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I miss them

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The possession and performance of relationship in Spice and Wolf

Content Consideration: nondescript nudity in screenshots

Fifteen years after the light novel series first began and twelve years after the last anime episode aired, Spice and Wolf is returning with a new anime adaptation. Long-time fans, in explaining the series’ longevity and their own personal investment, would credit the chemistry between the two main leads — the wolf goddess Holo and the traveling merchant Kraft Lawrence — holding out hope that their budding love will fully bloom on screen. 

However, the compelling, balanced nature of this romance may not be evident at first glance. Holo and Lawrence’s relationship is initially held back by the circumstances upon which they first meet, rendering Holo as an owned object rather than an equal companion and stifling both leads’ feelings behind layers of performative inauthenticity. Part of the appeal of Spice and Wolf is watching these two characters overcome the gendered norms of their medieval setting, as well as their own personal flaws, to achieve an emotional reciprocity that is narratively satisfying. Even just looking at the first few episodes paints the picture of the solid foundation that will unfold.

Read it at Anime Feminist!

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Swan (1976) by Kyoko Ariyoshi

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Remember 2022’s shonen poster zine? Stay tuned for the much-anticipated shojo counterpart!

It’ll be up for preorder HERE 💖

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One of our editors has been having a difficult time post-surgery -- if you're able to share this, it would be much appreciated.

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🥳

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doodling the girls 💙💙

(n/sfw version of this on twitter!! 😳😵‍💫)

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Queerness and the Power of “Subtext” in Sound! Euphonium & Liz and the Blue Bird

Sound! Euphonium drew an audience of sapphic women due to the heavily implied romantic relationship between its two leads, Kumiko and Reina, but the show’s endgame saw them drifting apart as Reina confesses her love to an older male teacher and Kumiko becomes dedicated to her upperclassman friend Asuka.

The subtext between the characters has been enough for a small fandom to sustain itself for years, but the actual show ultimately failed to deliver. Years later, however, the spin-off film Liz and the Blue Bird, centered around side characters Nozomi and Mizore, provides audiences with the explicit queer representation many Euphonium viewers found themselves lacking.

Sound! Euphonium premiered in April 2015. Produced by Kyoto Animation, it exploded in popularity after a ship between the two female leads garnered attention online. The series is told through the eyes of Kumiko Oumae. A somewhat directionless young woman when we meet her, she is haunted by the final competition of her middle school band, when she unwittingly insulted a fellow classmate. The series follows her joining the newly rejuvenated concert band at her new high school and rekindling a connection with Reina Kousaka, the girl she drove to tears in middle school.

Even before any of their romantically coded interactions in the show itself, “Tutti!”, the ending theme for Euphonium’s first season, features a shot of Kumiko and Reina standing in a field, backs to each other, as a long red thread connects them. It’s the “red string of fate,” one of the most instantly recognized symbols of destined lovers.

Read it at Anime Feminist!

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Akatsuki no Yona by Kusanagi Mizuho

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sarazanmai

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“Shadow Girls are real and they’re my friends”

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Going to try and draw something daily, could easily spend another couple of hours on this tidying it up but I'm trying to embrace the messy bits