AniFem Round-Up
Li’l Miss Vampire Can’t Suck Right – Episode 1
A mostly cute high school rom-com with a few infantilizing undertones..
With You, Our Love Will Make it Through – Episode 1
In a very strong season for shojosei, this series might stand on top.
What was your favorite Summer 2025 anime?
We know, but try to think back.
Beyond AniFem
Japan’s parliament elects Sanae Takaichi as nation’s first female prime minister (NPR, Associated Press)
This marks an increased step to the right for the already right-wing LDP.
Takaichi is among Japanese politicians who have stonewalled measures for women’s advancement. Takaichi supports the imperial family’s male-only succession and opposes same-sex marriage and allowing separate surnames for married couples.
A protege of assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Takaichi is expected to emulate his policies including a stronger military and economy, as well as revising Japan’s pacifist constitution. With her potentially weak grip on power, it’s unknown how much Takaichi will be able to achieve.
Also an admirer of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Takaichi was first elected to parliament in 1993 and has served in a number of senior party and government posts, including as ministers of economic security and internal affairs, but her diplomatic background is thin.
When Komeito left the governing coalition, it cited the LDP’s lax response to slush fund scandals that led to their consecutive election defeats.
The centrist party also raised concern about Takaichi’s revisionist view of Japan’s wartime past and her regular prayers at Yasukuni Shrine despite protests from Beijing and Seoul that see the visits as lack of remorse about Japanese aggression, as well as her recent xenophobic remarks.
Gnosia: A guide to gender and translation (Tumblr, doctorbunny)
A look at term translation in the game versus the anime.
I’ll start with the good news. Some people on reddit have expressed fear over queer erasure but I’m very confident there’s almost no chance of Raqio and Setsu being cis
Because in Japanese, what was called “nonbinary” in English, was an in universe concept called 汎性 han sei
Han meaning “pan/all” such as all-purpose 汎用 or pantheism 汎神論
And sei meaning both sex and gender
Gnosia veterans will remember this term as the original, much messier Gnosia translation attempted to use the term “pan” but due to audience confusion switched to the term “nonbinary” in the subsequent clean up patch
For the rest of this post I’ll be using the phrase Pangender as I feel it sounds more natural in English and “Pansexual” refers to the orientation
Gnosia is a transhumanist text, exploring many kinds of transformation including:
Cyberization 電脳化
Intellectualization 知性化
Felinification 猫化
Betrothed to My Sister’s Ex Anime Series Review (Anime News Network, Rebecca Silverman)
A last retrospective on the Cinderella story.
It’s not an easy realization. While Kyros’s almost insane devotion to her is played for laughs (and he is funny), the story is mostly about people overcoming the odds that others have imposed upon them. Marie’s issues are multifaceted: she has no idea how smart she is or that men might find her attractive, and she doesn’t believe she deserves anything good. Kyros, meanwhile, has grown up experiencing prejudice due to his biracial heritage and the fact that his mother, Liu-Liu, was not his father’s first (legal) wife. He’s used to being wanted for his money and position, and what draws him to Marie is that she doesn’t care about those things. Meanwhile, Anastasia is burdened by her parents’ expectations that she will be their perfect doll of a daughter, completely disregarding what she wants or that she’s a person with her own will. While not all of these plotlines are given equal space in the series – Marie’s take precedent – having them all there is important, because it shows that there’s a pattern: of abuse in Marie and Anastasia’s household and of systemic racism in the kingdom in general. It’s not a political statement to say that those two elements drive the characters’ actions and beliefs, making them more grounded than sometimes happens in fantasy works.
Although there are plenty of predictable plot points in the series, what makes it work is Marie’s consistent growth. It may take her most of the twelve episodes to realize that Kyros truly loves her and that she’s allowed to be happy, but she does show progress throughout, and it moves at a believable pace – it’s a two steps forward, one step back situation. Supporting characters aren’t just there for color, with Mio – Kyros’ friend and employee – being the standout. Mio is, quite frankly, the best character in the series, pulling strings both behind and before the scenes, taking no garbage from anyone, and making sure that things are moving in the right direction. She’s a force of nature and easily one of the best characters of the show, if not the year.
Female surgeons still taking a backseat role in complex ops (The Asahi Shimbun, Akiko Okazaki)
The issue has been improving since hospitals began addressing it in 2021.
Chie Tanaka, a Nagoya University associate professor of gastrointestinal surgery, and other researchers analyzed a database covering over 95 percent of all surgeries in Japan to compare the number of operations performed by male and female surgeons in 2015, 2019 and 2023.
Although the gender disparity had all but disappeared for low-difficulty surgeries by 2023, it still existed for medium-risk procedures, even though more operations were being performed by female surgeons.
Male surgeons continued to handle a significantly larger volume of high-risk operations.
Younger doctors are turning away from gastrointestinal surgery–and, consequently, JSGS membership–due to demanding working hours, among other reasons.
While women constitute less than 10 percent of the total JSGS membership, they are significantly better represented among younger members, making up over 20 percent of the under-30 group.
The disparity is pronounced in complex surgeries, in part because operations tend to last many hours and involve heavy workloads in terms of postoperative care. Consequently, these cases are often assigned to male surgeons who operate under fewer time constraints.
Female surgeons raising children tend to shy away from such cases for fear they may not be able to fulfill their responsibility to their patients.
Additionally, there is a notable scarcity of female surgeons in leadership roles within university medical offices, which dictate the allocation of posts.
Please Tell Me! Galko-chan Manga Resumes After Creator’s Arrest (Updated) (Anime News Network, Alex Mateo)
While depressing, the news is not especially surprising given the industry’s track record.
In March 2022, the Okazaki branch of the Nagoya District Court sentenced Suzuki to one year and two months in prison, but the sentence was suspended for three years, taking into account social sanctions. (If Suzuki remained in good behavior for three years, he would not serve time in prison.) Police had charged Suzuki with violation of Japan’s Customs Act and possession of child sexual abuse material. The judge stated that Suzuki’s crime exploits children and impairs the soundess of society.
Suzuki admitted that he had purchased child sexual abuse materials for his own personal interest, and he apologized for his actions. He also expressed that he was ashamed and knew that he had to rehabilitate himself within society during the suspended sentence period.
Changes sought over census’s exclusion of LGBT couples (The Asahi Shimbun, Asako Hanafusa and Satoko Onuki)
Thus far partnership certificates have been issued to almost 10,000 couples across Japan.
Hitomi Inoue, a 46-year-old veterinarian, and Junko Urimoto, a 45-year-old veterinary nurse, are one couple rendered invisible by the current system.
The pair residing in Osaka’s Suminoe Ward each declared themselves as “head of household” and “never got married” on the 2015 census.
Internal affairs ministry protocol dictates it is fine if one half of an LGBT couple declares themselves as the “head of household.” However, if their partner lists themselves as “spouse of householder,” the ministry will change this status to “other relative.”
Inoue and Urimoto are not simply cohabitating. The women pledged they would go hand in hand as “life partners” before family and friends at their wedding ceremony and reception.
A ministry official said the policy to change the status is partly because gay marriage is not legal in Japan and because whoever fills out the questionnaire could erroneously declare a friend living with them as their spouse.
SHORT: A short guide to important terms in Japanese politics.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/D8bVG3pcg7M
VIDEO: How 4Kids turned Tokyo Mew Mew into Mew Mew Power.
VIDEO: Codename: Sailor V retrospective.
SKEET: Isekai TTRPG This World Summons Too Many Heroes!! (which Chiaki worked on) is now available.
The Definitive Edition of isekai fantasy TTRPG This World Summons Too Many Heroes!! is now available! Play with ridiculous powers in a world where heroes have become way too common and are causing chaos in the fantasy world of Ceria. duffhounds.itch.io/this-world-s…
— Duffo (@duffo.bsky.social) October 10, 2025 at 10:38 AM
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AniFem Community
It was an excellent summer for anime, wasn’t it?
Can there be any possible answer but The Summer Hikaru Died?
— Marley Rose-Teter (@marleyroseteter.bsky.social) October 21, 2025 at 12:06 AM
See You Tomorrow at the Food Court, Ruri Rocks and City the Animation, all for different reasons.
— Oscar Zeta Gundam (@lmfsilva.bsky.social) October 21, 2025 at 2:04 AM
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