AniFem Round-Up
All the fall premieres in one easy-to-find place.
Loner Life in Another World – Episode 1
Starting the season off with an isekai protagonist who’s not a monster but is really irritating.
Eerie, experimental, and absolutely worth the wait.
The Most Notorious “Talker” Runs the World’s Greatest Clan – Episode 1
It’s all info-dump, so this one depends on whether you’d like to see the premise expanded on later.
Let This Grieving Soul Retire – Episode 1
The premise is a nice change of pace with some good joke potential, but then you get to the treatment of its female characters.
Chatty AF 214: Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction Retrospective
We wanted to chat about the sapphic apocalypse show, a hidden gem that’s about as timely as can be in its exploration of genocide and an “everyday apocalypse.”
Announcing the AniFem Subathon Giveaway!
Help us continue to pay our writers a fair wage, and get some neat stuff shipped right to your door!
What Fall 2024 anime are you looking forward to most?
We’re in it now.
Bonus Podcast (with Transcript) — Made in Abyss: The Golden City of the Scorching Sun Retrospective
Last year Toni talked about their feelings on Made in Abyss season 2 and how it explores abuse survivor narratives. But there’s a lot more to dig into. So Vrai and Lizzie did their homework, and now we’ve got a full season retrospective for your listening/reading pleasure.
Beyond AniFem
The Kimagure Orange Road movie is a slow execution of a romcom heroine (The Gamesoft Robo Fun Club, David Cabrera)
Looking back at KOR’s anime-original epilogue film.
Poor Hikaru Hiyama. A classical “second place” romantic heroine, the girl is Kyoksuke’s girlfriend on paper, but clearly has no chance in the long game for his heart. You don’t need to have seen the entire series to understand the state of the relationship that the movie vividly displays in its first few minutes: she’s become a third wheel between hero Kyosuke and his true love, the reticent poster girl Madoka, as the two plan out the next chapter of their lives together.
Hikaru is childish, naive, and just too pure-hearted to see what’s always been going on between her best friend and her boyfriend… or at least that’s the facade she puts forward. Like the doomed Kozue in the aforementioned Maison Ikkoku, Hikaru’s desperation is apparent as she tries to fill the gap with sheer effort, working hard to convince herself and others that she and her disinterested “Darling” are a real couple.
And she’s the main character of this film. The movie doesn’t spare us her pain as the three friends drift away from each other; it zooms in on it. The stoic, proud Madoka realizes that deep down she can’t bear being the “true love” of a guy with a steady girlfriend, and Kyosuke realizes he owes Hikaru the mercy of a breakup rather than the indignity of dating and pity-kissing her. And Hikaru simply falls apart.
Studio Élan Released 4 New Free to Play Yuri Games! (Blerdy Otome, Naja)
The games range across genres from fantasy to murder mystery.
Yuri Friends! Studio Élan released 4 brand new bite-sized yuri visual novels that are all free to play on their itch.io. Each of these games was made as part of an internal game jam during the month of September, in which teams had to create a new game from scratch. These games were previously announced at the beginning of the month through a series of livestreams done in collaboration with the Bellflowers, a group of streamers who collaborate with Studio Élan.
The 4 new visual novels are Upwards, Rain!, On Wings Bringing Sleep, Yuri Paddle: An Anime Convention Murder Mystery, and Witch You Want. Each game is playable for free on PC (Windows, Linux, macOS) with some ported to other platforms such as android and browsers.
The Depths of Character: Chiwa Saitō Talks With Anime Herald (Anime Herald, Seth Burn)
Roundtable Q&A with Saitō, best known for voicing Akemi Homura.
Natural Aristocrat: What do you feel has been your most challenging role throughout your career to perform vocally?
Chiwa Saitō: I would say it’s definitely Yona from Yona of the Dawn. Most of the characters in the show are male. Back then, the series was very Shonen Jump-like. The adventures, the obstacles, the fighting scenes, all the excitement. But then, there’s a female main character. I was the lead. I felt like I had to be the coolest character within all those cool male characters. That was hard for me to portray.
It’s not like she’s the heroine, but she’s the main character. I’ve played so many heroines. To me, there’s a difference between a heroine and the lead character. I had to be the lead character. It was quite challenging for me to portray. But at the same time, I had great joy working to portray this character.
There’s a side story. I was pregnant with my first child during episode one. When we recorded, I couldn’t go because I didn’t feel well. That’s how I started the series. I gave birth right before the recording of the last episode. My pregnancy was a journey with Yona of the Dawn. It was a really memorable series to me in this way.
It was my first child, my daughter. That character was kind of a collaboration between myself and my daughter. (Laughs)
Kyoto University Hospital conducts kidney transplant between same-sex couple (The Mainichi)
The donor believed that Kyoto’s partnership system helped her get approved as her partner’s donor.
While there have been previous cases of living kidney transplants being conducted between same-sex couples, it is believed to be the first time such a procedure has been publicly disclosed in Japan, according to Kyoto University Hospital.
Takashi Kobayashi, a professor at the university who performed the surgery, said that the case could “become a valuable precedent for patients who have given up (on getting a living transplant) because they are a sexual minority.”
“We hope this can become a beacon of hope for patients who have given up on getting a transplant,” the same-sex couple said in a statement.
The ethics guidelines of the Japan Society for Transplantation limit living donors to spouses, blood relatives within six degrees of consanguinity, and in-laws within three. Non-related donors must be approved by the medical institution’s ethics committee on an individual basis.
Vampire Dormitory Series Review (Anime News Network, Caitlin Moore)
A big mish-mash of shoujo tropes dripping with camp.
I’ll refrain from describing the events, because I want anyone who decides to watch it based on this review to be as surprised as I was. There is truly no predicting what will happen next, because the story is unbound by the laws of conventional narrative logic or character writing. Every single episode had me hooting and hollering, screaming with laughter. On a couple occasions, I was moved to tears… of laughter. Sometimes it was the small things, like Mito’s wig’s tendency to pop off at convenient moments, allowing her hair to splay out in ways that defy the laws of physics (Girl, just cut your hair instead of wearing a wig 24/7! That can’t be comfortable!); sometimes it was characters making the most absurd decision possible in the moment. But no matter what, it was strange and delightful.
Nor do the various elements of the story come together into a cohesive whole. The cafe doesn’t really serve much narrative function to speak of. Juri keeps randomly offering Mito articles of women’s clothing that he happens to have, to the point that I was waiting for the reveal that he, too, is a girl in disguise. Every so often the story gives a nod to his crush on Takara, but it doesn’t bolster the main plot in any way and mostly feels like a distraction. Ruka is an otaku, but his secret shrine to magical girl anime gets dropped a few episodes in. Meanwhile, Ren is remarkably chill with developing feelings for a person he thinks is a man, rather than the expected gay panic subplot.
Pitiable, selfish, spoiled? Japan authors fight prejudices against only children in e-book (The Mainichi, Atsuko Nakata)
The book is available on Amazon as an ebook.
Amuro was raised by two working parents who would come home late, so her family generally only got together on their days off. Even so, arguments between her mother and father were not uncommon. She remembers feeling deeply afraid of being left behind when her parents, the only other members of her household, would leave when they began to argue. For that reason, even at a young age she would walk on eggshells around them and try to soften the mood when the atmosphere felt uneasy. She takes issue with being called “selfish” for being an only child, as she became sensitive to others’ expressions and mannerisms.
Only children are also often told, “You got all of your parents’ love, so I envy you.” To this, Amuro wrote in the book:
When parents are in a bad mood, we also take a concentrated hit (laugh). If we had siblings, it would be dispersed, I suppose. In other words, the word “love” sounds good, but I feel that we must take on the expectations, worries and anxieties of our parents all by ourselves.
However, Amuro also points out the good things about being an only child, such as the lack of friction with siblings when it comes to deciding how to care for their parents. “People say, ‘I feel sorry for only children,’ but I want to tell them that there are good and bad things whether they’re an only child or they have siblings.”
Young Japanese Duped Into Attending Anti-Vax Rally (Unseen Japan, Jay Allen)
A social media post promoted that attendees would receive 10,000 yen, and an extra 5,000 for bringing a friend. The event disclaimed these ads.
Surprisingly, the Movement saw a sizable crowd. According to FNN Prime Online, a number of people in anti-vaccination t-shirts sat near the stage, listening raptly to the event’s various speakers decry the “evils” of a scientific revolution that’s saved millions of lives.
However, says FNN, another crowd of “a few thousand young people” stood about 50 meters from the stage. Most of them paid no mind to the speakers. Instead, they played on their smartphones or talked amongst themselves.
The kids didn’t seem to be there for the content. One man in his 60s, a dedicated anti-vaxxer, told a reporter, “I thought at first we’d gotten more comrades. I was thrilled interest had spread among the young. But when I tried talking to them, I didn’t get anywhere. This is the first time at a demo I’ve felt uneasy.”
Afterward, a group of these young people surrounded an event organizer with a single question:
“Are we really getting paid for this?”
Slander attacks continue against Johnny’s sexual abuse victims (The Asahi Shimbun; Amane Shimazaki, Satoshi Tazoe and Maki Okubo)
Article includes discussion of doxxing and suicide.
One victim was forced to move overseas due to slanderous attacks.
Akimasa Nihongi, 41, a former Johnny’s Jr. member, relocated to Ireland, his wife’s homeland, in late April.
Since going public to expose Kitagawa’s crimes last year, Nihongi has been slandered on social media for a “publicity stunt” and called a “money-grubber” and a “liar.” A photo of his wife was posted online as well.
Anxiety and flashbacks made it nearly impossible for Nihongi to sleep. On top of that, his wife expressed concerns about raising their offspring in Japan.
Trying to distance himself from his home nation, Nihongi resigned as a music and English teacher. He arrived in Ireland on a sightseeing visa since he was unable to find employment there.
Nihongi afterward switched to a spouse visa. Desperate to work, he is still struggling to find a job.
After much agonizing, Nihongi recently reached a settlement with Smile-Up for compensation. However, the agency’s course of action in the past year appeared far from satisfactory in his eyes.
“Smile-Up should have put in place more thorough countermeasures against slander,” Nihongi said. “Steps to prevent a recurrence have yet to be made clear, either.”
The Esoteric Nihilism of YoRHa (Unwinnable, Vehe Mently)
An analysis focusing on heavy endgame spoilers.
Leo Strauss was a very careful reader, probably too careful. Strauss saw the surface level of a text, what the words say and what they mean, and then asked what carefully laid meaning lies just beneath that. And so, what’s underneath that? Nothing. The history of Western philosophy, under a certain Straussian reading, is a long lurch towards the undeniable fact that nothing means anything. But this revelation is so shattering, so earthshaking, that were it public knowledge, society would crumble as it loses all moorings. Normal people can’t handle it, apparently. This nihilism is hidden, then, in the hallowed texts of the Western intellectual tradition, for only the eyes of a wizened reader to uncover. Scholar Jim George calls this “esoteric nihilism”, and he believes this to be the underpinning ideology of neoconservative foreign policy. And it’s also exactly what YoRHa is doing.
VIDEO: On Tamura Yumi’s josei series Don’t Call it Mystery.
AniFem Community
Lots to talk about and look forward to this week. We’ve got a cool announcement about our giveaway, too!
We’re adding a stretch goal to our Ko-Fi! Folks are always asking us to review the first three episodes of EVERY show on the seasonal slate. And if we can pay our staff fairly to do it, we’re prepared to grant that wish! Get new content, and some cool manga or anime: ko-fi.com/animefeminist
— Anime Feminist (@animefeminist.bsky.social) October 1, 2024 at 11:21 PM
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