AniFem Round-Up
How Just Like Mona Lisa uses speculative fiction to explore gender norms
The melodramatic coming-of-age story sometimes falls into fraught tropes about genderqueer people but also raises pointed commentary on the real world’s many gender paradoxes.
The AniFem Guide to Shojosei Series Coming Out in Winter 2026
We’re trying something new! Before premieres start in earnest, we have a mini-primer on all the joseimuke titles coming out next season.
What are your backlog resolutions for 2026?
Yup, new year already.
Beyond AniFem
Japan Fair Trade Commission Identifies Illegal Practices In Anime Industry In New Report (Anime Hunch, Rohit Nair)
While seemingly obvious, reports such as these are crucial for beginning to draft protections.
In addition to labor issues, the commission looked into the industry’s handling of intellectual property rights, which revealed that 84.9 percent of studios handed over all copyright to the production committee upon completion of the project.
While 39.6 percent of respondents said they were “often paid” for this transfer of rights, further probing revealed that this payment was typically “included in the production fee” rather than being a separate, clearly defined payment.
The JFTC warned that if the base production fee barely covered the actual cost of manufacturing the anime (as evidenced by the 60 percent of studios operating at a loss), then the copyright transfer was effectively happening for free.
The report suggested this practice likely constitutes an Abuse of Superior Bargaining Position, as studios are being stripped of a valuable long-term asset without receiving distinct compensation for it.
Previous ‘Fire Horse’ year marred by sexist superstition (The Asahi Shimbun, Kantaro Katashima)
The specific combination only comes around every 60 years.
The low birthrate in the previous Hinoe-uma year, 1966, showed that the discriminatory superstition has persisted over centuries.
According to “A scientific study of the Hinoe-uma superstition,” a publication based on a 1935 lecture by scholar Hansei Kobayashi, women born in Fire Horse years are “strong-willed, surpassing men, devour seven husbands, bring ruin to their families, and cannot peacefully fulfill their duties as women.”
Other unscientific and misogynistic beliefs about Hinoe-uma women included having “a strong libido, like a vigorous horse.”
It is believed that these ideas culminated into the notion that women born in a Hinoe-uma year have fiery tempers and shorten their husbands’ lives.
The origin of the superstition dates back to the Edo Period (1603-1867), with a description appearing in a 1662 poetry collection.
VIDEO: The role of women in Umineko (with major spoilers).
VIDEO: Playthrough of indie BL VN For the Love of Christmas.
VIDEO: Retrospective on the Saint Tail sequel.
VIDEO: How yuri manga Gal x Gal went viral.
VIDEO: A discussion of several recent incidents of racism in online cosplay spaces.
SKEET: The recent Takarazuka production of Castlevania will be available on international VOD until the end of March.
Y’all, the Castlevania: Awakening In The Moonlight musical by Takarazuka Revue is available legally on VOD with subtitles starting today until the end of March, this is a great adaptation and the women in this show are so good, PLUS this is a rare experiment globally Please see it if you’re curious
— Alicia Haddick/アリシア (@aliciahaddick.com) December 25, 2025 at 3:20 AM
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SKEET: Josei Manga Artist Kiriko Nananan has passed away at 52.
Josei Manga Artist Kiriko Nananan has sadly Passed Away. She was only 52 years old. She is famous for her reduced linework and realistic human stories like "Blue", "Strawberry Shortcakes" and "Pumpkin and Mayonnaise"
— Manga Mogura (Anime & Manga News) (@mangamogura.bsky.social) December 25, 2025 at 5:00 AM
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SKEET: New Year’s greetings from Kamome Shirahama.
私たちが戦うべきは気候変動や自然災害や病気や差別構造であり、決して文化の違う隣人ではない、と強く感じた昨年でした。今年もその気持ちは変わらない。2026年もよろしくお願いいたします。
— 白浜鴎 (@shirahamakamome.bsky.social) January 1, 2026 at 5:23 AM
AniFem Community
Good luck on those resolutions, AniFam!
Keep extending my "old show at Monday, new show at Thursday, sometimes a videogame adaptation" streak on tumblr as long as I possibly can.
— Oscar Zeta Gundam (@lmfsilva.bsky.social) December 31, 2025 at 6:30 AM
if I don't watch Gundam 79 this year you are encouraged to attack me with weapons
— esme (@tauburn.bsky.social) December 30, 2025 at 8:16 PM
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