[Links] 31 May – 5 June 2017

By: Anime Feminist June 6, 20170 Comments

Twitter is in fine form today, plus A Silent Voice and a Pride Month round-up.

AniFem Round-Up

[Podcast] Chatty AF 9: Team Q&A part 2

The second half of our anniversary Q&A. You asked us for our feelings on various anime, and we answered!

[AniFemTalk] Which anime would suit women-only screenings?

With Wonder Woman screenings in the news, what anime would you love to see in women-only screenings (including trans women and non-binary folk, of course).

 

Beyond AniFem

LGBT In Japan Pride Month Reading Roundup (Takurei’s Room)

This site has been on fire with good content as we hurtle into pride month. Here’s a handy organized list of some of their site’s best original content, from historical context to modern interviews and political advancements (and setbacks).

FEATURE: Like Its Pint-Sized Protagonist, “The Royal Tutor” is More than Meets the Eye (Crunchyroll)

While mostly light-hearted, TRT has managed to include some excellent musings on privilege and prejudice.

Is it a bit idealistic? Well, sure. The Royal Tutor may not always go for the easy answer (for example, in a later episode, Heine admits that not everyone will be able to understand Kai or get past their first impressions of him), but it’s still primarily a warm-hearted, feel-good comedy. The series tends to see the best in others and depict people as basically well-meaning, despite their tendency to make rash assumptions. Outside the world of cute chibi princes, this is sadly not always the case.
Still, the central concept is a valuable one, and a good overall mentality to have when engaging with people, whether we’re meeting them in person for a cup of coffee or trading hot takes with them over the Interwebs. There’s more to everyone than appearances or first impressions. An honest attempt at understanding can go a long way.

Nearly half of foster care facilities accept LGBT children: survey (The Japan Times)

That’s still a low number, but it’s heartening to hear that several centers are at least pushing to educate their staff toward tolerance.

Many voiced worries about accepting LGBT children, saying accommodating their need for privacy was difficult because they could not provide individual rooms or bathing areas.
Also, some found it difficult to explain their situation to other children and requested education and training because their awareness of sexual diversity was not high.
Megumi Fuji, head of Rainbow Foster Care, said, “We will further investigate the situation and use (information) to reduce anxiety” at foster care facilities.

Tokyo’s ban on high school girls working in the controversial JK industry goes into effect this summer (Japan Today)

Officials will finally be cracking down on the industry that exploits high school students as supposedly non-sexual escorts for older clients.

It’s worth noting that the new law wouldn’t be applicable to massage parlors, hostess bars, and other such enterprises in which women over the age of 18 dress or act like school girls. It’s also unclear where exactly the authorities will be drawing the line on what constitutes a JK business. Maid cafes, for example, in which employees dress in frilly maid costumes and sit with customers, but generally in an open, non-private shared dining area, appear to be a gray area. For organizations which promise a secluded block of time with an actual high school girl, though, time is running out on their business model, as Tokyo’s under-18 JK business ban is set to go into effect on July 1.

KOE NO KATACHI: DIRECTOR NAOKO YAMADA INTERVIEW (Sakuga Blog)

An interview with A Silent Voice director Naoko Yamada.

– The scriptwriter Reiko Yoshida-san mentioned that you saw the film as a story of forgiveness at its core. How did you decide on such a heavy and layered theme?
I thought…this would be a very difficult position to approach positively. When you’re unable to think of yourself positively, that also gets in the way of you understanding what others feel. We all have worries and many things that we feel guilt over, so we might lose the courage to love ourselves. Since I also have that melancholic part of myself, I wanted to make a film that ultimately said “it’ll be okay.”

Anime film Your Name’s director reveals that one character was very different in initial script (SoraNews 24)

The change itself is fairly minor, but the logic behind it is…kind of uncomfortable, frankly.

However, when Kawamura found out about the specific scenario Shinkai was crafting, he advised against it. “He told me, ‘You know, if the female lead has a guy she’s into from the very start of the movie, the audience will lose interest.’”
In the interview, Kawamura goes on to explain that “Mitsuha is a Shinto shrine maiden, and she makes kuchikamizake [a traditional sake made by shrine maidens chewing and spitting out rice]. So I thought that depicting her as a sort of Virgin Mary-like person would be better. That’s a technique that’s been around since the days of the Bible, and Hayao Miyazaki did the same thing. Nausicaa and Sheeta aren’t into any other guys [when their stories begin].”

“THE NAIL THAT STICKS OUT GETS HAMMERED DOWN”: KOE NO KATACHI AND THE ANXIOUS CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT (Through A Glass)

Another piece on A Silent Voice, and the educational systems that create hardship for students, particularly ones with learning disabilities.

Less discussed still is Japan’s approach to students with specialized educational requirements such as Koe no Katachi’s Shouko, attending a public school lacking in appropriate facilities which instantaneously renders her an anomaly when immersed in the collective gaze of her peers. In no due part to a 2006 reform arising from conflictive educational politics, disabled students have been encouraged to attend public schools in order to heighten social integration and inclusivity, as schools specifically designed with specialized educational requirements have induced isolation among attendees [2]. Although such institutions provide sufficient facilities capable of catering to the student’s needs, they nevertheless tend to be quite expensive rendering public education a more cost-effective (if problematic) alternative.

If you have money to spare, this project is dedicated to helping animators, and especially space for the women’s dorms.

Some amazing cosplay by hijab-wearing women.

Another great thread/review about My Brother’s Husband.

 

AniFem Community

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You also gave us some great answers about women-only screenings:

And an A+ reference

Finally, we had a new discussion kick off just today when a reader asked an interesting question in light of the announcement that Cowboy Bebop will have a live TV adaptation:

Let us know your thoughts on Twitter or in comments here!

 

At this stage, we have raised enough money to be able to pay for contributed posts, behind the scenes admin, and audio editing for weekly podcasts. Our next goal is to pay the editors who have worked on AniFem as volunteers since before launch, making enormous contributions for no pay. Help us pay them for their work at a rate of $15 an hour by becoming a patron for as little as $1 a month!

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