All Articles
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Chatty AF 118: SARAZANMAI Retrospective (WITH TRANSCRIPT)
Vrai, Chiaki, and Dee take a look back at yet another difficult to succinctly summarize TV anime by Ikuhara, SARAZANMAI! You know the deal (or maybe you don’t yet): messy teens, queer themes, and lots of symbolism about societal oppression.
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How Can I Connect to You? Breaking out of toxic masculinity and capitalist ideologies in SARAZANMAI
Both Kazuki and Toi emerge from similar circumstances of capitalism, oppression, and the hypermasculine coping mechanisms they’ve been given to deal with the pain of that oppression. It is only through learning to care for one another—and learning that they can care for one another—that they can both be free.
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The Worker’s Nekopara: A call to arms against nekonomic exploitation
Yes, even the horny catgirl anime can be a lesson in real-world inequality.
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A Thousand Good Excuses: LGBTQ representation in Gankutsuou vs. The Count of Monte Cristo
If all representation is good representation, then Gankutsuou’s two LGBTQ characters should win out against Dumas’ one. But if we are to examine representation with a more critical eye, it is difficult to conclude that the later reimagining of the story does any more for queer people than does the story as first told some hundred and sixty years before.
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The intersection of queer and Deaf identity in I Hear the Sunspot
As a long-time reader of manga, I always found the medium to be a means of escape to fantastical worlds. Yet, there remained a disconnect between me and the stories I was reading. Discovering I Hear the Sunspot filled that absence with its portrayal of the specific reality of being both gay and Deaf.
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Black Lives Matter and Protests Against Police Brutality in Japan
As Black Lives Matter protests continue across the United States, countries around the world have also shown solidarity. This includes Japan, where BLM protests were organized in Osaka and Kansai.
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Chatty AF 117: Shonen JUMP Manga (WITH TRANSCRIPT)
Peter, Chiaki, and Faye discuss the many manga on the Shonen Jump app that haven’t yet received anime adaptations!
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Pride, Policing, and the Conservative Politics of My Hero Academia
My Hero Academia, in its proud declarations of right and wrong, good and evil, heroism and villainy, argues how the world should be. Understanding how My Hero Academia works means understanding what this prescription is, and who gets labeled the villains.
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Beauty and Beast: The messy, complex women of Helter Skelter and Pink
Constantly, in pop culture, we see women being used as an accessory, a love interest, a mother, but in Okazaki’s world, women take the main stage and prove that a female-led manga can be just as impactful as stories focused around men. These two stories explore both the “beauty” and the “beast” contained within their heroines.
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Dorohedoro – Episode 1
I’ve heard plenty about Dorohedoro’s wit and charm punctuated by graphic ultraviolence, about the ensemble cast and their dynamics, about just how danged good it is. As of the first episode, it’s hard to say if it lives up to its reputation, but it’s certainly on track to fulfill my expectations.
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Site Update: New staff, business transitions, and Amelia’s farewell
Marking our first site update since the fundraiser wrapped two months ago, we have some big news, both exciting and a little sad.
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Allegory, Allegorier, Allegoriest: Visual storytelling and empathy in Revolutionary Girl Utena
Revolutionary Girl Utena has a well-deserved reputation for being difficult to parse. Dense with metaphor, thinly-veiled critique of old shoujo tropes, and allusions to obscure literature, Utena’s style of storytelling relies heavily on its own visual language.
