I Have No Enemies: Vinland Saga and the ethics of political nonviolence
Vinland Saga challenges our relationships with nonviolent resistance as individual moral actors and members of a collective struggle for a world free of state violence.
class and labor Tag
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From the Verdigris House to the Rear Palace: Sex workers’ perspective on The Apothecary Diaries
As a sex worker, however, my favorite aspect of The Apothecary Diaries is the nuanced depiction of sex work. From the Verdigris House women to the royal concubines, the series treats the characters engaged in sex work with care, subverting many of the harmful tropes and expectations that other popular media from around the world often fall into.
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Dweebs, Dorks, and Dictators: El-Hazard’s prescient political commentary
El-Hazard’s depiction of its own petulant villain provides some eerily relevant commentary that resonates outside of the show’s original context, and makes revisiting the series particularly powerful.
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Orb: On the Movements of the Earth and imagining radical futures
As I watched Orb’s various protagonists stake their lives against a violently oppressive religious institution, my real-life government grew alarmingly hostile toward my existence and those of my ilk. Watching Orb became an acutely personal experience, demonstrating the force with which established power structures will suppress truths that threaten their authority and how hope for radical change can be found through community and collective action.
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How Ascendance of a Bookworm depicts the challenges and triumphs of chronic illness
Ascendence of a Bookworm depicts both the societal forces shaping the lives of people with chronic illness and how accessible community can help ameliorate them.
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How women in The Apothecary Diaries navigate patriarchy and class
While some women do their best to play by the rules, others find loopholes in social customs through which they can enact a semblance of autonomy. However, doing so is extremely risky, especially for those lower on the social ladder.
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Wild Women and Iron Will: The battle for nature in Princess Mononoke
Princess Mononoke, with its focus on women in conflict, winds up reflecting an archetypal struggle between the “civilized” woman and the inner wild self.
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The business and politics of magic in Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc
When money is a key motivation, ethics and the greater good are quickly abandoned. This theme is apparent in Season 1 of the anime, bubbling away ever-present in the background as Kana learns the magical girl trade, but comes to the forefront in subsequent material when the manga really starts to dig into the politics of the magical girl business.
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Ayaka is in Love with Hiroko! and the toxic workplace
While toxic workplace culture is originally presented as something that’s keeping the couple apart, ultimately the narrative ends up reinforcing it, asserting that finding happiness in love and expressing your own queer identity are less important than maintaining a conservative, capitalistic status quo.
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Resilience and Resistance: Reimagining marginality and agency in The Apothecary Diaries
The Apothecary Diaries re-imagines the social life of women in its fictional society, showcasing how, despite living in oppressive systems, women continuously negotiate their existence through resilience, intellect, and community.
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“Every Inch of My Imagination”: Mangaka Makoto Yukimura on writing women and slavery in Vinland Saga
Anime Feminist also had the remarkable opportunity to interview Yukimura about Vinland Saga, writing female characters, portraying slavery and the role of Buddhist Philosophy in his work. Our interview with him, which was one of the great honors of my time in anime journalism, is below.
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Talk to Me: The stories you run into during an interview
From the reader or viewer’s perspective, the exchange seems seamless and natural, because how hard can it be to just talk to someone? Today, I’m here to tell you, it’s actually pretty hard.
Or: Chiaki just wanted to brag she gets fed at interviews with the rich and famous sometimes.
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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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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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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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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.
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Becoming Monstrous: Yurikuma Arashi and transmisogyny in the school system
Everything in Yurikuma Arashi is more symbol than literal representation, and I have often mulled over its meaning as I’ve navigated entering the teaching profession as a nonbinary Chinese person. Like the bears, I’ve often asked myself: what do I sacrifice to be allowed to exist within the school?
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My Fave is Problematic: I’m in Love with the Villainess
I’m in Love with the Villainess starts out as a silly isekai romance but grows into a story that earnestly advocates for queer people, taking on complex subjects like homophobia, transphobia, and classism. However, the story’s reliance on messy tropes can sometimes muddle its messages.
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Cyborgs and Identity in Cyberpunk, from Ghost in the Shell to Cyberpunk Edgerunners
Identity is a complicated subject; the ways we can reflect, parse, and better try to know ourselves are nearly infinite, while the ways we can convey that to others effectively are not. Usually, we are limited in how we present by the economic and social pressures of our society. The cyborg challenges its fans to ask themselves: if what makes us people isn’t as concrete as flesh and blood, then what other unshakable, unchangeable truths about ourselves have we been wrong about?
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Scholars Kim Hanjae and Kim Jongik on sharing manhwa globally
2023 was the first year Otakon invited guests who create and study manhwa, and the two guests were eager to discuss the process of bringing awareness to manhwa as an artform, using the newfound popularity of webtoons as a way to introduce English-language fans to the history of the medium.
