Hankook Ilbo
An editorial within the South Korean "Hankook Ilbo" on 4 November 2013 accuses that the strong popularity of the game is due to a conservative political shift amongst young people in Japan following long-term economic recession and political instability, and that the game glorifies the wartime Imperial Japanese Navy. Addressing the "Hankook Ilbo" allegation, Akky Akimoto writing for "The Japan Times" disagrees with the idea that the game's design deliberately facilitates any political shift, and argues that the 1970s anime series "Space Battleship Yamato" was subject to similar criticisms despite having little effect on domestic politics.