Discussion about wages and working conditions have exploded to the surface of the anime industry over the past few years. Anime Feminist had a chance to talk with Zeno Robinson, acclaimed actor and vocal supporter of the unionization movement, at Otakon 2022.
Media from all over the globe contains an abundance of pro-law enforcement storylines and themes. Anime and manga are not exempt from this, with some of the most successful franchises in both mediums espousing dangerous, pro-cop social politics. That’s why this piece aims to introduce new and old anime fans to the concept of copaganda, highlight some of the most popular ways the practice appears so that it can be regularly identified, and offer some direction on how fans can still enjoy the mediums in spite of these prevalent themes.
With a cast mostly of “dangerous criminals” identified by the crimes they’ve committed instead of their names, I assumed Akudama Drive’s dystopian setting would act as little more than set dressing in a story that ultimately reinforces, rather than challenges, the stigmatization of criminalized people. I have rarely been happier to be proven wrong. Echoing the calls of the prison abolition movement, Akudama Drive delivers a powerful and subversive statement against the criminal legal system, one that goes beyond slogans like All Cops Are Bastards and questions the basis of our conception of justice.
Vrai, Chiaki, and Mercedez look back on last season’s powerful cyberpunk showstopper Akudama Drive!
In an exceptionally hellish year, good anime managed to provide some brief moments of reprieve. Here are the staff’s 2020 favorites!
Fall featured a lot of hotly anticipated titles from well-loved creators, but which managed to stick the landing?
There’s too darn many anime this season. Some of them are even really good! The team did their best, resulting in our longest check-in post ever.
Akudama Drive comes in like a robot boxer: moving fast, swinging hard, and covered in LED lights.
