AniFem Round-Up
Visiting the CLAMP Exhibition in Tokyo to celebrate 35 years of the legendary manga collective
Longtime CLAMP archivist Chibi Yuuto takes us on a tour through the biggest-ever tribute to their influential career, creating everything from shoujo to seinen
Cannibalism, the abject, and queering the narrative in Delicious in Dungeon
Kui takes elements of horror and abjection and transforms them into love and community, just like our leads in the dungeon itself.
What anime is an annual tradition for you?
For the holidays or beyond.
December 2024 Patron Newsletter and Recommendations
Behind-the-scenes updates for the year past and some reading suggestions.
Beyond AniFem
Shōjo Manga Pioneer Macoto Takahashi Dies at 90 (Anime News Network, Anita Tai)
Takahashi passed in November and was mourned at a private service.
Takahashi was born in Osaka in 1934 and began his artistic career in 1953. He made his magazine debut with the “Kanashimi no Hamabe” (Sorrowful Beach) story in Shōjo Natsu (a special issue of Kobunsha‘s main Shōjo magazine) in 1957 and would become an establishing force behind what is now known as the shōjo (girls) comic art style.
He was known for his Arashi o Koete (Overcome the Storm) and Petit La series. His works popularized ballet in the shōjo scene and his characters’ large, twinkling eyes were his oft-emulated trademark. He also brought shōjo manga and fashion closer together by emphasizing characters’ outfits in full-body manga panels.
Takahashi’s art has appeared in Comme des Garcons fashion shows, was featured in designer Rei Kawakubo’s runway looks at Paris Fashion Week 2017, and has been on exhibition at his gallery in Sakura City, Chiba.
ANN spoke with Takahashi about his career and inspirations in 2022.
Heart-shaped Box of Memories: A Princess Ai Retrospective (Anime Herald, Megan D.)
A look back at Tokyopop’s most infamous flop.
Who created Princess Ai? If you go by the original announcement in 2003, you would think it was Courtney Love, the former lead singer of grunge band Hole. She was certainly credited as one in both the books and in Tokyopop’s own advertising. At the time she called Ai her “alter ego” and talked about how Princess Ai was inspired by her own time in Japan as a young woman. It should be noted that Love was presenting a sterilized and heavily fictionalized of herself through this story, as in reality she only briefly spent time in Japan as an illegal topless dancer before getting deported, one of many stories from her troubled youth. Princess Ai was primarily meant to serve as a promotional vehicle for her 2004 solo album America’s Sweetheart, but the series did little to help her sales or her declining career. While many jokes have been had at her expense over the years, it’s unfair to blame Courtney Love for the failings of Princess Ai when all she contributed was her name and a few borrowed details from her life.
After all, there were two other women with more direct creative contributions to Princess Ai. The first was Ai Yazawa, the celebrated shoujo manga artist behind such works as NANA and Paradise Kiss. Her role was quite small, providing only a handful of concept sketches for Ai herself. You wouldn’t guess that from Tokyopop’s promotional materials, as they leaned as heavily on her name as they did with Courtney Love. The real artist behind Princess Ai was Misaho Kujiradou, a minor shoujo mangaka with only a handful of short stories to her name at the time. It’s easy to see why she would sign on to such a project: not only would Princess Ai be her first serialized manga but it came with a guaranteed international audience. It must have seemed like the fastest way to take her career to the next level. That said, she was just an artist for hire—she didn’t create the character or write the story.
The true Svengali behind Princess Ai was its mysterious writer, DJ Milky. Their biography was vague and full of nonsense, and no photos of them were ever made public. There was a good reason for this: “DJ Milky” was in fact the pseudonym of Tokyopop founder and CEO Stu Levy. This was an open secret among industry professionals of the time, but the average Tokyopop reader wouldn’t learn the truth until the late Zac Bertschy wrote about it in 2007. This pseudonym served not just to mask the fact that this story was written by a middle-aged executive but also helped to hide the contributions of co-writer Rob Tokar, who was one of Tokyopop’s senior editors.
People across Japan gather to protest misogyny after writer’s ‘uterus removal’ remark (The Mainichi, Asako Kamihigashi and Mari Sakane)
Protests occurred in multiple cities including Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and Sapporo.
The move came after Naoki Hyakuta, a novelist and the head of the minor opposition Conservative Party of Japan, referenced what he called a science fiction suggestion of removing the uteruses of women over 30 during a discussion on measures to address Japan’s declining birthrate. In addition to this, the phrase “Your body, my choice” had seen a significant increase in use on social media following the U.S. presidential election, among other sexist online posts about women. Japan, meanwhile, has seen countless calls for the return of a famous celebrity suspected of coercing women into sex.
A demonstration was organized in response by Akiko Matsuo, the CEO of Etc.books Inc. — a publisher specializing in books related to feminism — who also launched the “Flower Demo” movement to protest against sexual violence; Kazuko Fukuda, the founder of the “#Nandenaino (Why don’t we have it?) project” to raise awareness of the reality of poor conditions around sexual and reproductive health and rights in Japan, such as contraception and abortion; and Yutori Takai, an ethicist and associate professor at Gunma University. The protests called for the realization of a society where “everyone can live with ownership of their own body.”
Matsuo urged the crowd that turned out in Tokyo in spite of the cold weather, “Let’s gather our anger and voices and present them to those who trample on us. Let’s make it visible,” prompting loud applause from participants holding signs and images. In a following speech, Fukuda said, “Today is a day to garner our power and bring hope to everyone. Let’s pass on our strength to live and our hopes.” The organizers are considering holding more rallies in the future under the name “#Watashi no Karada (My body) demo.”
Anime Industry Veteran Jan Scott-Frazier Dies at 59 (Anime News Network, Alex Mateo)
Scott-Frazier was an extremely influential figure in the US anime industry in addition to working in Japan.
Frazier has worked in the anime industry in Japan for 13 years in a number of different positions, including as a producer. She joined Artland‘s production department in 1989, making her the first foreigner to work in the production department of a Japanese animation studio. In 1992, she founded her own full production company, TAO Corporation Ltd., in Bangkok, Thailand. In 1994, she co-founded GENESIS Digital Publishing Company with Izumi Matsumoto (Kimagure Orange Road) where they created Comic ON, the first digital manga.
She became the president of Production I.G. USA in 1995 and worked as a producer and technical director on the Japanese side. She was technical director of the animation for the Grandstream Saga, Madou Monogatari, and Kyoushin Senki games as well as working on the Panzer Dragoon OAV. As a freelance director, Frazier directed episodes of Susie-chan & Marvy and worked on the development of original TV series projects. After returning to the United States, she founded the non-profit voice actor project Voices For.
Other credits include background artist for Doomed Megalopolis and Genocyber, production assistant for Koiko no Mainichi and Riki-Oh 2: Horobi no Ko, in-between checker for Transformers: Victory and Bio Armor Ryger, and 3D animator for Lost Universe. She was also the English translator for the Dead Leaves anime, and the Psychic Academy and Scryed manga.
Fukuoka becomes 3rd high court in Japan to rule same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional (The Mainichi)
Specifically the ban violates Article 13 of the Constitution, involving “the right to pursue happiness.”
The plaintiffs filed an appeal after the Fukuoka District Court in June 2023 dismissed their damages claim and ruled the government was not immediately obliged to enact legislative measures despite being in “state of unconstitutionality.”
Japan’s civil law and family registration law provisions are based on marriage between a man and a woman and the privileges that result from matrimony, including inheritance rights, tax benefits and joint custody of children, are only granted to heterosexual couples.
Japan remains the only Group of Seven industrialized country that has not legalized same-sex marriage or civil unions, despite growing pressure from the LGBT community and its supporters.
Previous district rulings have varied in scope, with the Sapporo and Nagoya courts saying that the lack of legal recognition of same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, and the Tokyo district court ruling it is in a “state of unconstitutionality.” The Osaka district court is so far the only one to rule the current law is constitutional.
In the first two high court rulings earlier this year, the Sapporo and Tokyo high courts said the country’s lack of legal recognition of same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.
VIDEO: Introducing the 100 Shoujo Challenge
VIDEO: Atlach=Nacha: Queer Gothic, Toxic Yuri, and the Terrors of Eternity.
VIDEO: Recommendations of seven underrated otome games.
SKEET: Preorder announcement for upcoming book The Fangirl Diaries.
"The Fangirl Diaries" (January 2025) is my debut non-fiction book wherein I talk about my experience as a teen navigating anime fandom in the 90s. What was it like for a closeted fangirl to find herself through fandom? To be cringe is to be free. Order: mcfarlandbooks.com/product/the-…
— Eri Victoria | The Fangirl Diaries Author (@scarlet-rhapsody.com) December 15, 2024 at 5:43 PM
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SKEET: A follower drive for secondhand cosplay shop Lumikha Cosplay Resale.
We're so close to 4k users on Lumikha Cosplay Resale! Will you join us by the end of the year to help us hit our goal? If you're already signed up, share this and/or tell a friend about our #sustainablecosplay effort! 🎀 LumikhaCosplay.com #cosplay
— Lumikha Cosplay Resale (@lumikhacosplay.com) December 13, 2024 at 10:50 PM
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AniFem Community
We love hearing about your traditions, and the range of titles getting namedropped.
Good choice 👍 also, Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz
— …by Ethan Fox (@byethanfox.bsky.social) December 17, 2024 at 3:01 AM
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Snow Fairy Sugar and Princess Tutu are the best winter rewatches ❄️🩰✨
— SailorGuardianHope (@sailorguardianhope.bsky.social) December 16, 2024 at 11:23 PM
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Spirited Away! It always makes me happy no matter what is going on in my life.
— Happy Kuro Kitty (@happykurokitty.bsky.social) December 17, 2024 at 12:36 AM
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