AniFem Round-Up
All the fall premiere reviews in one easy-to-find place.
Yano-kun’s Ordinary Days – Episode 1
If “sad wet cat and his protective love interest” is your thing, this is a good time. It just needs to develop beyond the one joke.
Azusa is indeed relatably awkward and introverted, but she can’t carry an entire show on her back alone.
Pass the Monster Meat, Milady! – Episode 1
It looks a little stiff, but that hardly matters when the likable leads have this much chemistry.
Dusk Beyond the End of the World – Episodes 0-1
This two-part premiere is all futuristic chrome but no unique shine when it comes to its overall execution.
There’s a decent hook buried under a lot of clunky writing and struggling animation.
Cruel, shallow, and deep in the misogyny that’s common to revenge stories like this.
May I Ask for One Final Thing? – Episodes 1-2
Sometimes it’s just immensely cathartic to watch a woman punch rich people in the face.
This Monster Wants to Eat Me – Episode 1
The summer of depressed small town boys falling for eldritch mountain gods has come to a close, but fall is here for us with depressed small town girls falling for sea monsters! Truly, anime is good.
The Fated Magical Princess: Who Made Me a Princess – Episodes 1-3
You can also build a compelling villainess story, it turns out, by simply giving your protagonist visions of a dark possible future rather than making her a reincarnated gamer.
Inexpressive Kashiwada and Expressive Oota – Episode 1
It looks nice, but the adventures of a middle-school boy stalking his crush aren’t exactly endearing.
A Star Brighter Than the Sun – Episode 1
A simple, but well executed, premiere that’ll remind viewers of why they like a good shoujo romance.
It’s hard to tell if this will be an episodic drama or a grand mystery, but there’s a lot of hinted depth to the chronically ill protagonist.
SANDA may be one of the most head-empty shows on TV. That is precisely why it works so well.
The premise is fun, but the big emotional climax feels unearned – and risks playing into the very tropes the show could be deconstructing instead.
The Banished Court Magician Aims to Become the Strongest – Episode 1
It’s competent but choppy and completely devoid of anything worth talking about.
Tojima Wants to Be a Kamen Rider – Episode 1
The premise could be mean-spirited, but for now it’s embracing the right level of heart and enthusiasm.
SI-VIS: The Sound of Heroes – Episode 1
The beats are familiar if you know music anime, but the execution is solid with room to grow.
Dad is a Hero, Mom is a Spirit, I’m a Reincarnator – Episode 1
The well-executed elements of the premiere end up overshadowed by fatphobia and the show’s lack of interest in its female characters.
Digimon’s greatest strength as a franchise lies in its character relationships, and this new entry doesn’t seem to understand that at all.
My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In for Me! – Episode 1
This is an exhausting premiere that wants to pat itself on the back for pointing out the tropes it’s wallowing in.
Touring After the Apocalypse – Episode 1
A charming trip into the distant future and an apocalypse that’s claimed all societal progress, but hasn’t taken away the simple joy of a cross-country girl’s trip.
My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero’s – Episode 1
A breath of fresh air for its niche, with expressive fight scenes, classmates that don’t feel cartoonishly evil, and a genuine sense of mystery.
A Mangaka’s Weirdly Wonderful Workplace – Episode 1
We are pleased to present to you a star rom-com of the season: “useless lesbians make manga.”
What Fall 2025 anime are you most interested in?
Plenty to choose from, clearly!
BONUS PODCAST (WITH TRANSCRIPT): Behind the Scenes at Otakon 2025
Caitlin and Vrai both attended Otakon this year, so they got together to talk about the panels and premieres they saw, the people they talked to, and what changes (good and bad) the con made this year.
Beyond AniFem
Overcoming Insecurities with Plus-Sized Misadventures in Love Manga Creator mamakari (Anime News Network, Jeremy Tauber)
The anime adaptation debuted early this week.
Progress has been made in American society toward being more body positive, although there is still considerable pressure to maintain a thin physique. Do you find the same holds true in Japan? What are the Japanese views on beauty and body positivity?
mamakari: In Japanese society, many people still have a kind of obsession with being thin. From my perspective, it seems that kind of obsession affects younger people the most. I believe the recent spread of social media and anxiety-mongering ads is part of the reason. On social platforms in particular, you often come across information about appetite-suppressing drugs—and it’s worrying how easily they can be obtained. It’s incredibly hard to shake off the narrow idea that “thin equals beautiful,” but I find hope in the fact that so many people love a character like Yumeko.
Given the theme of the manga and how it’s executed, what do you want readers to take away from all of this?
mamakari: I’ll be happy enough if people enjoy reading my manga, but I’d be glad if any readers find better ways to deal with their inferiority complexes.
The main plot is essentially how a woman becomes the epitome of body positivity, but I noticed that there’s a murder mystery thrown in there, too. When did you decide that this element of murder mystery would be thrown into the mix?
mamakari: It was fairly early. I didn’t set out to make body positivity the main focus; instead, I intended to write the story primarily with elements such as infidelity, amnesia, and misadventures.
The amnesia part of the story is nice, since it adds another layer of mystery to the story while allowing Yumeko to forget about all of the self-loathing she inflicted on herself. The dynamic is interesting, but what specifically made you decide that Yumeko had to be an amnesiac?
mamakari: At the beginning, I tried to describe whether changing one’s mindset or perspective can affect how they see the world. However, I found that that’s neither easy nor quick; it takes a lot of time and effort. So I thought, “What if one day her inner self suddenly changed, as if she’d become a completely different person?” And because this is a manga, I also wanted to avoid it feeling like a self-help book, so I settled on giving her amnesia—making her personality change along with her memory.
Not Your Idol Announcement (Tumblr)
The manga announced its return after a five year hiatus.
Sayonara Miniskirt (Not Your Idol) is a shoujo manga about a former idol returning to life as an ordinary high school student after a traumatic incident with a fan. Inspired by similar real life incidents, the manga is notable for realistic and serious examinations of serious topics such as trauma, the dark side of idol culture, sexual harassment, and more. The series went on a hiatus lasting multiple years after the mangaka Aoi Makino had to take time off due to health reasons, but happily, Makino was able to return to writing the series in 2024. Since then two more volumes have been published, and on October 7th, in about a week, we will be recieving a new volume of Not Your Idol for the first time in five years.
Because of the occasion, I wanted to post about this ad that ran in Ribon a few years back. Twitter user sakaimii posted about it and with her permission, i’ve posted her translation of the text here because i would like to spread awareness of the return of Not Your Idol, as well as help the message expressed here to reach more people.
the original tweet thread can be found here. the text of the translation can be found under the cut.
Living as Amerasian (Pt. 2): Okinawan-born woman who concealed origins realizes ‘treasures’ (The Mainichi, Tomonari Takao)
Part two of a two-part interview.
Nakamura started returning to Okinawa frequently and began learning about the issues the region faces. At a gathering, a man’s words profoundly moved her.
Although he realized Nakamura was Amerasian, he did not mention it. About six months after their meeting, he quietly said, “You have the Okinawan spirit of empathy and compassion, along with the rationality of your American father. That’s fine as you are.” She realized that she had inherited treasures from her parents, whom she had wanted to hide.
However, she still could not openly communicate this to her three children. She hesitated, unsure of how to start the conversation.
In 2005, a symposium on Amerasians in Okinawa was held in Osaka. It was a gathering to discuss the current situation and challenges, featuring the organizer of the Amerasian School in Okinawa, an alternative “free school” in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture. Even roughly 40 years after Nakamura left Okinawa, cases persisted of Amerasian children struggling to fit in at school due to parental divorces and other issues. The Amerasian School in Okinawa, which opened in 1998, aimed to teach children the languages and cultures of both Japan and the United States, encouraging them to take pride in being “double.” Children are enrolled in public schools, and going to the free school counts as public school attendance, allowing them to graduate. This system was a victory for Amerasians’ parents.
Nakamura was asked to speak at the symposium as an Amerasian, and she accepted. She shared her painful childhood experiences and addressed the issues surrounding U.S. military bases. She wanted to convey her feelings to her peers in the younger generations and emphasized, “Even if you were born as a result of war, you must absolutely never do anything that leads to war.”
Japan’s first female governing-party leader is an ultra-conservative star in a male-dominated group (The Asahi Shimbun)
She’s already open about being willing to work with far-right groups.
She hardly touched on gender issues during the campaign, but on Saturday, as she tried out the party president’s chair and posed for a photo as is customary for the newly elected leader, Takaichi said: “Now that the LDP has its first female president, its scenery will change a little.”
First elected to parliament from her hometown of Nara in 1993, she has served in key party and government posts, including minister of economic security, internal affairs and gender equality.
Female lawmakers in the conservative Liberal Democratic Party who were given limited ministerial posts have often been shunned as soon as they spoke up about diversity and gender equality. Takaichi has stuck with old-fashioned views favored by male party heavyweights.
Takaichi also admits she is a workaholic who would rather study at home instead of socializing. After unsuccessfully running for party presidency twice in the past, she made efforts to be more sociable to build connections as advised, she said.
But on Saturday, as she called for an all-out effort to rebuild the party and regain public support, she asked all party lawmakers to “work like a horse.” Then she added, “I will abandon the word ‘work-life balance.’ I will work, work, work and work.”
The “work-life balance” quickly trended on social media, triggering mixed reactions — support for her enthusiasm and concern about her work ethic.
Women comprise only about 15% of Japan’s lower house, the more powerful of the two parliamentary chambers. Only two of Japan’s 47 prefectural governors are women.
NANA Celebrates 25 Years With Special Vivienne Westwood Cover (Tokyo Weekender, Eugenie Shin)
It’s nice to hear Yazawa is feeling better, at least enough to draw for the collab.
Fittingly, to celebrate Nana’s 25th anniversary, Vivienne Westwood has announced a special collaboration with the iconic manga. Fans are absolutely losing their minds, and it’s not hard to see why — for the collab, Ai Yazawa has personally illustrated a brand-new cover design for a special collector’s volume, titled the Nana 25th Anniversary Edition, Vol. 1: Vivienne Westwood Edition.
The exclusive artwork features the series’ two protagonists, Nana Komatsu and Nana Osaki, strutting down the runway in instantly recognizable Vivienne Westwood designs. The book will also feature plaid sprayed edges that directly match the pattern worn by the characters in the new illustration.
Anticipating the book’s release, fans online are excitedly speculating that we may see more special commemorative Vivienne Westwood merchandise in the form of jewelry, clothes or purses.
Why did Crunchyroll’s subtitles just get worse? (Anime By the Numbers)
Subtitles for most of the new crop of shows have been noticeably more difficult to parse.
But here’s the thing: if Crunchyroll has indeed changed its standards, there’s now zero major streaming services that care about typesetting. Crunchyroll is supposed to be the “fan-first” service, something their leadership likes to highlight wherever possible. But between this and last year’s removal of comments (including excising years of previous comments), their product road map suggests they are anything but fan-focused.
I don’t believe this is going to lead to a noticeable rise in piracy or anything, to be clear. And even then, it would not be much of a statement. The supermajority of people who pirate anime watch on bootleg streaming sites, which use rips of official releases from places like Crunchyroll at a rate of over 95%. The most popular “fansub” group in 2025 by every available metric is “SubsPlease”, which, again, is just Crunchyroll rips. Outside of a few notable exceptions, our research does not see pirate behavior actually behave as if it’s in response to a service problem. This is all to say: if Crunchyroll stops doing typesetting work, for most anime, it will simply cease to exist. The viewing experience for the typical anime fan will go down.
But when anime piracy makes up “nearly 28% of TV piracy,” according to research by Muso, it’s a much more normal behavior, and makes bootleg streaming sites seem a more viable replacement good. This kind of anti-customer behavior will be seen as validation by the pro-piracy crowd. Anime is disproportionately pirated to a large degree primarily because of ease and inertia, but anything that justifies the behavior is celebrated and repeated ad-nauseum. And I don’t really understand why Crunchyroll seems so eager to give piracy this easy win.
SHORT: The experience of getting an epidural in a Japanese hospital.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Wj1hF0gfUlw
VIDEO: On the enshittification of Crunchyroll.
VIDEO: Updates on magical girl roller derby series Wheels and Roses.
VIDEO: Shoujo recs based on your favorite shounen.
AniFem Community
Yeah, we like the punching lady too.
I watched the first episode of Plus-sized Misadventures in Love!, and while I was worried that they might treat the subject matter in a shallow way, I was pleasantly surprised. Looking forward to getting to know more of the characters in this one.
— Director Chimera (@directorchimera.bsky.social) October 6, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Spy x Family S3 Touring After the Apocolypse The Monster Wants to Eat Me May I Ask For One Final Thing?
— Specter177👻 (@specter177.bsky.social) October 7, 2025 at 12:31 AM
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