All Articles
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Chatty AF 230: Ave Mujica Retrospective (WITH TRANSCRIPT)
Tony, Cy, and Chiaki get the band back together to look back at plurality, toxic yuri, and glorious camp with the latest BanG Dream entry, Ave Mujica!
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The women coloring the worlds of Studio Ghibli from behind the scenes
Characters like the determined Chihiro, the principled San, and the imaginative Shizuku have inspired women and girls across generations—but do these fantastical worlds reflect the reality for women making films at Studio Ghibli, and are their ambitions equally respected?
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The Real Indians of Victorian Britain: Black Butler and the representation of South Asian histories
The depiction of Soma and Agni is significant, as it reflects the presence of Indian culture in 1880s Britain, representing historical reality that is often overlooked in popular culture. However, as in anime media more generally, it’s worth unpacking whether these two stand as strong examples of Indian representation or instead easy background gag characters.
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Chatty AF 229: 2025 Spring Mid-Season Check-In (WITH TRANSCRIPT)
Spring 2025 is a season with a lot of nice titles and a few that are taking on way too many concepts outside of their scope.
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No Gunpla Girls Allowed: How Gundam Build Fighters fails its female cast
In a world where high-tech Gunpla battles reign supreme, anyone can build a Gunpla model kit and become a Gundam Battle champion… in theory. In practice, Build Fighters and its sequel end up undermining that message through the treatment of their female cast, and accidentally saying a lot about trends in shounen and the Gundam franchise in the process.
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Gigi Murakami demonstrates how horror manga can channel Black girl nightmares
The Ignatz Award-nominated Murakami draws influence from manga, vintage grindhouse picture posters, and pulp comics, breathing fresh air into the horror genre while approaching the fearful experiences of descendants of the African diaspora and, most significantly, the fears and nightmares of dark-skinned women.
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Supporting Women’s Wrongs (Just Not Like That): Fandom misogyny and the flawed women of NANA
The need for well-written female characters is supposedly understood and advocated for in fandom spaces, but the moment these female characters show any unfavorable attributes or make mistakes, they are rarely given the same grace as male characters. The complicated women of NANA prove that there’s a limit to how flawed a female character can be before she’s no longer palatable to readers.
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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.
