General

it's a weird cultural phenomenon between the Japanese and German people. Maybe it was the kinship they shared since WW2 (although neither liked it and outdated views are overrated when determining current relationships).
Maybe it's the amazingly high and similar standards these two cultures have for themselves, such as work ethic and tradition.
Or it's just some other attraction that allows Japanese to understand/know/portray the German better, like history.
Historically, the German and Japanese states were created in a similar fashion, from a variety of independent kingdoms and lands that were united under powerful "warlords" like Oda Nobunaga in the rise of the Tokugawa period or Bismarck in his Second Reich. A mirrored background helps with understanding and using German archetypes.

Now, let's go into the specifics. Anime/manga portrayals are very loose and generally full of stereotypes and simple caricatures. All foreign Caucasians are deemed "exotic". Americans are shown to be generally shown as big-breasted, confident, and free people *see Chitoge from Nisekoi. English people are cold, gentlemanly, and cultured *see Kurosh11tsuji/Black Bulter. Italians are fat, fancy, jolly, Mario-eske fellows with a special affinity to cooking. The German archetype is perhaps the optimal in most Japanese eyes. A wonderful attention to workmanship, an obsession to perfection, plus the stuff from the first paragraph, and last and most importantly, the flowing blonde hair and piercing blue eyes that is impossible for a native Japanese to obtain naturally. The Germans are what some Japanese may consider as the "most Japanese" and "most ideal" foreigner, which makes adapting Germans to anime/manga so easy and well-received. Also working in a familiar landscape allows for an authors to make a better plot *see Fullmetal Alchemist.

TLR Germans are similar to Japanese, but with blonde hair and blue eyes. Japanese love that stuff, so Japanese authors cater to those interests.

/end rambling

I think some of the Japanese words are originated from German language

the opening for future diary Eins zwei Drei which is one two three

[quote=Seodan]In SAO:GGO One of the suspected Death Guns had the username "Sterben" which means "to die" in German[/quote]

Yeah, I remember picking up on that too. There's a bunch of other stuff that I'm missing that I've noticed while watching anime; I just can't remember all of them now because there are so many examples.

[quote=Pashmimi]Japan is just really obsessed with foreign countries, Germany and France in particular. They think they're cool or something, idk.

Source: My mom is Japanese. When she was little, her and her friends saw this blonde lady and literally fangirled and were like "oMG is sHe FrOM frAnCE?"[/quote]
Interesting because Japanese has some loan words from the germans, e.g. the word for "part-time job"

[quote=UAPaladin]and there are a ton of other things that I'm missing. [/quote]
In SAO:GGO One of the suspected Death Guns had the username "Sterben" which means "to die" in German

[quote=UAPaladin]Yeah, it's pretty cool when it's used, I'm just curious why it's used so much. For example: Both of the Attack on Titan OPs have parts completely in German, use of German words like Fuhrer in FMAB (though I can kinda see why they did this), in Madoka there were writings from Faust in German on the walls, in the Fate/Stay Night series, the chanting for the spells is all in German, the episode titles in Elfen Lied are in German, and there are a ton of other things that I'm missing. Maybe I'm just picking it up more because I can speak German, but it definitely seems to me that it's used way more than any other language than Japanese/English in anime[/quote]

There are languages that just sound and look more objectively "cool" than other languages - compare German to, say, Hindi, or Japanese to Vietnamese. A combination of this and a lesser knowledge/exposure to the language results in a lot of it being used very gratuitously (who names their kid "Eclair"?), and German's just got a really strong feel to it.

Japan is just really obsessed with foreign countries, Germany and France in particular. They think they're cool or something, idk.

Source: My mom is Japanese. When she was little, her and her friends saw this blonde lady and literally fangirled and were like "oMG is sHe FrOM frAnCE?"

it's because it sounds foreign, tough, and cool
the Japanese don't really think that deeply about this kind of stuff, just look at anime Christianity

@UApaladin your not wrong they tend to use german in the bothe the anime themselves and in some of the music more so than any other and it's probably cause of the ties that had with germany during ww2 even today they still have strong ties to each other

[quote=Maxilonius]Negima has a lot of Latin and a little bit of Sanskrit, but that's mostly because they're pretty cool when used correctly. I'd assume German is the same.[/quote]

Yeah, it's pretty cool when it's used, I'm just curious why it's used so much. For example: Both of the Attack on Titan OPs have parts completely in German, use of German words like Fuhrer in FMAB (though I can kinda see why they did this), in Madoka there were writings from Faust in German on the walls, in the Fate/Stay Night series, the chanting for the spells is all in German, the episode titles in Elfen Lied are in German, and there are a ton of other things that I'm missing. Maybe I'm just picking it up more because I can speak German, but it definitely seems to me that it's used way more than any other language than Japanese/English in anime

Negima has a lot of Latin and a little bit of Sanskrit, but that's mostly because they're pretty cool when used correctly. I'd assume German is the same.

[quote=Momijii]they're one of the more easier nationalities to caricature[/quote]

I meant more like the frequent use of the German language

they're one of the more easier nationalities to caricature

The only thing I can come up with is Japan (Anime) and Germany both belong to Axis in WWII

cause the japs loved the nazi's

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVZaVvnHGJE