TeamTalk: If Money and Time Were No Object…

We’re just hours from the end of our crowdfunding campaign now (and only $1,672 from our stretch goal to open an online shop! Please contribute now).

For our final campaign editorial, the team decided to build off our 2019-2021 strategy and look even further into the future, asking:

If money and time weren’t an obstacle, what kind of projects would you like to see Anime Feminist work on?

Caitlin

My primary goal has always been educating readers and encouraging them to think about the media they consume, and my project ideas reflect that.

The first one would be an event that falls somewhere between your current standard anime conventions and an academic conference—a bit like the site itself, but in real life.

Panels have always been my favorite part of conventions, and we could host panels and presentations from fans and industry folk alike discussing and debating anime and manga through a feminist lens. Have media literacy workshops for teens, so we can help support them navigate the rocky waters of media consumption. And, while not officially AniFem-sponsored, offer a space where fans can plan meetups and get-togethers and feel safe while doing so.

The other one would be to build a guide for parents, librarians, and other people in charge of minors’ media consumption.

This wouldn’t be a simple list of objectionable content or suggested age ratings, but discussion guides based on input from trained experts. This guide, ideally, will help adults to offer guidance even as children and teenagers take in stories featuring difficult subjects.

Peter

The first thing I’d want to get into is video.

Putting out our content in as many mediums as possible increases availability and exposure to a larger audience. Starting up a YouTube channel to make video essays from popular articles or eventually original video content.

Hiring a correspondent in Japan to report on feminist and LGBT news in Japan, reach out to Japanese writers about translating their work into English, and providing coverage of the anime industry and fandom through a feminist lens.

Being able to license and digitally publish manga would be great as well, focusing on important historical shoujo and LGBT titles and current works from minority voices.

Chiaki

If money were no obstacle, I’d seek to nullify the capitalist institutions that dictate much of the anime and manga industry in order to liberalize, equalize and socialize the creation of art for marginalized voices and offer free access to everyone and anyone interested. Oh, you meant like website stuff.

I’d like to see if we can go beyond the realm of analysis and reflection into synthesis.

The Discord server for a period of time got really excited and started thinking of a dojinshi a while back. What kind of original work can the site’s content inspire? Can we make that “it should have been that way” ending for those stories we lament or criticize? Can we prove that such stories can hold up or surpass the original even while remaining inclusive or sensitive?

Vrai

I would love for us to be able to do that full panel of premiere reviews—premiere season is exhausting, but I always look forward to reading the team’s reviews and seeing how people respond to mind.

For really pie in the sky stuff, translated content from Japanese feminist writers and someone who can obtain manga in Japanese and report/review on it in a way that ensures the creator gets paid. So many niche queer manga in particular have a hard time getting attention and translation (look how long it took us to even get one Akiko Morishima series licensed!).

Dee

• A fully multilingual site, starting with English and Japanese and expanding from there.
• To echo Vrai, translations of pop culture analysis from marginalized Japanese writers.
• Weekly episode commentaries on multiple series.
• An extensive review database for a variety of media (anime, manga, light novels, visual novels, etc.).
• A physical office where the team could laugh around the water cooler and host dorky holiday parties.
• A creative publications branch with a combination of translated and original manga and (light) novels.
• Co-productions of anime series with a strong focus on supporting studios who treat their employees right.

…Listen, you said money was no object, and I took that very seriously.

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While some of the team’s ideas are more ambitious than others, not one is impossible.

Our crowdfunding campaign will give us money we need to work towards these projects – some of them starting in the next three years.

In these final hours of the campaign, help us make your favourite project idea a reality and contribute now!