AniFem Round-Up
Clothes Make the Guardian: Fashion and femininity in the Sailor Moon franchise
With the release of the Cosmos films and Shionhara Emi’s tragic passing, it feels worth looking at one of many things that make the series special.
Flying with Your Spirit: Independence, self-definition, and Kiki’s Delivery Service
Kiki has been a touchstone for young girls, artists, and anyone who’s struggled with burnout for 25 years now, and probably for years to come.
What visual novels are you hoping will get licensed?
The list of titles from before the 2010s is wide and deep.
Beyond AniFem
The Animator Dormitory Project 2024 (Go Get Funding)
The project provides affordable housing and training for animators.
For 2024, we hope to:
1) fund our housing support initiatives,
2) pay for dormitory maintenance costs,
3) and begin establishing new dormitories.
We’re aiming to raise about $10,000 to help run our current dormitory.
We hope we can earn your support!
Here’s a breakdown of our dormitory expenditure per year:
1) Housing Support for Animators — $12,000
2) Dormitory Maintenance Costs — $24,000
3) Establishing New Dormitories — $18,000Total — $54,000
Reimagining A World-Famous Monster: #DRCL Manga Creator Shin’ichi Sakamoto (Anime News Network, Christopher Farris)
Sakamoto is best known for his gothic historical titles #DRCL and Innocent.
#DRCL is obviously not a direct, 1:1 adaptation of the events told in the Dracula novel. How did you decide what to keep and change from the source material? What did you feel was most important in adapting the novel?
Sakamoto: The late 19th century, the period in which the story is set, was also the time when capitalism developed and emerged, and calls for the expansion of rights for workers and women began, giving birth to values still relevant today. In the original work, Mina also reflects on the “new woman.” Lucy, the “most beautiful woman;” courted by men, is preyed upon by the Count, but Mina, who continues to keep records with her own ability and will, continues to fight in cooperation with everyone until the end while the men who protect and fight for Mina are also suffering and vulnerable. I feel it is my mission to revive this message from Bram Stoker in our time.
#DRCL, like Innocent before it, features some queer imagery and themes—the character of Luke/Lucy, in particular, crosses over many lines of gender and attraction. What is your interest in exploring these ideas and themes?
Sakamoto: What I always keep in mind when creating my work is to discard preconceived notions and assumptions and to portray things as honestly as they are, without taking any easy way out. It is easy to assume that love is born when there is a man and a woman, but the reality is more complicated. There are many different types of people on Earth, and they live in various ways. I want to continue to hold the belief that there is no such thing as a “queer” person.
Your approach to art and visual storytelling is different compared to many other manga. #DRCL, for instance, largely eschews written sound effects. What is your philosophy when it comes to visual storytelling in manga, and is there anything that has influenced your style of work?
Sakamoto: As for not including sound effects, I wanted to trust the power of the art. I draw trusting that readers will replay the sound effects in their brains, such as the sound of breaking glass or knocking on a door, based on their own experiences. What I have decided to do with the visuals is to avoid depicting grotesque scenes as they are. No matter how cruel the scene may be, I draw it with an awareness of beauty. Also, after hearing from an Italian manga artist that he studied anatomy in order to draw manga, I tried to draw with an awareness of muscles and skeletal structure.
Homes for all: The story of Japan landlord accused of yakuza ties, and why she rents to everyone (The Mainichi, Iida Akira)
The defendant was charged for giving her tenant, a suspect in a drug investigation, forewarning about a police raid.
She said she had started her real estate business nearly 40 years ago. She was divorced and raising three young children while running a small restaurant in the Nishi-Kawaguchi area. It was during Japan’s bubble economy. Her eatery was thriving, and regular customers volunteered to watch her children, drop them off and pick them up for school and other places.
However, her mother developed dementia, and caring for her made it difficult for the woman to keep running the restaurant. So, she bought a second-hand apartment building and jumped into the real estate business.
Initially, she got her tenants through real estate agents, but the number of prospective renters who consulted directly with her increased. They included elderly people, those released from prison, sex shop employees and foreigners who could not afford guarantors.
“I’d been helped by many people, and as the saying goes, ‘Even chance meetings are the result of karma,'” she recalled. She would let needy people live in the apartments without screening them, and often she would not charge rent for the first two months. As her reputation spread through word of mouth, the number of properties she managed increased, and she now has close to 300 tenants.
Even though her family members were concerned about her, she said she would take responsibility, and got close to her tenants.
Tenants associated with yakuza move out
The woman knew that some properties she owns were called “yakuza apartments” because of the trouble some tenants caused with nearby residents. However, she stated that she did not give any tenant special treatment, even if they were close to crime syndicates, and dealt with each renter individually.
In response to the incident this year, she asked any gang related tenants to leave. Only a few were in fact in this category, and they left, saying that they had caused trouble for “auntie landlord.”
Survey: 34% of sexual minorities have experience in parenting (The Asahi Shimbun, Mihoko Terada)
The survey was limited in 90% of its respondents being AFAB; regardless, the data is helping to combat prejudice.
The survey showed that 242 of the 710 respondents have experienced or are raising a child or children.
A previous survey conducted in 2021 showed that 141 sexual minorities had experienced or were experiencing parenting, although the result is not comparable because the subjects of that survey were different.
Among those who answered that they have experience in nurturing, 64.8 percent said the number of children is “one,” and 30.6 percent said “two.”
In addition, 122 of 710 respondents said that the respondents themselves or their partners had given birth in the last three years after using third-party sperm donors to become pregnant.
A research team headed by Akitomo Shingae, a professor at Osaka Metropolitan University, analyzed the data.
Shingae believes that increased accessibility of information has contributed to the rise in sperm donations.
“Around 2010, online communities started to be formed by sexual minorities who wish to have children,” he said.
Most of the respondents who answered that they have experience in raising children said they have “concerns or problems,” including “a lack of legal framework,” “social prejudice and ignorance” and “bullying of their children.”
“Problems are emerging but are not being addressed. We need to assess the actual situation by using a national census or other means,” Shingae said.
29% of indigenous Ainu people experienced discrimination: Hokkaido survey (The Mainichi, Jangrae Kim)
This was the first year the survey has asked about social media harassment, which over 30% of respondents reported experiencing.
Hokkaido Gov. Naomichi Suzuki expressed his disappointment at the results during a regular press conference on Sept. 10, saying, “It’s such a shame,” and revealed that the prefectural government this month launched its first-ever survey targeting Hokkaido residents on their attitudes toward the Ainu people.
He then added, “Prejudice and discrimination through social media may be taking place in the absence of correct understanding by people across the country. We hope that the national government will carry out a nationwide survey,” emphasizing the need to expand the attitude survey to other parts of the country.
The number of Ainu people identified in the latest survey is 11,450. Their population has decreased by more than half since 2006, when it was approximately 24,000. An official of the prefectural government’s Ainu policy division said, “The Ainu population that our municipalities are able to identify is on a downward trend year by year due to the aging of the population and their moving to urban areas.”
The survey also asked respondents about their awareness of the Act on Promoting Measures to Achieve a Society in which the Pride of Ainu People is Respected, the first law in Japan to define the Ainu people as “indigenous people.” The combined percentage of respondents who answered they “did not know” or “know that the law was enacted, but do not know much about its content” exceeded 80%, highlighting the low level of awareness among the parties concerned.
Mibuchi Yoshiko: How Japan’s Trailblazing Female Lawyer Overcame Prejudice (Unseen Japan, Alyssa Pearl Fusek)
Profile of the famous lawyer who passed the bar in 1938, only five years after it became legal for women to become lawyers.
Since Japan waived all claims to damages caused by the bombs in signing the San Francisco Peace Treaty, the plaintiffs argued the government also waived the individual’s right to seek damages from the US. Therefore, Japan by proxy should pay damages instead.
Mibuchi was one of three chief judges who oversaw the case, which dragged on for eight and a half years. Mibuchi was notably the only judge present for all the oral arguments. In 1963, the court ruled that the bombings were indeed unlawful and fell under the definition of indiscriminate bombardment. However, the plaintiffs couldn’t seek damages under international law.
Takakuwa Akira, one of the main judges, remembers Mibuchi as a gentle and kind person. The case was, understandably, far from simple. “It was a unique case completely different from the regular civil suits brought against the government over the atomic bombings,” he said.
In the anthology Women Lawyers (女性法律家; Josei Houritsuka), Mibuchi wrote, “We could have dismissed the claim for compensation regardless of whether or not [the bombs] violated international law, but we presented our reasoning and inspected international law without shirking our duties. We just couldn’t justify the dropping of the atomic bombs.”
Dealing with people, not cases
From 1972, Mibuchi held presidential postings in various family courts, starting with the Niigata Family Court. She believed that the family court “deals with people, not cases,” and her work environment reflected that.
During her presidency at the Yokohama Family Court, Mibuchi cultivated a calming environment that diluted the strictness of court proceedings. She redecorated the gloomy mediation room to brighten up the atmosphere. She would play soft, soothing music in the corridors during lunch time. All this helped mitigate the stress for staff and families embroiled in juvenile cases.
Child of stateless Afghan refugees gains Japanese nationality (The Asahi Shimbun, Kyoka Watanabe)
The request for citizenship was initially rejected, but granted upon repeal.
In the Sept. 11 ruling, Presiding Judge Yasuhiro Hasegawa noted that the Taliban had seized control over Afghanistan by force in 2021.
“Although the Taliban declared the establishment of a nation, it has not been officially recognized as a state or government by the international community, including Japan,” Hasegawa stated.
The court determined that the parents, although technically Afghan citizens, were effectively stateless when their child was born.
Therefore, the girl met the legal requirements for Japanese citizenship, as stipulated in the Japanese Nationality Law, which grants Japanese nationality to children born in Japan to stateless parents.
“This decision opens the door for children in similar situations to be raised in Japan,” said Yasuyuki Nagai, the lawyer representing the family.
1st halal food lunches served at elementary, junior high schools in 2 east Japan towns (The Mainichi, Yasutaka Horii)
The school plans to make halal food a regular part of their food program, and to explore other food options as well.
The town of Sakai’s school lunch center, which provides meals to elementary and junior high schools in Sakai and its neighboring town of Goka, said, “We want everyone to enjoy the same school lunch regardless of religion. We want Japanese children to learn about the dietary habits and diversity of the world.”
Islamic law prohibits the eating of pork, as well as beef and chicken that have not been processed according to prescribed procedures. For this reason, there are 35 students in Sakai and four students in Goka who cannot eat school lunches and have to bring their own.
The center prepared a halal menu on Sept. 4. It consisted of squid tempura, cooked eggs with vegetables and other ingredients to accompany the rice, along with miso soup with tofu and other ingredients, apple juice and frozen tangerines.
At the Sakai Municipal Sakai Elementary School, 23 students, including foreigners, had a school lunch for the first time. A Pakistani fourth grader, 10, said with a smile, “My first school lunch was delicious. I was happy to eat with everyone else.”
VIDEO: Discussing representations of queerness in BL and Yaoi.
TWEET: Watase Yuu reports getting treatment for serious hand issues.
金曜、治療院とトレーナーさんから本気で「休め」と念を押され、仕事止めて横になっており。
— 渡瀬悠宇/画業35周年ふしぎ遊戯原画展開催8/9~21日 (@wataseyuu_) September 15, 2024
トレーナーさんハッキリ「物理的に描けなくなりますよ、もう一歩手前」
同日、歯科検診で歯茎が全部腫れてると指摘
他、まずい状況と自覚
iPad、iPhone、スピーカーから離れる、刺激を与えない
｜´ `)ﾉ
AniFem Community
We’ll probably never get Angelique thanks to the licensing fees, but it was nice to give it a little shout-out.
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