I'm coming back to this not because anything has changed, sorry but because I'm confronting a sad realization about the fanbase as to Managhood's political /racial messaging resonates despite the times.
This will essentially be a rant so tl;dr: It's easier to accept both sideism than to admit a system itself is the issue if you like or benefit from it.
>!The way both are handled in Mangahood with the Ishavalans is the idealized and ignorant view of the majority. Both sides-ism bullshit where it's super easy to ignore the power dynamics, context and injustices to take a inconsistent holier than thou "Vengeance and killing is bad...except against Lust" stance that puts the onus on the victims of a war crime. It's easier to digest and it's why I used to ask "How many dead Ishvalans equal a Hughes" to address the discrepancy in empathy the fanbase shows.
I already knew fans are going to identify more with the military just due to screentime but what I loved in 2003 is that by linking Liore to Ishval it created a direct connection for empathy and reflection. Because the audience can't treat the genocide in Ishval as a 1 off occurrence nor the abuses in Liore as solely the big bads fault.
It forces Ed and the audience to confront what oppressed communities always knew, turning the other cheek MEANS YOU'RE GONNA GET HIT AGAIN. Non-violence is the ideal but is not the reality as the majority WHO USES VIOLENCE TO ENFORCE THE SYSTEM will not return it in kind, THATS THE PROBLEM!
So by having Scar do what was necessary to save Liore it puts the onus on the military to do better or face justice in whatever form victims see fit and it's so FUCKING CATHARTIC but not to those who are like Ed.
Tho chronologically the Amestrian military fits more with the Boer Wars I am so glad it's parallels to a more well known group were not ignored in 2003. Call it Godwin's Law or being edgy if you want but the fact Mangahood never brings up the tribunals it touted in vol. 15 to me shows the '03 understood and embraced that it's cast was flawed.!<
I'm sorry.