ANALISIS RESEPSI ISU RASISME DAN DISKRIMINASI DALAM ANIME ATTACK ON TITAN: “HARI ITU” PADA SANTRI PONDOK PESANTREN MAHASISWA AL KAUTSAR

This research is motivated by the widespread consumption of popular media, particularly anime, among Islamic boarding school students (santri), which has the potential to influence their perspectives on social issues such as racism, discrimination, and the exercise of power. The Attack on Titan episode "That Day" portrays narratives of oppression, power imbalance, and the exploitation of vulnerable groups, which are relevant to be examined through the lens of a pesantren audience. The purpose of this study is to determine the reception of santri at the Al Kautsar University Students Islamic Boarding School toward the 57th episode, titled "That Day." This study employs a qualitative method with Stuart Hall’s reception analysis approach. Data collection techniques were conducted through in-depth interviews and documentation involving seven university-student santri as research subjects. The results indicate that the subjects' decoding process is heavily influenced by the interaction between their religious background from the pesantren and their academic disciplines at the university. The majority of the subjects occupy an oppositional position toward the values of racism, discrimination, and exploitation; informants with backgrounds in Law and Health Promotion reject these issues based on juridical human rights arguments and the systemic impact on social welfare, while informants with senior pesantren backgrounds reject them using theological-moral bases and religious tenets. Regarding the aspect of the right to speak, a negotiated position was found among senior santri who support freedom of expression yet compromise with the hierarchy of leadership authority for the sake of social stability. Meanwhile, regarding the aspect of justice, all subjects occupy a dominant position, agreeing that ideal power should be exercised to protect vulnerable groups. These findings prove that the religious background of the pesantren and the intellectual capacity of the students' university majors function as cultural capital that generates critical-negotiated interpretations of popular media messages.