Part 3 of the 4-part watchalong of Kill la Kill with Amelia, Vrai, and special guest Miranda Sanchez! This week, the crew discusses why it can be hard to talk critically about shows you loved as a teenager, why Deep Metaphors only work if you remember intersectionality, and why Satsuki deserves way better than That One Scene.
Darling in the FRANXX purports to have something to say about sex, gender, and adolescence, but as illustrated in the “battle of the sexes” plotline in the episode “Boys x Girls,” thus far it only rehashes outdated stereotypes and an antiquated “boys will be boys” attitude.
“Once upon a time…” Those first words of the opening monologue of Revolutionary Girl Utena captivated me. And every time it repeated itself, I learned more about how stories have power.
This week: women in construction work, Liz and the Blue Bird, and Ikuhara anime.
The team discusses the show’s unique place as the only Lupin property with a woman in the director or head writer’s chair, Fujiko’s uneven portrayals across time, and how the series pulls no punches in discussing sexuality, identity, and who controls women’s stories. Caitlin extols a straight relationship based on mutual respect, Vrai has a lot of feelings about their (really awful, really tragic) son, and Dee brings the thoughtful questions.
Through its premise, dialogue, and visual language, Ristorante Paradiso is a story that’s clearly told from its female protagonist’s perspective and directed at a female audience. After the Rain, on the other hand, seems mostly directed at the (straight) adult men its seinen magazine is so obviously targeting.
Fumi Yoshinaga’s ongoing manga Ōoku: The Inner Chambers traces the events of medieval Japanese history with one big twist: the Redface Pox has killed most of the men in Edo, leaving women with the power of the shogunate.
This week: Kaceytron, backlash against #MeToo in Japan, and workplace sexism.
Part two of the four-part watchalong of Kill la Kill with Amelia, Vrai, and special guest Miranda Sanchez! Fashion gets an unfair shake. The StuCo is Good, but Satsuki is Best. As for Nui… maybe you don’t want to hear out thoughts on Nui.
Hyouka’s “normalcy” helped it present a very grounded take on high school life, carefully depicting the flaws and struggles of its main characters without reducing them to archetypes.
The inherent transphobia written into Erica’s character is reflective of Japanese society, as conformity is part of the social constructs within the country itself. Erica is the product of misinformation about lifestyles that were not visible, and still remain somewhat invisible, in a conservative society.
This week: Banana Fish, the final days of this year’s #28DaysofBlackCosplay, and first-hand accounts from Japanese-American internment camps.
Part 1 of the four-part watchalong of Kill la Kill with Amelia, Vrai, and special guest Miranda Sanchez! In this first episode, the team talks about the polarizing fandom reactions to the series—and has some polarizing reactions of their own. TRIGGER slaps the audience with a bucketful of aesthetic. Ryuko is Good Actually. Too bad the series keeps embarrassing her for titillation.
My Hero Academia is one of my favorite series in recent years. Regrettably, though, it’s not entirely free of some of the most frustrating (and typical) shounen stereotypes that frequently undermine its strong female cast.
In November 2017, Nobuhiro Watsuki was arrested for the possession of child pornography. Shueisha responded by suspending publication of his Rurouni Kenshin sequel. But this isn’t the first time a Shonen JUMP author has been arrested for crimes involving underage girls.
This week: the charms of Laid-Back Camp, academic feminism, and Japanese feminist vloggers to follow.
