AniFem Round-Up
Princess Connect! Re:Dive – Episode 1
Mobile game adaptation that has an appealing sense of humor about its premise.
The Millionaire Detective – Balance: Unlimited – Episode 1
Crime drama with plenty of style and an insufferable protagonist.
Energetic racing series with racial stereotyping in the extended cast.
Woodpecker Detective’s Office – Episode 1
Aesthetically appealing historical fiction with a weak grasp of its mystery writing element.
Chatty AF 113: Manga Variety Hour – Tragedy Tomorrow, Comedy Tonight!
Recommendations of some of our favorite in-print comedy manga.
What sequel series are you most excited for?
Some long waits have finally ended, so anything feels possible.
Beyond AniFem
‘Clothesline’ art gives victims of sexual abuse a place to speak (The Japan Times, Emukai Sayaka)
Others are encouraged to copy the project to help spread its message against sexual violence.
Clothes pegs fix the pinkish cards to long hemp ropes pulled taut. The messages originated from marchers at the Flower Demonstrations held to protest sexual violence and demand justice for the victims.
The demonstrations started around Japan after the Nagoya District Court’s Okazaki branch in March last year acquitted a father of sexually abusing his daughter.
“It is very important to organize and fight to change the laws that are unfair to women,” Mayer was quoted as saying by Ayumi Oka, who volunteered to help the artist produce the work for Aichi Triennale. “I hope the Clothesline is a useful tool to visualize the problems of violence against women in Japan, as it has been in Mexico.”
In Mayer’s expanding artwork, visitors can detail their experiences of being victimized and offer suggestions on how to prevent sexual harassment on the cards, which will be attached to the rope.
BLACK WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH: A WEAR YOUR VOICE READING LIST (Wear Your Voice)
A list of articles discussing a variety of intersectional feminist topics with a focus on Black women’s voices.
From the Civil Rights Movement to Black (Queer) Feminist Thought; from body liberation movements to LGBTQ+ movements; from the sports world to the music industry, it has been Black women at the forefront of creating and building work intended to liberate, entertain, heal, and educate.
Though month-long celebrations are fleeting, we believe that compiling a list of work that can introduce others to the variety of Black women who have been trailblazers across industries can take this from a transient moment to a lifetime of learning and memorializing their masterful deeds.
Take a moment to learn about some of the world’s greatest authors, athletes, theorists, activists, and about some of the issues, cultural works, and historical moments that carry significance for Black women.
Why Final Fantasy VII’s Trans Story Resonates (Uppercut, Grace Benfell)
Discussing the story of Cloud’s identity crisis through the lens of trans subtext.
Then why revisit Final Fantasy VII at all when its only literal depiction of gender nonconformity is bigoited? First of all, it’s worth working through a story’s contradictions. The obviously coded, discourse inspiring moments can complicate what a work does, but they do not complete it. FF7 is interested in how violence uses norms of masculinity to perpetuate itself and gives its main character a strikingly coherent way to free himself. The Honeybee Inn doesn’t stop that. Second, I find the abstract approach to Cloud’s journey to be fundamentally compelling. In her essay on The Matrix, Esther Rosenfield states that “Seeing trans characters is nice, but what speaks to me so much more powerfully is seeing my own experience through genre allegory. That experience isn’t best relayed literally, because my trans feelings are so abstract.” This is largely true for me as well. The “queer” stories that most often resonate with me are sub-textually, rather than literally, about repression and self-actualization. My “trans canon” includes everything from Bruce Springsteen’s song Dancing in the Dark to Ursula K. Le Guin’s novel The Tombs of Atuan. Very rarely are these works about explicitly trans characters. Rather Dancing in the Dark communicates a desperate need to connect to a body that will not cooperate. The Tombs of Atuan is, quite literally, about the terror of being nameless, of being in a culture built around you that cannot tolerate you. It’s an interpretative act that requires a leap, but I find it incredibly satisfying. Rather than waiting for someone to make a story for me, I take it and make it my own.
1/2 of one-parent families in Japan see income drop amid pandemic: NPO survey (The Mainichi, Misono Eri)
A reduction of already scarce child care options is a major factor.
Among desired government responses to the novel coronavirus financial crunch, 79% of respondents to a multiple-choice question that they wanted immediate cash disbursements, while about 40% favored aid for using babysitter services, and also increasing places where children can spend time safely.
A mother of two who is working in the hotel industry in Japan’s northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido replied that her “income decreased as working hours were reduced. I’m asking my children to do without necessities for the new school year.” Among other responses were, “We don’t have a balanced diet as we mostly eat rice to feel full,” “I can’t pay the rent for our apartment because expenses are going up,” and, “Though I’d like to stay home for my children, it’s not easy to take time off from work if I want to keep my job.”
For Tokyo poor living in net cafes, virus state of emergency could mean homelessness (The Mainichi, Saito Buntaro, Futamura Yujiro, Kumagai Go and Yoshinaga Mami)
Many live and store belongings in all-night internet cafes and would be left without lodgings should they close.
Kaori Muto, a professor specializing in health at the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Tokyo and a member of the government’s expert panel on the new coronavirus, has stressed the dangers closing internet cafes could pose to some members of society.
“People including domestic violence victims or those who don’t have a place where they feel safe often end up at internet cafes. If these businesses are asked to temporarily close, then accommodation facilities and other provisions should be secured for them,” she said.
Muto added, “There is also a possibility that cases of domestic violence and abuse will increase as people become unable to leave their homes. Novel coronavirus countermeasures should include fully realized support for these people.”
VIDEO: Interview with a Black woman born in Japan about her experiences there and in the U.S.
VIDEO: Discussion of both the natural fading of certain well-known spoilers for younger generations and how corporations exploit fear around spoilers to drive sales.
TWEET: Link to an article discussing bigoted remarks by the author of The Millionaire Detective.
TWEET: Translation of a statement by director Kuboyama Eiichi that summer anime will likely be delayed due to COVID-19.
TWEET: Link to a thread discussing why fantasy races are not a replacement for discussing real-world racism.
AniFem Community
May your every dream sequel sequel get made, AniFam.
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