Alice Gear Aegis Expansion – Episodes 0 – 1
Alice Gear is very silly, and because its tone and lore are so at odds it’s silly in a way that’s baffling rather than fun.
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My Home Hero – Episode 1
Whoever is responsible for this, I salute you. I deplore you.
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Tengoku Daimakyou (Heavenly Delusion) – Episode 1
It’s hard to write about Heavenly Delusion right now, because what we got doesn’t feel like a full episode. It ends on an enormous cliffhanger, where we are just starting to peek into the menace of the world. It’s even more challenging because what we did get was largely a beautifully atmospheric mood piece, punctuated by only minor intrusions of gender nonsense.
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Chatty AF 182: Ace/Aro Representation in Anime and Manga – Part 2 (WITH TRANSCRIPT)
Dee, Alex, and Cy return to their discussion of asexual and aromantic coding, and dive deep into the works of Uta Isaki!
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My Clueless First Friend – Episode 1
I’m happy to report this is a sweet show about how basic kindness can really go a long way.
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The Dangers in My Heart – Episode 1
A uniquely nauseating opening gives way to an overall sweet rom-com about two weirdos.
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Hell’s Paradise – Episode 1
The manga is immensely popular and, based on the gore elements alone, I can see why folks are excited to see the supernatural narrative and action sequences in the upcoming weeks.
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2023 Spring Premiere Reviews
All the spring premiere reviews in one easy-to-find place. We’ll update the chart as more series become available, so be sure to check back in the coming days for more! Check out our merch store for shirts, stickers, and more! Use the code SPRING23 to get 10% off your entire order.
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My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999 – Episode 1
There’s a few sour notes here that mostly come down to having to get the premise out of the way, but I think this might shape up to be a nice balm for all the people who were crushed when the director of Recovery of an MMO Junkie turned out to be violently anti-Semitic.
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Ugly Things Cannot Be Loved: Penguindrum and the dilemma of Yuri
Yuri’s assault on Ringo is emblematic of how the tensions and arguable flaws in Penguindrum point to larger tensions and unresolved questions in our movements for transformative justice, abolition, and queer liberation.
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The Infantilization and Sexualization of Inoue Orihime in Bleach
Even as someone who loved the show in the past, I’ve found myself becoming more of an onlooker these days. I suppose it’s because I can no longer keep from opening Pandora’s box and exploring the problematic traits of Inoue Orihime, a character whose screen time grows in line with the misogyny of her portrayal.
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Chatty AF 181: Ace/Aro Representation in Anime and Manga – Part 1 (WITH TRANSCRIPT)
Dee, Alex, and Cy discuss asexual and aromantic coded characters and several new manga with explicit ace and/or aro leads.
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What we can learn about labor organization from Akiba Maid War
While not comprehensive, Episode 4 perfectly captures many of the tactics corporations use to suppress their workers. Of course, the challenging relationship these characters already have with labor organizations as sensationalized mobsters further complicates the themes of this episode, but the pro-union sentiment of this zany plotline deserves analysis.
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Can’t Quite Be Your Sister: Looking at the Japanese laws relating to gender identity disorder
Japanese blogger Honeshabri breaks down laws regarding the stipulations trans people face in changing their gender markers in Japan.
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Subverting masculine expectations and complicating the male gaze in My Dress-Up Darling
While still tangled in fan service and horny comedy, My Dress-Up Darling’s depictions of masculinity and the sexualization of its female characters are typically leaps and bounds above many of its genre counterparts.
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How Otherside Picnic masterfully uses horror to explore abuse and show healing queer love
Otherside Picnic makes a wonderful addition to the canon by centering queer love and examining how survivors of abusive relationships can heal from their pain and trauma in order to move onto healthier relationships.
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Chatty AF 180: 2023 Winter Mid-Season Check-In (WITH TRANSCRIPT)
Cy, Caitlin, and Peter check-in on a season with way too many messy shows to wade into.
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Ai Yori Aoshi at 20: The harem anime that almost broke the mold
Ai Yori Aoshi in many ways feels distinct from the tropes established in titles like Love Hina, despite being a contemporary of it. When revisiting it twenty years later, is this some diamond in the rough, or a relic of an era long past?
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Airborne Onnagata: Viewing Macross Frontier’s protagonist through a genderqueer lens
After an initial viewing of Macross Frontier, most viewers would comment on a handful of topics. Not limited to, but including: the series’ back-to-basics approach reminiscent of the original 1982 Macross, its tendency to adhere a bit too closely to then-current trends, and unending talk of how awful Alto is. However, on a recent rewatch, a new thought clicked with me: what if Alto was fighting with some intense dysphoria?
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Two Clever Princesses, Two Feminist Fairy Tales: The Clever Princess vs Princess Arete
Both interpretations of Arete’s tale are valuable works rich with feminist themes, and looking at the different ways the different versions play them out gives insight into the potential strengths that different tones and narrative structures can hold.
