Why the popularity of German?


Second to English, German seems to be the most popular foreign language in
anime. You see it in titles, names, and even quite a few characters are of
German descent.

For example, many characters in [_Shingeki no Kyojin_](http://anidb.net/perl-
bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=9541) appear to be German/have German names and
there are a lot of German references. [_Elfen Lied_](http://anidb.net/perl-
bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=1544) is also German (translates to "elf/elvish
song").

Is there a reason for this?




Historically speaking, Germany and Japan have been on friendly terms since the
1930s (and even before), due to their [shared militaristic
ambitions](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany%E2%80%93Japan_relations) just
prior to the second world war (which led to their Axis Alliance).

> After the Second World War, the economies of both nations experienced rapid
> recoveries; bilateral relations, now focused on economic issues, were soon
> re-established. Today, Japan and Germany are, respectively, the third and
> fourth largest economies in the world, and benefit greatly from many kinds
> of political, cultural, scientific and economic cooperation.

As a result, there is a lot of cross-cultural sharing, which is why you see a
lot of German outside of just anime as well ([for
example](http://www.sljfaq.org/afaq/german.html), the Japanese word for part-
time job (アルバイト) is based off the German word for work (arbeit).




Historically speaking, Germany and Japan have been on friendly terms since the
1930s (and even before), due to their [shared militaristic
ambitions](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany%E2%80%93Japan_relations) just
prior to the second world war (which led to their Axis Alliance).

> After the Second World War, the economies of both nations experienced rapid
> recoveries; bilateral relations, now focused on economic issues, were soon
> re-established. Today, Japan and Germany are, respectively, the third and
> fourth largest economies in the world, and benefit greatly from many kinds
> of political, cultural, scientific and economic cooperation.

As a result, there is a lot of cross-cultural sharing, which is why you see a
lot of German outside of just anime as well ([for
example](http://www.sljfaq.org/afaq/german.html), the Japanese word for part-
time job (アルバイト) is based off the German word for work (arbeit).

