I find irony in how you criticize Japan for painting themselves as the good guys. And in the very next sentence, you paint Americans as the good guys.
You are proof that people want to hear stories that pander to their emotions.
You are proof that people want to hear stories that pander to their emotions.
As far as real-world wars go, within the constraints of the real world where nobody is ever purely good or purely evil, World War 2 is about as close as we're ever going to get to a good guys vs bad guys war.
You could even make the argument that the allies should not have resisted the Nazi invasions of Europe/Russia because the cost in lives ended up greater than what might have happened if they'd easily taken control. Though we can't know that "what if" scenario, we can at least try not to fool ourselves too much by assuming it would be unimaginable worse forever.