AfDAnimeGermany

Germany’s AfD party has considerable buy-in from young men — including, apparently, anime fans.

A Tuesday tweet from the Right-wing party called for public pools to be made safe again, alongside an anime video of giggling bikini-clad women soaking up the sun. The playful ad, some observers noted, was perhaps incongruous with the implicit message in favour of removing foreigners.

The Right has long had a penchant for anime, with the medium becoming a symbol of the post-religious Right and stoking intra-conservative feuds about culture and morality. One could easily imagine the Trump campaign leaning into this aesthetic too — his followers certainly have. We’re left with one question: will the AfD make anime real?