I make that assessment of comparative stupidity in that just seeing a poster could get a guys ire up in the 1940's where as even a moron would likely still need some fancy fox news bumper animations to knock the hate into him these days.

Japan in the 40s was no different than America or Germany or any other country during a large war...their government is always right, their side of the war is the right one, the just one, and any actions taken are justified because they are the good guys...anyone disagreeing is traitor.

It's not "mostly accurate" because it avoids the simple dirty truth that every characterization of WW2 as "the last good war" has made right up to the present day: total war was being practiced by every major participant in the conflict to the best of their abilities.

The Japanese army committed atrocities against innocent civilians throughout east Asia and the Pacific, but the million or so Japanese citizens incinerated in the deliberate American terror bombing campaign in the last year of the war were just as innocent. Britain, Germany, Italy and the Soviet Union were all extremely guilty of targeting civilians for their own strategic ends, too. It was considered an acceptable way to wage war by every major power and that's the main reason why it turned into such an unprecedented bloodbath.

I hate it when modern Japanese try to whitewash the Rape of Nanjing but I also hate it when modern Americans shrug and say we had no choice but to start nuking civilian population centers. They were both fucking atrocities and both countries should face the truth.

You are absolutely correct, both of you. Grave of the Fireflies, while being an anime, is a very historically actuate portrayal of the end of the war in Japan.
I was not trying to excuse America in the slightest. The use of the nuclear bomb on civilian targets was also the worst war crime ever committed next to the holocaust itself.

Trust me, I'm the last human on Earth you'll hear ra-raing America. Hell, I've spent the past five years in Asia partially because Americans scare and annoy me. I was simply trying to be objective, and the campaign of Total War was practiced and honed into the longer lasting culture since the occupation of Korea and beyond.

Hell, I'm likely to transfer to Japan in the coming months and I couldn't be more thrilled. But that doesn't whitewash history. And we should remember that America is ultimately nothing more than a violent bully. there are no good guys when it comes to wars. Period. Any war. Everyone becomes a monster.

My conclusion to my original post is also mostly to illustrate gullibility from media at the time, too. Propaganda was giant and obvious and people still fell for it. As much as Fox News might seem like an obvious moron factory, it is a far more insidious and refined machine than this old films or posters ever were.

When I was a kid, growing up in the swamplands of Washington state, anti-Jap propaganda could still occasionally be found in strange places, 40 years later. I remember walking in to a little convenience store in Bucoda, grabbing a pack of Hostess Donettes, and seeing this raggedly old poster of a leering Jap with a dagger in his hand, tucked up behind the register. As far as I know, it's still there.

There y'all go with the moral relativism.

[Applejack]
Those vampire Japs will give you a fright,
Eating apples both day and night,
They rest for a minute, maybe three,
Then, they're killing every country 'cross the deep blue sea.
They don't care about nada, not zilch, no, nothin',
Cept' bringin' about the free world's destruction!

[Fluttershy]
Now, wait just a minute, there's another side to this,
And if I did not defend them, then I would be remiss.
These Japs are mamas and papas too,
They care for their young just like we Americans do.

[Applejack]
Oh, gimme a break, you're being too kind,
these creatures have a one-track mind!
The Pacific is not their restaurant,
but do they ever think what others may want?
NO, they DON'T, and that is just a fact!
These Japs, they simply don't know how to act!

[Fluttershy]
That's where I have to disagree, they're loyal to their family,
Spreading seeds both far and wide,

[Applejack]
You see one comin', you better run and hide!
They're big, and ugly, and mean as sin,
Will you look at the state Pearl Harbor's in?!

[Fluttershy]
They help your trees, they'll grow stronger faster...

[Applejack]
They turned my life to a total disaster!

[Rarity]
Well, I for one don't have a doubt,
these vermin must be stamped right out,

[Rainbow Dash]
I second that, they've got to go,
these Japs, they've got to hit the road,

[Applejack]
It comes down, to just one simple fact,
They've crossed the line, it's time to fight them back!

[Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie Pie]
Stop the Japs, Stop the Japs,
Make them go and not come back,
Stop the Japs, Stop the Japs,
Make them go and not come back,
Stop the Japs, Stop the Japs,
Make them go and not come back,

[Applejack]
It comes down, to just one simple fact,
They've crossed the line, it's time that we attack!

(we may not have The Stare, but we did have The Bomb. Suck it, Japs!)

Actually, scratch that; I'm pretty sure The Stare was Hollywood, and Twilight Sparkle was the Euro-American propaganda machine.

Leave ponies out of this, you crazy bastard.