All Folks Bright and Beautiful: The casual gender diversity of Heaven’s Design Team
Come for the neat animal facts, stay for the charming cast breezily ignoring gender norms.
seinen Tag
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On Your Side: Support networks in March comes in like a lion
March comes in like a lion is not always an easy show to watch. The protagonist, Rei Kiriyama, is probably the most relatable and moving representation of anxiety and depression I’ve ever seen. He’s what brought me to this show, but he’s not the only reason I stayed.
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“A Woman, Drinking by Myself”: Wakakozake and the diversifying food counter-genre
Despite a variety of stories about food in anime and manga, there’s been a lack of female and intersectional viewpoints, especially in portraying the intimate moments one has with food and encouraging the solitary exploration of food and drink. One series is helping challenge this status quo: Wakakozake.
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Mitty the Person, Mitty the Cursed: Made in Abyss and the paradoxical representation of disability
While both Nanachi and Mitty underwent the dramatic transformation from human to Hollow, they are constructed with perceived differences of ability. Ultimately, this leads to Mitty’s life being depicted as having far less value than Nanachi’s.
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Cozy Campfires, Bitter Broth: Female Relationships in Laid-Back Camp and Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles
In Laid-Back Camp, the main characters’ relationship develops over the course of the series becomes a rewarding story about female closeness; Ms. Koizumi, on the other hand, sticks to the status quo established in its premiere, which creates a stale and repetitive story that perpetuates negative tropes about queer women.
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After the Rain, Ristorante Paradiso, and the delicate art of the age-gap romance
Through its premise, dialogue, and visual language, Ristorante Paradiso is a story that’s clearly told from its female protagonist’s perspective and directed at a female audience. After the Rain, on the other hand, seems mostly directed at the (straight) adult men its seinen magazine is so obviously targeting.
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REAL and Portrayals of Disability
In REAL, Takehiko Inoue uses three similarly aged young men to portray different aspects of physical disability. By looking at these characters and their interplay, we can delve further into some of the ways REAL succeeds and fails at portraying disability.
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Who’s the Hero, Anyway? Made in Abyss, gendered tropes, and damaging narratives
No media exists in a vacuum, and justifying a trope doesn’t stop it from playing into broader harmful trends.
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How Clean Freak! Aoyama-kun compassionately handles mental illness
When this season started out, Clean Freak! Aoyama kun had a huge uphill battle to win my respect. But it won me over. Aoyama-kun is good. And it’s stayed good, mostly due to the compassion it shows for its ever-expanding ensemble cast.
