AniFem Round-Up
How racial inequality in From the New World mirrors the Black American struggle
The series achieves deeper nuance than many fantasy metaphors, and isn’t afraid to let its protagonists look ugly in the process.
Ranma 1/2 and the Anything-Goes School of Accidental Trans Narrative
There’s a lot of baggage to unpack with the remake coming, but one thing we can all probably agree on is that the series has always been catnip for trans audiences.
Chatty AF 209: Manga Variety Hour: History is Written by the Mangaka
Dee, Peter, and Vrai share some of their favorite historical fiction manga, some of which are now important pieces of history themselves!
What’s your favorite historical anime/manga?
Let’s keep the conversation going.
Beyond AniFem
Seeing Yourself in Strange Phenomena: God Bless the Mistaken as Disability Analogy (Anime Herald, Patricia C Baxter)
How Nakatani Nio’s new series uses a speculative fiction device as a stand-in for Otherness well.
Disclosure is something I always think about whenever I consider making connections with people I want to be friends with, or during the hiring process of a new potential place of employment, especially regarding being autistic. There is always a bit of underlying fear, whether it is that disclosing will lead to me missing opportunities in the workplace, or that people will be unwilling to take the time to understand who I am and what my disability entails. As I’ve grown older, I feel confident in disclosing my autism as a default, but I acknowledge that not every person is in a safe or comfortable position to fully disclose their identity to others. Seeing a discussion of this concept handled delicately and tactfully in God Bless the Mistaken is reaffirming and validating, even if Kon’s circumstances are entirely fantastical.
Nio Nakatani’s God Bless the Mistaken may be a manga series that takes place in a fantastical setting, but the experiences and emotions that its characters encounter are still remarkably real and grounded. Kon and Kasane’s experiences may not be an exact parallel to my identity as an autistic person, but the emotions they feel, whether it is being isolated or validated, are so deeply reminiscent of my journey of self-discovery and acceptance. The series uses its larger-than-life premise to address themes of otherness and isolation, focusing empathetically on characters who are forced to ask if they are really “human” if they are so out of place from what is meant to be the “universal” way of experiencing this strange and disorienting world.
E:08 Into the Omegaverse (Pages & Prejudice, stitch)
Podcast discussion of the genre’s ups and downs (including a strain of anti-choice undercurrents) with a longtime reader, along with some recommendations.
May I offer you a Plan B in these trying times?
Reading Recommendations:
Tadaima, Okaeri by ICHIKAWA Ichi
Surge Towards You by Cheongyeon (Lezhin)
Love is an Illusion by @13.fargo on IG (Lehzin)
The Sweetverse series by Kathryn Moon and Lana Cole
I’ve Become an Omega Today by Sachi Maiki
Is Anime Transing Our Teens? Inside a Moral Panic (Women Write About Comics, Doris V. Sutherland)
Unpacking recent attempts by transphobic reactionaries to blame anime for children coming out as trans. Includes lengthy quotes from reactionary writings.
The PITT parents, in their hand-wringing responses to their teenagers coming out as trans, never appear to consider the possibility that these youngsters might actually be better off left to express as they choose; that they could grow up to live like the many trans adults who have been allowed to lead fulfilling lives. Instead, being trans is treated as a doomsday scenario, akin to how a fundamentalist Christian might view the prospect of their children joining a cult of devil-worshippers. Indeed, this analogy appears not to be far from the minds of the PITT writers, judging by the references quoted above to death cults, dark arts, and defiled temples. Such a narrative requires an adversary: a devil, a tempting Mephistopheles.
Faced with the suicide of her son, Patricia Pulling blamed Dungeons & Dragons for the tragedy. The PITT writers face scenarios which they appear to see as tantamount to suicide: their teenagers coming out as transgender. And, like Pulling, they have turned a piece of popular culture into a fantasy villain that can take the blame – an easy response to a complex situation.
As it happens, examining one’s own prejudices is a lot harder than booing and hissing at a cartoon.
How Men in Japan Harass Female Athletes with Infrared Cameras (Unseen Japan, Jay Allen)
Nonconsensual photography was banned in 2023; some venues have banned photography altogether.
To give female athletes an additional layer of protection, Japanese sports clothing manufacturer Mizuno this week announced a new “anti-infrared” line of competitive sportswear. According to the manufacturer’s site, the new clothing uses material designed to absorb light in the infrared range. That renders the garment opaque not only under visible light. but under infrared light as well.
“Incorporating the newly developed infrared blocking fabric into sportswear can help reduce the number of athletes that fall victim to illicit infrared photography,” the company said in a statement on their Web site.
Mizuno is using the tech in the uniforms it’s designed for Japan’s volleyball team at next month’s Paris Summer Olympics. It’s incorporating the infrared-blocking fabric into the uniforms of six other teams, including the ping-pong and archery teams.
Mizuho’s new product is a good stopgap for times when event organizers can’t catch someone in the act of illicit photography. Sadly, it doesn’t address the root of the problem: men who think this behavior is acceptable in the first place.
VIDEO: LGBTQ+ manga recommendations.
VIDEO: Embracing messy queer representation.
VIDEO: The extremely queer Beastars subtext that somehow never became canon.
VIDEO: The Nuance of Dyslexia Friendly Fonts in Games.
TWEET: Summary from a Japanese-language interview where the Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! creator discusses growing up autistic.
"Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!" mangaka Sumito Oowara shared his experience growing up with cognitive disabilities in a new interview.
— Manga Mogura RE (Manga & Anime News) (@MangaMoguraRE) June 23, 2024
He explained that he shows signs of being on the autism spectrum, explaining that things like basic math & writing kanji are very difficult for… pic.twitter.com/sf6iCZIfds
THREAD: A couple discusses writing a yuri manga drawn from their own relationship.
【Self-Introduction】
— ひあるろん🌸単行本発売中！ (@haru_usg12) June 20, 2024
Hello everyone!
We are a same-sex couple living in Japan.
It all started with a post on social media. Driven by a personal desire to turn our love for each other into a manga, we began drawing and sharing comics about each other's charms alternately. Then,… pic.twitter.com/WZXnDrOM7w
AniFem Community
A few overlaps with the podcast, and a lot of cool new suggestions!
If we’re going for historical with some fiction thrown around, Rose of Versailles, or Heike Monogatari if we push more into the epic adaptation. In just “old times” as a general setting, Apothecary Diaries or if we’re going to get uh, “creative” with details, Samurai Shamploo.— もえろ！イナズマキック!! (@lmfsilva.bsky.social) Jun 24, 2024 at 11:18 PM
i love the historical genre so i have a lot of favorites, but if i have to pick a top 3 it would be: the heike story, golden kamuy, and raven of the inner palace. plus her tale of shim chong as an honorable mention (since it’s a manhwa)— rizu (@tamanone.bsky.social) Jun 25, 2024 at 1:33 AM
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