Spoilers.
As the war on men rages on, 24-year-old Marine veteran Daniel Penny has been charged by New York City prosecutors with second-degree manslaughter. Earlier this month, Penny put his life on the line to protect New York subway riders from Jordan Neely, a disturbed homeless man who was reportedly shouting “I’ll hurt anyone on this train.”
Penny is a hero, and the charges against him send a clear message to every American man and boy: Heroes go to jail. The regime is making an example out of Penny because he inadvertently killed a member of a protected class, while also exhibiting masculine virtue.
Penny isn’t the only man they’ve made an example of, and he certainly won’t be the last. The expected charges undoubtedly have a chilling effect on American men, especially white men. But public punishment is not the left’s only or most effective tool. Demonizing masculinity occurs in the form of cultural conditioning and it is primarily targeted at boys, not men like Penny.
Modern schools systematically neuter boys. So does the media they consume. Take the male-targeted TV show “Transformers: EarthSpark,” in which two of the characters reveal they use “they” pronouns and identify as non-binary.
Gender confusion is deployed against both boys and girls alike, but boys have the added constant reminder that their masculine instincts are “toxic.” From youth, they are reprogrammed into suppressing their instincts, and a shocking number of male boys are pumped with prescription drugs if they can’t sit still for eight hours a day.
Western media, and particularly children’s programming, has become so infected with anti-masculinity sentiment and general wokeness that foreign media is now one of the few avenues of escaping it.
Enter “Demon Slayer”: a Japanese shounen anime series available on Netflix that I’ve been watching with my 7-year-old brother. I’m the oldest of nine children, and for a 23-year-old, I’ve seen a lot of kids’ shows. But “Demon Slayer” is special. The series values everything the West no longer does: courage, family, strength, and masculine virtue.
“Demon Slayer” follows Tanjiro Kamado, an adolescent boy whose loving family is murdered by demons. His little sister Nezuko is the only survivor… kind of. Nezuko is turned into a demon herself.
To find a cure for his sister and protect innocent people around him, Tanjiro becomes a demon slayer. Motivated by an innate protective instinct, he nearly gives up his life for his little sister on multiple occasions.
Tanjiro is not brutish. He is highly skilled. In contrast to the left’s insistence that everyone is “perfect the way they are,” Tanjiro knows from the get-go that he has a lot to learn. He undergoes strenuous demon slayer training, perseveres despite failure, and displays an unending desire to better himself.
Tanjiro is also not bloodthirsty. He doesn’t revel in killing. In fact, he doesn’t want to kill demons at all if he doesn’t have to, especially because his own sister is a demon (albeit one with the rare ability to control her thirst for human blood).
When Tanjiro kills, he models respect for his enemies, always honoring their dying wishes. He wants to give demons that can and will control their thirst an opportunity to live. However, the moment they pose a risk to innocent humans or his sister, he ends their lives without hesitation.
One of the worst tropes of Western media is the hero sparing his enemy at the last moment, only for the enemy to somehow die by accident another way (think “Spider-Man: No Way Home” or “The Lion King”). Like a real-world hero, Tanjiro is not apprehensive about killing those who threaten his loved ones, when necessary.
Perhaps an even better role model than Tanjiro is Kyojuro Rengoku, Tanjiro’s mentor and a member of the elite demon-slaying organization known as the Hashira. Growing up, Rengoku’s mother taught him “It is the obligation of those born strong to save the weak.” Rengoku led his life by this principle. From shouldering radical responsibility, Rengoku derives joy. His spirit is literally on fire, which is why both his attire and hair resemble a flame.
Rengoku is the embodiment of a happy warrior, always smiling, even as he dies a painful death after sacrificing his life to save 200 train passengers and his young demon slayer mentees. Even though his demon opponent escaped, Rengoku radiates joy because he died fulfilled, knowing he protected the innocents. “Set your heart ablaze,” he tells his pupils as he dies. “Don’t feel bad that I’m going to die. As a Hashira, it’s natural I’d protect you all.”
We can replace “Hashira” in that sentence with simply “a good man.” Protecting the innocent is what good men do. Without left-wing reprogramming, it’s instinctual. “Demon Slayer” celebrates everything the left hates.
Imagine how Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who equated Penny’s actions to “murder,” might fit into the “Demon Slayer” world. She would probably label Rengoku and Tanjiro toxic. Every cultural signal our young boys receive is backward, and that’s what makes this show so special.
To parents: “Demon Slayer” isn’t perfect. It’s gory, a little scary, and contains a few instances of scantily clad women (which seems to be an unfortunate staple of anime). But in a media sphere that desperately wants my brother and your sons and grandsons to grow up weak and cowardly, it’s overall a positive alternative to American children’s television.
Evita Duffy-Alfonso is a staff writer to The Federalist and the co-founder of the Chicago Thinker. She loves the Midwest, lumberjack sports, writing, and her family. Follow her on Twitter at @evitaduffy_1 or contact her at evita@thefederalist.com.
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