AniFem Round-Up
“If I Was Born As A Girl…”: Transfeminine desire in Stop!! Hibari-Kun
Due to finally be published in English, the 1981 manga offers a complicated but shockingly positive portrayal of a transfemme heroine.
Hiding Then, Hesitating Now: Closeted sexuality and Confessions of a Mask
Both a crucial voice in the history of gay Japanese literature and increasingly right-wing toward the end of his life, Mishima’s work is important to critically dissect.
What LGBTQ+ manga would you most like to see as an anime?
Many excellent titles seem to end up adapted as live-action works these days.
Beyond AniFem
Gundam’s Yoshiyuki Tomino Wants Next Work to Reflect Current Wars Such as Ukraine, Israel (Anime News Network, Ken Iikura-Gross)
A further text excerpt of Tomino’s comments is also available.
The news segment expressed this by showing the clips of the first episode of the first Gundam anime overdubbed with Tomino’s comments. “The first enemy the Gundam encounters are three Zaku mobile suits,” said Tomino. “There needs to be a military industry and an industrial system in place to mass-produce it. I guess I had no choice but to depict a war between nations.” The narrator then states despite the series showing mobile suits fighting each other, those fighting and the casualties are people. Reinforcing this point, NHK showed a scene from the first episode when civilians are attacked.
With the Gundam franchise surging in popularity after the first Gundam anime’s broadcast, Tomino spoke on his thoughts regarding the current state of the franchise. “When you say ‘I like Gundam,’ the words that come up are, of course, ‘mobile suit battles are cool.’ That is not the point. At all.” Tomino lamented. Speaking about those currently making Gundam the director was a little less abrasive. “My younger colleagues are making Gundam series today, and I don’t feel a sense of experience with war.” He continued by saying he’s not sure if he could teach wartime experiences to a younger generation who has not experienced them firsthand.
Finally, when asked about future endeavors, Tomino said he has something he would like to make. While he did not go into much detail, Tomino did elaborate a bit: “The war in Ukraine has been going on for three years now and the conflict in Israel for 30 to 40 years. I don’t think we understand these things very well. So, the theme is whether humanity can stop this social behavior.”
Top court ruling denying benefits to sex industry draws outrage (The Asahi Shimbun, Yuto Yoneda)
In a four-to-one decision, sex industry businesses were excluded from eligibility for COVID relief payments.
In a dissenting opinion, Chief Justice Mitsuko Miyagawa, a former lawyer, stated that legal sex-industry businesses are distinct from illegal prostitution and that denying aid contradicted the intent of the relief programs.
“There is no rational basis for excluding the sex industry,” she said. “The decision is unconstitutional.”
The plaintiff’s side was also infuriated with the ruling’s argument that the sex industry endangers workers’ human dignity.
The plaintiff emphasized that not all individuals in the sector are forced to work there.
“The dignity of individuals who choose to work in this field of their own free will has been denied by the majority opinion,” said Michiko Kameishi, an attorney for the plaintiff. “It’s infuriating.”
According to police data, more than 33,000 sex industry businesses, including outcall services like the plaintiff, were registered across Japan in 2024.
Yuki Tamamushi, a constitutional law professor at Nihon University, said the top court effectively endorsed the government’s moral judgment that sex work is improper.
“The court’s reasoning that sex work could harm workers’ human dignity is insufficient to justify the ruling,” Tamamushi said.
Japan military set up 147 ‘comfort stations’ in Okinawa during WWII; women’s fates unknown (The Mainichi, Shinnosuke Kyan)
Includes detailed discussion of forced sex work and sexual violence.
In September 1992, 17 years after Pae’s residency permission was reported, a women’s group in Okinawa released a “comfort station map” showing the sites of 121 such wartime facilities in the prefecture that had been located by that time through surveys.
In August of the previous year, Kim Hak-sun, a South Korean woman, revealed under her real name that she had been a comfort woman for Japanese troops at battlefields in China, which made huge headlines.
Shigeko Urasaki, 78, who was involved in the group’s surveys in Okinawa, reflected, “It made us realize that we had neglected to confirm the wartime sexual violence that had occurred in Okinawa.”
Urasaki, a resident of Nishihara, Okinawa Prefecture, closely examined Japanese military documents and testimonies published in municipal historical records in Okinawa and searched for residents who had memories of those comfort stations. But by that time Pae had already passed away.
Urasaki said regretfully. “Some of my fellow members remembered the news reports back in 1975, but Okinawa had just been returned to Japan at the time and we were preoccupied with broader issues. I felt deeply ashamed that we lacked an attitude to listen to Pae.”
The blurred line between satire and reality in No More Heroes’ treatment of women (Medium, Ashley Schofield)
The age-old issue of when a satire risks simply replicating its subject.
Travis’ entire reason for making it up the assassin’s ranking, his motive for all of the blood he sheds, is Sylvia’s clearly false promise to maybe sleep with him once he reaches Rank 1. Being the perverted virgin he is, Travis spends much of his interactions with Sylvia leering over her. Whether in a limo or on a minefield-laden beach, Travis can’t help himself from trying to get a peek at her underwear or reaching his blood-soaked hands up her legs. Sylvia, appropriately, threatens to end his life if he tries anything. Everything points to this aspect of his character being just another valid reason to hate Travis.
The complications arise when considering the way Sylvia is often portrayed outside of Travis. He’s not the only one leering at her — the game is very clearly in on it too. In quite a few scenes, Sylvia is depicted barely clothed or even outright naked, with sultry lines appealing to Travis and the player’s lowest impulses and the camera placing great importance on accentuating her body. It’s noticeable that several of these are scenes of phone calls between the two: Travis isn’t even in the room with her, there’s absolutely no one to see her in this sexualised manner — except, of course, the player. There’s also an incredibly out of character moment in which she threatens Travis’ life and genitalia for daring to think of another woman. At some point, it becomes a question of if the game is criticising Travis for leering at Sylvia and seeing her as nothing but an irritating sex object, or joining in on it.
Poll: Japanese opinion of South Korea up from 10 years prior (The Asahi Shimbun, Yasuhito Watanabe and Nozomi Matsui)
Respondents in both countries held more positive opinions of the other nation compared to a decade prior.
Respondents were also asked whether they believed Japan had sufficiently apologized for its annexation of Korea and colonial rule.
In Japan, 67 percent said the country had “apologized sufficiently,” while 22 percent said the apologies were “still insufficient.” These numbers were similar to the 2015 results, with 65 percent and 20 percent, respectively.
In South Korea, 13 percent said Japan had “apologized sufficiently,” while 85 percent said the apologies were “still insufficient.”
These figures on the South Korean side reflect a certain degree of change from 10 years ago when 1 percent were satisfied with the apology and 96 percent said it was not enough.
However, the majority still believe Japan’s attempts to make amends are not enough.
Regarding the historical issues in Japan–South Korea relations, the two governments agreed at the end of 2015 that the issue of wartime “comfort women” was “finally and irreversibly resolved.”
Despite this shared official stance, strong domestic criticism in South Korea against the agreement has been persistent, and effectively became a mere formality following the change in the South Korean administration in 2017.
Regarding the issue of wartime mobilized workers, the South Korean Supreme Court ordered Japanese companies to compensate the South Korean wartime laborers in 2018.
The companies did not comply with the order. Under then President Yoon Suk-yeol, the South Korean government proposed a solution in 2023 where a state-affiliated foundation would provide compensation on behalf of the Japanese companies, funded by donations.
Opening the Apocalypse Hotel with CygamesPictures President Nobuhiro Takenaka, Director Kana Shundo, & Screenwriter Shigeru Murakoshi (Anime News Network, Lynzee Loveridge)
CyGames continues a strong streak of knocking it out of the park with anime originals.
How would you describe the main character and Hotelier Robot, Yachiyo?
MURAKOSHI: For a while after we started planning the project, Yachiyo was a character that stood out for “seeming emotionless” and “calmly making decisions.” As we were thinking about the story and considering recent advances in AI and robots, though, we started thinking, “If the story is set in the near future, wouldn’t it be better if the character’s thought patterns were more human-like?” However, that alone wasn’t enough for the main character. Then, Takenaka-san suggested, “What if the robot is equipped with an unknown expansion function?”
We also experimented with a story where the robot “shows reactions that deviate from its program as a hotelier.” By doing so, we were able to give Yachiyo a “mystery” that somehow makes her different from other robots of the same type. I think this helped her gain the appeal needed to be the protagonist.
SHUNDO: I tried thinking of Yachiyo-san as a working woman, not a moé character. However, because she is a hotelier robot, she is inflexible and overly serious. She has some separation from our human values, which, I hope, are portrayed as her unique personality and charm.
Chiba Tetsuya (Manben: Behind the Scenes of Manga with Urasawa Naoki, NHK)
Video interview with the creator of one of the 20th century’s most influential manga.
Join us as we go inside the studio of manga artist Chiba Tetsuya, creator of Ashita no Joe, as he continues to follow his passion to create 60 years into a legendary career.
VIDEO: First look at accessibility tags on Steam.
THREAD: On Fudanshi: Image, the Subversion of Mecha and Queerness in Post-War Japan.
I recently wrote some lengthy criticism on fudanshi, be it straight or queer, and their participation in Shōwa era doujinshi and further cultural influences: On Fudanshi: Image, the Subversion of Mecha and Queerness in Post-War Japan retroanimechris.blogspot.com/2025/05/to-f…
— MAD ANGLER (@retroanimechris.bsky.social) May 3, 2025 at 12:31 PM
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SKEET: Tada Yumi’s True Blue Never Fades to be released in English.
ANNOUNCEMENT –– NEW TITLE TRUE BLUE NEVER FADES by Tada Yumi @tadayumi.bsky.social Previously releasing their doujinshi THE MERMAID & THE PRINCE, I'm thrilled to announce we are returning to Tada Yumi's early masterpieces to publish their classic adult drama (originally in FEEL YOUNG, 1995).
— Glacier Bay Books (@glacierbaybooks.com) June 19, 2025 at 12:54 PM
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AniFem Community
Keep the dreams alive, AniFam—with a few extra picks as we near the end of Pride month.
-Boys Run the Riot and Love Me for Who I Am, because we need more anime with trans protagonists -Sex Ed 120% would make a great short-form anime -My Love Mix-Up! for a queer romcom
— 💖 max, local garbage boy stink man 💖 (@freckledcryptid.bsky.social) June 23, 2025 at 11:56 PM
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I think "Our Dreams At Dusk" is needed now more than ever! The manga is, of course, perfect on its own. But an Anime, and a good dub, would bring it to so many more people! People who really need to see the intergenerational community available to them. Even in tiny seaside towns.
— Sunlitlake (@sunlitlake.bsky.social) June 24, 2025 at 9:23 AM
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Get Hiroshi Nagahama and the Flowers of Evil team back together for an adaptation of Welcome Back, Alice.
— Coop (@riderstrike.bsky.social) June 24, 2025 at 12:11 PM
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Pink Candy Kiss!! A beautiful and sweet josei yuri with stunning artwork 💖
— Nova (@ligeialove.bsky.social) June 25, 2025 at 12:56 AM
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