All Articles
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Chatty AF 192: Anime and Abolition – Part 2
Tony, MoBlack, and Danny return, using the theories of Sadiya Hartman and Joy James to discuss Fujiko Mine, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean, Deca-Dence and Michiko & Hatchin!
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Queer time and the quarter-life crisis in contemporary yuri
Series that focus on queer adult characters open the door to a storytelling niche that’s still relatively underrepresented despite the rich narrative potential it offers: the post-adolescence queer coming-of-age story. Or, in other words, the gay quarter-life crisis.
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BL Manga Artist Aiba Kyoko on Industry Demands, Artistic Growth, and Writing About Young Carers
We were able to sit down with Aiba for a gregarious and sadly brief conversation to discuss writing relationship dynamics, greater awareness of LGBTQ+ issues, and her latest work.
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My Fave Is Problematic: Stop!! Hibari-Kun!
The dichotomy of Hibari as both a progressive trans narrative and an ignorant product of its time showcases Japan’s complicated relationship with trans women and other marginalized groups.
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Lilies In Transition: The state of trans representation in yuri
As yuri continues to get queerer, the existence of trans people in these stories would be one way to provide validation for trans readers in their gender and sexuality while also helping cis people understand and internalize our long standing place in the sapphic community. Yuri works featuring trans characters do exist, though their history is complex and they remain relatively few.
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Chatty AF 191: Anime and Abolition – Part 1 (WITH TRANSCRIPT)
Toni and special guests MoBlack and Danny discuss the history of state violence and abolition, then tackle some major titles that touch on prisons, justice, and police violence.
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“An Inner Revolution Of The Japanese Women”: The Rose of Versailles as feminist historical fiction
The Rose of Versailles makes the argument that women’s lives and the romance genre can be radical and revolutionary—and, in fact, they were always central to revolutionary movements.
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Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou and Transgender Cyborgs’ Experience of the Apocalypse
The story of Alpha Hatsuseno, an android girl in a collapsed world, serves as an allegory for what many transgender people went through during the pandemic. In the solitude and desolation of COVID-19, cut off from the pressures and expectations of society, there was a silent wave of transgender people coming to the realization that they no longer needed to pretend to be someone they were not, beginning their transitions in the midst of death, despair, and loneliness.
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Phantom Thieves, Magical Idols, and Strong Heroines: The Legacy of Tanemura Arina
The author, illustrator, and character designer has created some of manga’s best-loved shoujo works by combining the aesthetics of fantasy aimed at young girls with complex themes.
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Queerplatonic relationships and found family in Buddy Daddies
Despite the lack of a love story between the protagonists, however, Buddy Daddies can still be read as a queer series. While queer relationships in mainstream media are often defined by romantic and sexual attraction, Buddy Daddies stands out because it examines queerplatonic relationships, which is rarely depicted even in LGBTQIA+ storytelling.
