AniFem Round-Up
Interviewing legendary gay manga artist Gengoroh Tagame at the de Young Museum
Tagame Gengoroh is a worldwide legend as a gay erotic manga artist, critic, and advocate for LGBTQ+ rights. Chiaki sat down to interview him about his career and the new exhibit featuring his work.
Let’s Go Karaoke! – Series Review
A beautifully made coming-of-age story that’s mostly about an age-gap friendship, though not everyone will be comfortable with its hints toward the possibility of something more down the line.
Who’s your favorite magical girl sidekick?
A heroine needs a stalwart companion, after all.
Beyond AniFem
BOYS RUN THE RIOT MIGHT GET A SEQUEL!! (Tumblr)
The original series, a fashion manga with a trans lead, ran for four volumes.
Young Magazine is publishing the first chapters of 16 new Mangas out of those, 5 will get serialized! And you cam chose which one!
Keito Gaku is participating with Boys Run the Riot: In Transition. You can read the first Chapter for free and the vote here. You can vote once a day! If you have twitter/X give the post a like and a repost because those also count as votes! Voting Closes on the 10th November!
Yona of the Dawn Manga Ends on December 19 After 16-Year Run (Anime News Network, Rafael Antonio Pineda)
The series is firmly one of shoujo’s great epics.
Kusanagi — the creator of Mugen Spiral, Game X Rush, and NG Life — launched the Yona of the Dawn manga in Hakusensha’s Hana to Yume magazine in 2009. Hakusensha shipped the manga’s 46th compiled book volume on June 20, and will ship the 47th volume on February 20, 2026. Viz Media released the manga’s 44th volume on June 3.
Kusagani confirmed in June 2024 that the manga is in its final arc.
The manga inspired a 24-episode television anime in 2014, and three original anime DVDs in 2015 and 2016. Funimation released the television anime on home video.
INTERVIEW: Anime Herald Magazine’s Samantha Ferreira – Printing Anime Media’s Past, Present, and Future (Yatta-Tachi, Coop Bicknell)
Friend of the site Anime Herald recently put out a special physical issue.
On the topic of that stacked lineup, please talk up the wonderful writers you’ve tapped for this. It’s a murderer’s row.
FERREIRA: I’ll be honest with you, I was terrified when it was time to reach out to everyone. I know these people quite well—I’ve worked with them as colleagues, we’ve crossed paths, and we share passions. But at the same time it’s very daunting to say, “Hey, I’d love to have you work on something for me. Would you like to do this?”
I’m a very anxious person by nature, I won’t lie. So, reaching out to folks like ANN‘s Lynzee Loveridge, Otaku USA’s Daryl Surat, yuri scholar Erica Friedman of Okazu, Anime Feminist’s Chiaki Mitama, ANN’s Lucas DeRuyter, and so on was so intimidating. I was over the moon when everyone said yes! This article lineup is the stuff of dreams—these are the stories I’d want to read if I was 16 or 17 years old. We have an examination of Ero-guro, histories of convention signs and anime stage shows, a heartfelt retrospective on Anime World Order, a critique of capitalism through the lens of Girls Band Cry, and an interview with the creator of Onimai! I still don’t know how this happened, but I’m genuinely grateful to every single person who is contributing to this issue.
Kaoru Mori’s A Bride’s Story, Aki Irie’s Go with the Clouds, North by Northwest Continue With New Publisher (Anime News Network, Alex Matteo)
The two titles have been running since 2008 and 2016 respectively.
Manga creator Kaoru Mori revealed in a “Kinkyо̄ Oshirase Iroiro Manga” update that a new company Yukiwarisо̄ will publish Mori’s A Bride’s Story and Aki Irie‘s Go with the Clouds, North by Northwest, since Kadokawa‘s Aokishi magazine had stopped serializing their works last February. Yukiwarisо̄ will also publish Ichika Ootsuka’s Piccolina, Moe Yasubara’s Aubrey, Masahiko Dairaku’s Guratatо̄ Nikki, a work by Tomoya Sakata, and more from other new writers.
Yukiwarisо̄ will not feature a magazine format, but Mori confirmed that the serialization pace and compiled book volume releases will remain similar to before. Mori also revealed that her Emma manga will be republished, her Shirley manga will get a third volume, and that she will release a collection of short stories.
The 24th A and B issues of Kadokawa’s Aokishi magazine on February 18 announced a renewal of the magazine, which saw some works continuing and other works going in a different direction. Among those works, both Mori and Irie would no longer have their works published in the magazine. The magazine issues previously stated that Mori “plans to search for a new form of publication” for her manga, and also confirmed Irie would continue her works in the future.
Iwate pulls matchmaking booklet over sexist backlash (The Asahi Shimbun, Erina Ito)
The booklet was originally released six years ago.
Published by the prefectural government in 2019 and titled “Make a nice meeting happen in Iwate: For those who want to improve their marriage-hunting skills,” its contents include instructions for women to wear natural and elegant makeup.
Netizens responded by calling it “discriminatory toward women” and saying it would achieve the opposite effect and that “young women will leave Iwate.” Other replies simply read, “don’t spend tax money on this.”
The prefectural government commissioned a printing company within the prefecture to produce the booklet, while a marriage agency based in Miyagi Prefecture was responsible for writing it.
The booklet offers advice from marriage support specialists to both women and men on topics such as mindset and personal appearance for matchmaking.
According to prefectural officials, the booklet was distributed at marriage promotion events they organized and was also available to view and download on the prefecture’s official website. All physical copies produced have been distributed.
Tomomi Yamaguchi, a professor at Ritsumeikan University who has studied gender issues in both Japan and the United States, called it “quite awful” in an X (formerly Twitter) post the night of Oct. 27.
Mayor of Japan town with many foreigners perplexed by rising support for Sanseito (The Mainichi, Akihiro Kawakami)
Xenophobic rhetoric has been on the rise in public spheres, particularly this year.
In the mayoral election this past April, a man who claimed that foreigners “will only worsen public safety if left as they are” ran for office. While Murayama secured a fourth term with more than double the votes of his opponent, the election demonstrated that a certain number of residents hold critical views toward foreigners.
“I’ve been told directly by residents that we spend too much on foreigners,” Murayama admits. The town indeed incurs costs related to foreign residents, such as publishing Portuguese newsletters and providing interpreters at elementary and junior high schools. While trouble has decreased, it will likely never disappear entirely.
“But conversely, it’s precisely because foreigners are here that companies can keep operating. And when these companies perform well, tax revenue flows into the town. That’s how the cycle works,” Murayama explains.
In 2024, 28.9% of babies born in the town were foreign nationals. By age group, the largest cohort among Japanese residents was 50 to 54 years old, while among foreign residents it was 25 to 29. This youthfulness among foreigners contributes to the town’s vitality and serves as a source of abundant labor.
Compared to 1986, the town’s population has increased by 11.9% — standing out among municipalities of similar size. However, the Japanese population alone has decreased by 11.4%.
Currently, 47 foreigners work in care facilities in the town, with numbers rising. “Without foreigners, who will care for bedridden Japanese?” Murayama posed. “Oizumi, with its significant foreign population, is always in the spotlight. But we’ve always worked with the belief that Oizumi’s present situation is a preview of Japan’s future. We believe we must continue striving toward coexistence.”
VIDEO: Making-of video for the dating sim Truth Universally Acknowledged.
VIDEO: On the distinct appeals of cozy gaming for Black players.
VIDEO: The benefits and limitations of accessibility in the latest Kirby game.
VIDEO: Control and forced gratitude in Silent Hill f.
AniFem Community
A magical girl story is only as good as its supporting cast!
Does Shade count? I’d call him Tanpopo’s sidekick. #MagicalGirlDandelion
— Stephanie (@firefaerie81.bsky.social) November 4, 2025 at 10:52 PM
[image or embed]
Mofurun! I liked how Maho Girls Precure was 2 magical girls and their two kids basically.
— Rena 🏳️⚧️ (@renathewitch.bsky.social) November 3, 2025 at 11:35 PM
[image or embed]
Comments are open! Please read our comments policy before joining the conversation and contact us if you have any problems.