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A pleasure to work with Anime Herald again on this one! I learnt a lot about disability history researching this one, and I hope you can learn something too!

In the Name of the Disabled Princess: Disability Metaphor in “In The Name of the Mermaid Princess”

Metaphor can be tricky when it comes to discussion of representation. Often it can come across as heavy handed or dismissive, especially for disability metaphors. Writers (mostly able-bodied ones) will crash headfirst into ableist pitfalls and completely fail to pull themselves out again. For example, many read Deku in My Hero Academia being Quirkless as disabled based on the social model of…

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Thanks AniFem for letting me be absolutely unhinged about my favorite Anime <3

Girl Power and Guinea Pigs: Pui Pui Molcar through the lens of feminist media tests

Pui Pui Molcar combines all of my pre-teen obsessions: guinea pigs, stop motion, and anime. So it’s no wonder that I’ve used my background in Critical Historical Studies to spend an inordinate amount of time over analyzing every single aspect of it. It’s all led to me pondering some of the most popular questions in online media analysis: “Can traditional tests to identify feminist talking points be applied to a show for toddlers about guinea-pig-car hybrids, and are any of these characters queer?”

For the uninitiated, Pui Pui Molcar is a stop motion animated series that first broadcast on TV Tokyo’s children’s variety program “Kinder TV.” The series name is a play on words based on the Japanese word for guinea pig: morumotto, and Pui Pui: the noise a guinea pig makes (I nominate “Wheek Week Car-vy” as an English Translation). Armed with this pun, the adorable felted critters delighted the targeted infant demographic and adults alike with fun storylines and incredible animation, garnering it 2000 followers before the show debuted and over 437,000 today on X (formerly Twitter).

One of the things that make it most accessible to international audiences is that there is no identifiable dialogue. Much like its stop motion contemporary, Shaun the Sheep, the molcars only wheek, and the humans only mumble. Molcar goes one better than Shaun though, in that all the Molcars are voiced by real guinea pigs! 

Read it at Anime Feminist!

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Anime to look forward to in 2025!

Next Year we’re in for a load of new treats, with new seasons of Apothecary Diaries, My Happy Marriage, and Kakuriyo: Bed and Breakfast for Spirits! We’re also getting a chance to see the My Hero Academia Ladies done RIGHT with an anime adaption of Vigilantes finally coming to our screens! (You can read about my opinions on Vigilantes in my 2022 wrap up here) 

We’re also getting my favourite Blue Exorcist Arc, whose time travelly Bull Shit makes me feel ALL the feels, and delights me with all the character development we get that makes some of the questionable choices at the start of the series feel weirdly rewarding. I’m also looking forward to some moments where I fully believe that a Cis-Male Mangaka would have been completely overlooked as moments of horror and heartache. It might still be a male lead series, but the women are definitely coming out of their shadows now! 

Apothecary Diaries S2 promises more simping and science. Another effortless pass for the Bechdel Test, I love how quickly Maomao has become an Autistic Icon, with her beautiful special interest in poisons that requires her to be dragged away from them for her own safety, and how her apparent emotional distance disguises real empathy and care for all around her. There’s so many GREAT manga moments to look forward to! Including an arc my friend and I have dubbed “The Eurovision Arc” given its combination of The Dutch, Drag, and Dancing. 

My Happy Marriage S2 is also due next year! The fact that a Shojo series is getting a SECOND SERIES is truly something to celebrate. The fact that it’s one with a great budget that combines epic action with heart pounding romance is all the better. Although it is a little frustrating from a Manga Reader perspective as it looks like the anime is once again going to overtake where their english manga publication is at. I could read the Light Novels, sure. But also: Who reads Light Novels? 

I’m incredibly excited for the anime adaptation of my beloved The Invisible Man and his soon to be wife! I wrote about it last year when the manga first came out, and since then it's only gotten better. I love that because of the nature of animation, it means that this story of a Blind Woman is actually going to have an accessible format for Visually Impaired people! I hope that, at least in Japan, they provide an Audio Description track, and pray to all the Gods and Buddhas that they cast a Visually Impaired Actor for Yakou. However, after the disappointment that was A Sign of Affection’s Casting, I am not hopeful. However the series does feature a broad and diverse cast of characters from a plethora of backgrounds, all of whom get their chance to shine. It's a series that celebrates diversity, love, friendship, and self belief. I look forward to seeing what they do with it! 

Film wise, there’s the new Rose of Versailles movie, a new Hosada Project, and the beginning of the end of Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle. Goodness knows when those will hit the English Market though, but hopefully we won’t have too long a wait for any of them! I’m also still holding out for the Molcar Movie to make it over here in some format! Since my landlord won’t let me keep pets, I need SOME way to keep Guinea Pigs in my life. We’ve at least got a confirmation for The Colours Within by Director Naoko Yamada (A Silent Voice, Liz and the Blue Bird, Heike Story). So definitely a lot to look forward to and pray that your cinema actually gets! 

We’ve come a long way in the past few years, with more prominent disabled characters, more Shojo and Josei getting animated each year, and more female-lead series in general! I hope this is a trend that continues, I'd especially like to see it expand to more Trans and Non-Binary stories getting adapted. For example, “Boys Run The Riot” and “Our Dreams At Dusk”.  It might not ever happen, but hope is the thing with feathers.

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Most Anticipated Manga for 2025!

There's some promising books on the Horizon this year that promise more excitement, emotions, and epic disability representation! So without any further ado, these are the manga on my Pre-order list!

Veil by Kotteri (Udon)

“A chance encounter. A handsome soldier. A beautiful woman. A tentative love affair smolders on the snowy cobblestone streets, out of sight of those that might keep them apart. A manga unlike anything else in English, VEIL is a beautifully illustrated full-color romance manga, told in stylish short vignettes, beautiful illustrations, and secret moments. Published in English by UDON in handsome two-volume omnibus collections.” 

This series has been on my radar for a while, not just because of my desire for more stories with disabled characters, (protagonist, Emma, is visually impaired) but also the beautiful full colour artwork! It’s one of the series being bought to us thanks to Mangasplaining, and I hope that if this succeeds we’ll continue to get more manga aimed at a mature audience, and not just titles from Shonen Jump and Morning. 

Senpai is an Otokonoko: My Crossdressing Classmate by Pom (Kodansha)

“First-year high school student Saki Aoi can’t help but find herself head-over-heels for her senpai, Makoto Hanaoka. After all, Hanaoka-senpai is tall, beautiful, and oh-so-cool—who wouldn’t fall for a girl like her? Saki, with her bright and bubbly personality, doesn’t hesitate to confess her feelings. However, Makoto turns her down, saying that they’re not the person Saki thinks they are—because Makoto isn’t a girl, but rather a cross-dressing boy!”

I binge read this series on WebToons this year, but because I read it on WebToons itself I don’t have a chance to own this wonderful gender affirming love story! When it was animated, I was hoping that we’d get an English Dub with a representative cast but was left disappointed. So I’m excited to at least be able to own this series, and hope that maybe if it does well it’ll persuade Crunchyroll to dub it for us! 

Sailor Zombie by Author Jiji & Pinch, and Artist Isshin Inudo (Yen Press)

“Two months have passed since the world was overrun by zombies. High schooler Maiko Inui, a girl who longs to become an idol, finds refuge in Fujimi Girls’ High School, where the surviving students reside. When hordes of zombies mercilessly attack the girls, how will Maiko and her friends fight back?! Horror meets harmony in this vibrant tale where heroes don’t wear capes…but sailor suits instead!”

This is a monkey brain series for me. I see a bright colourful book cover with girls killing zombies with bows and arrows … I’m GOING to want to check it out. 

Wolf’s Daughter: A Werewolf’s Tale by Yuki Kodama (SevenSeas) 

“Tsukina is an average high school girl with a supernatural secret—one that even she is unaware of. After an encounter with a man named Hayate, Tsukina begins to realize she’s not entirely human. Her great athletic ability, her enhanced sight at night, even the reason she craves raw meat, all comes down to one answer: She’s a werewolf. But every answer leads her to more questions. Who is she really? What does any of this mean? Just where will Tsukina’s journey of self discovery lead her?”

This year I read over 12 different series all featuring Okami and/or Kitsune anthros. So the a series about a girl going through puberty who finds she can turn into a wolf is right up my ally! I just have to hope that it won’t be as Transphobic as Chelsea Cain’s Man-eaters ended up being …. 

Sengurochka of the Spring Breeze by Hiroaki Saura (Kodansha) 

"Winner of the Excellence Award in Manga at the 2014 Japan Media Arts Festival, this deeply researched political drama from the creator of Blade of the Immortal transports us to the frigid fringes of the nascent Soviet Union of the 1930s. Rich with the nuanced story and art for which Samura is famous, Snegurochka of the Spring Breeze’s subtle adult drama and Russian setting are a breath of fresh air in the sometimes cookie cutter manga world. Bielka (“Squirrel”), a beautiful young woman in a wheelchair, and her taciturn companion Shchenok (“Puppy”) must keep their true identities secret as they navigate the fraught political climate and harsh landscape of the Soviet Union in the 1930s. Intrigue abounds in this richly historical and erotic political drama that weaves historical figures including the Romanovs and Rasputin into Hiroaki Samura’s brilliant fiction."

This book combines two things I love: Disability Representation, Interesting Historical Settings, and Beautiful Artwork. I’m so happy that I get to have multiple interesting stories about disabled women this year and I hope that this trend continues! 

Two Guys at the Vet Clinic by Shinonome (SevenSeas) 

“Takaha, a veterinary student, finds a stray cat that needs help and rushes it to an animal hospital…where he falls in love at first sight with Baba, the director. Trying to get closer to him, Takaha gets a job there, and Baba’s flirtatious behavior inflames his feelings till he can no longer repress them… A slow burn age-gap BL story about a straightforward younger veterinarian and his complicated boss!” 

I am a simple soul. I see two cute boys falling in love because of a cute kitty cat, I’m going to read it. 

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Anime/Donghua 2024 Wrap-Up!

 This was a great year for women in Anime! More and more series by female creators are making it into people’s all time favourites. From Apothecary Diaries to Delicious in Dungeon to A Sign of Affection, it’s been great to see so many women making huge successes! I also don’t think we’ve seen so many series gracing people’s top 10s that have so effortlessly passed the Bechdel-Wallace test! Frieren: Beyond Journey's End and Dandadan both featured main female characters who talked with their fellow named female co-stars about things other than men! 

Whilst obviously passing the Bechdel Test is not the be and end all for feminism, given how many beloved series have absolutely failed to pass this basic test, it’s certainly something to be celebrate! Heck, if the test was to all be about Lesbians being able to see themselves in media, then look no further than the flood of Falin X Marcille art, meta, edits, and fanfic that’s been all over my feeds. 

For me, personally, I was delighted to see the Female Centric arcs of Blue Exorcist getting animated at long last, showing why the manga sucked me in to begin with! We got an actually good traitor reveal that felt like an actual betrayal of trust, and fantastic development for a character who had previously been just another Tsuendere. Even as Izumo has her agency taken away as part of the narrative, Katou-sensei gives it back to her at every opportunity to ensure that this is her story and her arc. And that shone through in the anime too! Even with the tiny budget, she was still the one given the biggest moments. 

Heaven Official’s Blessing, A Sign of Affection, and Cherry Magic? 30 Years of Virginity can Make you a Wizard?! were all fantastic non-heteronormative romances that shone in their own unique ways! Heaven Official's Blessing had some of the best dubbing I've seen all year with so many side splitting jokes and swoon worthy sentences! Cherry Magic perfectly caputred the heart and humour of the series and I was especially excited to hear Kurosawa's internal song monologues. A Sign of Affections blew me away with its beautiful animation, in particular the care taken in animating the sign language. Which were all perfectly encapsulated in its elegant opening:

There were plenty of other series out this year that were just made of pure fun. Vampire Dormitory and Demon Prince of Momochi House both had me binge-reading their mangas. Mr Villian’s Day Off was the perfect slice of life comedy for these dark days. Sasaki and Peeps was an unexpected reverse-isekai X salary-man X evil-magical-girl mix up directed by Mirai Minato. The dub was great too, with Tyeson Reinhart perfectly encapsulating the exhausted middle aged man who just wants to have an easy life, and Erin Nicole Lundquist showing their incredible range as both a stoic, power magician… and an adorable little birb. Plus I loved both the original Japanese Gag of hiring a bunch of actors called Sasaki for the background characters, and the English Dub matching it with a bunch of Chris-es!

There were also a lot of great films that came out in the UK this year! Blue Giant was a great way to start the year, with the music being so good I felt like I was at an actual concert. It was followed by Spy X Family: Code White which had everything a weeb to ask for: MILFs with knives, DILFs with shirt sleeves rolled up, Cute Dogs, and the most beautifully animated poop joke ever put on screen. Look Back Short got brought to UK Cinemas, and was just as good as I thought it would be! Although I would have liked to see it dubbed because I think some of the subtitle choices took away some of the emotional impact felt in the manga. My favourite by far though was the Lord of the Rings Anime, War of the Rohirrim. It hasn’t been performing as well in cinemas as I would have liked, and I’m disappointed by the lack of merchandise available for it. But it was definitely a series made with me in mind specifically! With epic fight scenes, sword lesbians, horises, and an Incel getting his just desserts. It’s definitely the film I’m gonna be recommending the MOST out of this year! 

Overall, I had a great time this year. Whilst some seasons were definitely more jam-packed than others, there was still always at least SOMETHING I wanted to watch! I had my favourites, sure. But whilst I’m sure that at some point this anime bubble is gonna burst again as it did back in the 2000s, I’m happy to be enjoying all the great art currently being made!

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Top New Manga of 2024!

Another year has come to an end, so it's time to talk about all the great manga that came out this year! So in no particular order, these are my Top 6 New Manga of the Year!

In the Name of the Mermaid Princess by Writer Yoshino Fumikawa and Artist Miya Tashiro

T: Junko Goda, Adap: Shaenon K. Garrity, L: Susan Daigle-Leach, E: Annette Roman Publisher: Shojo Beat

“In the classic fairy tale, a mermaid princess gives up her special abilities for love. What happens if she doesn’t? Princess Mio is betrothed to Prince Chika. However, they’ve never met, and he doesn’t know her secret—she’s a mermaid! When her tutor, Yuri, takes her out of the castle to meet her subjects, Mio begins to accept her true self. But Yuri has a secret too… And when Mio tells her father, the king, she wants to live life openly as a mermaid, he punishes her. How can she stay true to herself? Plus, a bonus story about a royal subject with wings!”

This series was an absolute surprise to me! I always keep an eye out for new Shojo releases, but I accept that I am not the target audience for all of them. I assumed that was the case here, Mermaid Princesses were something I felt was in my past. Yet I took a chance on it on the Viz Media App and felt an immediate kinship with Mio! The story of the Unhumans' struggles for safety and respect really resonated with me as a disabled person. The series acts as a great “Disability Metaphor 101” for younger readers. With solid artwork, an enchanting story, and really moving and relatable moments it’s definitely been my highlight of the year! 

Otonari Complex by Saku Nonomura

T: Jenny McKeon, Adap: Carly Smith, L: Aidan Clarke, E: Kristina Korpus Publisher: SevenSeas

“Kuji Akira and Ninomiya Makoto are childhood friends and neighbors. Since Akira is “handsome” for a girl and Makoto is “pretty” for a boy, their gender presentation is often confused. As they try to untangle their complex feelings about themselves and each other, they find out their friends are crushing on them, too. It’s a complicated childhood friend love story!”

This was one of the series I was most looking forward to this year and it did not disappoint! “Gender Fuckery” has been a key component of all good Shojo since it began! From Princess Knight to Rose of Versailles to Fruits Basket, narratives about people discovering their gender identity, and playing around with what that means, are some of the most beloved. This was the year that I finally came out to my family as Gender Queer, so a having a book that has such a complex look at the notion of gender and gender identity in such a queer way was wonderful. I especially loved the way it explored body dysmorphia and misgendering. When Makoto presents as female, they WANT to have folks use she/her pronouns for them! Even if they still identify as a cis-man throughout the book. Meanwhile Akira chooses to present masculine, but when she gets misgendered as a boy she doesn’t experience the same euphoria that Makoto does. For her, it’s something painful and shaming. Volume 2 hasn't shipped to me yet, but I’m very much looking forward to seeing how these two love birds’ gender journey goes. 

Tank Chair by Manabu Yashiro

T: Max Greenway L: Evan Hayden  E: Maggie Le Publisher: Kodansha

“Shizuka takes on the most dangerous of assassin jobs, but she's not the one doing the killing. Rather, it's her brother, Nagi, a strong assassin who took a bullet to protect his sister, leaving him in a comatose state and having to use a wheelchair. However, Shizuka has figured out the key to waking her brother up: he must be faced with killing intent! Thus begins a violent journey of recovery, battling the most dangerous foes!”

I’ve already written about why I loved Tank Chair so much, but it’s worth repeating that whilst series like “A Sign of Affection” and “Blade Girl” are still great to have for disabled representation in popular media – nothing quite beats the euphoria I felt reading Tank Chair and seeing people get viciously murdered with disabled rage fueled Boudica spikes.

Magical Girl Dandelion by Kaeru Mizuho

T: Mei Amaki L: Finn K Publisher: Viz Media (App)

“Magical girls and villains are enemies, but can neophyte Tanpopo's bond with the villain Shade topple that destiny?”

To my knowledge, this is the first Shojo Manga that Viz have been simul-publishing from the get go! And they absolutely picked a superstar to start! Western Manga Fans have been chomping at the bit for more magical girl series to get localised into English, and this has not disappointed! Whilst series like Cardcaptor Sakura and Sailor Moon take a few chapters to get to their darker tones, Magical Girl Dandelion gets to it right off the bat! With cool battle sequences, fun character designs, and the battle between good and evil being morally murky from the start – Dandelion has the potential to be one of the all time greats!

Tokyo These Days by Taiyo Matsumoto

T: Michael Arias L: Deron Bennett Publisher: Viz

“After 30 years as a manga editor, Kazuo Shiozawa suddenly quits. Although he feels early retirement is the only way to atone for his failures as an editor, the manga world isn’t done with him. On his final day as an editor, Shiozawa takes a train he’s ridden hundreds of times to impart some last advice to a manga creator whose work he used to edit. Later, he is drawn to return to a bookshop at the request of a junior editor who wants his help dealing with an incorrigible manga creator who used to be edited by Shiozawa and now refuses to work with anyone else. For Shiozawa, Tokyo these days is full of memory and is cocooned in the inescapable bonds among manga creators, their editors, art, and life itself.”

A slow, thoughtful manga that gives you plenty of time to breathe and contemplate. The slower, and more mature pace was a great break from my usual diet of high energy action adventure romance. The book is a somber look at what it is to work in the manga industry in present day Japan, how it has changed over the decades, and what it means to age out of a business that’s famous for working their most talented artists to an early grave.

Colette Decides To Die by Alto Yukimura

T: Max Greenway L: Inori Fukada Trant E: Nancy Thistlethwaite Publisher: Shojo Beat

“Colette meets Hades, a fellow workaholic, while he is ill in bed with a rash and fever. After treating his condition, she learns about the work he does and what drives him, in turn renewing her sense of purpose as an apothecary. Colette is sent back to her own world, but is this the last she will see of Hades?”

This was one of those series that half my social media feed seemed to be absolutely begging to get published in English. And having read the first two volumes, I can see why! Whilst I don’t think it’s doing anything revolutionary, it’s still a cosy story of two people who struggle with self care falling in love and providing support, with a fun backdrop of greek mythology (although the lack of accuracy would make academics rage harder than at Disney’s Hercules) which makes it absolutely peek HanaYume. And heaven knows how much I love HanaYume! 

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My Anime Herald Debut! It was a pleasure to work on this one, and I'd like to extend my immense gratitude to Alex for their fantastic editing on this piece that made it what it is!

The Law, The Witch, and The Wheelchair: Applying the Social Model of Disability to Witch Hat Atelier

Content Warning: This article contains discussion of ableism and disability discrimination This article contains Spoilers for Witch Hat Atelier (up to Volume 13) Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama has been widely praised for its representation of disabled and chronically ill people, including a group that the fantasy genre often leaves out or treats with cliches. Disability is highly visible…

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Happy Epilepsy Awareness Month!

I learnt so much writing this article, and most of all about what a great human being Graham Harding was. He invited the Japanese Ambassador around to his house to play with his model train set for goodness sake!

It was a pleasure to once again work with the Anime Feminist team on this, and I hope that you enjoy the article too and maybe learn a little something along the way =)

Porygon Was Innocent: An epileptic perspective on Pokémon’s “Electric Soldier Porygon”

On December 16th 1997 Pokémon made international headlines when their latest episode, “Dennō Senshi Porygon”—now commonly translated as “Electric Soldier Porygon”— caused 685 children to be taken into hospital by ambulance due to seizures, blindness, and convulsions. The event was dubbed by the Japanese Press as “PokémonShock” (“Pokémon Shokku”), and launched an investigation by the Japanese Government into what had happened. When discussed the story usually ends there, just a fun way to conclude a listicle of banned anime episodes, or an explanation to fans as to why Porygon has never had a major role  in the main anime since. But there is far more to the story of Pokémon’s banned episode: a story that includes a model train enthusiast from Birmingham, England, and a little mouse who got away scott free. 

As an Epileptic, I’ve been very outspoken about my opinions on the increased use of strobe lighting effects in American cartoons. Even today with movies like The Incredibles II, the use of flashing lights and red lighting effects has made a lot of cinema not only inaccessible but potentially deadly for many viewers. Yet people have accused me of being a hypocrite: why do I continue to love Pokémon? Surely if I had conviction in my beliefs, I’d refuse to watch the show that caused all those children to be taken to hospital! My response often surprises people. That, in my personal opinion, morally speaking, the animators were not responsible for what happened. That Porygon was, in fact, innocent. 

Read it at Anime Feminist!

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Review of "Tank Chair" by Manabu Yashiro

(T: Max Greenway, L: Evan Hayden, E: Maggie Le)

Power Fantasies come in lots of different forms. Sometimes they’re about becoming a world leader who can enact lasting change. Sometimes they’re being a big beefy hero with the ability to punch out hitler. Sometimes they’re attaching Boudica Spikes to your wheelchair and taking people out at the ankles for refusing to move out of the way. And when it comes to disabled-on-abled violence, Tank Chair provides one hell of a power fantasy! In a time where people are still claiming that wheelchairs don’t belong in fantasy, Tank Chair gives us a blood thirsty alternative where a wheelchair takes an already deadly assassin and gives them a high speed tank with extra knives. 

Written and drawn by Manabu Yashiro, the series follows two siblings– Nagi and Shizuka Taira – as they make their way through a post-apocalyptic Japan. Nagi is an assassin who, after taking a bullet to the head protecting Shizuka, became comatose and unable to move from the waist down. However, he has a unique ability where he will come back to consciousness anytime he senses a deep desire to kill him. And thus begins Shizuka’s mission to find someone with such an intense desire to murder her beloved older brother, that he comes back around permanently. 

As a mobility aid user, I was initially drawn to the series for rather obvious reasons. Cripple Punk has been around since 2014 but has rarely gotten any mainstream notice. Cripple Punk is the radical idea that disabled people are people, not just inspiration porn to get the ableds to go to the gym. No, “If Alice Tai can have her leg amputated and then win a gold medal 8 months later, what’s stopping you from doing it?” but rather “Holy FUCK how hard core is Alice Tai?! She got her leg removed and then swam 100m in 1 minute 13 seconds?!” Cripple Punk allows for disabled people to be loud, angry and visable. It allows us to misbehave and throw up the middle finger at those who try to fuck with our basic rights. It's been a long time coming that we’ve had a manga that helped embody this, and Tank Chair is off to a great start in reflecting this much needed aesthetic and attitude. 

I was a little anxious when starting the series that it would fall into dangerous “vegetable” stereotypes where Nagi’s lack of consciousness is only played as a joke about taking away his agency and personality. However I was delighted to find that Nagi is still shown to have agency and choice in his situation. He does have some issues with a few of his sister’s choices of mission, but doesn’t appear to be too bothered and it comes across more as sibling banter than anything else. In fact, one of the best parts of the series so far is the relationship between the two siblings! It’s a surprisingly realistic one, where you do feel the genuine love they have for each other – even with some of the more fucked up dynamics at play. For example, how Shizuka is able to awaken Nagi by charging at him with a dagger and genuine pure intent to stab him in the neck. But hey, it’s a nice take on the Cain Instinct by taking the term back to its abrahamic fratricidal origins, rather than the usual cop out of just having siblings thwack each other with wrapping paper tubes. 

Another concern I had was around the idea of them seeking a cure for Nagi. However the series makes it incredibly clear that the only thing the siblings are seeking is for Nagi to regain full consciousness, something definitely worth seeking! I was particularly happy to see Nagi explicitly say that he has found benefits in becoming a chair user! He sees it as a way of bettering his bond with those around him, and also who wouldn’t enjoy charging about in a personal murder tank? 

In terms of design, I’d rather the chair take more inspiration from active sport chairs. Whilst I love that his sister has designed him multiple ones for different tasks and missions, his regular chair feels a little too passive in design despite all the awesome spikes. I do give credit for Nagi’s chair resembling actual wheelchairs, but it's formed around a very basic budget model. The square design and leg clamps might give it that Diesel Punk vibe, but I think the series should continue to embrace the Cripple Punk aesthetic more. In this case therefore, I think it would have been better for it to draw inspiration from the most Cripple Punk Sport in the word: Murder Ball. Also known as Wheelchair Rugby. Chairs for Murder Ball are built more like race karts, with solid steel structures and bumpers. Wheelchair Rugby is probably the most Cripple Punk Sport out there, given that it actively challenges the weak and helpless disabled person stereotype, but is also one of the few full contact mixed gender sports! It also proves to anyone who might think that Nagi’s antics are unrealistic that no – wheelchair users are fully capable of incredible stunts and outrageous blood lust. 

I do have other concerns for the series. So far both disabled characters introduced – Nagi, and Touko Kurosaka – have been used as an instrument for murder. Even if they did choose to be Assasins, there’s still something inherently uncomfortable about how both characters are deliberately sent into action on their siblings orders. Touko in particular is a concern for me, given that she is way more presented as a tool of her brother’s than Nagi is. However, the bonus content at the end of volume one does give me a bit more hope that she will have her story expanded upon and given personality beyond “giant high school girl who can smash people with her fists”. I hope that the current toxic undertones of the Kurosakas’ relationship is just to emphasise the surprisingly loving and balanced relationship between the Taira Siblings.  

On a final note, I’d like to give a shout out to Evan Hayden’s lettering. In my opinion they did an excellent job of matching the style throughout, allowing for a proper 1:1 experience whilst still maintaining Kodansha’s style guide of subtitling rather than completely touching them up. I particularly liked how on page 59, the subtitle was drawn in a way that combined the existing smoke trail to become the “I” of “Kill”.

I’m not usually a fan of excessive violence in manga. I’m not opposed to it, it’s just not for me. I gave Chainsaw Man 3 Volumes and decided that I preferred Fujumoto’s more person-focussed manga like Look Back. Yet I think the personal wish fulfilment of Tank Chair makes it so appealing to me! Whilst I would absolutely recommend it to fans of Chainsaw Man and Dorohedoro, I believe that fans of Run On Your New Legs and Real will also enjoy this athletic narrative of platonic relationships and adapting disabled life. I very much look forward to seeing where this series goes in the future, and hope that we get more Action Packed Cripple Punk series in the future!

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New Forms of Story Telling and the Notion of Wasted Time

For the past year or so, I have been unable to play on my Switch. I didn’t own a TV, and my tremor caused by Functional Neurological Disorder meant that I couldn’t manage controllers. Yet recently I managed to save up enough money to buy a new TV, and a couple of second-hand controllers with better grip design and larger buttons that have made playing far more accessible for me! Not only this, but because my TV is now an OLED it has reduced the amount of flicker that was a worry because I have become more photosensitive in the last year too. 

So you would think this was a win! I can play Pokemon! I can play Ace Attorney! I can play Tears of the Kingdom! Games that have a huge impact on nerd culture and bring me joy to play. Especially since Video Games have clear narrative structures and goals which helps give me a serotonin boost of a task complete. 

Then why do I feel so guilty playing these games? Completing games that I own SHOULD be a good thing! I should feel as though I am effectively crossing things off my list. That I am not wasting money by letting them just sit there. Yet my desire to keep on playing these games makes me feel as though I am wasting time. I’ve convinced myself that I need to be doing something more intellectual with my time than trying to fight off robots with nothing but a tree branch to win a magic orb.  

We definitely seem to have created a hierarchy of storytelling, with Video Games somehow near the bottom. In terms of cultural respectability, it sits above Love Island but well below Hamlet. As a society, we value a notion of serious academic prose above all else in terms of respectability. Shakespeare is seen as the absolute pinnacle of respectability, when in reality it’s just as bawdy and bloody as anything you’d see today. After all, even Shakespeare thought “I fucked your mum” jokes were the height of comedic insult! (Titus Andronicus, Act 4, Scene 2). We refer to the Odyssey and the Iliad as THE Classics, stories worthy of serious academic study in their own right, when the constant gory battle scenes and eternal questing makes them no narratively different to most Video Games. 

Narratively speaking, The Twelve Labours of Hercules are just a series of fetch quests and timed missions. How is Hercules having to capture the Ceryneian Hind any different to Link having to capture a Stalhorse? What makes a deer with golden antlers more worthy of literary respect than the reanimated skeleton of a horse? Fundamentally, the only difference is that reading The Twelve Labours of Hercules is a passive activity where you have no control over the narrative, with no say in the method Hercules uses to capture the Hind – meanwhile in The Legend of Zelda, you are the one in control of Link and you are the one responsible for completing the quest. Despite both stories having a fixed narrative of capture and reward – in The Legend of Zelda how you go about solving the quest is up to the individual. 

Many people argue that Video Games are “mindless”-- they don’t require any thought or skill. Yet in reality, all gamers know this is simply not true! From Tetris to Doki Doki Literature Club, puzzle solving has always been a key part of video games. Puzzle Solving is vital for Brain Health, they’re especially recommended for adults with signs of early dementia. Anything that helps engage the brain in complex thinking is, medically speaking, an absolute positive! However, because the nature of the puzzle doesn’t come in an approved format, it is automatically dismissed by the broader public as having no value. 

Like all Disabled Queers, I’m absolutely opposed to the notion of upholding a social construct. I am of the firm belief that Video Games are art! They have creative value and are just a new form of storytelling that comes in a long line of narrative evolution.

“The free access which many young people have to romances, novels, and plays has poisoned the mind and corrupted the morals of many a promising youth…” is a quote that could have been said today, but is in actual fact from a 1771 letter to a “Town and Country” Magazine! Society has always been criticising young people consuming media. Today if you told your parents you were off to see The Barber of Seville you’d be praised for your dedication to the arts and intellectualism, yet in the 1770s you might as well be saying you’re planning to spend all night playing the new Dragon Age. 

If I can acknowledge all of this, then why does my ever increasing Manga TBR pile fill me with the same sense of guilt felt by a pile of incomplete maths homework? I think that it comes down to the notion of productivity. When reading a manga, I can write a review about it. I can produce an article. I can engage in relevant media criticism that is relevant to my degree. Meanwhile, when playing video games, I never have anything to add to the conversation. I’m usually always late to playing them so the hype has all but gone, and even when I do get it the same time as everyone else, I usually fall far behind everyone else very quickly. So I feel as though I have nothing useful to contribute to the conversation other than screen recording my various epic fails. 

This doesn’t diminish the fun I’ve had! But I think it does create a different level of expectations. I am bad at video games and this is a shameful thing because I cannot financially benefit from them. I am good at reading and writing and therefore spending time on perfecting this skill is worthwhile, as it may lead to later financial compensation. Even if I’m just reading about the trial and tribulations of being a heterosexual teenager with a crush, it feels as though the act of reading has far more overall value. There’s a slightly arrogant part of my brain that thinks others can benefit from my expert opinion on the subject of comics and art. 

Fun isn’t allowed to come into it. Everything I do has to have some sort of net benefit to my career and well being. It’s the idea that if I can’t one day make money from it, it doesn’t matter. If I can’t turn a hobby into a job then I shouldn’t have the hobby to begin with. And it’s funny, because in writing this blog post, I am doing just that! I am applying my critical thinking skills to discussing the notion of what art is. My Critical Historical Studies teachers would be proud. But it is also kind of sad that I felt I had to write over 1400 words to make the hundreds of hours I’ve poured into Zelda feel worthwhile. 

I set myself reading targets this year based on my previous achievements. Last year I read a book every day and I assumed that I could easily do it again. I am very much not reading a book a day. It’s creating such an intense, sometimes paralysing, sense of guilt within me for not living up to an expectation that only I have myself to blame for. In reality, I’m actually being significantly far more productive than I was last year! I go outside every day. I’m starting to write professionally, with one article published and two more commissioned in the works! I’ve even begun to take up cycling with a local disability group! In all ways that matter, I am getting back to a happier and more balanced life. That’s the goal I need to work towards, not making sure I have all the boxes ticked on Storygraph! I need to understand that happiness is far more important source of self-fulfilment than any other arbitrary notion of success.

More importantly, I need to allow myself to enjoy things for pure fun again, and that includes spending forty minutes on the character creation team trying to make my character look the most Gender as possible. And not spending a week writing, planning and researching a blog post to give me an excuse to feel as though questioning parrots in court is a noble and intellectual thing to do.  

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It was such a joy to work with the Anime Feminist team on this article! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it =)

Attention to the letter: Lettering and Deaf representation in A Sign of Affection

In a new wave of disability-focused manga, A Sign of Affection by artist and writer duo Morishita suu stands out as one of the most prominent and successful series. The manga has touched hearts around the world, its popularity even leading to a rare high-resource shoujo anime adaption! On the surface, A Sign of Affection is a relatively straightforward fish-out-of-water shoujo romance between two college students: the sweet yet shy Yuki, who is just starting to make her way in the world, and the globe-trotting silver haired heartthrob Itsuomi. What makes the series stand out against its contemporaries is the fact that Yuki—who is d/Deaf—is the point of view character and reader proxy, and Itsuomi is the cool senpai who notices her.

Other series featuring d/Deaf characters, such as A Silent Voice and The Moon On A Rainy Night, will often present their d/Deaf characters as love interests or side characters. These stories are intended to be relatable to an able-bodied audience, not a disabled one. However, in A Sign of Affection we’re immediately shown that this is Yuki’s story. It’s clear that she’s the one we’re following along this journey, without the assumption that an able-bodied reader needs to have everything about her disability painstakingly explained to them. As well as the storytelling structure itself, this is achieved through suu Morishita’s ingenious use of lettering, wherein the format and function of the words on the page themselves allow the reader to experience the world as Yuki does: thus allowing this to be her story, told with her own words, and of her own experiences. 

Read it at Anime Feminist!

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So I made a video about those things I've been thinking about related to Somerton's recent Response Video.

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It's also incredibly difficult to take a company to court if they are discriminating against you, especially if they don't have a HR Department you can take it to first. And almost impossible if you can't afford a lawyer. So yes, I can absolutely believe that Somerton would be let go. i myself, have faced workplace discrimination because of my disability. Where I was told I was "not a team player" because of the procedures I needed to put into place to prevent seizures. My attempt to BE a "Team player" resulted in my seizure count trippling.

Beyond anecdotal evidence, I would like to point out that workplace discrimination is illegal in the UK too. And yet the office of national statistics show that only 34% of people who have epilepsy as their primary condition are in employment.

So for once, yes, there is plenty of site able evidence to back up Somerton's claims. As justepilepsy has said, we cannot start to question disabled people about their workplace experiences, nor fall for the ongoing rhetoric that if something is illegal than it never happens. The law is often just a slip of paper, and as any history student will tell you: De Jure change does not lead to De Facto change.

Sommerton's attempt to blame his disabilty for why he chose to take claim for the work of other people from minorities, to spread lies and falsehoods, and bully people into silence is despicable. He is trying to throw all other disabled people, specifically those with memory issues, under the bus with him.

Do not let him do so, on the pretense of social justice.

Okay uhm - I need to say this because I am noticing this a bit in the responses to Somerton's "Apology" video. Do people really think, just because ableism in the workplace is forbidden, that workplaces don't discriminate?

Even if insurance stuff covers your health issues, I won't put it past an employer to let you go with the made up argument it doesn't. Because non-epileptic people are generally very uncomfortable with seeing seizure activity and some of them will prioritize their comfort over sticking to anti-discrimination laws.

I think Somerton's video is full of BS, but I am even more uncomfortable with how happy people are to dismiss Somerton's medical history/symptoms, just so they can argue against him. As if people with disabilities can be absolved for being dicks by accepting their stated medical and discrimination history.

When you don't even have to do so to point out the harm Somerton's logic does?

I mean - I think it's warranted to question James' statements because of his complicated relationship with telling the truth, but I am just kind of bothered by how people argue "this could not have happened because laws/policies" No. Let it have happened. It makes his apology worse if you choose to believe him on this, trust me.

If our response to disabled people acting terrible (stealing other people's material and presenting it as your own), is to accuse said disabled people of lying about their symptoms and diagnosis, I think we are missing the point and problem.

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Disability Discrimination in Anime Dubbing

Disabled Characters are becoming more and more common in manga in recent years, with releases such as “A Sign of Affection”, “Ranking of Kings”, and “Josee, and the Tiger and the Fish”, all getting Anime Adaptations! However, only one of these series features a Disabled actor in the lead role. That being Emily Fajardo in Ranking of Kings (directed by Caitlin Glass) as Bojji. Emily has (understandably) undisclosed disabilities, and has said how ecstatic and proud they were to get to play a disabled role - a sense of triumph and emotion I do not wish to take away from them. However their disabilities do not match those of the character they play. Bojji is non verbal and deaf, Emily is not. 

Yet this is a vast improvement upon the continuing apparent refusal to find disabled actors. There is a solidarity found amongst disabled people, and whilst our experiences in this world are different, we have a shared history. A shared understanding of what it is like to live in a world that rejects you. Be that the epileptic teen who can't go to the cinema with their friends, or the wheelchair-using adult unable to find a job because nobody sees their value. 

The only time I can think of where a Disabled Anime Character has been voiced by someone with a matching Disability was Lexi Marman Cowden in “A Silent Voice” as Shoko. Lexi’s performance was absolutely incredible, heartfelt, and true in every sense. Comparing her performance to that of her able bodied Japanese counterpart (Saori Hayami) you can tell that Lexi has real life experience to draw on, her emotions feel real. It's obvious that Lexi has been through what Shoko has. It's why, despite its flaws as a story, I still consider “A Silent Voice” to be one of the best ever English Dubs. They bought something new to the series that the Japanese team didn't. Stephanie Sheh and her colleagues at NYAV Post understood the need to have stories told by the people they're meant to represent - a sentiment that has bled through into their other work such as casting Trans Actress Shakina Nayfack as Hana in “Tokyo Godfathers”. 

And whilst this wonderful dedication to accurate casting in terms of gender, racial, and sexual minorities is being reflected throughout the industry – for example the Majority POC Dub of “Horimiya” and the Majority Queer Dub of “Given” – it is simply not being reflected with regards to Disabled People who are once again left out in the cold. It also feels incredibly hypocritical and hurtful to see people criticise non-accurate casting within some minorities, and completely ignore it when disabled people are involved. 

An example of this would be “Josee, the Tiger, and the Fish”. Whilst it is to be celebrated that there was a Majority POC cast in the film, director Jerry Jewell still chose to cast an able bodied actress in the titular role of Josee, a wheelchair user. Suzie Yeung’s performance very much felt like that of an Able-bodied person mimicking a disabled person. Whereas Lexi had real life experience to draw upon, Suzie was making it up as she went along. This was especially clear to me when Josee was forced to self-hoist for the first time. 

Suzie played it as a tragic moment of upset frustration and proof that Josee needed help but was too stubborn to ask. Meanwhile, my own experience as a person with Myasthenia Gravis was that the first time I collapsed and couldn't stand up on my own, being able to clamber from the floor to the sofa was a moment of personal triumph. This is an emotion I have heard other disabled people talk about. It's not proof of helplessness, it's evidence that you do have strength, power, and independence. Yes, part of this was probably just the way the film was made, but I still felt that a disabled actor with mobility issues would have understood the nuances far better, and would have made for a better film. 

At the time, I said I would only forgive Director Jerry Jewell for casting an Ablebodied Actress in a Disabled Role, if he hired a Disabled Actress for an Able-bodied role… which he did later the following year when he cast the wonderful Risa Mei (who has dwarfism) as the protagonist in “My Senpai is Annoying”. Whilst this his was not Risa’s first role at Funimation (now Crunchyroll) having played Shirley/Rum in “Shadow’s House” and Nadila in “Kakushigoto”, it was her first lead role. The anime itself didn't have the best reception, however Risa has continued to be cast in more and more roles across the Anime and Gaming World including more Popular Series like “My Dress Up Darling”, “Sing a Bit of Harmony”, and the upcoming “Sand Land” Video Game by Dragon Ball Creator Akira Toriyama. 

I had hoped that perhaps this would lead to more disabled actors breaking through into the industry! That Lexi had proven, without a shadow of a doubt, that Deaf people could do Dubbing and do it better than Hearing People! That Risa had proved that there are thousands of talented disabled actors out there if you were just willing to look! Yet with the announcement of Lara Woodhull as Yuki in “A Sign of Affection” it is clear to me that Voice Over still has a long way to go with regards to hiring disabled people. Which is a real shame, since you would think that the success of remote recording during the ongoing pandemic would allow for more disabled (and especially immunocompromised) actors getting cast. 

Many would argue that I am perhaps being hypocritical here. If I am saying that disabled voice actors can play able-bodied roles, then why can’t able-bodied people play disabled roles? This is perhaps a fair question, but from my perspective, disabled people are fully aware of what it is like to be able-bodied. Many of us are already forced to act as if we are, or have had to experience going from being able-bodied to being disabled. So where as disabled people absolutely have the life experience needed to play non-disabled roles, able-bodied people do not. 

This isn't to say that there has never been any examples of non-disabled people playing disabled characters well! Eun-bin Park as Woo Young-Woo in the Korean Courtroom Drama “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” springs to mind. Her performance as the Autistic Woo was incredibly well researched and prepared for. She took great care to talk to real-life autistic people to play the role as authentically as possible. However, this is an exception, not a rule. The majority of able-bodied actors are not willing to put in the same level of time and effort that Eun-bin has.  Equally, Disabled people should still be able to speak for themselves, and not have able-bodied people control the entire narrative. 

An argument is often made that Disabled People do not have enough experience to play lead roles. However, how are actors meant to get this experience if they are not even being cast to play themselves? And surely Lexi once again stands as an example of how someone with no experience in Voice Acting or Dubbing can give award worthy performances?

It is perhaps especially sad that no Hard of Hearing actors have been cast in “A Sign of Affection”, since it would have been the perfect dub to start out on. Due to trauma related to how her voice sounds to others, Yuki has an entirely internalised monologue. This means that the actor playing her doesn't need to match any mouth flaps. This makes things much easier for those new to dubbing, as it allows them to focus on just their acting rather than the more technical side of things. 

Where as some might argue that Yuki’s internal monologue means that it would be ridiculous to cast a person with a Deaf Accent. Ignoring the obvious fact that Yuki may very well have a Deaf Accent in her internal monologue, and that it's down to Hearing People to learn to understand those accents, many d/Deaf people do not even have that accent! Not all d/Deaf folks are born without hearing, many lose it later in life and so maintain their original accents. Equally, not all d/Deaf people are completely without hearing, hence the term “Hard of Hearing”. They might still have full hearing in one ear, or have cochlear implants to improve their overall hearing before it gets to the point of complete loss. Not to mention the increasing effectiveness of regular hearing aids. Whilst naturally a person who has partial hearing is going to have a different lived experience to someone who was born without hearing like Yuki, they would still have far more in common with the character than an Able-bodied actor would. 

It would simply appear that Dub Directors like Jason Lord are simply not willing to put the effort in to find Disabled Talent. But we are out there! We’re working hard and making moves. We’re doing everything that able bodied actors are doing, backwards and with wheels. There are over 350,000 d/Deaf people living in Texas, I am certain at least one of them has a passion and talent for acting. 

So please. Let the Blind Samurai be voiced by a Visually Impaired Person. Let the Robot Armed Star Fighter be played by a person with a prosthetic. Let the sweet deaf girl who is falling in love and discovering the world for the first time through her own hard work and the support of her friends as it becomes accessible to her for the first time, be played by someone who knows exactly what that feels like. 

I do not want to have to write another post like this when the next series with a Disabled Protagonist is announced. I want to be allowed to join in with your celebrations, and not to left looking in through the window as I sit on my scooter in the cold wet rain. Once again refused entry to the party because of the elaborate staircase built by able-bodied people.

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It was a little interesting watching the latest episode of Doctor Who as both a mobility scooter user AND an Epileptic.

Because even though it was very ham-fisted, it made me happy to see the TARDIS with a wheelchair ramp, and to have discrimination against ambulatory users shown as something disgusting and vile.

However, there's always something about brain waves that I will naturally always associate with epileptic people. Seizures are caused by/are indicated by rapid spikes in brain waves. We then saw that the Toymaker made everyone unbelievably angry that it threatened the end of the world. And on the one hand, it's amusing to think of us being immune to these actions in a Hulk Style "I'm always angry" scenario. However, it's difficult to see it and not get a gut feeling of seizures being a sign of possession, something that has been one of the harmful beliefs that has resulted in our murders for countless generations.

So whilst objectively I think that it was just RTD forgetting that we exist, and being ignorant to the history of Epilepsy... it still hurts. It's still something that he did. And there's no really going back from that.

Not until he repents again, and introduces an epileptic character to the series! Something that would mean an awful lot to me. And hey! You could give them a Z-Dex to control their seizures, even.

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So much of it is just "listening to my body" and using that as a sign of what I should or should not do. Including just waking up in the morning and going "No. Not today."

Making sure I take time away, and relax and de-stress. Have something akin to a regular work schedule (back when I could work!) were all important things that just weren't seen as viable.

There was a recent report I saw today on the BBC, that said 4 out of 10 managers admitted to not hiring someone because of their Epilepsy. This is no doubt, in my mind, because managers expect over time and "flexible hours" that only work in THEIR favour not yours.

Again, I refer to my old boss at WHSmiths who told me that requesting to come in half an hour later than expected I was “No A Team Player”. The half hour, for me, was essentially to have all my Absence Seizures out of the way before I started work. Instead, I ended up having them AT work, which caused more problems and resulted in more throughout the day which naturally caused issues when dealing with customers.

So yes, you might not realise it but sometimes just wanting to live a normal and peaceful life is the number one way to combat epilepsy!

Epilepticon Day 28 prompt

What’s something you do because of your epilepsy that most people don’t realize is related to your epilepsy?

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US people with disabilities in the supplemental security income (SSI) program can't have a penny over $2K in their bank account at any time in order to keep their benefits.

You know this economy. That amount is completely unlivable & makes it hard for people with disability to save for the future or have a safety net for emergencies.

A new bill would raise the max to $10K (or $20K for married couples). It would make a world of difference.

Show support, sign this petition.