AniFem Round-Up
I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! – Episodes 1-2
Isekai revenge porn (with a side of misogyny) based on a light novel: IN SPACE!
The Unaware Atelier Meister – Episode 1
Another mediocre fantasy show with a passive protagonist and fan service.
Sword of the Demon Hunter – Episode 1
Sword of the Demon Hunter wants you to know that it is doing something with the “madonna-whore complex.” Just what it’s doing, it’s not sure about, but it’s very dedicated to doing something!
All the spring premiere reviews in one easy-to-find place. We’ll update the chart as new series become available, so be sure to check back in the coming days for more!
Is there a show you started watching because of its second season or sequel?
Sometimes a show takes a little more time to really strike gold.
Beyond AniFem
The Animator Dormitory Project 2025 (Go Get Funding)
The project has now spent several years working to create livable conditions and training for young animators.
This is a crowdfunding campaign for the maintenance and establishment of current and future ‘Animator Dormitories,’ dormitories where new animators can live for less than $200 a month, including rent, utilities, and internet.
In 2020, due to COVID-19, shared living spaces such as our dormitories became infeasible, causing our dormitory operations to shrink. So, during these past few years, we’ve offered a combination of housing support, offering rooms at the Animator Dormitory and direct housing subsidies for animators living in other areas. However, now that COVID-19 has settled down, we would like to slowly rebuild our Animator Dormitories and return to how things were pre-COVID. We humbly ask for your support in this endeavor!
In 2015, the Japanese Animation Creators Association conducted a status investigation with anime creators and found that the average annual income for animators in their 20s is $7,000.
That’s only about $600 a month. However, there are many cases where animators in their first year in the industry make less than $200 a month.
Studio Ghibli’s Atsushi Okui on Princess Mononoke‘s Enduring Environmental Message (Gizmodo, Isaiah Colbert)
With the recent trend of Ghibli AI slop, it’s a good time to go out and see art created by artists.
io9: Ghibli’s films have resonated around the world for their portrayal of women, especially women in leading roles like San. Do you see this kind of portrayal of strong femininity as an important perspective Ghibli wants to keep focusing on as a studio? How do you feel about the pushback in certain circles against keeping female characters at the forefront of your storytelling?
Okui: We can only say that because we make films that reflect the times as they come, we cannot necessarily promise you that our films will always have a strong female protagonist. It’s hard to say which viewpoint is correct, but I can tell you that in terms of diversity, Japan, in comparison to the rest of the world, is still very much behind. And I suppose that perhaps this recent pushback is a reflection of perhaps diversity becoming a little bit too progressive in the United States, and perhaps what’s happening right now is a reflection of that. But domestically, meaning in Japan, I can say that we’re still very much far behind. So, we have to see where our nation goes in terms of diversity going forward.
DEI playing role in luring talent, say 83% of Japan firms in Mainichi survey (The Mainichi, Makoto Fukazu)
Measures have been making slow but continuing progress.
In the United States, there was a surge in anti-DEI sentiment following the inauguration of President Donald Trump, prompting certain companies to pull back from inclusivity measures. Yet, in Japan — where progress on DEI initiatives has been comparatively slow — there has been little noticeable reactionary pushback against these efforts.
Agricultural machinery maker Kubota Corp., which indicated strong support for DEI, stated, “With the declining birth rate and population outflow, it is essential to respect diverse values and lifestyles in order to secure talented individuals.” Similarly, a chemical manufacturer, which answered that it somewhat agreed with promoting DEI, noted, “Whether a company respects employees’ lifestyles has become an important factor for job seekers when choosing a company.”
This trend is supported by a survey from employment agent Gakujo Co., which gathered responses from around 280 students expected to graduate from university in spring 2026, more than half of whom said they “pay attention” to a company’s diversity and inclusion activities. Combined with the corporate responses, this finding suggests that students are increasingly likely to choose employers that demonstrate consideration for diversity.
Same-sex couple in Japan seek legal change as daughter is left without Japanese citizenship (The Mainichi, Akihiko Tsuchida)
In another dimension of this issue, a married trans woman continues to fight for the right to change her gender marker without having to divorce her wife.
Same-sex couples face numerous legal disadvantages. They cannot become legal heirs and are not eligible for tax benefits available to spouses. If one of them were to have an accident, would the hospital notify the other? Their uncertainties are countless.
In the summer of 2022, Theresa gave birth with the help of a sperm donation from a friend. But because same-sex marriage is not recognized in Japan, Theresa is considered to have given birth as a single mother. Their daughter has U.S., but not Japanese citizenship.
“Our child will probably be raised as a Japanese person. But she has citizenship of the United States, a country where she has never lived, and her identity may waver,” Machi said — a worry she would not likely have if same-sex marriage were recognized.
Amid the joy of their daughter’s birth, a shocking reality hit. On the birth registration form, Machi could not get her name included in the parents’ section.
Their daughter’s name incorporates Machi’s mother’s name. Despite submitting a birth registration form filled with care to the ward office, they were asked to add Romanized letters, and even now, official administrative documents arrive with their daughter’s name written in Roman letters.
Fuji TV Independent Committee: Nakai Masahiro Committed Sexual Assault (Unseen Japan, Jay Allen)
The victim has also given a statement regarding the committee’s findings.
Fuji knew about the incident shortly after it happened, as the victim was hospitalized for PTSD. (She took leave shortly after her hospitalization.) Even after this, the report says, the station did nothing to protect the victim as Nakai and station employees engaged in a “second victimization.” Nakai had a Fuji employee, B, bring the victim a million yen ($6,600) when she was hospitalized, which she refused. B also introduced Nakai to a lawyer to help him negotiate the settlement.
As such, the committee concluded, “Top management, employees, and leadership showed a lack of knowledge, awareness, and ability in appropriate managerial judgment with regards to confirming the facts, considering risks, and viewing the situation from the standpoint of supporting sexual assault victims and bearing responsibility for protecting human rights.
“Through CX [Fuji Television]’s failure to stand by the victim and its casual decision to keep airing Mr. Nakai’s programs, A [the victim] lost the workplace she longed to return to. It appeared to act for Mr. Nakai’s benefit, amounting to a second victimization.”
‘Women cater at banquets’: Ex-Tokyoite witnesses regional gender disparity firsthand (The Mainichi, Sho Ohara)
These issues have resulted in many women leaving rural towns to work in the greater Tokyo area.
A comfortable life surrounded by nature is what Ito had hoped for before moving. After graduating from Keio University, she worked in marketing and sales at a number of companies. Her income generally exceeded the 6 million yen (approx. $40,100) mark. She met her husband through her job. Ito had grown up in a different region and had gone to the capital to study, and she had longed to flee its hustle and bustle for the relative peace offered by the countryside.
She job-hunted after relocating. While she expected the job options to be limited, she could not find anything where her skills would be in use.
The notion that men play a predominant role, while women are there to support them kept showing up in various ways in the local community — a tendency Ito hadn’t experienced in Tokyo. When she heard a local restaurant owner was hiring, she recommended a man she knew, but was told the job wouldn’t “pay the amount of wages appropriate for a man.” Ito reflected, “I was surprised by how the person was unconsciously thinking that for the same wages, women, but not men, could be hired.”
At one point, wishing to make use of her abilities, she traveled to another region for a work-related task. A person she met on the matter showed concern, asking Ito, “What will you do about your husband’s dinner?”
Adult Analysis Anthology Issue 3 (IndieGoGo)
This follows on from two previously completed and released anthologies in the series.
Video games about sex have existed as long as video games have existed, but you’d never know it by looking at the past several decades of video-game-focused journalism and criticism. Adult games are seen as lesser, their content shameful and sophomoric, embarrassing to even acknowledge – never mind write about. Advertiser prudery more or less guarantees that no large outlets will ever dedicate more than the occasional article to the subject of adult games, and what other coverage that exists on the topic amounts to little more than surface-level reviews of new releases on small-scale enthusiast sites.
And yet – there are thousands of adult games, played by millions of people. From dubiously-translated Japanese imports, to crass, high-energy Flash photo hunts, to experimental Twine explorations of darker kinks, to the current-day crop of Ren’Py-powered visual novels and RPGMaker offerings, adult games have shaped and excited our sexuality through countless experiences. Surely, within all of those experiences, all of that history, all of that craft, there must be SOME things worth writing about!
FTC takes anime, software firms to task for breaches of freelance law (The Asahi Shimbun, Yosuke Takashima)
If a business does not respond to the violations, the FTC will publish the business’ name and the charges against them.
According to FTC, a total of 45 companies were found to be in violation, including 18 animation production companies, 13 game software companies, 12 fitness club companies, and two “relaxation” companies.
It said all of the companies violated their obligation to clearly state the terms of the transaction.
In the animation production and game software industries, the amount of remuneration was not clearly indicated.
The FTC also found a violation of the “obligation to pay compensation on time” among those in the relaxation and fitness club industries because they did not set specific due dates for compensation.
The FTC mounted a major investigation into these four industries because of the large number of transactions with freelancers. The FTC found no violations of the seven prohibitions of the law, such as bid-rigging.
VIDEO: Cool Japan, soft power, and the perception of Japanese history by Westerners versus those affected by Japanese imperialism.
SKEET: A film about The Blue Boy Trial, a watershed trans legal case, will be released this fall.
AniFem Community
A backlog just means more of the cool show you now get to enjoy.
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