AniFem Round-Up
Cripple Punk Motifs in Tank Chair
The ongoing post-apocalyptic manga embodies the ethos of cripple punk — that disabled people can be rude, angry, messy, and not just perfect, suffering angels.
What artist would you most like to see reinvent a classic anime?
In the wake of the unexpected Yoko Taro and Evangelion team-up…
Beyond AniFem
A Manga Publisher Secretly Rehired A Writer Convicted Of Sexual Abuse, Sparking A Long Overdue Industry Revolt (Aftermath, Isaiah Colbert)
Manga One hired not one but two creators convicted of sexual crimes against minors.
Of note, One Punch Man and Mob Psycho 100 author, One, released a statement—which One Punch Man artist Yusuke Murata retweeted—about Manga One on Twitter, writing, “I can’t team up with people who can’t clearly state their strong condemnation of sexual harm against minors. That’s a given. Waiting for the disclosure of circumstances by the relevant parties. I also want Shogakukan to support them if they take that action.”
Other creatives, like Nakasetakute Doushiyou mangaka Haruko Kurumatani and Skip and Loafer mangaka Misaki Takamatsu, echoed these sentiments about Manga One. Kurumatani noted that the livelihoods of other manga creators are at stake, saying the onus should instead be placed on Shogakukan to act by providing a sincere response.
“It’s precisely because I myself draw manga with a lot of highly explicit sexual content that I believe we should take an even stricter stance on sexual crimes, and above all, as adults, I feel we have a duty to do everything in our power to protect an environment where children can grow up healthily,” Kurumatani wrote on Twitter.
“However, this does not mean that stopping distribution is justice and continuation is evil,” Kurumatani wrote to followers on Twitter. “I would be grateful if you could understand this. I sincerely pray from the bottom of my heart that those who have been victimized can regain days where they can live with peace of mind.”
Artist Tsuruyoshi later released a statement apologizing for the whole situation, which they say they were wholly unaware of. Witch Hat Atelier creator Kamome Shirahama, whose work is published under a different company, Kodansha, chimed in asking that Tsuruyoshi be compensated for their work.
“Above all, I sincerely hope that the physical and emotional pain of the victim can be alleviated even a little, and that a sincere response is made to their demands,” Shirahama wrote in a quote retweet to Manga One’s initial statement. “Additionally, I wish for appropriate compensation to be provided to the illustrator who suffered disadvantages as a result of being caught up in secondary harm, and to the manga creators who voluntarily withdrew their works from distribution.”
More men wearing makeup in Japan as influence of ‘K-beauty’ grows (The Mainichi, Yuko Shimada)
A 2024 survey by the industry returned 60% favorable opinions on men wearing makeup and only 10% negative.
Nagoya-based Atelier Haruka, which operates 65 hair and makeup specialty salons nationwide, has seen an increase in male customers using cosmetic services in recent years. In 2025, use of its men’s eyebrow cut service increased 6.7 times compared to 2023. The main clientele is in their 20s to 40s. More men are incorporating makeup into their daily routines as well as for special occasions such as business meetings, dates or profile photo shoots.
Atelier Haruka’s Esola Ikebukuro location in Tokyo’s Toshima Ward has seen an increase in male repeat customers. Manager Fumika Kusuda says, “Natural makeup is popular with male customers. Many bring photos of South Korean idols as their desired look.”
The company’s public relations spokesperson attributes the growth of makeup among men to “the COVID-19 pandemic and the spread of social media.” With more opportunities to see themselves on-screen during remote meetings, men began to notice things that were off about their appearance like the shape of their eyebrows and felt the desire to “tidy up.” This desire started with eyebrows and gradually expanded to the entire face. The spokesperson noted that images of men wearing makeup are being shared on social media, which has helped the recognition of makeup as part of personal grooming. The influence of “K-beauty,” meaning the Korean beauty industry, was also mentioned.
Mushrooms and Fairy Tales: An Interview with the Director and Producer of Champignon Witch (Anime News Network, Rebecca Silverman)
It remains a real shame that the source material isn’t legally available in English.
Champignon Witch is full of visual references to famous fairy tales – Lize is laid out like Snow White or Sleeping Beauty on the table, Luna wears a red hat, Luna and Henri dance with Cinderella and her prince. How did you decide to incorporate those fairy tale elements into the story? How important do you feel that fairy tales are to Luna’s world? What do they tell viewers about it?
Yōsuke Kubo: In Japan as well, fairy tales like the ones mentioned are deeply rooted, to the point that they form the foundation of many stories and traditions. They function as very effective symbols, and I believe the original author [Tachibana Higuchi] intentionally embeds rich metaphors within them. In visual storytelling and in animation in particular, using these symbolic elements allows us to communicate a great deal within a limited runtime.
Champignon Witch also features many classic fantasy elements, such as magic, royal castles, poison, and persecution. By using this shared classical language, we can quickly communicate the story’s world to viewers and guide them toward the original narrative that the series ultimately aims to tell.
Episode five is taken from a side story in the third manga volume. What made you decide to incorporate Dorothy’s tale into the main plot? Do you see Dorothy as being particularly important to Luna’s character arc? Do you plan to incorporate other side stories into the show?
KUBO: When I read the original work, the series composition writer and I found Dorothy’s story extremely compelling. Dorothy herself is a very appealing character, and she was also the best character for deepening the relationships surrounding Luna, who is a persecuted character. Above all, her story succinctly expresses the cruelty of this world.
Because the series features gentle and heartwarming characters, there is a risk that the tension of the story could occasionally soften. However, Dorothy’s powerful ending allows this single episode to strongly convey to viewers that this is not a conveniently kind or gentle world.
The Girl Called Prince: How In the Clear Moonlit Dusk Asks Who Gets to Decide Your Gender Performance (Anime News Network, Beatrix Kondo)
A discussion largely of the manga, though it doesn’t discuss anything that isn’t included in the anime.
When Yoi proposes the “trial relationship,” she frames it practically: they’ll date to see if his feelings are real. But underneath runs deeper anxiety—can someone actually want her as a girl when everyone has spent her entire life insisting she’s something else?
She compares him to the moon reflected in water: beautiful, luminous, visible, yet fundamentally unreachable. He’s there, close enough to see, but disappears at the slightest attempt to touch.
He reveals his own vulnerabilities—his wealthy family, people who approach him for money rather than genuine interest. Later, privately, he’s indignant about the lack of male interest in her: “Why is no one interested in her? Even though she’s this beautiful, at a level that’s hard not to notice. I want to know more, want to have her for myself. I’d say I’m just being honest, right?”
What makes their relationship work: he offers a mirror that reflects her differently than she’s used to seeing herself. Not Prince. Not a failed girl. Just Yoi—complicated, uncertain, worth loving exactly as she is.
This is where Moonlit Dusk diverges from its shoujo predecessors. Sapphire’s two hearts gave her claim to both identities. Oscar chose masculinity and lived with the costs. Utena claimed princely identity as a revolutionary act. Yoi gets no such clarity—she never chose, never claimed, and now must figure out who she is when the performance wasn’t hers to begin with.
Review: PETER GRILL AND THE PHILOSOPHER’S TIME (Manga Test Drive, Megan D)
A look at the first volume of the completed series.
And yet I did not laugh. Not even once, not even a little. It’s not because it’s all about sex – I love a good sex joke as much as the next person, and there are times where this manga briefly manages a sort of manic, Looney Tunes-level of comic timing. No, it’s purely an attitude problem.
Peter Grill has a real “boys can’t help it” attitude problem. It treats Peter as a poor, blameless soul constantly undone by his own sexual desires. His own fiancée is both horrified by the notion of sex (thanks to her paranoid, over-protective, and vaguely incestuous father) and dumber than a box of rocks when it comes to detecting Peter’s duplicity. Meanwhile, all of these hot ogre and elf girls are just throwing themselves at him! What’s he supposed to do, say ‘no’? Be faithful to a girl who won’t put out? What kind of man would do THAT, amirite? When all else fails, the scene just cuts to Peter in bed, as if he entered into some sort of horny blackout and thus cannot be culpable for his actions.
So if Peter cannot be the bad guy in this scenario because he’s merely a slave to his dick, who is? The answer seems to be the very women it ogles. This is certainly true for Mimi, Lisa, and the ridiculously named elf girl/token loli Vegan Eldoriel. When Peter refuses their sexual harassment demands, they go straight to threats of blackmail or boner curses, which means pretty much every sexual encounter in this book is an act of rape. Women are also an object of ridicule here. Luvellia’s naiveté about all the sexual stuff going on around her is played entirely for laughs, and Vegan’s flat chest earns her a bunch of jokes about her looking like a child. It’s just a very gross attitude..
VIDEO: Mixed Vegetables podcast discussion on Shojo & Tell.
VIDEO: Gushing over some of the excellent joseimuke airing this season.
VIDEO: On convention hostility to cosplayers, particularly relating to accessibility issues.
POST: Following outcry at news that GenAI-pushing company MediaDo had purchased Seven Seas Entertainment, the latter released a statement saying it would not use AI in its translations.
Notice Regarding the Translation and Publication Structure of Seven Seas Entertainment and MEDIA DO: English: mediado.jp/wp-content/t… Japanese: mediado.jp/info/15595/
— Seven Seas Entertainment (@sevenseasentertainment.com) March 2, 2026 at 10:42 PM
POST: In memorium for KyoAni founder Hideaki Hatta.
All my condolences about the passing of KyoAni founder & president Hideaki Hatta. No exaggeration to say that he’s been one of the most important individuals in the history of this industry, especially if you consider that he also had a hand in IG’s inception www.kyotoanimation.co.jp/information/…
— kViN (@yuyucow.bsky.social) March 2, 2026 at 9:42 AM
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AniFem Community
As always, keep holding those dreams, AniFam.
how about an artist reinvent a classic film via anime? i’d love to see Naoko Yamada take a crack at Amadeus.
— Jeremy T (@jawburst.bsky.social) March 3, 2026 at 3:26 PM
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AI Yazawa’s Azumanga Daioh
— CEO of Beckett Mariner (@kariizumi.bsky.social) March 2, 2026 at 10:43 PM
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Well, Ai Yoshimura did already do the #RoseOfVersailles 2025 movie, but I like to imagine if she got to do an entire series re-adaptation and wonder how that would turn out.
— maximinalist (@maximinalist.bsky.social) March 3, 2026 at 10:07 PM
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