AniFem Round-Up
A story about clothing and community that promises low stakes but high satisfaction and thankfully delivers.
Noble Reincarnation: Born Blessed, So I’ll Obtain Ultimate Power – Episode 1
It’s yet another power fantasy isekai, but it at least comes from a relatable fantasy: “here’s how I’d fix the world if I had all the money.”
You Can’t Be in a Rom-Com With Your Childhood Friends! – Episode 1
A very traditional harem anime that’s extremely horny for its 15-year-old female characters.
There Was a Cute Girl in the Hero’s Party, So I Tried Confessing to Her – Episode 1
It’s just too boring to invest in how the main character will probably spend his time wearing this poor girl down.
The Demon King’s Daughter is Too Kind!! – Episodes 1-2
There are a lot of minor quibbles, but both episodes flew by and felt like a warm blanket.
The Darwin Incident – Episode 1
The series wants to ask big questions about animal rights, extremism, and eugenics, but the writing so far is awfully broad for tackling such hefty issues.
The Case Book of Arne – Episode 1
It’s poorly written as a mystery show and the last-minute twist makes the whole thing fall completely flat.
Tune in to the Midnight Heart – Episode 1
A perfectly okay romantic comedy that feels more grounded than the other, extremely horny harem show this season.
Yoroi-Shinden Samurai Troopers– Episode 1
A sequel that’s a still fresh enough start for new fans. At the same time, the addition of politics and gore fundamentally shifts the tone of the story in ways that it feels alien to the original material.
An Adventurer’s Daily Grind at Age 29 – Episode 1
Starts out as a decent adoptive parent story, but the mid-episode twist pulls it off the rails.
Isekai Office Worker: The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter – Episode 1
The world hasn’t yet had a BL about an accountant solving a royal conspiracy by investigating paperwork, and how wonderful that we do now.
The Holy Grail of Eris – Episode 1
Being possessed by an already-dead villainess, and having a weird magical revenge contract with her, is a pretty innovative and intriguing setup.
A Gentle Noble’s Vacation Recommendation – Episode 1
A disappointingly underbaked adaptation from a creative team that feels poorly matched to the material.
The Invisible Man and His Soon-to-Be Wife – Episode 1
It’s off to a decent start with regards to its heroine’s disability and the supernatural romance (and marriage!) that the title foreshadows.
Easygoing Territory Defense by the Optimistic Lord – Episode 1
It’s thoroughly unremarkable fantasy slop, from the bland protagonist to the “good slave owner” trope.
Despite its touches of whimsy, Champignon Witch is very much a story about social ostracization and how cultural norms and surface-level assumptions can unfairly relegate people as outsiders.
SHIBOYUGI: Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table – Episode 1
SHIBOYUGI’s beautiful double-length premiere doesn’t make for a bad short film, but it’s hard to see it having staying power as a series.
High School! Kimengumi – Episode 1
A comedy straight out of the 80s with jokes to match.
The back half flirts with becoming a bright adventure fantasy, but it’s bogged down in tired (albeit mostly harmless) isekai tropes.
A dead on arrival premiere that feels like a compilation of ideas from other, bigger shonen action titles.
You can improve any genre by adding gay to it, but…does the “kicked out of the party” microgenre deserve to be elevated by lesbians?
DARK MOON: THE BLOOD ALTAR – Episode 1
The KPOP vampire kayfabe concept is fun, but the execution is too stilted and flat to carry the indulgence.
A Misanthrope Teaches a Class for Demi-Humans – Episode 1
The designs are too cowardly to appeal to monster fans and the writing is too poor to appeal to anyone else.
Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling – Episode 1
It feels a little like an also-ran version of So I’m a Spider, So What? But it’s far from the worst fantasy show airing this season.
It’s a fun urban fantasy held back by a glaring lack of polish.
In the Clear Moonlit Dusk – Episode 1
While the broader trends this story is tapping into are frustrating, it also has a lot of potential to unfold into a sweet romance about a girl rebuilding her confidence.
What’s your most anticipated Winter 2026 anime?
We’re well into the thick of it now.
For those wondering about the delays on this season’s premiere reviews–our apologies, and thank you for the well wishes.
Beyond AniFem
Drama Over Anime (Anime News Network, Lucas DeRuyter and Sylvia Jones)
A comparison of several influential shojo who are best known for their live-action adaptations.
Lucas: While there are a crapload of Boys Over Flowers live-action adaptations (some of which appear to be hella illegal), I also watched the Boys Over Flowers K Drama from 2009. I went with this series because, in college, a bunch of girls I talked to who said they weren’t into anime would follow up that statement by saying they were big into the Boys Over Flowers K Drama; and I am now beefing with all of those women a decade after the fact!
While I can appreciate this 2009 production taking some creative liberties, and changing up some elements to explicitly reflect Korean sociopolitical and cultural circumstances, I would have watched this anime SO much sooner if I had known this K Drama wasn’t the best reflection of the series!
Sylvia: Alas, I am sorry those college girls steered you wrong. But it’s hard to blame them for not choosing the “correct” version when there are so many. Literally, the Wikipedia page uses a table to get all that information across in the most efficient manner possible. People all around the globe love these jerks. And as far as jerkitude goes, I have to give this adaptation props for nailing the fashion. This is exactly what I picture a 2009-era fuccboi wearing.
Lucas: You’re right, I should give credit where it’s due and not let my adoration for the anime cloud my opinion of the K Drama too much. This show, opening with a bloodied student contemplating suicide, was the absolute LAST thing I was expecting after getting through the first few episodes of the anime. Even if there are a lot of strikeouts for me personally, this show is swinging for the fences, and I respect that.
[…]
Sylvia: More importantly, it was a gigantic phenomenon in South Korea at the time, and its influence trickled down into many ensuing K-dramas. It’s a perfect example of why you can’t just look at anime when you’re trying to think about the cultural footprint of shojo manga.
Board the Mothership (Mothership)
We’re wishing the staff luck on their launch and excited to see what the site brings.
A couple weeks from now, on January 26, 2026, we’ll be launching the full version of our new gaming website, Mothership, which aims to analyze games specifically through the lens of gender and identity. Stepping into the shoes of another person or thing, inhabiting a body other than your own, is an inextricable part of the experience of playing a game. We here at Mothership — a queer and women-owned independent video game publication co-founded by Polygon veterans Maddy Myers and Zoë Hannah — have always understood that this is what games are about.
You’ll read writing from a diverse roster of contributors at Mothership. You’ll find reviews, criticism, and opinion stories, as well as articles about how games are made and marketed. You’ll get investigative reporting on the people who make games in an era when “DEI” is on the wane. You’ll read historical deep dives on the games and creators that paved the way, especially those that didn’t get due credit way back then.
When Mothership launches, we’ll feature writing by other former Polygon writers like Nicole Carpenter, Nicole Clark, and Susana Polo, as well as writers you may know from their bylines elsewhere, like Grant Stoner and Nico Deyo. We’ll be commissioning stories from any writer who hopes to cover games through our editorial lens. That’s why we’re asking for your help to support these writers and the future work they’ll do here at Mothership.
ICYMI: Videos You Probably Missed – A Steamy Office Fling, Omegaverse Speed Dating, and a Himbo Cupid! (Blerdy Otome, Naja)
A round-up within a round-up of otome and other dating sim playthroughs.
Happy 2026! I wanted to try something new where I actually promote myself a bit better, because surprisingly, some of you all weren’t aware that I have been actively maintaining a YouTube channel since 2021. Which is wild, because y’all are missing out, there are over 200 videos to date that you have been missing out on. So, to help you out a smidge, I’m compiling the video content from the last week that you may have missed! I’ll try to do this every week, but I HIGHLY recommend you subscribe to my channel and turn on notifications so you never miss a video! Alright! Let’s do it! Here are the videos you missed over on YouTube this week (and few from earlier)!
Umamusume developer apologises after AI studio backlash, says it will not use generative AI “without prior notice” (Eurogamer, Victoria Phillips Kennedy)
“Without prior notice” is a pretty lode-bearing and disappointing part of that statement.
Writing on social media platform X, the studio – which is known for a variety of popular games including Umamusume: Pretty Derby – apologised for the “concern” it had caused. It added its original announcement was a “simplified” one, which did not address “any of the current problems and social debates” around generative AI.
Cygames stated that art produced via generative AI is not used in its products, and all of its current games have been “crafted from the technical know-how and manual work” of its staff. It furthered that the studio “won’t implement generative AI into [its] products without prior notice” to the community.
On the topic of its community, the studio said it holds those of us who love games – including creators and artists – “in the highest regard”. Cygames intends to continue honouring free expression while striving to deliver “the best in entertainment”, it closed, with another apology to its fans and supporters.
Uncomfortable and Uncompromising: the Works of Shuzo Oshimi (Anime News Network, Coop Bicknell and Sylvia Jones)
A walk through the mangaka’s body of work and adaptations.
Coop: Even though his afterwords are probably seen as oversharing by many, I appreciate how raw, unfiltered, and human they are. Despite the manicured image so many of us put out for the world to see, we’re all flawed beings with elements about ourselves that we don’t talk about or keep behind closed doors. Oshimi’s willingness to talk about the unfortunate bruise on his person, his relationship with pornography, or how that all rolls into his self-image lets readers know that they’re not alone. They’re not the only person who have struggled with these sorts of issues.
Sylvia: I genuinely admire his strength in putting so much of himself into his art. And while I can understand where criticism would come from, I’m thankful for his candidness. So in the spirit of speaking frankly, after I finally sat down and read Welcome Back, Alice to prepare for one of our Pride columns, I thought about it a lot. I thought about many things I had been thinking about for a very long time. That Saturday night, I contacted a therapist, and a month later, I took my first dose of estradiol.
Now, I’m not saying that anime and manga made me trans. But I’m not not saying that.
Coop: I’m firmly of the belief that the right story just might change your life, and I’m so glad that Welcome Back, Alice was one of those stories for you, from the sounds of it.
Sylvia: Yeah! I mean, it was more of wombo combo between that, rewatching I Saw the TV Glow, and other such feel-bad factors, but Oshimi’s oeuvre was a big component of that. I mean, so many of his works feature this avatar of aggressive feminine sexuality in conflict with a sensitive male lead. While there’s no one flavor of trans woman, I could definitely relate these characters and stories to my own complicated, conflicted history with my masculinity.
That said, I do think it’s important for us not to project anything onto Oshimi. While he’s gone on record about his own ambiguous feelings about his gender, that doesn’t change the fact that I don’t know him personally. I’m not going to say, “estrogen could save her.” But I can say that estrogen saved me.
Coop: Absolutely, that’s his own business to share (or maybe not share) how he feels about his gender. But I do find it encouraging that he’s well aware of the effect his stories have had on queer readers.
Ex-Fukui governor sent 1,000 sexually harassing texts to staff: report (The Mainichi)
The article includes further examples of the messages that were sent.
Among the messages were those in which Sugimoto sought sexual relationships with multiple female staff and commented on their physical appearance. He also touched female staff members’ bodies several times, according to the report, which was based on a survey of around 6,000 employees.
“The feeling of victimization was extremely severe,” the report said, describing his responsibility as “grave.” It said his actions could have violated the anti-stalking law or constituted the crime of nonconsensual indecency.
Kenji Kawai, one of three lawyers appointed by the Fukui prefectural government to investigate the case, told a press conference Sugimoto had carried out acts of harassment for around 20 years, even before he was first elected Fukui governor in 2019.
French sex abuse expert shocked by girls in red-light district (The Asahi Shimbun, Satoko Onuki)
In France, clients are criminalized but sex workers are not; activists have criticized partial decriminalization as a possible cause of further violence to sex workers.
[Activist] Kisaragi, who has been active since 2021, explained that the women on the street include many minors, some of them in their early teens.
“Why are those children left without protection?” Brochot asked.
Japan’s Law Banning Child Prostitution and Child Pornography criminalizes buying sex from persons under 18. Suspects were detained in 416 child prostitution cases in 2024.
In reality, Kisaragi said that only accounts for a small fraction of the numbers of minors being victimized. […]
Kisaragi said that many of the women on the street cannot feel at ease at their homes, because of abuse and other problems, and they are also socially isolated.
She said some of the women have told her that they have suffered additional abuse in the sex trade.
It is, however, not easy for them to complain about their suffering, because the female sex sellers are the ones who face investigations for “accosting” their customers, and are also the ones whom society calls into question.
No small number of male sex buyers argue, by comparison, that they are “helping” those women by employing them, Kisaragi said.
“Exploitation of females is taken for granted in Japan,” she said. “The problem is the buyers, the exploiters, are not being called into question.”
‘Polygamist’ in Japan allegedly created brainwashing manual to control women (The Mainichi; Kengo Suga, Yuka Asahina and Yuga Matsumoto)
Both the man and the women he was sexually coercing were arrested.
The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) believes that 39-year-old suspect Yohei Ono created the document as a “brainwashing manual” to control women. Ono, of unknown residence and occupation, lived with multiple women and recorded in the document actual instances of making a woman obey him.
According to the MPD and investigative sources, the roughly 10-page file was on a PC confiscated from a condominium apartment in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward that had been used by Ono and the other suspects. Ono was arrested in November 2025 for allegedly confining a teenager inside the apartment after meeting her on social media.
The seized document elaborates on the teen’s personality and upbringing, and included records of at least one case where Ono could guide her as he wanted. The file also contained his apparent desire to “make the child born to my wife a wife and have her give birth to our child.”
VIDEO: Mixed Japanese representation in PreCure.
THREAD: Yukio Mishima’s impact as a gay writer, his nationalism, and his misogyny.
Yukio Mishima is one of the best-known Japanese writers outside of Japan and was considered for the Nobel Prize at least five times for stories like The Temple of the Golden Pavilion. Readers should know he was a nationalist who publicly acknowledged that he held misogynistic views.
— Read Japanese Literature (@readjapaneseliterature.com) January 9, 2026 at 12:31 PM
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AniFem Community
It’s looking like a beautiful season for shojosei.
Medalist, absolutely! Also Frieren, Trigun Stargaze, Tamon’s B-Side, Hana-Kimi, and Journal with Witch, but mainly Medalist.
— Pearl (@elysiondream.bsky.social) January 13, 2026 at 2:10 AM
Tamon's B-Side, Ikoku Nikki, Hana-Kimi, and You and I Are Polar Opposites are the ones I'm most interested in!
— 💖 max, local garbage boy stink man 💖 (@freckledcryptid.bsky.social) January 13, 2026 at 11:00 PM
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