How can we make the military genre more appealing?

[Fireminer]

(In this thread, the military genre includes works set in and after WWI, including science fiction. I am excluding works such as Girls und Panzers, Kantai Collection, and all mecha anime.)

Hate it or love it, the success of shows such as GATE and Tanya have been drawing more people into the military genre. However, it seems to me that it remains to be a relatively niche category in the wider scene.

So, how can we make the military genre more appealing? I acknowledge that even in Western media, not everyone enjoy your Tom Clancy-esque thrillers, but that does not mean the genre is unpromising.

[Tanuki.]

What part about the military genre do you find intruguing?

I'm personally not a fan of military stories, but I don't dislike them per se. I like Metal Gear Solid, for example, but stuff that just wants to appeal to military otaku or military uniform fetishism or glorification of weapons, war and nationalism or cute girls in war or teenagers fighting wars in a semi-serious way (with stupid jokes or inconsistencies that break the immersion) isn't exactly something that makes me like those kinds of stories. Quite the opposite, actually.

I'm very interested in war stories. Not stories about shooting guns or the newest tank models, but stories about how people feel during war (not necessarily only soldiers). Stories that highlight the humane aspect. I would prefer stories like Area 88 or Gundam 8th MS Team (haven't seen either of them, but from what I've heard) any day over any iteration of cute girls doing cute war or isekai war stories or stuff like Gate that makes me roll my eyes.

[Haak]

That depends on who you are trying to make it more appealing towards. If it's for the typical otaku audience then the answer is fairly obvious:

• Female waifu characters and cute girls doing their best.
• Game/RPG/fantasy elements
• Edgelord philosophy/ideologies

XP

[Mad Pierrot]

I think Fullmetal Alchemist tackled this very well especially in the OVAs and flashbacks where they most of Mustang, Hughes and Hawkeye's past pretty well. While

Spoiler for spoiler of fma:

Hughes doesn't live long enough, both Mustang and Hawkeye acknowledge they did horrible things during the attack to the Ishbalans to the point they also deserve punishment

[Fireminer]

Originally Posted by Tanuki.

What part about the military genre do you find intruguing?

I'm personally not a fan of military stories, but I don't dislike them per se. I like Metal Gear Solid, for example, but stuff that just wants to appeal to military otaku or military uniform fetishism or glorification of weapons, war and nationalism or cute girls in war or teenagers fighting wars in a semi-serious way (with stupid jokes or inconsistencies that break the immersion) isn't exactly something that makes me like those kinds of stories. Quite the opposite, actually.

I'm very interested in war stories. Not stories about shooting guns or the newest tank models, but stories about how people feel during war (not necessarily only soldiers). Stories that highlight the humane aspect. I would prefer stories like Area 88 or Gundam 8th MS Team (haven't seen either of them, but from what I've heard) any day over any iteration of cute girls doing cute war or isekai war stories or stuff like Gate that makes me roll my eyes.

Well, you implies the answer to your question already. The military fiction genre has many faces, and different people find it appealing in different way. There are stories which are all about shooting bad guys, and they can be a refreshing break from reality. There are those about the nitty gritty of war, and they appeal by being thought-provoking drama in general. Then there are the stories that really appeal to the military guys (such the recond Ghost Fleet novel), and they can get to be very technical and tedious.

From what I seen recently in Western literature and TV, though, most creators are trying to include all the above (to different degrees) in their works.

Originally Posted by Haak

That depends on who you are trying to make it more appealing towards. If it's for the typical otaku audience then the answer is fairly obvious:

• Female waifu characters and cute girls doing their best.
• Game/RPG/fantasy elements
• Edgelord philosophy/ideologies

And that probably sums up the core of my question: How can we broaden the stroke of military anime so that more people will be drawn into the genre. Appealing to the base is all fine and well, but expanding is also important.

[kanoguti]

Less tactical gay shit and more magic stuff. Think Kuroko no Basket but with guns.

[Mister Twit]

I think the issue is that the "serious" military genre was absorbed some time ago by the mecha genre.

[RichardFromMarple]

Moe ;-)

[Fireminer]

Originally Posted by Mister Twit

I think the issue is that the "serious" military genre was absorbed some time ago by the mecha genre.

That is one of the problems. I understand that the military genre has always been a somewhat of a niche category, but relegated the genre to a single form of expression is not good.