This article uses native name orderings.
This contains spoilers for Kill la Kill.
You have been warned.
Often I read in discussions of one of my favourite anime shows: Kill la Kill, that it depicts a struggle against fascism, and while the notion is far from universal, it seems significant enough to warrant sharing my own take on the matter; I believe that this is a gross oversimplification, which may be detrimental to how we understand fascism. In the following paragraphs I hope to explain why I view the fascist label as a misnomer, explain my perspective, and reflect on why I believe such a label is harmful to public discourse.
I. What is Fascism?
To understand what is not fascism, we first have to define what is fascism. Fascism, like many ideologies has no single concrete definition, but is rather a collection of characteristics that various fascist entities adhere more or less to. For the purposes of this, I will look into several definitions, and compile what is generally understood as such.
Wikipedia defines fascism as the following: [1]
"Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement that rose to prominence in early-20th-century Europe [...] Fascism is characterized by support for a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived interest of the nation or race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy."
Britannica's explanation is the following: [2]
"[...] Although fascist parties and movements differed significantly from one another, they had many characteristics in common, including extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the rule of elites, and the desire to create a Volksgemeinschaft (German: “people’s community”), in which individual interests would be subordinated to the good of the nation. [...]"
Taking these, along with my own studies, I compile my definition, for the purposes of this essay, fascism, as an ideology which generally:
- Subserves all individuals to its own cause.
- Exterminates its opponents
- Exerts total governance over every aspect of life.
- Rules through terror and fear
- Promotes the supremacy of the nation, and/or "race" over all others, the purity of the "race", and ultra-nationalism.
II. Authoritarianism
If we look at the various countries of the 20th century, - for example my homeland: Hungary, we find a curious form of government. The Hungarian People's Republic was communist, and a puppet state of the USSR. To explain how Hungary got into this predicament, we have to roll back time to the end of World War One.
The War to end all wars saw the collapse of the dual-monarchy of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. In its place, various new states and entities emerged. As the terms of peace were being drafted in Paris, Hungary was briefly taken over by the Communist Party, under Kun Béla. The terms of peace were met with grief, and anger, and Hungary was plunged to an irredentist path, seeking to reclaim its old lands. Nazi Germany could exploit this perfectly, courting Hungary with its lost lands through the Vienna Awards. As a result, Hungary joined the Axis Powers, and in 1944, Soviet forces had invaded Hungary. After brutal war the devastating siege of Budapest, in 1945 Hungary fell under total Soviet occupation, which would last until 1989. The democratic processes were first restricted, then suspended, and Rákosi Mátyás became the communist dictator of Hungary. [3]
Under Rákosi, the state forcibly collectivized private property, the State Protection Authority (ÁVH) was founded, opposing political parties were banned, industrialization was heavy handedly forced, and a cult of personality of the leader was promoted. Rákosi's policies created food shortages in what was once the bread basket of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. Rákosi was called Stalin's best student. Eventually after the 1956 revolution, the new regime under Kádár János was more humane, however until the very end of the 1980s, people did not enjoy basic liberties that we take for granted today.
If we map these into points, communism:
- Subserves all individuals to its own cause.
- Exterminates its opponents
- Exerts total governance over every aspect of life.
- Rules through terror and fear
- Promotes class struggle, rule of the proletariat, the working class.
We find a great deal of overlap with fascism. And that is why I make the case that these two diseases are different strains of one another. Both are authoritarian, which means they aim for as much power accumulation as possible, and what differentiates fascism and communism is merely the populist idea that they claim they strive for. With simple mathematical reduction, we find that Fascism:
- Authoritarian
- Promotes the supremacy of the nation, and/or "race" over all others, the purity of the "race", and ultra-nationalism.
While Communism:
- Authoritarian
- Promotes class struggle, rule of the proletariat, the working class.
With this axiomic foundation laid, we can finally turn back to Kill la Kill.
III. Kill la Kill
When someone talks about fascism in Kill la Kill, they often mention either the first scene which mentions Hitler's rise to power, Satsuki's speech, or Ragyo. Let's address them each. The first scene opens with Mikisugi Aikuro talking about Hitler's rise to power in Nazi Germany. Some fans take this and extrapolate that the entire show is about fascism, however I'd like to provide a counter argument. What is the most well-known authoritarian regime? For many people, that would be Nazi Germany. If the show would have mentioned any other regime, it would have risked the audience not knowing, and not caring enough to discover it. To me, the mention of Nazi Germany here is a shorthand for authoritarianism, and therefore not uniquely fascism. Satsuki's speech "Fear is Freedom, Subjugation is Liberation, Contradiction is Truth! [...]" is an obvious reference to George Orwell's 1984. However, 1984 doesn't really present any ideology. English Socialism is always whatever the party wants it to be, and it lacks any principled foundation beyond the complete and utter subservience of everyone towards the interest of the Party and Big Brother. The fascism label does not stick here there either. u/MeganeReviews on r/anime posted what is in my opinion a far more interesting interpretation of the speech [4], reading it as a foreshadowing of the events to come, which rounds out the character of Satsuki much better in my personal opinion.
What makes fascism distinct from authoritarianism is the cruel principle which views one human based on superficial details as more or lesser than any different human. I view Kiryuin Ragyo as the strongest argument FOR why Kill la Kill is about fascism, but it falls flat for me. Ragyo lost her own humanity, and acts as a false deity, but more on that a different essay. She is the spokesperson of the Life-Fibers, which are extraterrestrial beings. It is unknown whether Life-Fibers exhibit consciousness in a similar way to how humans do, but even if they do, they lack the racist/nationalist motivation. Fascism employs social-Darwinism to state a gross hierarchy among humans, which Life-Fibers aren't a part of. The theory of evolution otherwise applies, and a stronger species will likely eliminate the weaker ones.
One aspect that isn't often mentioned is the First Naturals Election. I believe this is analogous to Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution in the People's Republic of China [4]. The Cultural Revolution, in essence was controlled chaos, in attempt to purge China of the 4 olds: old ideas, old culture, old customs, old habits. It mobilized the masses, to break down the current system, to re-construct another one. Red guards would be formed across the country, and they would be basically in very simplified terms be rampaging across China, fighting the old fours. This in a way pitted Chinese people against one another, and so does Satsuki when she announces the First Naturals Election, which is like a purge among the masses. Education would be suspended, and teachers representing the old traditionalist ideals would be denounced, or publicly shamed. Presumably Honnouji Academy didn't hold any classes during the Naturals Election either.
If we make a table of the different characteristics, we get the following:
| Axiom | Fascism | Communism | Honnouji |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subservience | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Extermination of Opponents | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Total Control | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Rascism in Governance | Central | Occasionally | No |
| Ultranationalism | Yes | No | No |
| Socialism | in name (NSDAP) | Yes | No |
| Rule trough Fear | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Economic Control | Total | Total | Unknown |
Kill la Kill borrows from and represents all authoritarianism, as authoritarianism is a form of governance, not an ideology, it molds together elements from various sources, but in the end represents neither flavour of authoritarianism, as it lacks the principled, ideological drives behind the aesthetics borrowed from real world totalitarian regimes. Almost each and every presented element is not unique to fascism, but from a broad spectrum across all authoritarianism. Nazi Germany and other fascist countries employed racial discrimination, and took part in genocide, in an attempt to pursue their own "national rebirth" as the dominant nations of the world. Ragyo does not discriminate, she wants all humans dead for her plan. People fixate on uniforms, and nudity, and while there is certainly content in that, it's not unique to fascism. Grandiose events and stylish uniforms are tools in every Authoritarian's kit: From the jewels and coronations, through rallies in Hugo Boss uniforms all the way to Zhongshan suits in front of ballistic missile carriers on Tienanmen Square. In essence: all fascism is authoritarian, but not all authoritarianism is fascism.
IV. Why do I give a damn?
First and foremost, because I like Kill la Kill, and I like history. Nowadays, people are quick to throw words such as fascist, or communist around, without any real substantial backing. I believe this to be dangerous, because if you call the wolf attack every time, fewer will be alert for when the real animal comes for a visit, and one could argue this is already too late.
Citations:
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism
[2]: https://www.britannica.com/topic/fascism
[3]: https://nat2012.nkp.hu/tankonyv/tortenelem_12/lecke_02_014 & https://erettsegi.com/tetelek/tortenelem/a-rakosi-korszak/
[4]: https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/64id05/the_true_meaning_behind_satsuki_kiriyuins_speech/
[5]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Revolution
(All accessed on the date of writing.)
2026-01-13