AniFem Spherical-Up
Courageous Bang Bravern! – Episode 1
Takes fairly a flip in the previous couple of minutes.
2024 Winter Premiere Digest
All of the critiques in a single place with some updates for brand new episodes.
Chatty AF 199: 2023 Fall Wrap-Up
Caitlin, Toni, and Peter wrap-up one other Fall season with a number of hidden gems, a number of sequence that failed to stay the touchdown, and a bunch of sequels!
What was your favourite anime of 2023?
Our listing is, as ordinary, slightly later than everybody else’s.
Past AniFem
Name for Papers: Queer and Feminist Views on Japanese Pop (Anime and Manga Research)
A remaining reminder of this name, which closes February 1st.
We invite students, researchers, activists, and practitioners from all over the world to take part in a multidisciplinary two-day exploration of the intersection between Japanese widespread cultures and intersectional, trans-inclusive feminist research. Throughout this symposium we’ll discover the convergence of gender, sexuality, race, queerness, incapacity and sophistication. We intention to supply a platform for vital discussions about gender and Japanese animation, trend, video video games, literature and digital cultures. In doing so we hope to encourage new instructions in feminist approaches to Japanese widespread cultures.
Rainbow Gala 30 and the Finish of an Period: Hong Kong’s Largest Doujinshi Conference Set to Shutter (Anime Information Community, Yohji Lam)
The conference’s future is unsure as its present venue is scheduled to be demolished, and conference facilities can be outdoors the occasion’s present price range.
Prices are usually not the one hurdle, nevertheless, as Kung defined why Hong Kong stays a “fragmented” and “damaged” place. “We misplaced plenty of the youth. These persons are the pillars of creativity and future— and we’ve got misplaced our future.”
Kung mentioned that regardless of latest stress on tradition within the improvement efforts of Hong Kong, Hong Kong remains to be a “very sorrowful place” and “pathetic, even,” as no precise assist or house is given to native youth for something “inventive or completely satisfied,” nor to individuals who may encourage them.
“There’s simply no respiration floor for them to exist,” Kung added. “The 11-year-old me in 1997 noticed these artworks, and my first response was, ‘How can these grown-ups draw so fantastically?’ They impressed me as a result of I needed to attract like them too.”
“I began drawing doujinshi paintings once I was 12, and I began operating Rainbow Gala once I was 20. I’m now 38,” mentioned Kung pointing to the exhibitors inside, calling them the “most precious asset” as she additional questioned, “The place are the brand new 12-year-olds coming into the group?”
On the subject of the evermore recognition of anime tradition in Hong Kong, Kung is blessed that they went from 150 stalls initially in 2007 to greater than 1,200 now, with ten thousand day by day ticketed attendance rising alongside each iteration. “Certainly, there are extra shoppers now than ever, however crucial lead nonetheless lies within the individuals inside drawing.”
Japan is wealthy, however lots of its youngsters are poor; a movie paperwork the plight of single moms (The Mainichi)
The movie just isn’t but out there to stream on-line.
McAvoy’s spouse, Ayuri, who produced the movie, was previously a single mom. However each deny that’s why Rionne McAvoy made the movie. Initially, she wasn’t fascinated about getting concerned in his filmmaking.
What makes the story so “Japanese,” in keeping with Rionne McAvoy, is how the nation’s conformist tradition makes many ladies settle for their hardships, too ashamed to ask for assist, “protecting their public face and personal face separate,” he informed The Related Press.
“The Ones Left Behind” was the Finest Documentary Winner on the Miyakojima Charity Worldwide Movie Pageant final yr and an official choice on the Yokohama Worldwide Movie Pageant.
Regardless of repeated guarantees by the Japanese authorities to supply financial help to individuals with youngsters, motion has been gradual, mentioned Akihiko Kato, a professor at Meiji College who seems within the movie.
That’s partly why the beginning price is crashing in Japan from 1.2 million births within the yr 2000 to under 700,000 right this moment. Japan additionally lacks a system that may drive fathers to pay little one assist, in keeping with Kato.
Sciences-oriented universities set quotas for extra feminine college students (The Asahi Shimbun, Chika Yamamoto)
Research have famous the helpful results of getting analysis teams with numerous backgrounds.
The Council for Creation of Future Training, chaired by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, referred to as for the ratio of feminine faculty college students within the sciences to be raised to 30 % or so by round 2032 in a report revealed in Might 2022.
Every college adopts its personal program to pick out feminine college students for the quota by evaluating the outcomes of standardized entrance examinations, interviews, its entrance examinations and different admission processes.
Yokoyama of the College of Tokyo warned that affirmative motion giving choice to ladies are inclined to fall underneath the belief that profitable candidates have been admitted as a consequence of their gender, not their educational credentials.
She famous that OECD’s Program for Worldwide Scholar Evaluation survey for 15-year-old college students worldwide for 2022 discovered that Japanese ladies’ common arithmetic and science literacy scores have been increased than these of British and American boys.
Japanese ladies additionally did virtually in addition to their male counterparts, in keeping with the PISA survey.
“Feminine college students searching for to enter science fields encounter varied types of discouragement early of their life,” Yokoyama mentioned. “What they want is assist to assist them turn out to be assured about their educational pursuits.”
Japanese Communist Occasion faucets 1st feminine chief (The Mainichi)
Tamara Tomoko will exchange Shii Kazuo.
Tamura, a 58-year-old Home of Councillors lawmaker who was elected to parliament in 2010, turned the primary feminine coverage chief of the social gathering on the earlier congress in 2020.
Shii, who will turn out to be the JCP Central Committee chairman, was appointed the JCP’s youngest secretariat head in 1990, and has lengthy performed a key position. However calls had been rising for a brand new era of management, political specialists mentioned.
Shii, a Home of Representatives lawmaker, got here underneath scrutiny final yr, when the JCP excluded two social gathering members who overtly criticized his long-running dominance and referred to as for a management election system.
A Woman & Her Guard Canine Anime Sequence Evaluation (Anime Information Community, Caitlin Moore)
No matter the subject material, the present’s execution is poor.
That’s, tragically, a demise knell for a sequence that’s presupposed to hinge on scorching individuals moving into erotic conditions. A number of anime have fan service, however only a few depict intercourse outright like A Woman & Her Guard Canine does or try to. The end result is without doubt one of the most hilariously awkward, least alluring intercourse scenes I’ve seen in my life, and definitely not intentionally so.
It’s a disgrace as a result of whereas I don’t suppose I’d discover it attractive in any case, it addresses one of many considerations of age gaps in an actual means: not simply the distinction in maturity, or societally-granted company, however the distinction in expertise and the way that impacts expectations. Keiya has been having intercourse for decade, typically within the context of the intercourse commerce or informal hookups; Isaku is simply beginning highschool and has by no means even been on a date. The 2 of them have extraordinarily totally different concepts in regards to the pure development of their bodily relationship, based mostly on their lives so far. Whereas it actually doesn’t float my boat, it does present a little bit of thought put into their dynamic.
It additionally highlights that, even outdoors of the plain points with their relationship, Keiya sucks. I hate that dude and would have even when he have been her peer fairly than her guardian. He’s overprotective to the purpose of being a creep. He actively sabotages Isaku’s social life by stopping her from collaborating in actions which are completely regular for women her age, like going to karaoke or sporting a swimsuit to the seaside. He throws violent tantrums when she doesn’t hearken to him however is confirmed proper time and time once more. It’s a traditional trope in shōjo manga the place everybody out there may be worse than the imply, jealous love curiosity, and certainly one of my least favourite contrivances. It’s a recurring challenge the place I all the time really feel just like the seams of the narrative begin to present, just like the artist needed to make a rubbish man appear like a prince and will solely accomplish that by introducing a much bigger dirtbag.
Vietnamese trainees informed to endure contraception to work in Japan (The Mainichi)
It’s, theoretically, unlawful underneath Japanese regulation to discriminate towards employees based mostly on being pregnant.
In response to a latest survey performed by way of a assist group for Vietnamese trainees in Japan, 9 ladies have been suggested by native middleman organizations, which collect trainee candidates and ship them to Japan, to endure contraceptive therapy. 5 of them really acquired such remedies, which included using inside contraception rings, the survey confirmed.
Vietnam sends the biggest variety of technical trainees to Japan underneath this system, in keeping with the Group for Technical Intern Coaching.
In lots of instances, the middleman organizations suggested Vietnamese trainees that they might be despatched house in the event that they received pregnant.
The 5 Vietnamese trainees who underwent contraception therapy presently work in Japan, with certainly one of them expressing within the survey that she thought she couldn’t go to Japan with out following the instruction.
On Patreon, and the Taming of Erotic Sport Growth (BP Video games, Yarrun)
How Patreon has modified the panorama of how smaller grownup video games may be monetized.
This takes a distinct form with smaller groups missing giant fanbases or sizeable incomes. I’ve seen dozens of newly minted devs placing out a easy ‘v0.1’ demo for a recreation that’ll take months or, extra seemingly, years to complete, hoping to snag sufficient subscribers to get the assist to place out one other replace in a month or two. I’ve seen plenty of tasks die earlier than attending to 0.2. Builders who handle to seize viewers consideration need to retain it month after month, replace after replace, that means that it’s typically extra necessary for a recreation to have common new content material than for the content material to be good. An replace that simply supplies high quality of life enhancements, or fixes to the back-end code, will seemingly be dismissed. An replace that reduces the quantity of erotica within the recreation, both as a result of it’s being redesigned or as a result of the plot has progressed to the purpose the place some scenes are not accessible, will get individuals unsubscribing. This isn’t a hypothetical. Arc began Act 3 of Corrupted Kingdoms in November 2022, which locks away any intercourse scenes you’ve unlocked, and that stopped what had been a regular improve in subscribers and money influx since 2021.
I can’t argue towards the good thing about Patreon. I’m funding the works of a number of builders there proper now. However it’s onerous to have a look at the present form of intercourse video games over the web and wonder if it might be totally different. The erotic video games that littered early Newgrounds have been of wildly various high quality, with odd bugs and stolen belongings and writing that makes use of swearing like punctuation, they usually typically offered nothing to their creators moreover the enjoyment of constructing artwork. However with no obligations to be worthwhile or to stick to strict content material tips, they might be as weird or experimental as they appreciated. They have been, generally, completed. Nonetheless, as influential as Patreon is, it’s not the one legitimate choice for somebody making an attempt to make their lease with video games about fucking. SubscribeStar, an identical content-hosting platform launched in 2017, has a devoted sub-section for grownup content material with much less restrictive guidelines than Patreon. Steam additionally permits erotic video games as of 2018, making it a viable route for extra conventional recreation improvement, the place the product is bought and never the event course of. Similar with itch.io. None of those platforms are preferrred, however they not less than permit choices, and choices breed range. In spite of everything, intercourse will promote, however the way it sells and who dictates the way it sells nonetheless issues.
The place the Two Flowers Meet Sport Evaluation (Blerdy Otome, Naja)
That is an indie visible novel presently out on itch.io.
The place the Two Flowers Meet is clearly an bold visible novel. It offers with an emotionally charged story and fairly a number of heavy themes. So, you’ll want to test the content material warnings. This can be a recreation that may make you are feeling all of the feelings. Very like the journey the primary characters embark on, regardless of the ache and heartbreak, WTTFM is a narrative you wish to see by means of to the top.
However, I’d be mendacity if I mentioned this recreation was excellent. Among the plot components launched within the later phases of the story, don’t jive effectively with the sooner character pushed storytelling. There’s an try to provide a fancy clarification for the thriller that sort of detracts from feelings and tone of the primary half of the story.
That mentioned, the place The place the Two Flowers Meet actually shines is in it’s characterization of Aran and Caleb. Whereas Aran is technically the “most important” character and the perspective we are supposed to expertise the story by means of. Each Caleb and Aran are handled as sympathetic characters.
Volunteers, Former Senior Workers Boycott Ohayocon Conference (Anime Information Community, Kennedy)
The boycotters are responding to the latest dismissal of the con’s longstanding con chair and director of selling.
Talks between COVEN and CESI started as early as March 2023. COVEN’s calls for—that are detailed right here—included, however aren’t restricted to: truthful compensation, the prohibiting of CESI board members “from receiving compensation over the typical compensation worth of employees leaders who don’t sit on the board,” the instant adoption of a code of conduct that everybody can be beholden unto, extra transparency in budgetary issues, up to date labor insurance policies, and for CESI’s “outright buy and possession of Ohayoconʼs model supplies, together with brand and mascot.”
There’s a Google Drive with extra detailed background data and documentation about why these calls for have been so necessary to COVEN. Of specific word, nevertheless, is the matter of funds. In response to paperwork within the Drive, Phelps meant to financially compensate her place: “$10 an hour from the start of the corporate at $15,300, and Proposed Wage at $22 an hour.” This was a major level of rivalry for causes together with however not restricted to doubtlessly inflicting a battle of curiosity and questions of whether or not or not such an quantity was truthful and reasonably priced. Marcum alleged the conference’s monetary points have been as a consequence of “historic misuse and misappropriation of funds” underneath Phelps’ management.
Marcum claimed within the Discord server on October 3 that “the final two years I’ve been Conference Director began on a price range of $0.” Marcum alleged this was as a consequence of “ineptitude and theft” by Phelps and Shaw.
AniFem Neighborhood
Dang, it was yr for anime.
