Anime Feminist • 3rd April 2023

My Clueless First Friend - Episode 1

What’s it about? Nishimura Akane is a fifth-grader who gets teased by her classmates for her appearance and called the Grim Reaper. Akane doesn’t enjoy her school life and tries to keep a low profile until a happy-go-lucky new transfer student named Takada Taiyo decides to cheerfully befriend her and helps her become more confident. I noticed that I’m not watching enough wholesome shows in my life, so I picked My Clueless First Friend to review in hopes that it would be a nice feel good series

Anime Feminist • 2nd April 2023

Hell's Paradise - Episode 1

What’s it about? Gabimaru is the most efficient ninja to come out of his home village, but after being betrayed by his comrades he’s given the death sentence. However, he gets the chance, along with other criminals, to earn his freedom by going to a mysterious and dangerous island on a mission to find a secret elixir of immortality for the shogun. MAPPA seems awfully determined to work itself into the ground. It’s almost mind-boggling how many projects they have taken on for the next few years,

Anime Feminist • 11th January 2023

Malevolent Spirits: Mononogatari - Episode 1

What’s about it? When Kunato Hyouma was a teenager his older siblings were killed by a tsukumogami and has never gotten over his hatred of them. His grandfather doesn’t want hatred to consume him (especially since he’s the future heir of the Saenome Clan) so he send him to live with Nagatsuki Bato who was raised and lives together with tsukumogami in order for him to learn how to dispatch them to the spirit world in a humane way. On paper this premise sounds interesting, but overall it felt und

Home to my Bitter Thoughts • 5th November 2022

Encanto Review – The Myth of Mestizaje and Portrayal of Intergenerational Trauma

*Warning this review contains spoilers for the entire movie* It’s definitely a difficult time for anyone named Bruno. First, it’s “silenzio Bruno” and now it’s “we don’t talk about Bruno”. Fun fact: I have a cousin named Bruno who I don’t talk to at all. Jokes aside, I wasn’t really excited for this movie since Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the original songs for it. In case folks weren’t aware, Lin-Manuel has been under intense scrutiny for his Anti-Blackness over the years from the criticisms sur

Anime Feminist • 10th July 2022

Shine On! Bakumatsu Bad Boys! - Episode 1

What’s it about? The infamous Shinsengumi have mysteriously been killed off by a hidden enemy and the lone survivor, Todo Heisuke wants to find out who is responsible for their deaths. In order to prevent the public finding out about their deaths, Heisuke secretly recruits seven criminals to take on the identities of his fallen comrades and together they’ll work to keep the peace on the streets of Kyoto. It’s been over 150 years since the downfall of the Shinsengumi and the fact that they conti

Anime Feminist • 16th October 2021

Ranking of Kings - Episode 1

What’s it about? Prince Bojji is the Deaf firstborn son of his powerful father, King Bosse. Bojji dreams of becoming the greatest king the world has ever seen, but because of his disability everyone treats him like an idiot and doesn’t believe he can become a great leader. Despite all the negativity in his life, Bojji still hasn’t given up on his dreams and with his newfound friend named Kage, he believes he can achieve anything. Wit Studio has certainly been on a roll lately. While Great Prete

Home to my Bitter Thoughts • 11th May 2021

Wolfwalkers – Review

This was a fun and sweet movie. The story takes place in 1650 during the height of Oliver Cromwell’s brutal invasion of Ireland. In his quest to establish English colonial rule over the Irish people, Cromwell hired a wolf hunter named Bill to kill all the wolves living in the forest so that English settlements can be built near Irish towns. Despite the obvious dangers, Bill brought his spunky daughter named Robyn with him so that they can start a new life together in a place where they are clea

Home to my Bitter Thoughts • 2nd January 2021

GREAT PRETENDER – Series Review

When Great Pretender’s premiered, it had so much promise and had the most beautiful background art, I have seen in a long time (seriously chef’s kiss). The general premise of con-artists scamming awful rich people out of millions of dollars was interesting and I was excited to see if this series would deliver on its promising start, especially since we know actual rich assholes will never actually get punished for their crimes since they have so

Anime Feminist • 22nd November 2020

Onyx Equinox - Episode 1

What’s it about? A young Aztec (Mexica) kid named Izel lives a quiet life with his older sister Nelli, until his sister has to make the ultimate sacrifice so that Izel can be spared a brutal fate. As a result, Izel is inadvertently thrown into a war amongst the gods and must prove that humanity is worth fighting for. Content Warning: Graphic depictions of violence against Indigenous people and human sacrifices. I’ll be honest: when I first saw the trailer for this series, it made me extremely

Anime Feminist • 3rd October 2020

Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai - Episode 1

What’s it about? When Dai was a baby he was found in an abandoned boat by his adopted monster grandpa named Brass on Dremline Island. Together with all the monsters on the island they lived peacefully for many years and Dai always dreamt about becoming a hero someday. Dai’s life changes when a group of so-called heroes arrived at the island to cause chaos and without realizing it, his own hero’s quest has begun. It’s interesting to see the recent trend of 90s revival adaptations for older manga

Anime Feminist • 3rd October 2020

Jujutsu Kaisen - Episode 1

What’s it about? Itadori Yuji is an unusually physically strong high school student who just wants to hang out with his friends in the occult club and take care of his grumpy sick grandpa. However, after meeting a mysterious and broody character named Fushiguro Megumi, he learns the supernatural does exist and that he lives in a world full of curses. In a desperate attempt to save his friends from dangerous spirits, he has to make a quick decision in order to obtain the power he needs to protect

Anime Feminist • 9th September 2020

Discordant Tones: Oversimplifying music as resistance in Carole & Tuesday

Carole & Tuesday is an original anime series on Netflix about two girls who share an immense love for music and aspire to become famous musicians on Mars. While the series initially follows the girls’ rise through the music industry, the focus eventually shifts to the political unrest going on around them—and how they can use their music to fight back against an oppressive regime. The series has admirable goals, but it struggles to convincingly show how music can be an effective form of resistan

Anime Feminist • 22nd August 2020

Great Pretender - Episode 1

What’s it about? A small time con-artist, Edamura Makoto, scams people for a living and considers himself the “Best Con-Man in Japan”. He thinks his schemes are going well until he tries to scam a fellow con-artist named Laurent Thierry and instead is swindled out of his money. Before Makoto can even process his failed scheme, he has to run from the police and ends up following Laurent to Los Angeles. Makoto doesn’t realize his non-coincidental meeting with the suave Frenchman is only the beginn

Home to my Bitter Thoughts • 3rd April 2020

Given Anime: Healing and the Importance of Elders

Where do I even start with a wonderful show like Given? This series is clearly a love song to music and musicians everywhere and the animation staff clearly reflected Natsuki Kizu’s love for music in their attention to detail throughout many scenes in the anime. This cute love story begins when Ritsuka Uenoyama meets Mafuyu Sato on a stairwell at school and fixes Mafuyu’s broken guitar.

Home to my Bitter Thoughts • 25th December 2019

Klaus – Movie Review

This movie starts off with a very privileged Jesper Johansson acting like a spoiled rich kid, not willing to learn any responsibly and purposefully fails every job his father assigns him at the Postal Academy. When nothing else works, his father literally sends him to the middle of nowhere (Smeerensburg) to start a post office and if he fails, he will be cut off from his wealthy family.

Wear Your Voice • 5th December 2019

7 LGBT2S Bolivian Community Organizers You Should Know About

7 LGBT2S Bolivian Community Organizers You Should Know About While the country is under the strain of anti-Indigenous politicians, it’s important to learn about the Bolivian organizers changing the lives of QTBIPOC.

Daughters of Madre Earth • 13th October 2019

Mate de Coca​

​When I was a child growing up in a basement apartment in Queens, New York City, I was surrounded by plenty of things that continue to be a part of my daily life. I can easily remember watching shows like Cowboy Bebop and Hey Arnold! while drinking mate the coca and generally having a good time.

Home to my Bitter Thoughts • 2nd September 2019

Glass Mask Anime (2005): The Rivalry between Maya and Ayumi

Glass Mask is a classic shoujo manga that started in 1976 about a young girl named Maya Kitajima who dreams of becoming an actress and goes through plenty of hardships in order for her dream to come true. Thanks to the anime adaptations that came out in 1984 and 2005, Glass Mask has gained immense international popularity and continues to be Suzue Miuchi’s best work.

Home to my Bitter Thoughts • 30th March 2019

Steven Universe – My Thoughts on the Show and Battle of Heart and Mind

The season 5 finale was the conclusion for the entire series as far as I’m concerned. Despite the fact that both season 6 and a movie have been confirmed, the entire hour special felt like a disappointing conclusion to the complex themes Steven Universe has built up over the years.

Home to my Bitter Thoughts • 21st January 2019

BANANA FISH – A Bittersweet Experience

The animated version of Banana Fish ended in late December of 2018 and I still feel exhausted. I had a lot of hope that the anime would address the problematic aspects of the series and make much-needed updates to amend those issues, but ultimately for the better or worse the anime left a bitter taste in my mouth.