Board Thread:Off Topic / Fun and Games/@comment-29602226-20181021164859/@comment-29435884-20181022111002

It certainly seems like it.

I can't really comment on the Japanese side of things, I don't watch/read much anime/magna (read that as basically none at all)

As far as Western media goes, I'm struggling to think of any example of modifiying someone's mentality or removing free will being shown in any sort of positive light. Usually it's shown to be evil and dehumanising.

Dystopian settings like 1984 and Brave New World are probably the clearest examples,

1984 has doublethink and the thought police (Eurasia is the enemy. Eurasia has always been the enemy) People being brainwashed by crushing oppression to just accepting everything their told.

BNW had birth conditioning and happy drugs to keep people content, but then went on to show that mandatory happiness  stopped creativity, free thought, being able to learn from mistakes etc. And more importantly, being conditioned from the test tube to already have a place in society basically enslaves people without them knowing or being able to care. So despite a world without poverty, starvation or disease it still ends up being an absolute horrorshow.

Then you've got the various cold war paranoia, MK Ultra style brainwashed sleeper agent stories. eg, Manchurian Candidate, COD black ops 1.

All those show brainwashing as a definite negative, turning people into robot like killers.

So yeah, It sure sounds like a bit of a different attitude.