The Chinese government, through its state media outlets, announced on Tuesday that it has partnered with a popular domestic cartoon streaming service to produce a series titled The Leader, retelling the story of Karl Marx’s life in the form of an anime presenting him as a young, approachable romantic.
The series reportedly seeks to celebrate Marx as 2018, the 200th year since his birth, comes to a close, and to replace the image that most Chinese have of the philosopher in their minds as an old, heavy, bearded white man. The Karl Marx featured in promotional content for The Leader appears similar to the heroes in most anime series.
Anime is a form of animation originating in Japan that has become extremely popular around the world.