AniFem Round-Up
Oedo Fire Slayer -The Legend of Phoenix- – Episode 1
Historical fiction about a fire-fighter is a great concept, but the 3D animation can’t keep up with the action.
The Villainess Is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom – Episode 1
It’s perfectly fine, but if you don’t want a 100% straightforward villainess isekai then this isn’t for you.
Kaya-chan Isn’t Scary – Episode 1
The show’s not especially scary either, but it’s got good foundations and a great Weird Little Girl at its heart.
You and I Are Polar Opposites – Episode 1
It’s a love letter to high school romance manga with its grounded characters and amazing dubcast.
We’re up to our ears in joseimuke anime this season, and we couldn’t be happier! Here’s all our seasonal reviews in one convenient location.
What was your favorite anime of 2025?
Yeah, we know. Think back as best you can.
Beyond AniFem
In the Clear Moonlit Dusk Episodes 1-2 (Anime News Network, Caitlin Moore)
Why not get into the Gender of it all with a proper discussion group?
By the end of the quarter, you should have a good working understanding of the story of In the Clear Moonlit Dusk, the motivations of the characters, and its place within shoujo manga. Using that knowledge, you will be able to think about and come to your own conclusions about whether Yoi’s desire to be perceived as more feminine reinforces regressive beliefs about gendered behavior, or if the series presents a more nuanced exploration of feminine and masculine presentation. Where will it fall? I don’t know! We’re exploring it together.
The key to reading a shoujo manga is to find the tensions. Shoujo manga tends to focus on more personal, intimate stories, romance or otherwise; even in grand epics, the camera tends to focus in on the interpersonal and interior. For In the Clear Moonlit Dusk, at least one tension is obvious: the tension between Yoi’s androgynous presentation and her desire to be seen as beautiful and feminine. Due to her “handsome” rather than beautiful features, she tends to draw other girls who describe her as “princelike,” when, as a heterosexual girl, she seeks to attract a boy who treats her as a princess.
There is an unintentional tension, however, in the character design and animation. The adaptation by East Fish Studio is rather unfortunate, in that it lacks nuanced character animation and expressions. Did you notice how characters rarely move their mouths and the rest of their bodies at the same time? In the scene where Yoi and Ichimura are lying in bed together, there is no sense of the weight of her body against his, or vice versa. The aforementioned tension comes from the fact that other than her haircut, there is little about Yoi that looks masculine, or even androgynous. She has a heart-shaped face with a narrow chin and large eyes, and her body type is slender, but with thin shoulders and a small waist-to-hip ratio.
Discussion question: Shoujo tends to have lower animation quality because it’s more focused on dialogue than action. In what ways does this hinder the growth of shoujo anime in today’s industry? And is this true, or does stiff animation hinder storytelling in character-driven series?
Beat’s Bizarre Adventure: GENE BRIDE is pretty genius (The Beat, Adam Wescott)
Some bite-sized volume write-ups.
Hitomi Takano’s Gene Bride is published in Feel Young, a josei magazine responsible for spotlighting comics geniuses like Kyoko Okazaki, Moyoco Anno and Tomoyo Yamashita. What the series reminds me of most, though, is 90s shojo artists like Yumi Tamura and Reiko Shimizu. Just like in Tamura’s comics, Takano’s heroine Ichi is an earnest young woman struggling to overcome impossible odds with courage and grace. Despite being a high-powered editor and interviewer paid a living wage at a film magazine, the kind of job that makes underpaid critics like myself howl in envy, Takano gives her just enough grit to convince as a real person. Small details like the way she dresses in and outside of work do a lot to put the reader in her headspace.
Masuhito is a fun character to follow as well, even though I haven’t quite pinned him down yet. He’s the exact opposite of what you’d expect from a shojo or even josei lead. He can’t read the room and it’s hard to imagine him sweeping Ichi off her feet. But just like Ichi is frustrated by the norms that she is expected to perform as a woman, Masuhito doesn’t fit into the mold of a typical guy either. He makes an effort to listen to and learn from Ichi even though there’s a lot he doesn’t know. At the same time, Ichi keeps trying to get a read on Masuhito’s personality only to be surprised again and again. It makes for a fun dynamic that doesn’t fit neatly into what you’d expect from a series like this.
The end of the first volume switches into Shimizu territory with a twist that re-contextualizes everything the reader thought they knew about the series they are reading. Which raises the question, how do you review a book where the slow build-up to the genre-changing stinger is the point? Well, the themes remain consistent, and the characters remain the core of the book. The main difference is that Ichi’s fears transform from subtext to text. What if the arbitrary rules and institutional sexism terrorizing us in reality had a face? What if it infected the air we breathe? Gene Bride is not subtle, as Tamura and Shimizu were not subtle. But we do not live in a subtle world.
Japan Fair Trade Commission Releases Report Highlighting Transactional, Contractual Issues in Anime Industry (Anime News Network, Crystalyn Hodgkins)
The survey was sent to 130 studios and 165 freelancers in addition to other interviews.
For anime, the Japan FTC studied the transactions between production companies and primary contractors, between primary contractors and subcontractors, and between production companies and freelancers, and identified problematic and potentially illegal behaviors during the contract stage, the manufacturing stage, and the payment stage.
At all three levels of transactions, the survey found issues with insufficient or delayed disclosures of contractual terms, and issues with low compensation (with the terms being worse for subcontractors and freelancers). In addition, the agency found issues with abuse of power from primary contractors toward subcontractors, and from production companies toward freelancers, with payment terms being unilaterally decided on by the primary contractors and production companies with little or no ability for negotiation of terms from subcontractors or freelancers, respectively.
The research also found order cancellations across all levels of transactions. In addition, the study found issues with delayed payments and reduced payments, and non-payment for retakes or additional costs incurred due to extended production periods. The survey also found issues with a lack of surcharges for rushed orders with short deadlines.
The research highlighted in both the film and anime industries the concentration of rights and power in the hands of clients and the unstable positions of contractors and creators.
Japan probing Musk’s Grok AI service over inappropriate images (Reuters via The Asahi Shimbun)
Grok has also been completing requests to remove the clothes from photos of underaged individuals.
The Japanese government said on Friday that it has become the latest country to probe X over Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence service Grok, stating that the government would consider every possible option to prevent the generation of inappropriate images.
Japan’s Cabinet Office has requested that X Corp. implement immediate improvements but there has been no response from the company so far, Economic Security Minister Kimi Onoda said.
”We plan to promptly examine all possible options, including legal measures,” if the situation doesn’t improve, said Onoda, who is also Japan’s minister for AI strategy.
xAI said late on Wednesday it had implemented tweaks to prevent Grok users from editing “images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis.”
xAI also said it had blocked users based on their location from generating images of people in revealing clothing “where it’s illegal”, without identifying those jurisdictions.
Japan’s Mie Pref. survey on foreign staff hiring sparks outcry over possible discrimination (The Mainichi; Masaya Shibuya; Emi Shimomura; Yasuhiro Onishi; Teruko Kukita; and Motoyori Arakawa)
The prefecture does not currently plan to change its policy of hiring foreign nationals.
The question begins by noting that Mie has previously lifted the nationality requirement to hire foreigners, mainly in expert fields. It goes on to explain that “some countries legally require their citizens to cooperate with their own governments’ information-gathering,” warning that “the confidentiality obligations of public servants could be violated.” Respondents are asked to choose whether hiring foreign nationals should “continue,” “not continue,” or if they “don’t know.”
Unlike most other questions, which are only a few lines long, this one is strikingly detailed. It reflects fear that due to “changes in the international situation” foreign staff might leak sensitive information related to matters including agriculture and disaster management. It also refers to prevention of information leaks concerning security for dignitaries including members of the Imperial Family or the prime minister visiting local sites such as Ise Jingu shrine.
Local leaders have voiced strong objections to the question’s framing. At a Jan. 9 press conference, Ise Mayor Kenichi Suzuki noted that public servants are already bound by strict confidentiality rules. Japan’s local public servants law prohibits officials from disclosing personal or administrative secrets they learn on duty, even after retirement.
Iga Mayor Toshinao Inamori pointed to the question itself as a problem, stating it “undermines multicultural coexistence and could encourage discrimination or hate speech.” He has submitted a written request to Gov. Ichimi calling for the question’s removal, saying it “belittles foreign employees already working for the prefecture and deeply injures their dignity.”
Japan’s Prime Minister Avoids Challenging Sumo’s Gendered Ring Ban (Unseen Japan, Marin Akasaka)
Sumo does not allow women within the ring, which originated with its roots as a sacred rite.
The issue drew widespread public attention in 2018. During a regional tour in Kyoto Prefecture, the mayor of Maizuru collapsed while giving a speech in the ring. Female nurses rushed onto the ring to perform emergency life-saving measures. An announcer repeatedly told them to leave because they were women. The incident sparked outrage across Japan and beyond.
The association later apologized, calling the response inappropriate. At the same time, it reaffirmed its position that women should not enter the sumo ring during official events. In a statement, then-chairman Hakkaku denied that the rule was based on the idea that women are impure. Instead, he said the dohyo is a sacred place where male wrestlers train and compete, and that the tradition should be preserved.
Critics were not convinced. The Japanese Communist Party’s newspaper, Shimbun Akahata, has argued that excluding women from official ceremonies constitutes discrimination. It points out that international agreements urge governments to eliminate customs that deny women equal access to public duties.
Supporters of reform also note that women compete widely in amateur sumo, including international tournaments. The strict ban applies only to professional sumo and its ceremonies.
VIDEO: Looking back at vintage BL OVAs.
VIDEO: First timer impressions of Lovely Complex.
VIDEO: Trailer for an all-ages documentary on Black anime fandom.
VIDEO: Jonathan Clements on The History of Anime in the UK.
AniFem Community
Dang, there were a lot of good anime in 2025.
Apocalypse hotel had so much to give. So much more heart than it had to. Also I thought it was going to angel beats the ending, which was Hella stressful
— Its not identity theft, its plagiarism (@auth-plagiarism.bsky.social) January 20, 2026 at 12:20 AM
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Favorite adaptation (and overall) was Medalist, favorite continuation is a tie between Spy x Family and The Apothecary Diaries, and favorite anime original is Zenshu!
— Pearl (@elysiondream.bsky.social) January 20, 2026 at 12:25 AM
Tie between CITY and Ave Mujica, honorable mention to GQux
— Happy Nox Year (@spiritusnox.bsky.social) January 20, 2026 at 6:47 PM
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