AniFem Round-Up
Mirror, Mirror: Ouran High School Host Club and reflections of twin identity
Michele Kirichanskaya talks about stereotypes around twins and how the Hitachiins both play with and dismantle some of the more prominent tropes.
Clothes Make the Guardian: Fashion and femininity in the Sailor Moon franchise
Fashion is a key to unspoken characterization and celebration of girlhood in the manga and 90s series, Sydney Mae argues, something Crystal’s visuals fumble.
Chatty AF 158: Dear Brother Watchalong – Episodes 1-7
Vrai, Mercedez, Chiaki, and special guest Diana begin their watchalong of the quintessential anime melodrama, Dear Brother!
What’s the longest non-shounen anime you’ve watched?
Shoujo and josei in particular need more love.
Beyond AniFem
Humble Heroines Game Bundle (Humble Bundle)
Collection of up to seven games, proceeds going to Girls Who Code.
Brave mountaineers, elite soldiers, cyberpunk delivery drivers, and more awesome heroines take center stage in our latest game bundle! Defend humanity as the powerful psionic Kasane in Scarlet Nexus, and help Miriam break an alchemist’s curse in Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. Face the Locust Swarm as Corporal Kait Diaz in Gears 5, and navigate the streets of a rain-soaked noir future as Rania in Cloudpunk. Help Madeline ascend Celeste Mountain, and lots more!
In celebration of Women’s History Month this March, purchases of this bundle will help support Girls Who Code—on a mission to close the gender gap in technology and to change the image of what a programmer looks like and does.
Voice Actor, ADR Director Daman Mills Accused of Sexual Misconduct (Anime News Network, Lynzee Loveridge)
This article includes screenshots and extensive discussion of sexual harassment.
In a public document, an Ohio man has accused Evangelion film and Sonny Boy voice actor Daman Mills of groping him and masturbating next to him while he was asleep. According to the alleged victim, the incidents took place between 2014 and 2015, when the man was a high school student and Mills was 20 to 21 years old.
Mills, through a Cease and Desist letter sent to the alleged victim on February 18, asserts that the relationship was “consensual and mutual” and the allegations are “wholeheartedly false and without merit.” The voice actor is asking that the allegations be retracted.
According to the man, who spoke to ANN over a video call and has asked to be called “Duncan” due to concerns over retaliation and privacy, he met Mills via Facebook when he was “just a shy, quiet, and anxious” 15-year-old boy. He said they began talking in December of 2012 when the yet-undiscovered voice actor was living in Hawaii. According to Duncan, they became familiar with one another through the fandub scene. Duncan told ANN that the friendship intensified, and Mills confessed sexual and romantic attraction which Duncan did not reciprocate. According to him, he wanted to be kind to Mills and did not want to end the friendship because of their different sexual orientations; however, he added that he was routinely explaining to Mills that they were not romantically involved over the several year friendship.
Is Japan’s Kyushu really ‘sexist’? Local business federation investigates (The Mainichi, Hiroshi Hisano)
Analysis of Kyushu and how its lack of gender parity in various fields has affected its demographics over the years.
“It’s amazing that you can do so much work even though you’re a mother!” This was one bit of “praise” meted out to a female office worker in her 40s by a coworker after she was transferred to Fukuoka Prefecture from the Kansai region. She was taken aback by the comment. In her mind, she objected, “Is it only women who have to handle child care and housework?” Her mental monologue added, “This is real male chauvinism.” Since then, she has been bothered by the “superiority” of the men she encounters at work.
A 2015 awareness survey conducted by the Cabinet Office asked respondents about their “ideal family,” and the prefecture with the highest percentage of men who answered “the husband works while the wife keeps the home” was Fukuoka, at 51.9%
Meanwhile, social media is flooded with women’s complaints about “Kyushu men” for doing no housework or child care, and being negative about women working. In 2016, the hashtag “#Kyushu de Josei-toshite Ikirukoto” (living as a woman in Kyushu) trended on Twitter.
In 2021, the Kyushu Economic Federation, an association of about 1,000 companies in Kyushu, launched a study to quantify the gender gap. They referred to the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Index, which ranked Japan 120th out of 156 countries.
Fruits Basket Stage Play Streams Worldwide with English Subtitles (Anime News Network, Alex Mateo)
The archived stream will be available from 3/25 until 3/31.
Avex Pictures announced last week that it is livestreaming the stage play of Natsuki Takaya‘s Fruits Basket manga worldwide on March 12 at 10:00 p.m. EST and March 13 at 2:00 a.m. EST. Avex Pictures will also stream the play with English subtitles on March 24 at 11:00 p.m. EDT. Tickets for the streams are available now.
VIDEO: Fundraiser for Black-owned barbershop Shop Brooklyn Tokyo.
TWEET: In Memoriam for Queer Japan star and activist Hasegawa Hiroshi.
THREAD: Report on a speech from Ogata Megumi about feeling genderless.
TWEET: Announcement that the GMG Union was successful in their negotiations for better wages.
TWEET: Call for Funimation and Crynchyroll to use SAG-AFTRA’s new dubbing agreement.
THREAD: Summary of a Japanese profile about a Japanese-Nigerian man who’s been repeatedly profiled by Japanese police.
AniFem Community
Not surprisingly but hearteningly, magical girl shows pull ahead.
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