Hermann von Diett originally called Herr Maforditte and also known as Russell is the main antagonist in Pursue Harimao's Treasure!!.
Biography[]
Russell is Archer's slimy corporate lawyer and is claiming to help Archer deal with the impending bankruptcy of his insurance company however, Russell is no friend to his client. Though he seems to be very mild-mannered and composed, Russell has a secret. In his spare time, Russell dons a Nazi uniform, make up and a microchip that femininely changes his voice to become Herr Maforditte who is one tough Nazi. So tough in fact, that he rips one of his minion's tougue out with his teeth. Demanding, dark and over-the-top every smart Nazi obeys Herr Maforditte. [1]
As Russell, he works at Lloyd's of London that according to Lupin III is an insurance company for insurance companies. As Hermann von Diett, he is the leader of the Neo Nazi group "Neo Himmler" that has 40 branches worldwide and commands his subordinate Göring to get the statues of Harimao's treasure. He hates women and is also afraid of them despite that he is a crossdresser and having a feminine voice chip.
Character History[]
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Notes[]
- As mentioned above, originally the character was called Herr Maforditte (ヘルマフォーディーテ) a play on the word "hermaphrodite" (ヘルマフロディーテ). In the script, the character was going to have a child like voice. When it got to the production stage, the character was changed to Hermann von Diett with its pronunciation also changed and the voice to be of a woman. [1] The original name was kept in the International versions with various translations such as Herr Mafroditte (English dub), Herr Maforditte (English Funimation subtitles), Hellmafordite (Italian), Herr Maffordite (French) and Helma Frodit (German).
- The character has become controversial for two reasons. The first reason was that the character is a Nazi and the second was that the character is an okama stereotype, in this context a crossdresser who has a fear of women. The word has various meanings ranging from crossdresser to slang for a homosexual.
- Due to this, the character affects the overall perception of the TV Special. Reed Nelson in his review of the special criticized "Herr Maphrodite" who considered it to be an "unfortunate decision" and the stereotype to be "hacky and lame" [2]. When Discotek was working on the Blu-ray release, many of the staff members such as Brady Hartel and Justin Sevakis were uncomfortable due to the character so they decided to include a warning for the TV Special due to stereotypes and being offensive towards LGBT people. Brady along with Noelle Siddall wrote linear notes for the character while Justin who also encoded the Blu-ray wrote an essay about homophobia in anime. [3]
- In the Funimation DVD descriptions of his two alter egos, it changes between in his spare time to at night.
References[]
- ↑ The Pursuit of Harimao's Treasure Funimation DVD.