AniFem Round-Up
[Perspectives] Cruelty or Kindness: Understanding The Promised Neverland’s Isabella
Caitlin explores Isabella’s character arc through her own experiences as a caretaker of young children in a terrifying world.
[History] Nonconforming in the ‘90s: How Pokemon’s gender variance caught the hearts of generation
Fresh from watching every dubbed episode of Pokemon, Dee explores the series’ rejection of traditional gender roles and gender presentation and its importance for kids in the 90s.
[AniFemTalk] How do you feel about movie sequels to anime series?
From Princess Principal to SHIROBAKO, movie sequels are experiencing a boom right now.
Beyond AniFem
Now on Kickstarter: ‘Black Anime: Lost Chill-dren of the Diaspora’ (Black Nerd Problems, Carrie McClain)
Mike Toney, the book’s artist, has done character designs for Cartoon Network and promotional work for Black Panther.
There’s a myriad of different characters in all shades and hues and body types. There are griots, cyborgs, spirit detectives, gods and even zombies. To quote Toney: “All the characters themselves are just as diverse and different as the different types of black people all over the world. Which I felt like I didn’t see.” Melody the Lightbringer, who can be found on pages 56 and 57, is probably my favorite with her dark skin, intricately braided pompadour and a sword that is the lovechild of Cloud Strife’s iconic Buster Sword and some legendary Pokemon’s electric rage. Her caption tells us that she’s from an important family and “she’s been groomed to wield Azimo, a blunt sword that houses a very special secret.” Also worth noting: I was really happy to open up this one and pour over it and blissfully not see any of the art of the female characters in the classic T & A poses which often makes me roll my eyes looking at digital art online, especially from male artists.
Japan lawmaker with severe disability attends 1st interpellation (The Mainichi)
Kimura Eiko posed many questions about accessibility for disabled individuals in Japanese society.
For roughly 30 minutes, she raised questions on the barrier-free accessibility of evacuation shelters during typhoons and other natural disasters, as well as the availability of toilets for the disabled.
According to the House of Councillors, it marks the first time a lawmaker requiring a wheelchair and an aide due to a disability has asked questions during an interpellation session.
The land and transport committee established rules which stipulated that the time needed for a government-paid secretary as a proxy to ask questions or for an aide to provide assistance would not be included in the allocated question time.
Kimura, who did not use a proxy speaker in the session, instead used her own words to engage in a discussion with transportation minister Kazuyoshi Akaba and others, by having her aide display questions written on a piece of paper.
“I want to work toward solving issues regarding barriers and discrimination which I have suffered until now,” she told reporters following the session.
Overworked Japanese employees mourn unused paid holidays at new Buddhist memorial service (SoraNews24, Oona McGee)
The ceremony is meant to reduce the stigma associated with taking paid leave.
The Buddhist priest will perform the solemn ceremony whilst chanting by the light of 300 lanterns, which represent the souls of unused paid leave days. Each lantern will be printed with a tale of a remorseful incident, with messages chosen from submissions which can be suggested online until 15 November.
If you’re looking for ideas to submit, a short survey conducted by the organisers revealed the following examples of remorseful incidents:
“My daughter cried because I postponed her preschool birthday party from May until December (Woman in her 30s)
“While I was shovelling a hamburger into my mouth on a golf course in Houston [on business], my first child was born (Man in his 30s)
“‘What’s more important to you, your friends or your company!!!’ I yelled at my friend. ‘I’m sorry, I can’t choose,’ they said. Then, after a long silence, like something from a TV quiz show, they said, ‘My company,’ and that’s when I lost my friend.” (Man in his 20s)
Japan last in female science graduates with master’s or Ph.Ds (The Asahi Shimbun, Ujioka Mayumi)
Only 23% of graduates at those levels were women.
“The lower rate of women can be likened to using only two cylinders in a four-cylinder engine, with the potential of society being lost,” said Andreas Schleicher, director of the OECD’s Directorate for Education and Skills. “There are few role models for female engineers and researchers, likely resulting in a male-dominated job community.”
Women also made up only 23 percent of the teaching work force in bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs in Japan in 2017. South Korea came next at 33 percent. Lithuania’s 57 percent was the highest on the list.
According to the report, Japan invested public funds equivalent to only 2.9 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) in educational institutions from elementary schools to universities and graduate schools in 2016.
How Do Indonesian Otaku Search and Use Information? A Brief Profile of Indonesian Otaku Information Behavior (The Indonesian Anime Times, Vina Nurziani)
A brief survey looking specifically at search engine data.
As for languages in query; 53,2% (82) of them use English as their searching language, 39% (60) use Indonesian, and 7,8% (12) use Japanese. This result shows that Indonesian otaku can translate their natural language (Indonesian) or natural language (Japanese) of works such as anime or manga title into another language (English) in a query. English becomes a solution to the language barrier in searching for information about Japanese works.
Where will I find the information?
Phase 2 of searching is where users have to understand the organization of digital information and select digital collections effectively and efficiently. The result of, “where will you find information?” shows that most of the respondents find information from group discussions and forums. Those places usually contain information about popular phenomenon and seasonal information, it’s a place to share their similar interest of something.
After triggering backlash, festival to show ‘comfort women’ film (The Asahi Shimbun, Ohira Kaname and Kitano Ryuichi)
Several other filmmakers pulled their films in solidarity before the special screening was announced.
Acclaimed director Hirokazu Kore-eda, whose “Shoplifters” won the Palme d’Or at the 2018 Cannes international film festival, agreed to have his movie “Wonderful Life” screened at the Kawasaki event. But when he took the stage in line with the showing, he also criticized organizers for deciding not to show “Shusenjo.”
At an open debate held on Oct. 30, participants asked that “Shusenjo” be shown. Some even volunteered to help out with security for the screening.
Organizers held a staff meeting on Nov. 1 and decided to show “Shusenjo.” Some of the movies that were canceled in protest may also be shown.
“Those involved in the movie industry as well as movie fans raised their voices,” one staff member said. “Many people also said they would provide support to ensure the safety of viewers, so I believe we were able to obtain the understanding of co-sponsors of this event, including the Kawasaki city government.”
Interview with Kase-san Series Creator Takashima Hiromi (Okazu, Erica Friedman)
A brief interview about her work and inspirations.
Q8: Do You read any Yuri Manga? If so, what series?
——————————————————-
I read a great deal of manga. The first Yuri manga I ever read was Morinaga Milk-sensei’s GIRL FRIENDS.
——————————————————-
Q9: Is there something you would like to say to overseas fans?
——————————————————-There are cases where Japanese culture is depicted in the comics, but is there anything that you wonder about?
A rice ball bentou. Girls going together to the bathroom.
Yokohama legal firm refuses to return passport to Filipino woman (The Mainichi)
While foreign laborers brought over as technical trainees cannot have their passports withheld, other foreign workers are not protected under the law.
Under the contract, the firm would keep her passport and the woman would need permission to retrieve it after making a written request. The office would also determine the manner and period of withholding her passport, she said.
She stopped working at Advaceconsul in early July but it refuses to recognize that she has quit. It has not responded to requests to give back her passport.
One of her supporters, who has been trying to get her passport back, described the firm’s action as an “act of oppression toward foreign workers.”
Some other foreign workers also requested Advanceconsul to return their passports, but the firm has not done so. Kanagawa Prefecture’s labor committee recognized in September that the firm’s refusal to negotiate with the workers over their passports was unfair practice.
The firm has declined to respond to inquiries from Kyodo News.
Video: Street interviews with women about marriage expectations in Japan
Thread: Translation and commentary about a recent interview concerning women editors at Shonen Jump.
AniFem Community
A solid range of points this week! Good discussion, AniFam.
Comments are open! Please read our comments policy before joining the conversation and contact us if you have any problems.
Comments are open! Please read our comments policy before joining the conversation and contact us if you have any problems.