All Articles
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Chatty AF 33: Fushigi Yugi Watchalong – Episodes 35-40 (WITH TRANSCRIPT)
Part 6 of our Fushigi Yugi watchalong with Dee, Vrai, and Caitlin! The team enters the show’s infamous badlands, and only headcanon AUs, visual novel tangents, and copious amounts of alcohol can get them through it. Nakago levels up to Literal Worst. Tamahome boyfriends good. Miaka stabs her way to freedom.
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Love, Power, and Safety in The Ancient Magus’ Bride
The pairing of a meek young woman with a self-assured and wealthy man is common in shoujo manga, sometimes leading to depictions of abusive or unhealthy relationships that are tacitly treated as acceptable by the story and audience. It’s worth examining how The Ancient Magus’ Bride does (or doesn’t) fall into these patterns.
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My Fave is Problematic: Kare Kano
Kare Kano starts off as a light, funny, and typical “girl-meets-boy” shoujo series, but it quickly evolves into a dark, emotionally gut-wrenching tale that delves into discussions and depictions of child abuse, suicide, sexual assault, self-harm, mental illness, bullying, and other themes that I could very much—albeit uncomfortably—relate to.
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[Links] 22-28 November 2017
Nostalgic retrospectives, sexual harassment, and possibly unscrupulous trademarks.
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Chatty AF 32: Fushigi Yugi Watchalong – Episodes 28-34 (WITH TRANSCRIPT)
Part 5 of our Fushigi Yugi watchalong with Caitlin, Dee, and Vrai! Emotions run high as the team grapples with the loss of a beloved character and the many, many problems with the story’s handling of gender and sexuality. Miaka applies for dual citizenship. Tamahome invents a stereotype. Nuriko opens up.
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Not Just A Man’s Job: How war involves (and hurts) everybody in Gundam 0080
In Gundam 0080, our protagonist watches paramedics pull a female pilot out of a wrecked Gundam surrounded by debris. He is shocked, pupils as dilated as can be. To him, this female pilot occupies a very different sphere: a domestic one. In fact, she’s his old babysitter.
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Persona 5 and the Abandoned Misfits
Persona 5 presents itself as a game about misfits and about exposing the unseen evils underlying Tokyo. Yet these misfits adhere to the same norms and assumptions as the oppressive adults the game claims to challenge.
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[Links] 15-21 November 2017
History lessons on queer comics, troll culture, and Black men’s connection to Dragon Ball Z.
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Chatty AF 31: Fall 2017 anime mid-season check-in (WITH TRANSCRIPT)
Vrai, Caitlin, and Peter check in with 18 anime of our Fall 2017 premiere digest. Listen to find out our biggest surprises, disappointments, and guilty pleasures of the season along with our top recommended sequels!
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Princess Mononoke as a Force of Nature
In Princess Mononoke, the heroine reflects a duality of potential for which women are feared and demonised: compassion balanced with a fierce courage and a raw instinct that can be honed, recklessness curbed, but never erased.
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Anime Supremacy! is the SHIROBAKO sequel you’ve been waiting for
Not quite a novel and not quite a short story collection, this book is divided into three main chapters, each following one of its female protagonists through part of a single anime season.
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[Links] 8-14 November 2017
14-year-old inventors, compensation for panel presenters, and the politics of subtitles.
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Chatty AF 30: Fushigi Yugi watchalong – Episodes 21-27 (WITH TRANSCRIPT)
Part 4 of the Fushigi Yugi watchalong with Vrai, Dee, and Caitlin! The ensemble cast shines in another strong stretch, but there’s a storm on the horizon, and we ain’t just talking about Soi’s lightning powers. Chiriko gets real. Miaka straps on her chastity belt. Tamahome has a very bad week.
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Escape from Yuri Hell: FLIP FLAPPERS’ critique of the Class S genre
In FLIP FLAPPERS Episode 5, Cocona and Papika are thrown into a world that combines Class S, a genre of sweet yuri romance, with horror. Now, what in the world could that strange combination be trying to tell us?
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My Fave is Problematic: Ranma 1/2
When I read Ranma 1/2 during my first year of high school, I fell in love with Rumiko Takahashi’s signature expressive art. ad colorful cast. Yet the older I get, the harder it is to ignore some of the most problematic aspects of the series, especially how it deals with femininity.
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[Links] 1-7 November 2017
Depressing news about the fight for gender equality, academic studies of BL, and hobby manga.
