For some reason, I continue to watch MF Ghost. I think the races have genuinely gotten better, and it’s just enough to overcome some of the weird aspects of the series that comes partly from an old man trying to write a young romance for an old man audience.

Something I’m more neutral on that keeps popping up in the anime are these scenes that are basically shilling Japan and its culture, like they’re doing tourism advertisements. Kanata, the half-Japanese protagonist who recently moved from the United Kingdom, is constantly in awe of Japanese Things. He’ll eat the most delicious rice ever in Japan, or go into a speech about why the country is uniquely suited to seafood because of various environmental factors. And all that is wrapped up in a show that’s about Kanata’s Toyota 86 GT facing off against Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and other elite foreign cars. 

I’m not necessarily against this, and it’s true that Japan has a lot of delicious food and excellent rice. It’s just that it feels like an ongoing undercurrent of Japanese nationalism, though I have no knowledge of the author Shigeno Shuichi’s political beliefs. I’m just confused as to whether this ties into any sort of previous Cool Japan initiatives (or its successor, whatever they’re calling it).