Dogeza de Tanondemita anime is based on the manga created by Kazuki Funatsu and was originally an irregular webcomic released through the creator’s Twitter account. It was adapted into an anime in 2020 and it is one of those rare cases when an adult sex comedy is taken up for a mainstream platform. Dogeza de Tanondemita anime is a portrayal of an insane and twisted version of the cultural stance of dogeza, which has been employed for vile and dishonorable reasons.
What is the culture of dogeza and what significance does it hold in the Japanese community?
Dogeza is a traditional form of Japanese etiquette that involves the person kneeling on the ground and bowing while touching the head on the floor. It is a show of intensive reverence, of deference to a person of higher status, as an apology, or as a desire to acquire a favor from the other. According to the Japanese social consciousness and the traditional values of the community, the dogeza is an act of deference when one is supposedly committing a wrongful deed and is apologetic about it towards the other person.
The dogeza is an old form of tradition and the earliest recorded history of this traditional practice has been documented in the Gishiwajinden, the oldest Chinese record of encounters with the Japanese. The dogeza is also a show of profound respect to another person, while many consider it to be an act of humiliation or subordination as the ground is considered impure in Japanese culture.
The dogeza however evolved over time and what once used to be an act of expressing utmost reverence and respect is now limited to expressing apologies and asking for favors. This shift has been greatly influenced by popular media and art, and shows like Dogeza de Tanondemita anime have further deteriorated its position and status, restricting the meaning to something filled with ill intentions and selfish motives and desires.
How does the Dogeza de Tanondemita anime portray the traditional act of dogeza?
Dogeza de Tanondemita portrays the dogeza stance of Japanese culture as a vile act of trying to persuade and forcibly demand women to show their underwear and breasts. The protagonist Suwaru Doge is a man who performs this act to push women to a limit where they comply with his request with astonishment, embarrassment, and confusion. The entire show portrays how Doge pushes women into certain conditions and at times also flatters them to see their breasts and underwear. He also throws tantrums at times and pushes the other person to their emotional limit.
The end of the anime shows Doge being stabbed to death by Ayame Omoi and he reincarnates in a new world, only to start the same practice all over again. The portrayal of the act of dogeza in Dogeza de Tanondemita anime is extremely off-track, indecent, inaccurate, and infuriating. To portray a traditional form of cultural practice in such an adulterated manner comes as a shock to many.
Is the portrayal of dogeza in Dogeza de Tanondemita anime a Menippean satire?
The act of dogeza is an act of showing reverence to the superior. While this propagates a certain hierarchy of being, it also upholds the structure of feudalism and class. This social norm ensures that there is a social hierarchy in place and therefore it reinstates inequality of being and of having a place in the society. The act of dogeza also ensures that the person has knelt and bowed down to the ground, which in a way upholds the tradition of domination and subordination in a monarchy.
Dogeza de Tanondemita anime has portrayed the dogeza stance of Japanese culture as an informal and vile act of asking for sexual favors and visuals. This comes in a very chaotic manner and it shatters the institutional values of the act. Therefore, it can be seen as a Menippean satire where the act of chaos directly attacks the structure of the world and the subject matter in consideration. Therefore, the Dogeza de Tanondemita anime can entirely be considered a futile work of adult sex comedy or a work of Menippean satire to critique the societal values and norms in place.
Conclusion
Dogeza de Tanondemita anime applies the dogeza stance of Japanese culture as an act of asking for sexual favors. While it cannot be directly schooled into the categories of harassment and abuse, it is definitely a borderline form of the same. But, from what we discussed and observed, we can conclude that either this anime can be seen as a sex comedy or as a satirical piece of mainstream media.