AniFem Round-Up
We discussed how she brings her creative voice to a series that has multiple concurrent versions and the growth of female-driven stories in seinen manga..
Being a Better Man: The healthy masculinity of MY love STORY!!
Through its characters and their relationships, MY love STORY!! supports a vision of masculinity where boys and men can be openly emotional and not be shamed for it.
Chatty AF 236: Monogatari Watchalong Part 5 – Nekomonogatari Black and White
Tony, Peter, and Vrai talked about Hanekawa’s two big story arcs, cheer for sudden yuri, and enjoy the new (mostly) Araragi-less face of the franchise!
Do you buy limited edition physical releases?
Particularly now that physical releases are becoming more rare..
Beyond AniFem
Remembering ‘Nana’, the anime that redefined modern punk—and loved Vivienne Westwood (Vogue Australia, Rahemma Azwar)
NANA recently celebrated 25 years with a Vivienne Westwood collaboration.
At the centre of Nana’s fashion universe stands Vivienne Westwood. “A timeless devotion to the Westwoodian punkette regalia and the loric Japanese street style of the 90s circa Fruits Mag, Nana’s significance cannot be overstated,” says Vogue content editor Karen Leong. “It pulls heavily from the British house, it references the Harajuku subcultures of the mid-naughties like the Gyaru and Mori girl aesthetics, both of which pull from two opposing depictions of Japanese girlhood. Everyone who is remotely depot-literate has studied Nana, whether they know it or not.”
The rebellious elegance of Vivienne Westwood’s early ’90s era is profoundly visible in Nana, shaping the anime’s punk-romantic aesthetic and giving Nana Osaki’s wardrobe its instantly recognisable edge. Elements like plaid, corsetry, and sharply structured tailoring drew directly from Westwood’s autumn/winter 1990/1991 Portrait collection and her emblematic Anglomania era, blending British punk sensibilities with theatrical, almost sculptural silhouettes that felt unarguably rebellious yet refined. The designer’s Rocking Horse platform shoes—a hallmark of that period—feature prominently throughout the series, paired with leather jackets, ripped tights, and tartan skirts to heighten Osaki’s punk persona. Osaki also wears Westwood’s iconic ‘Armour’ ring in nearly every chapter of the manga.
A Sign of Affection Creators suu Morishita on Yuki’s Relatability and Surrounding Her With Supportive People (Crunchyroll, Briana Lawrence)
‘suu Morishita’ is a duo of artists creating the series.
In an interview you did with Kodansha, you talked about how both shojo and sign language are “full of expressions and emotions that aren’t entirely stated, and exist beyond spoken dialogue.” What do you think this adds to A Sign of Affection, both as a romance and as a coming-of-age story?
suu Morishita: One of the things that I always felt was an important theme in manga is emotional expressions. I feel like Japanese people feel a lot, but they often cannot express themselves. In sign language, I think it’s a little bit easier to show it visually because you’re using the whole hand to talk in sign language. Fingertips, I feel like, is where you can see the most subtleness of the emotion of that person.
You’ve also talked about your process in depicting sign language in manga (in the first volume of the A Sign of Affection omnibus), from working with a sign language consultant (Yuki Miyazaki), to watching videos and figuring out key words to illustrate. What did you learn about sign language during this process, and is there anything that you’ve learned that you think you’ll apply in your future work?
suu Morishita: In order to start the series, I really felt it was necessary to interview with deaf people, and in order to go into those interviews, I tried to learn, at least, how to spell out the alphabet. So from there, I started to learn easier vocabulary, like “thank you,” “sorry,” “happy,” and so forth, to kind of express myself in sign language. Earlier on in the interviews, I mostly had to resort to written communication, but the more I started to learn about them, the more I started to be able to communicate directly in signs.
XG’s Cocona Comes Out as Transmasculine, Nonbinary (The Hollywood Reporter, Nicole Fell)
The R&B-influenced group debuted in 2022.
The 20-year-old announced the news in a birthday Instagram post on the group’s account. “Today, I turned 20. As I reach this new chapter in my life, I want to share something that’s been in my heart for a long time,” Cocona said in the statement. “I am AFAB transmasculine non-binary. Earlier this year, I had top surgery.”
The statement continues: “I was born and perceived as female, but that label never represented who I truly am. I live in a way that feels more masculine and true to who I am. The hardest thing I’ve ever faced was accepting and embracing myself. But as I slowly began to do that, I was able to open a new door. That moment changed the way I see and understand the world, and it gave me the courage and strength to grow. Now, I can finally say, ‘There’s nothing wrong with who I am inside.’”
The rapper said the other members of XG, the group’s producer and label CEO Simon Jakops and their parents are the reason they were “able to come this far.” Cocona also noted in the statement that they are grateful “for every miracle that brought us together” and what led them to the path they’re on.
More women’s universities in Japan open doors to transgender women, survey finds (The Mainichi, Shizuka Takebayashi)
60 schools across Japan were surveyed and 40 responded.
Among national universities, Ochanomizu University (Tokyo) and Nara Women’s University (Nara Prefecture) said they accept transgender women. Among private universities, Miyagi Gakuin Women’s University (Miyagi Prefecture), Notre Dame Seishin University (Okayama Prefecture), Japan Women’s University (Tokyo), and Tsuda University (Tokyo) also said they do, for a total of six. Ochanomizu and Nara Women’s began accepting transgender women in fiscal 2020, the earliest among respondents. The public Fukuoka Women’s University is preparing to accept transgender women from academic 2029.
Of the 16 universities that said they are “considering” acceptance of transgender women, six reported that they “feel it is necessary and are seriously considering it.” On the other hand, five said the main reason they have not yet recognized transgender women’s eligibility is that it will take time to foster understanding among current students and faculty.
Seventeen universities said they “do not recognize” transgender women as eligible for admission. Most cited a lack of preparations, such as installing multipurpose restrooms, as the reason. Some also wrote, “Eligibility is limited to those who are legally female,” or “We have not considered accepting transgender students.”
A representative of a women’s university in western Japan that “previously considered it but is not currently doing so” said, “Japan lacks sufficient legal protections for sexual minorities, including transgender people, and there has not been enough public debate. Without a clear vision for promoting understanding, it will take time and careful dialogue to gain the support of students and parents.”
Yoshinori Ando, professor of educational sociology at Mukogawa Women’s University and an expert on transgender issues in higher education, commented, “As diverse gender identities are discussed, universities are gradually moving forward by watching what other schools do.” He added, “Women’s universities have protected the right to education for women, who historically had lower social status, and supported their independence, but now can their leaders also support transgender women — a very small minority — as women? The awareness of gender issues among the leaders of each of these schools is being put to the test.”
Tease Me Harder: A Sweet and Kinky Romance Volume 1 Manga Review(Anime News Network, Bolts)
A woman interested in BDSM navigates learning kink with her vanilla boyfriend.
Mahiro doesn’t shame her for her fetishes, but it is heavily established that he’s not particularly into this flavor of sexual activity. There’s a big difference between researching and understanding why other people find these particular kinks appealing and being into those kinks yourself. That is a much more interesting angle than if he had magically found out that he was a sadist, on board with everything she was into. I like the subtlety of the book. It shows that he’s also figuring out his own line about what he feels comfortable with. Maybe there’s a part of him that is getting into it, but he starts to hesitate once he begins to understand just how extreme Yuka’s interests are. There is a big difference between spanking somebody and calling them a useless sex slave. Even if that’s something your partner wants, it can feel very uncomfortable to say those words if you are not into it.
Then there’s the guilt of satisfying your other partner’s desires. Mahiro is doing all this research because he wants to make Yuka’s fetishes a reality so she feels less guilty about being interested in these acts. Inversely, Yuka starts feeling guilty because even though she’s seemingly getting everything she wants, that makes her feel like she needs to perform something for him once it becomes clear that he also wants to be sexually engaged to her. Keep in mind, folks, a BDSM scene does not always need to include sex, and this creates a cycle of anxiety where the two people feel trapped. This creates a subtle sense of tension in the background. You want this couple to work it out, and you can tell that they genuinely love each other. But you wonder what’s gonna happen beyond this by the end. Are they going to hit a breaking point, or will things work out as well as they hope?
Granted, the story is not a perfect introduction to the world of BDSM if that’s what you were hoping for. This is very much a story about inexperienced people going through a very complicated situation. I like how the presentation lets the few BDSM scenes that we see throughout the book actually breathe. There is a sense of quiet tension in every action. That action can be as simple as Mahiro stepping on Yuka, or it can be as involved as a full-on shibari scene! That is probably my biggest complaint about the book. It feels like there could’ve been a gentler progression of BDSM scenes going on throughout the book, which makes me wonder how much research the author actually did.
Japanese idol stabbed in 2016 speaks of police blame, fear in memoir (The Mainichi, Eriko Yamawaki)
Tomita Mayu hopes to bring greater awareness to the issue of stalking by writing about her experiences.
In an unpublished memoir that she shared with Kyodo News, Tomita describes her continuing post-traumatic stress disorder — a condition that triggers flashbacks even at the mention of the assailant’s name. For this reason, the perpetrator’s name, as in Tomita’s memoir, is not mentioned in this article.
Tomita, however, has also taken the courageous step of shedding light on the culpability of the Tokyo police and others in failing to prevent the violent act, in a civil suit that concluded on July 28 this year. She hopes that this will help to prevent other stalking victims from suffering the same fate as her, or worse.
Twelve days before her assault, Tomita had visited a police station in Musashino city, western Tokyo, to report feeling terrorized by the stalker’s unsolicited gifts and hostile messages, including death threats, over social media.
He began messaging Tomita in June 2014 and would stalk her after her shows. He sent about 400 messages to her Twitter account and her blog.
However, the police officers deemed the situation “not urgent” and did not report it to the Metropolitan Police Department headquarters’ specialized stalking unit.
Online commenting culture and ideologies of language learning: Masculinities, optimization and techno-solutionism in an informal learning community (Applied Linguistics; Levi Durbidge, Renee Barnes, Liam Edgley)
The academic article is currently available for free.
This study investigated a large, English-dominant online community dedicated to learning Japanese, analysing how language learning is discussed and understood. Through Thematic and Critical Discourse Analysis of high-engagement posts, the study reveals that the community subscribes to an ethos of ease, efficiency, and enjoyment, largely motivated by interest in Japanese popular culture. The findings show how techno-masculinization of language learning practices emerges through the intersection of geek culture, masculinities, and cyberlibertarian ideologies, including techno-solutionism. The community’s commenting culture constructs learner subjectivities that prioritize consumption and technical optimization over social interaction, with authority built through participatory dynamics that emphasize detail, systemization, and digital technology use. The study underscores the importance of critically examining the ideologies and subjectivities produced in online language learning communities, particularly as they reflect broader shifts towards convenience-driven, consumer-oriented paradigms of learning.
VIDEO: The Yaoi Shelf podcast episode, How We Used to Keep Up with BL News with Special Guest Tylor Starr.
VIDEO: An enthusiastic appeal to watch 80s magical girl idol series Creamy Mami.
VIDEO: A deep dive into xiangqui through the anchor of The Apothecary Diaries.
AniFem Community
Someone had to buy those $800 Legend of the Galactic Heroes sets.
Sometimes, but I hate the Aniplex model where that's more often than not the *only* release… especially as Aniplex's special editions have had fewer and fewer extras over time to justify that price.
— Jisu (@sanajisu.bsky.social) December 9, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Yes. I do wish that retailers would more often understand that if I'm buying the limited editions, I'd like them sent carefully so I don't end up with dinged corners and other scuffs. Losing Rightstuf who actually put care into packing things safely has been devastating to the anime community.
— Andrew – NoS Anime (@nosanime.bsky.social) December 8, 2025 at 11:25 PM
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