AniFem Round-Up
BanG Dream! It’s MyGo!!!!!, Ave Mujica, and the Doll in Asian Feminism
Bang Dream: It’s My Go!!!!! and Ave Mujica challenge overly simple distinctions between fake and real that imagine Asian girls as doll-like constructs of femininity and marginalize trans women.
Supporting Women’s Wrongs (Just Not Like That): Fandom misogyny and the flawed women of NANA
Renewed discourse has shown recurring double standards on what kind of flaws are considered “okay” for female vs male characters.
What anime and manga have you discovered through the library?
With reports from librarians that Crunchyroll has ended its library outreach program, it seems a better time than ever to underscore how crucial library services and anime clubs have been for many of us.
Spring 2025 Midseason Podcast Poll
Come vote on what shows we should make sure to cover on the seasonal podcast!
Beyond AniFem
What That Yo-Yo Girl Doing? (Neocities, Ricki Hirsch)
Checking back in on Bridget with the airing of the recent Guilty Gear anime.
In the episode, newly introduced character, Unika, wakes up injured from a fight and finds herself being nursed back to health by Bridget. Their unfolding relationship and exploration of Unika’s motivations forms the bulk of the episode but I want to focus on two scenes in particular.
This setup should be familiar to anyone that’s watched a romantic-comedy anytime in the past forty years or so. Unika wakes up in the morning and the camera shifts to her blurry perspective. In the distance, she can see Bridget in silhouette as she bathes herself in a nearby body of water. According to the usual script, this would be the time for Unika to make a noise alerting Bridget who then reacts with “humorous” anger or embarrassment. A laugh track plays and the story moves on. Instead the camera cuts back between Unika and her view of Bridget as her eyes gradually focus and the sun comes out to brighten the scene. Eventually, Bridget notices she’s being watched. She covers her chest with one hand and waves good morning with the other. End scene.
What struck me first in watching this scene is how Bridget’s body is depicted. Compared to other characters in the series, her body-type stands out. Compared to the other women in the series, her hips are a bit narrower and her shoulders a bit broader. If she has a chest, it’s quite modest. It’s a body type you rarely see depicted in media and one I’ve gotten used to seeing in the mirror. I imagine it’s also a familiar sight to other trans women. Even in the blurry silhouette, I was struck by how distinctly trans Bridget’s body is and how much effort must have gone into considering how to approach this scene. There are also little mannerisms peppered throughout the episode that registered as uncomfortably familiar. Bridget’s transness is embodied throughout the episode without ever being directly commented on.
‘Gal Mikoshi’ festival parade at Osaka Expo to showcase women power (The Mainichi, Tatsuya Naganuma)
The annual festival was held this past weekend.
Since its 1981 launch, only the COVID-19 pandemic has ever caused the yearly event to be suspended. Over the decades, it affectionately gained the nickname “Gal Mikoshi,” capturing media attention and appearing on various TV programs. Recently, the event has received applications to join in from people in Asia, Europe and other regions around the world.
Miura, 51, first participated in the Gal Mikoshi as a security staffer in 2015, and took over as its executive committee chairperson in 2017. As the event supervisor, he organizes meetings and manages overall operations. Miura had long been considering, “Wouldn’t it be great if Gal Mikoshi could take part in the Expo?” Miura believes that Japan has not progressed enough on gender equality, especially amid global movements and initiatives such as the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He also points to Japan ranking 118th among 146 countries in the 2024 gender equality report, published by the World Economic Forum.
“In some Japanese traditional festivals, there’s still a lingering belief in excluding women from carrying mikoshi,” Miura explains. Indeed, several Gal Mikoshi participants have cited reasons such as, “Since I am not allowed to touch the portable shrine back home, I wanted a chance to carry one.” Miura emphasizes, “Through the Expo, I hope people from around the world see a portable shrine carried entirely by women.”
VTubing Has an Elephant in the Room: Bigotry (Vice, Ana Valens)
Please note that this article contains extensive documentation of transphobia, suicide baiting, racism, queerphobia and online harassment/doxxing.
Earlier this week, independent VTuber Rin Penrose announced the end of her partnership with gaming supplement company Gamer Supps. According to Penrose, her decision came “due to their associations with creators whose views strongly conflict with my own. As well as a lack of communication from the company on this issue.”
Penrose’s decision reflects one I’ve heard from sources across the English-speaking VTubing community: All is not well among Gamer Supps’ partnered content creators. Last month, I reported on controversial Gamer Supps partner, Kirsche. Who has a well-documented history of espousing racist and transphobic beliefs. Kirsche has since addressed our article, claiming she does not “condone or promote racism.” The VTuber was recently the subject of another article regarding her views on Shiloh Hendrix, a white woman who called a Black child the n-word. According to a clip of Kirsche, she does not believe Hendrix’s behavior is “okay.” However, Kirsche believes Hendrix’s racist actions are “just kinda the consequence of where we’re at now, unfortunately.” Claiming “there are people advocating for violence on both sides” of racial justice.
Buried history of sexual torture under now-defunct law in Japan recalled a century on (The Mainichi, Ken Uzuka)
This article discusses in detail histories of sexual violence conducted against women activists and labor organizers under the auspices of the Peace Preservation Law (1925-1945).
After her release in 1937, Yamada married a man who had supported her through letters during her imprisonment, and the couple moved to Manchuria (now northeast China). After escaping attacks by Soviet soldiers and facing hardship, they returned to Japan, and settled in Gunma Prefecture after World War II. Yamada went on to dedicate herself to local women’s movements and the antinuclear movement.
“I think my mother was great for continuing to stand with vulnerable workers and never wavering in her beliefs, despite enduring terrible sexual violence and torture,” says Harada. He followed in her footsteps, joining a textile company in Kyoto and eventually taking part in a labor dispute. After effectively being dismissed from the company, he engaged in activities with a local shopping district association. Following his tenure as a prefectural assembly member, he became the chairperson of the Kyoto prefectural headquarters of an alliance seeking state redress for victims of the Peace Preservation Law. He has continued to call for the government to apologize to victims of oppression and compensate them.
In recent years, Harada has been concerned about the introduction of legal system changes that could potentially lead to thought control, like the Act on the Protection of Specially Designated Secrets and the establishment of the crime of conspiracy (officially the preparation of acts of terrorism and other organized crimes).
“Depending on how those in power think, there is a risk it could lead to the kind of oppression we saw in the past. If we remain silent, we might once again face a dangerous era,” he said.
Murdered Woman in Japan Reported Ex Nine Times for Stalking (Unseen Japan, Jay Allen)
As is often the case with anti-stalking laws, they end up built to react once violence has happened rather than preventing it.
This is far from the first instance in which Japanese police did little to protect a female stalking victim. We wrote recently about Tokuyama Tomomi, who was murdered by her ex-husband after he was released from jail for attacking her violently in her snack bar in Nishitokyo. We wrote last year about Kawano Miki, whose ex-boyfriend murdered her near Hakata Ekimae in Nakagawa, Fukuoka Prefecture.
News agency Jiji also rounded up a sizable list of similar incidents dating back to 1999, when a 21-year-old woman in Okegawa, Saitama Prefecture, was murdered by her ex and his brothers after reporting him for stalking.
That case led to the passage of Japan’s anti-stalking law. However, the law doesn’t seem to have done much to protect women. In 2012, a 56-year-old mother and her grandmother were murdered. The victim had filed stalking reports with three separate prefectural police departments, which did nothing.
Japan’s stalking law has been revised three times – in 2013, 2016, and 2021 – in response to incidents that were clearly stalking but didn’t fall under the existing law.
China to release movie on Japanese biological warfare unit in summer (The Mainichi)
The film was released in 2020 and will be released this July.
Set in China’s northeastern region, the movie has an antiwar purpose and is designed to “reveal the crimes” of Unit 731 through a focus on ordinary individuals, according to media reports.
The research operation of the unit is believed to have included lethal experimentation and testing on humans. Prisoners of war were secretly experimented upon to develop, among other things, plague and cholera-based biological weapons, according to historians.
The Japanese government maintains the view that it has not confirmed any evidence to indicate the unit’s human experiments.
In August last year, Hideo Shimizu, who was a member of Unit 731, returned to its former site in Harbin for the first time in 79 years and mourned the victims of the research operation.
At age 14, Shimizu moved to the puppet state of Manchuria, now northeastern China, and later became a member of the unit’s Youth Corps. His visit was widely reported by Chinese media.
In 1997, Japan’s Supreme Court, in a ruling concerning state textbook screeners objection to a history textbook’s description of the unit’s actions in China, said “the view had been established within academic circles to an undeniable extent that Unit 731 had killed many Chinese people through biological experiments.”
VIDEO: Podcast discussion of wheelchair basketball game Drag x Drive’s refusal to use the word “wheelchair.”
VIDEO: Nerding out over shoujo and idol anime.
SKEET: For readers in NYC, BQ Flea Market has a secondhand J-fashion booth.
Looking for alternative j-fashion in NYC? Check out Live Bait at BQ Flea Market! Meecker Ave between Lorimer & Union in Williamsburg! Current brands on sale include Atelier Pierrot, Baby the Stars Shine Bright, ACDC Rag, Deorart, & more! #jfashion #nyc #fashionsky
— Jacques Must Really Like Dir En Grey (純粋; derogatory) (@mllejacquesnoel.bsky.social) May 10, 2025 at 8:14 PM
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SKEET: In a bit of happy news, Giant Bomb was able to buy the rights to their site and reopen.
Giant Bomb lives! Fandom has sold the site to us and it is now fully independent and employee-owned. We'll see you all on Tuesday for the Giant Bombcast. For more info right now, head over to www.giantbomb.com/join
— Giant Bomb (@giantbomb.bsky.social) May 10, 2025 at 7:12 PM
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AniFem Community
It’s perhaps worth noting that Crunchyroll has a feedback form, for whatever that’s worth.
I used to be able to take a nice walk to my local library, I would usually stop in to read a volume before walking home First discovered there- Love me For Who I am, Goodnight Punpun, and No Matter What You Say, Furi-san Is Scary! are the ones that come to my mind. Often read series I watched first
— Rei Caldombra (@reicaldombra.bsky.social) May 12, 2025 at 11:38 PM
Toonami may have put anime in front of me, but since us kids couldn't hog the TV that long, it was the library that allowed me to watch Samurai Champloo, Evangelion, Fullmetal Alchemist, Ghost in the Shell, Akira and more. TV Show DVDs weren't affordable on a high school student's budget at the time
— NoizyShark (@noizyshark.bsky.social) May 13, 2025 at 9:57 PM
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As someone that has exclusively read manga from the library as a teenager, the series that I’ve discovered were Fruits Baskets, Baby & Me, Peach Girl (including Sae’s Story), Hana-Kimi, Tail of the Moon, Fushigi Yuugi, Slam Dunk, Saint Seiya, Beauty Pop, Full Moon O Sagashite, and Imadoki
— Nostalgia Goddess (@nostalgiagoddess.bsky.social) May 13, 2025 at 1:03 PM
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My local library had Kimi Ni Todoke manga vols 1-8 and I absolutely ate it up! 🤩 May not have discovered it otherwise 😨
— Carly JQuuuuuuX Jepsen 🏳️⚧️ (@carlyjayjepsen.bsky.social) May 13, 2025 at 10:52 AM
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