While I wouldn’t count on this being a very deep series given that baseball requires a nine-person team and this is only a single-cour show, this has the makings of a perfectly serviceable mid-tier sports anime.
International collaborations can, in theory, inject fresh ideas and perspectives into the medium, creating a story that can say new things and appeal to diverse audiences. I’m, uh, not so sure Tower of God is gonna do all that, though.
March has been low on reasons to celebrate (to say the least), but here’s a small one for our readers: AniFem’s first-ever fundraiser has officially completed all its major tasks! Cheers, AniFam!
Dee, Vrai, and Peter look back on a packed season with plenty of sparkling gems and solid sequels!
It’s easy to think the best solution to any harmful trope is to avoid it altogether and, to an extent, in the short term, this is true. In the long term, however, avoiding a trope entirely can be counterproductive, creating a new harmful trope on the other side of that same coin.
Mad Bull 34 cranks up the absurd action of buddy-cop movies in a way only the animated medium can. But the series and buddy-cop movies in general have a serious flaw: the glorification of police officers who circumvent the rules, as well as police brutality in general.
While old-school sukeban (“boss girls”) anime/manga characters come across as irrational in their anger and resentment toward society (until the very end of their respective series, at least), newer sukeban characters often are more level-headed, using their rebellious spirit to improve their circumstances.
When I played Kingdom Hearts Union X Cross (then called Unchained X) for the first time in 2016, I felt pressured to play as my assigned gender (female), due to the lack of options for both Black female video game characters and non-binary characters. As someone who was still exploring their gender identity and expression, this was extremely stifling.
Dee, Caitlin, Vrai are back for part 2 of our Toradora! watchalong. Some growing pains (for the characters and the show) give way to a showstopping halfway point and even a few tears.
Anime (like media in general) has a rough record when it comes to body positivity. Fat-shaming is frequent and even stories that attempt positivity often fall into fetishization. Fortunately, there are bright spots as well, particularly in series that integrate fat characters without drawing attention to it.
Juggling respect and likability is a tightrope many women are forced to walk. This intricate dance of cultivating social and professional balance is what first drew me to Maid-sama!.
The horror genre has historically stigmatized mental health conditions, but Ciconia normalizes plurality and frames it as explicitly positive, making me feel comfortable in trying to express myself as plural.
