AniFem Round-Up
Fermat Kitchen is unremarkable to look at, but it’s got signs of a warmly written coming-of-age story.
Have you ever recreated food from an anime?
None of us are immune to delicious anime food.
Summer 2025 Midseason Podcast Poll
Patrons always get to vote on what shows we make sure we cover.
Beyond AniFem
Destined Duos: Retro Shoujo Enamel Pins (Kickstarter)
Pin sets of iconic female duos from classic shoujo—some explicitly in love, some just brimming with subtext.
August 15 – September 13: Duration of the Kickstarter campaign
September 14 – 28: Surveys are sent out for you to choose your unlocked Destined Duo(s)
October: Pin production begins
November – December: We inspect, package and ship out the pins to you!
✨ Please note this is an estimated timeline. Any updates will be posted here and on our social media!
Iwakura Aria Review – A Beautiful Gothic Sapphic Romance (Blerdy Otome, Naja)
The game is available on Steam and Switch.
While the romance between Aria and Ichiko is at the center of the story, Iwakura Aria is also very much a coming of age story. Aria, who his bound by the expectations of her status is drawn to Ichiko’s inner strength and passion. While Ichiko discovers her own compassion and courage through her bond with the Aria. Both girls have lost sight of their true selves, and it is only in each other that they discover the strength to face their futures head on. Which is doubly important when they find themselves entangled in the dark secrets of the Iwakura residence.
I won’t say much about the mystery, because it is worth watching unfold. But, let’s just say I had theories leading up to the ultimate reveal and I was way off. The overwhelming sense of unease and foreboding is ever present in Iwakura Aria to the point that it makes it hard to truly feel settled in the idyllic setting. The mystery is the driving force of the story. There are so many reveals in this story and each is more shocking than the last. Each new revelation adds a new layer to an already intriguing journey. And I cannot stress enough how important it is to go into this story blind. But, a small warning, this game does deal with some pretty heavy themes and there is a lot of blood… so don’t expect this to be all rainbows and fluff!
Iwakura Aria is a story about growth. The journey, the destination, and beyond the journey’s end are all unique parts of the story. Though perhaps the most important aspect of the story is how the characters feel about where they end up when the credits roll. In fact, the game even gives us a peek at the futures of the characters after the events of the story. While not every outcome is what you’d expect, one thing is constant; the characters never truly forget the events of that Summer of 1966.
Teacher’s group starts petition to fight xenophobia in the classroom (The Asahi Shimbun, Chika Yamamoto)
The statement is meant to encourage school officials across Japan to make their own statements against xenophobia in the classroom.
The national council for education of foreign residents in Japan, known as Zengaikyo, said the statement was driven by fears of a trickle-down effect of political slogans following the July Upper House election.
It is concerned that phrases such as “Japanese First” touted by some candidates and parties may spread among students, inevitably leading to some of their peers being hurt.
The group also launched an online petition asking boards of education across Japan to properly instruct schools so all children can learn equally and without being bothered.
Atsushi Funachi, 63, a high school teacher in Kanagawa Prefecture who heads the group, said he is worried “if children have learned that it is OK to make xenophobic comments.”
Funachi recalled cases where students whose heritage includes the Korean Peninsula were bullied after reports of North Korean missile launches.
Come On, Guys (Aftermath, Nathan Grayson)
Hideo Kojima is one of several major figures who’s agreed to attend an esports tournament in Saudi Arabia.
The New Global Sport Conference, which also took place alongside the Esports World Cup in 2023 and 2024, is being billed as “the premier global platform for industry leaders at the intersection of gaming, esports and sport” where CEOs, founders, and investors “drive groundbreaking initiatives shaping the future of these dynamic industries.” In other words, it’s a networking event for rich people – some of whom might be harder up for cash than usual, relatively speaking, due to the current state of the video game industry.
“NGSC plays a vital role in advancing Saudi Arabia’s 2030 vision, aligning with our National Gaming and Esports Strategy to position Riyadh as the global capital of esports and a hub for innovation, talent, and opportunity,” Saudi esports federation president Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan al Saud says in a blurb on NGSC’s website.
Previous years’ iterations have featured bigwigs from companies like Sony, Sega, and Bungie, as well as a bunch of esports types and investors, but Kojima is easily NGSC’s biggest get in terms of pure name value. This year he’s joined by the likes of Activision COO Joshua Taub, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, Sega president Shuji Utsumi, Sony CSO Toshimoto Mitomo, Tekken director Katsuhiro Harada, former gaming exec and current soccer team owner Peter Moore, and chess champion Magnus Carlsen, among others. I hope they all have a great time this weekend.
Japanese pop idol Kenshin Kamimura convicted of indecent assault but avoids jail in Hong Kong (The Asahi Shimbun)
Sadly, it seems the consequences amount to little more than a slap on the wrist.
Kamimura, a former member of a Japanese boy group named ONE N’ ONLY, was arrested in the southern Chinese city in March. In the same month, his contract was terminated due to a serious compliance violation. In April, he pleaded not guilty.
He allegedly touched the interpreter’s thigh repeatedly during a celebratory dinner at a restaurant.
During the trial last month, the interpreter testified through a live video link that Kamimura had invited her to a bathroom elsewhere. After she dismissed the request and told him she had a boyfriend, Kamimura continued to touch her thigh, she said.
The defense argued the interpreter exaggerated her claims and the alleged bathroom invitation might not have been based on improper motives.
Judge Peter Yu handed down the conviction Wednesday, saying Kamimura touched the intrepreter in a caressing nature that implicitly carried a sexual undertone and had indecent intent.
After the verdict was announced, a few of Kamimura’s fans wept in the courtroom. But Kamimura looked relieved when the judge issued a fine of 15,000 Hong Kong dollars (about $1,900) and no prison term. The maximum penalty for the charge is 10 years of imprisonment.
Married couples still excluded under Japan’s transgender law (The Mainichi, Mei Kodama)
A married person cannot legally change their gender, lest it count as a same-sex marriage.
Miki meets all the conditions except for being married. In July 2024, she filed a petition for a domestic relations hearing at the Kyoto Family Court to obtain a legal sex change while married.
However, in March this year, Presiding Judge Akiko Nakamura rejected the request. She ruled that the requirement of being unmarried “cannot immediately be interpreted as unconstitutional and invalid.”
But Nakamura acknowledged that it forces people to choose between divorcing and changing their gender or accepting the disadvantages of having different social and legal genders while being married.
According to the judgment, the requirement is in place to avoid same-sex marriage, which is not recognized under current Japanese law.
“Although everyone’s idea of happiness is different, the court’s decision seems out of touch with the times,” said Chiro, who is in her 40s. “I really can’t understand it.”
Nakamura’s ruling follows precedent from 2020, when the Supreme Court refused to grant a petition for gender reassignment to a married couple.
It decided the requirement was constitutional and based on “considerations such as the potential for disrupting the current marriage order, in which marriage is recognized only between heterosexuals.”
That decision has not been overturned.
VIDEO: Drag x Drive Hands-On Impressions
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VIDEO: Ranking every recipe from Kitchen Princess.
THREAD: Comments from the editor of the new josei magazine CandleA (login only)
https://bsky.app/profile/colleensmangarecs.bsky.social/post/3lwddrb476s26
AniFem Community
We only regret not seeing more photos.
In high school, my best friend and I tried to make okonomiyaki from scratch after watching too many episodes of Ranma 1/2. I think we used a recipe out of The Joy of Cooking? That book had EVERYthing.
— Hayley (@haymaker.bsky.social) August 19, 2025 at 3:45 PM
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I've taken multiple recipes from Food Wars. The show itself isn't great imo, but the recipes are all really good so I can't really complain. I've made: Chaliapin Steak Don Apple Risotto Sumire Karaage Hujiao Bing
— It's Lilly Time (@lillybee.bsky.social) August 19, 2025 at 12:45 PM
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