of signs capable of articulating communities and, if necessary, confronting power. As Torrents points out, "When citizens adopt them to express collective demands, the symbol is not trivialized, but rather gains a new political dimension."