Social Commentary, Horror Manga and the Left: From Ero-Guro to Junji Ito
Communism is when I write horror manga. This fact has generally been unrecognized in discussions on the subject.
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Attention to the letter: Lettering and Deaf representation in A Sign of Affection
It’s clear that Yuki’s the one we’re following along this journey, without the assumption that an able-bodied reader needs to have everything about her disability painstakingly explained to them. As well as the storytelling structure itself, this is achieved through suu Morishita’s ingenious use of lettering, wherein the format and function of the words on the page themselves allow the reader to experience the world as Yuki does: thus allowing this to be her story, told with her own words, and of her own experiences.
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Redemption and Retribution: Female antagonists in Final Fantasy XIV Stormblood
Fordola and Yotsuyu’s treatment and ultimate fate in the story are starkly different, and in this way they clearly expose underlying gendered biases in how their writers think about Evil Women(TM) and who “deserves” redemption in narratives about trauma and war.
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Show Time!: Mixing erotica, sex positivity, and TV idols
Declaring Show Time! as part of an entertainment criticism pantheon may overstate its importance in the anime sphere. However, this hentai uses its erotic elements to explore issues and humanize actresses in a way those other shows for general audiences cannot.
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2024 Summer Three-Episode Check-In
‘Tis the season of mess, whether from characters or writing.
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Lolita and Rock n’ Roll: An interview with Aisya of Strawberry Quartz
We speak with Aisya, who is a lolita, editor of magazine Lapin Labyrinthe and guitarist of Strawberry Quartz. Aisya is well recognized in online spaces for his commentary on lolita as a space for creativity and inclusion, as well as trying to create opportunities for lolitas from all backgrounds to participate in print media and photography.
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How Another Code: Recollection rewrote its villain in an empathetic way
Among the changes that this remake made to its source material, the most personally striking was the radical difference in one character: Ryan Gray, a neurodivergent-coded antagonist originally presented as an unambiguous villain, but reinvented as a nuanced, sympathetic figure.
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2024 Summer Premiere Digest
It’s a summer of love, ranging from sweet to very, very messy.
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Classmates and finding the humanity in clichés
In the afterword of the first volume of Classmates, Nakamura Asumiko wrote of her first BL series, “I wanted to go with something cliche, almost hackneyed.” It’s true, Classmates does indulge many of the standards of the genre. Instead of using these cliches as shortcuts, however, Nakamura uses the reader’s familiarity to build a framework for a humanistic, multifaceted story about queer intimacy, connection, and joy.
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2024 Summer Premiere Reviews
All the summer premiere reviews in one easy-to-find place. We’ll update the chart as new series become available, so be sure to check back in the coming days for more!
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Not Just Roses and Sparkles: Unpacking assumptions about shoujo through Hagio Moto’s work
Manga artist Hagio Moto’s work in particular opened my eyes to how versatile the iconic shoujo style can be as a storytelling tool—not just for romance, but for horror, mystery, and mind-expanding science fiction.
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Powerful feelings, intimacy and sex in Joseimuke anime
The way sex is represented in media can be one-note, draining all the eroticism from the experience. If we want exciting variations on the representation of sex in media, it seems to me that joseimuke (media intended for a female audience) anime are optimal mediums for representing the erotic aspects of sex.
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Nagata Kabi and the Mundane Pain of Sickness; or, That Time My Body Broke and I Had To Figure Out How to Keep Going
Nagata Kabi’s sixth autobiographical entry is a story about what happens when your life falls apart and you can no longer escape. That last bit is what this article is about: falling apart.
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The Villain Edit: Dissecting how Oshi no Ko evokes real-life tragedy in its depictions of harassment and reality TV culture
Oshi no Ko spends a few episodes examining the harsh way that people who participate on reality TV can be treated, especially online. In this way, it shines a light on an issue that people who don’t watch much (if any) reality TV have probably ever considered. But what does the way it goes about this mean for its overall message?
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Autonomy, aliens, and a study in female character agency with 16bit Sensation
16bit Sensation is (unfortunately) a useful case study for what we talk about when we talk about character autonomy, active versus reactive characters, and how a narrative suffers when the agency of its female protagonists gets reduced.
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Evangelion, alienation, and Japan’s 1990s economic crisis
In a time wracked by despair, paranoia, and economic devastation, Evangelion captured the nihilistic zeitgeist of a nation and its citizenry
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Designer, DJ, and model Senanan’s latest fashion brand wants to make kawaii for everyone
Senanan has worked in the worlds of fashion design, music, and modeling; she talked with us about returning to work after becoming a mother and her latest project.
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BanG Dream! It’s MyGo!!!!! and the value of letting female characters suck
This show ended up being a standout, not just in the BanG Dream! universe but in the realm of idol/music anime more broadly. What really stuck with me was the way all of the characters, with one in particular, were allowed to showcase the full breadth of human emotions in a way that this genre doesn’t always allow.
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2024 Spring Three-Episode Check-In
A quarter done already? This is one oddball spring, though there are still some standouts worth investing your time in.
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From Takarazuka to Terayama: The influence of queer theater on Revolutionary Girl Utena
While the influence of theater on Utena isn’t subtle, knowing what specific strains of theater the show references would likely be lost on most viewers. Yet uncovering those histories can be like finding little Rosetta Stones to help you parse a show that prides itself on obscurity.
