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Who was the first LGBTQ+ animanga character you connected with?
Who was the first LGBTQ+ character you remember seeing in an anime or manga? Is there one you feel close to despite their depiction being arguably negative or…


She Has Two Hands! Room For non-monogamous love in yuri
Yuri and the wider GL community has an increasing reach that seems to be growing each year, and it’s worth examining the ways in which the increased variety…


Site Update: New Shoujo-Inspired Merchandise at the AniFem Store!
Back in 2021 we officially opened our merch store, which offers our Trans Magical Warrior designs by Nico Neeks and our fantastic site logo by Katy Castillo. The…


Weekly Round-Up, 24-30 May 2023: Fushigi Yugi Flashback, Official Takarazuka Livestream, and Translating Indie Games
AniFem Round-Up Sharp Blades, Soft Frills: Femme rebellion in lolita fashion, Japan. Scholar Megan Catherine Rose details the fashion movement’s origins, its counter-cultural importance, and the inclusive spaces…


What was your first shoujo series?
What was your very first? The first one you sought out specifically to try shoujo? What’s your starter suggestion show (overall or by genre)?


Chatty AF 185: Death Parade Retrospective – Part 1
Part one of our two-part retrospective on the Yuzuru Tachikawa classic that just turned 10 years old, Death Parade!


Sins of Her Fathers, Strength of Her Mothers: How Jolyne Cujoh inherited her foremothers’ legacy
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure presents a very different attitude from the common story of patriarchal family lines. Not only does the Jojo's Bizarre Adventure conclude with Jolyne, the first…


Sharp Blades, Soft Frills: Femme rebellion in lolita fashion, Japan.
Lolita fashion has been part of Japan’s rich alternative scene for over 40 years. It is a celebration of self and is intended to provide a ‘hyper-femme space’…


Weekly Round-Up, 17-23 May 2023: #EndOTWRacism, Immigration Law Protests, and Tears of the Kingdom Accessibility
AniFem Round-Up The Journey to Cure Wing: A history of magical boys in PreCure Ayumi Shinozaki walks through the ups and downs of boys in the PreCure franchise…


What project in Development Hell are you still holding out hope for?
What project have you waited the longest for? Has a long-delayed project ever actually gotten made — and did it live up to expectations? What factors contributed to…


Akiba Maid War and the Rare Representation of Disabled Joy
No amount of blood splattering across the screen or sudden, emotional character deaths hit me quite as hard as the post-credits scene of the finale. It took just…


The Journey to Cure Wing: A History of Magical Boys in PreCure
Soaring Sky! PreCure is the first in the franchise to introduce a boy to the team, with Cure in his name, who isn’t a supporting character or sidekick.…


Weekly Round-Up, 10-16 May 2023: Entertainment Industry Abuse, Underpaid Older Women, and New Animation Studio
AniFem Round-Up The joyful affirmation of plus-sized leads in yuri There are very few plus-sized leads in manga, especially romantic leads. Patricia C. Baxter discusses two recent titles…


Which writer or director’s name will automatically get you to try an anime?
Director? Writer? Other roles — studio, designer, etc?


Chatty AF 184: 2023 Spring Mid-Season Check-In
Vrai, Toni, and Peter try and fail to keep their discussion of a packed-to-the-gills season to a reasonable duration!


Therapy and Hope in the Wake of Disaster: An interview with ‘Tsunami Girl’ creators Kutsuwada Chie and Julian Sedgwick
In an exclusive interview with Anime Feminist, Sedgwick and Kutsuwada spoke about the process to create this project, how they approached diversity considering gender and racial themes, the…


The joyful affirmation of plus-sized leads in yuri
In a media landscape where there are seldom women who have a body type like mine, seeing two very different series, in terms of genre and presentation, showcase…


Weekly Round-Up, 3-9 May 2023: Skip & Loafer Director Profile, Rebellious Fashion, and WataMote at 10
AniFem Round-Up Higurashi, subversion of moe, and the birth of the modern yandere Now known as a huge origin point for modern yandere, it’s often lost that the…


What anime and manga feature nuanced explorations of mental health?
Series with an optimistic or normalizing discussion of mental health? Series with a raw or cathartic exploration of mental health? What topic would you like to see tackled…


Kiki’s Delivery Service: An empowering coming-of-age tale of self-discovery
More than three decades after its release, this sweet coming-of-age tale has not lost any of its charms, using its magical elements and the symbolism of the witch…


Higurashi, subversion of moe, and the birth of the modern yandere
Rena and Shion originally appeared in direct counterpoint to the then-oversaturated moe tropes of the time; however, what began as subversion would become an archetype all of its…


Weekly Round-Up, 26 April – 2 May 2023: Fire! Re-release, Soaring Sky PreCure, and Asexuality in Yuri
AniFem Round-Up Anime Feminist Recommendations of Winter 2023 This season had plenty of shows we liked, but only a handful that stood head and shoulders above the rest.…


What’s your favorite anime set outside Japan?
Favorite directly adapting a foreign work? Favorite anime set outside Japan? How has anime gotten better at depicting outside cultures? Where can it still improve?


2023 Spring Three-Episode Check-In
It's a lovely season for surprises, mess, and surprisingly compelling mess.
Kizuna, Kizuna no Allele, My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999, Skip and Loafer, Tengoku Daimakyo


Anime Feminist Recommendations of Winter 2023
This season had plenty of shows we liked, but only a handful that stood head and shoulders above the rest.
Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte, Technoroid OVERMIND, The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady


Weekly Round-Up, 19-25 April 2023: The Apothecary Diaries, Sailor Moon Manga Chat, and Shinkai Makoto Interview
AniFem Round-Up Love, Power, and Safety in The Ancient Magus’ Bride Jessica Engelbrecht examines how the series’ strong character writing complicates the fraught premise for its probable central…


Weekly Round-Up, 19-25 April 2023: The Apothecary Diaries, Sailor Moon Manga Chat, and Shinkai Makoto Interview
AniFem Round-Up Love, Power, and Safety in The Ancient Magus’ Bride Jessica Engelbrecht examines how the series’ strong character writing complicates the fraught premise for its probable central…


What was your favorite Winter 2023 anime?
Favorite new series? Favorite sequel or continuation? Any series that ended up surprising you?


Sacrificial Princess & the King of Beasts – Episode 1
Rushes through a checklist of upsetting tropes early on in maybe the tamest and most toothless way possible.


Weekly Round-Up, 12-18 April 2023: AroAce Spectrum in Japan, Influential Women Authors, and Genderless Writer Arai Shou
AniFem Round-Up Oshi No Ko – Episode 1 Beneath an unpleasant narrative gimmick is a sharp critique of how the entertainment industry exploits young women. 2023 Spring Premiere…


What’s the fastest an anime with an amazing premiere has lost you?
How did it happen? What’s your pick for shows that ended up being about something different than what you’d been hooked by? Shows that took their premise and…


Chatty AF 183: 2023 Winter Wrap-Up
Dee, Chiaki, and Peter look back on a season with a lot of mixed bag recommendations!


2023 Spring Premiere Digest
This is a season of meteoric highs and nightmare lows.
alice gear aegis Expansion, Kizuna, Kizuna no Allele, My One-Hit Kill Sister, Otaku Elf


Oshi No Ko – Episode 1
My feelings veered wildly between “Love this!” and “oh NO!”, settling on love. Powerfully explores women's emotional labour in the idol industry.


Weekly Round-Up, 5-11 April 2023: Shoujo Boys, Pokémon GO Accessibility, and TMS Pay Raise
AniFem Round-Up KamiKatsu: Working for God in a Godless World – Episode 1 Downright mesmerizing in its badness. The Legendary Hero is Dead! – Episode 1 Saddled with…
KamiKatsu: Working for God in a Godless World, Pokémon, The Legendary Hero is Dead!, Yuri Is My Job!


The Marginal Service – Episode 1
Just a bag of police brutality-flavored yikes.


Dead Mount Death Play – Episode 1
Dead Mount Death Play has managed to put so many conceptual hats on top of one another that it’s come round to being kind of entertaining.


Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke’s Mansion – Episode 1
Raeliana is a great protagonist, but it’s a shame that the animation production isn’t as good as it wants to be.


Insomniacs After School – Episode 1
How it fares will depend on a couple of key things: how it handles its love interest, Isaki, and how it handles the theme of mental health and…


What’s a great anime that sounds terrible on paper?
Great anime that sound strange or boring in abstract? Great anime that tackle yikesy tropes in a thoughtful way? How


Stella of the Theater: World Dai Star – Episode 1
World Dai Star is interested in the actual process of acting, of how actors inhabit the minds of their characters. And it is a joy to watch in…


A Galaxy Next Door – Episode 1
On paper, A Galaxy Next Door sounds like a cliché rom-com where a magic wife fixes a sad boy's problems. And it very well could turn into that,…


Rokudo’s Bad Girls – Episode 1
There are glimmers of interesting thought here, but not enough to keep the show from collapsing under the burden of its own premise.


Too Cute Crisis – Episode 1
Do you like watching cute animal videos?


Summoned to Another World for a Second Time – Episode 1
The possibilities are endless but sadly it’s obvious this show isn’t heading in that direction.


The Café Terrace and Its Goddesses – Episode 1
This show is bad in an interesting way, in that it reveals the interfaces between sexism and capitalism. Just go with it.


Magical Destroyers – Episode 1
Magical Destroyers is simultaneously A Lot and very little at all.


MASHLE: Magic and Muscle – Episode 1
Fantasy allows us to ask exciting, imaginative “what if?” questions, like “what if this guy punched a wizard in the face? Would that be funny or what?”


Otaku Elf – Episode 1
It’s a supernatural comedy first and foremost, but that silliness is grounded in characters that feel like characters rather than one-off jokes.


Opus.COLORs – Episode 1
Nothing bums me out quite like shows with unrealized ambition.