#representation in manga and anime

[nickpeppermint]

It is always so funny to me, when weebs can't grasp the fact, that gay and trans people exist in manga and anime

" Um this is OBVIOUSLY a girly female woman, then why does everyone refer to her as 'HE'??? Is this a translation error??? 🤔🤔🤔 "

Sir, there's a simpler explanation

And all debates are usually revolved not about characters identity, but around "is this character fuckable for me?"

Same shit for game characters like Frisk Undertale and Chris Deltarune

People think they/them is just "left ambiguous so that players could choose themselves

If devs want to be inclusive, they usually just give player option to customize and choose gender themselves

With Chris the identity part is especially important, because there are certain hints that Toriel might not be fully on this, which probably be explored in next chapters

[yennao]

I was recently reminded of a manga I read when I was like 14. As I am now 22, I read it again. And y'all lemme tell you it still slaps. If y'all haven't read Gangsta., You absolutely should. (provided you are not too young, cuz oh boy is that shit rated M for a reason)

Edit, color:

[fumifooms]

Laios Touden and autism; admiring the non-human

Do you think people exaggerate when they scream about Laios being autistic? Do you feel like it’s weird that so many people including autistics are so set on Laios, the problematic (but incredible and kind) king TM, being the most autistic that has ever autisticed? Why do we cheer on autistic people wanting to be monsters?? Isn’t that weird?

Well, of course it depends on the way it’s done, it can be done quite offensively, but long story short Kui blew it out of the park. The thing is, autistic people really do like monsters and animals and robots. Nonhuman does not mean subhuman, it just means Other. Feeling a connection with them has been shown to be an extremely common autistic experience for that very reason.

Because some people don’t understand why we autistic Tumblr Laios stans cheer “autism! Autism!” whenever he talks about monsters and feeling alienated to humans so! Here’s a post about how yes even research papers are analyzing the special connection we form with animals. I’m not even joking but Laios Touden & the mass cries of relatability with autistic people he gets and all the love for him could be used as study material and evidence for future papers because the link is that strong. Oh also I think it’s notable that being autistic and undiagnosed vs diagnosed makes a huge difference. In my experience as someone who was undiagnosed up until 18, it’s even more alienating to not know that there’s a reason why you’re different, being gaslit that you’re ‘normal’ and you just need to try harder and get with the program, etc. Personally when getting diagnosed I went through the 5 stages of grief because the thought of having been fundamentally different all your life (a difference which you will never be able to change) and mistreated for it when you weren’t “wrong” all along makes you unload all the anger and sadness and loneliness and sheer trauma you’ve built up over time. Like it’s world shattering.

So! Back to seeing dogs as family. Also I implore you to value experiential evidence when it comes to autism and other neurodivergences because brains are complicated and neurotypicals not being able to understand us well even with scientific research is like, a whole thing even though we’re right there speaking about how we feel and being right every time because the topic is literally us and how we experience the world. 

Disclaimer for this whole post that, of course, no group is a monolith and everyone has different experiences or can diverge from the norm of the group, and that doesn’t diminish the validity of either side! Like, I know autistic people who have trauma with dogs and hate them. But, trends do happen, and in this case... Autism is very “My experiences with humans make me feel dehumanized in a bad and lonely way so instead I’ll dehumanize myself in a good and inspiring way”.

“I was treated like a failed human my entire life and you’re surprised that my response was to become a dog.” -Patricia Taxxon

It’s literally well recorded that autistic people relate to animals more than humans globally. With this post, besides spreading autistic Laios truthism and explaining why the portrayal hits so deep for so many,  I want to show in what way this is a very specific experience and not looking at his character through an autistic lense really misses a lot of why he’s everything that he is. (Tacking allegedly onto here for legal reasons, different interpretations are valid etc etc /gen). This honestly isn’t super long though.

To define an important term, anthropomorphism in the studies and in this post means to attribute human traits to the nonhuman, which not only includes anthro furry designs but also animals irl, inanimate objects, and animated media as opposed to live action, to humanize them and empathize with them.

Paper: https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/aut.2019.0027 

“Dogs taught me how to hunt and socialize and work in groups”, Laios having internalized body language... So real so real. I, too, make a great dog impression. And I want to emphase the part that it helps greatly develop a sense of emotions and relationships! For Laios, he didn’t get along with kids his age, it was him, Falin and the dogs against the world. Since it’s a group of dogs too, it taught him group dynamics and social hierarchies (like with Falin being considered as being below the dogs in authority according to the dogs rip), and the importance of group coordination when hunting.

For me, I cannot like, concisely explain just how much animals were important to me developmentally. I also grew up with dogs, but like I vividly remember encounters with like hamsters as well just radically shaping my understanding of boundaries, the importance of giving something space and the way you interact with them and respect their side of it. Unlike humans they don’t really mask how they feel, it’s direct cause-effect reaction and data gathering. There are no words involved, so the focus on having a perfect phrasing and tone is gone, leaving just pure interactions. 

There’s also no reason to mask how you feel either, and you don’t have to feel silly over wanting to form a connection and it showing, what, is the dog gonna laugh at you because you obviously want to make friends with it? Toshiro or Kabru might, but dogs and cats will just tell you to fuck off and leave it there worst case scenario. I often say that I think one reason Marcille is special to Laios and he feels comfortable around her is because she emotes INTENSELY, she gestures, she puts her whole body into it, her facial expressions are pretty exaggerated and her ears even emote too- like with a dog’s ears!

I think there’s def also things to be said about how he gravitated towards Izutsumi at first, all excited, was eager to sleep in the same bed as her, but in the Izutsumi sleep rating chart we see they really just casual and chill so it’s not a Laios talking to Shuro deep into the night situation just a “I like sleeping besides animals” situation and that is enough to hype him up. I love how he pet her in the extra about why Chil let her sleep with him too. He’s just so transparently eager to befriend her, even if in the end they weren’t all that compatible and he accepted that.

There are honestly so many examples I could give for this. Like Grandin the famous cow lady.

More about autism & empathy:

https://www.spectrumnews.org/news/double-empathy-explained/ (Also mentions a study in which groups of autistic, allistic then a mixed group played a game of telephone and both singular groups had similar levels of information retention, but the mixed group was significantly worse. As an autistic person yeah duh, obviously autistic people are different from one another and can have plenty of interpersonal issues, but communicating with other neurodivergent people feels pretty intuitive and straightforward and comfortable. One of the reasons why neurodivergent people tend to naturally gravitate towards each other I suppose.) 

^ Paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5932358/  For good, extensive summary of why we relate to animals so much you can go to the “anthromorphizing and asd” section of the paper. This paper extends to our widespread liking of cartoons and robots as well. Ok so this is a whole thing I won’t get into here but this is a big reason why a lot of autistic people are agender leaning as well. Genders and queerness in general is a lot about social constructs, and being queer is being marginal to these, not fitting into boxes or challenging those social norms and conventions. Queerplatonic relationships are a great example of this, where the framework of the relationship is platonic but the intangible nature of what it is exactly is the point, not familial not anything but everything at once too, just adoration, I like to say having pets is a bit like it as well, bc obvi it’s not romantic and often not fully familial, very platonic but also sooo much cuddling and adoration and kissing and whatnot that you wouldn’t typically do with a friend or family member. I’ll talk about qpr and labels another day though.

I got carried away but queerness in Dunmeshi is something I 100% want to make a big post on one day. Experiencing the world with different guidelines and not registering things to have the same boxes, sigh. Personally I also relate to Laios on a gender level, “cis by default because I don’t care all that much but if I were to dig deeper I’m probably otherkin and I want to be socially associated with traits of monsters and animalistic rather than man/woman” sighh hard to be a cryptid in this day and age. I wish we had a term like furry but for monsters, I want to be in the fantasy or folk tale genre ty, like changelings. Goshh changelings... You know, the irl myth where people said their neurodivergent kids were fairies’ children instead of human. Diminished physical sense of self means I see myself as some unknowable black  void aesthetic wise, but like in a way that simultaneously makes me feel seen. Like becoming a monster, losing your sense of self but also somehow just being simplified and seen for what you are, it’s weird to try and explain. This post is more about relating to the nonhuman than about seeing yourself as such, but like connect the dots right, that IS an important point of Laios’ character. It’s because our brains literally work different than allistics which makes us feel as other, but also because of social ostracization and functioning in a different way than society at large, living in the margin of society, being weird and non-conforming.

Meanwhile, animals and social norms... Like ok, showing your neck and rolling on the ground to show that you’re friendly and harmless and play biting might not be proper. But have you considered that it’s also fun and feels very intuitive. Play with a dog in the dog’s way I promise it is so nice and freeing. Play tug of war and growl back when they growl. Hiss at your cat to tell them they do something wrong, engage with them on their level.

Autism made social life hard, but it made animals easy. Do you have anyyy idea how good it feels to mask all day every day and feel constantly misunderstood or like you’re doing a performance but then you can just, drop all of that in the company of animals and they understand you. They understand you. You form an understanding and rapport so easily.

And this whole thing with Laios is so explicit too, with the Winged Lion saying “You’re sick and tired of the human world”. Notice the choice of words. Sick and tired of the human world. Exhausted from the constraints, sick of the mind games. It really isn’t as much about loving monsters as it is about loving the nonhuman. Relating to them because you feel that you can actually understand how they work and think, and feeling like they could understand you back as well. Animals are safe.

Like I could go on about how Laios admiring even just demi-humans like orcs is because they’re socially seen as non-humans more than any true physical thing, that they’re not bound by human society and its rules and live with their own lifestyle. But it would deal myself 1000 points of psychic damage and I am not ready to cry today. It’s idealization 100%, and like, Laios DOES want to be treated as human, to be valued, but it feels like an unreachable thing meanwhile becoming a monster is instant gratification and freedom and a sense that now no one will be able to hurt you in a way that reaches you, never again shall you be defenseless, and then if people dehumanize you then that only strengthens your sense of identity as a monster and UGHH ugh ugh.

And like. This post is a mess at this point but if you want to kinda delve into the more “why” then I recommend this Patricia Taxxon video essay. It starts out on a very different topic, but it’s all about autism and finding comfort in the inhuman. Long story short is othering made us like this also animals are just simpler to intuitively get along with.

So when I post this

I mean it. I really mean it when I say he’s me. I have never felt so seen. So many conflicting emotions all wrapped so concisely yet so intangibly woven into the whole storyline so subtly. 

Not being depicted as a monster of an human being for feeling/having felt that way?? The manga understands you. The world can understand you. Other humans can understand you. You can bond with them. You can. And I think that’s a big part of Dungeon Meshi too- Laios opening up to others about how he really is and his interests, and all the bumps on the way but how it was the only way to truly get to know each other and bond. With the climax being Laios confronting head on his complex with monsters and humans, and his monster-loving side and animalistic side being exactly what saves the whole world, what saves humanity. Because Laios does value his friends, does think humanity has beautiful sides to it, he wants to help it thrive and eat and become more accepting, carving out a kingdom for misfits and demi-humans. At the end of it, transforming into a monster and being free is a daydream fantasy, and the reality of it is that Laios does belong in the world as he is, and does receive and give out love.

If you enjoyed this you’ll probably like some of my other Laios analysis!  Here’s an analysis of his succubus and what it says about his relationships with other humans. And here’s an analysis about his relationship with Shuro from his perspective.

[ilovelumity3000]

currently reading WataOshi vol. 3 bonus stories for the first time (SPOILERS AHEAD), and i gotta say:

somehow, this books take on queer representation is a perfect blend of "Everyone is Gay" escapist fantasy, and the depiction of how harsh and cruel reality can be for LGBT people

Yes, Claire and Rae get to have a wedding and their own kids, with fully supportive parents/in-laws. And Yes, everyone from thier friend group (except for like, two dudes) ends up being incredibly queer

But also...

the story does not pretend this world is all rainbows and sunshines for LGBT people, just becuase its a yuri romance. The world at large is still either ignorant, or openly hostile towards non-cishet people. The state and the church dont legally recognize Rae & Claire as married, even though everyone who knows them does.

Inori's depiction of LGBT issues manages to simultaneously be realistic, AND incredibly optimistic, and i absolutely love her for it

[missbliss12]

Another quick Nao-chan doodle from Skip and Loafer for Pride Month.

That spot at home by the sea among the tall weeds…

[slasherstation]

Do you know any mangas with good black representation ? Namely characters with black features because I feel it can be really tricky to implement them without seeming racist.

I think you can add black characters in manga without seeming racist!

Some manga with black rep would be

Hunter x Hunter (Canary)

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (Muhammad Avdol)

Michiko & Hatchin (Michiko is actually inspired by late black artist Aaliyah)

Cowboy Bebop (Coffee)

Bleach (Kaname Tōsen)

Soul Eater (Kiriku Rungu)

Naruto Shippuden (Karui Akimichi and Omoi)

Fire Force (Ogun Montgomery)

Afro Samurai (Afro Samurai)

Carole and Tuesday (Carole Stanley)

Honorable and very good mentions:

Attack on Titan (Onyankopon)

The Great Pretender (Dorothy)

Canon Busters (Created by a black man with black leads)

Witch Hat Atelier (Jujy)

Haikyuu!! (Aran Ojiro)

Sword Art Online (Agil)

Re-Main (Yutaka Babayaro Inomata)

And there are a few others too! I feel like anime and manga SHOULD add black characters without being racist or having weird and racist designs. I think anime and manga is moving in the right direction when it comes to black rep. And people should not be afraid to add characters like that. Many anime fans are black and love to see themselves!

Also a good account that posts black rep and dark skin rep would be @Blackanimechar on twitter (they haven’t posted since 2022) but it’s still good to look at

I believe the more diverse an anime is the better!

[cringeyvanillamilk]

Sakura Haruka, my beloved! 🥺✨

[wesleysniperking]

usopp positivity post #6

Representation matters…

One of the reasons I got into the show was because of Usopp.

I used to work at a store that sold a lot of anime/manga merch, and I’d see One Piece merch a lot. I’d see the familiar Straw Hat Jolly Roger and sometimes Monkey D. Luffy. But I was vaguely aware of who Zoro and Nami were. That’s it. I didn’t even know what the plot of One Piece was, or any of the characters names. Maybe Zoro’s….? But I was still lost.

But then the live action came out. And I saw a poster of Jacob Gibson when the promotional character posters of the live action were released. And I was like, “Wait? One Piece has a black character?”

The live action may get a polarized reception, but I definitely think it did get people looking. There were various clips on YouTube from the Live Action that made me look too. Sanji and Usopp were the Straw Hats out of the original 5 who I knew nothing about.

But I was pleasantly surprised 😲.

Anywho, I didn’t watch the live action. And instead opted for the anime (and manga—a faster finish!). And I wasn’t still sure if Usopp would become my favorite character, but he very well did upon his first introduction of “THE PIRATES ARE COMING!!!”, and well, the rest is history.

So, yeah.

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[cepheusgalaxy]

I say today is black anime awareness week

Me first

Carole, from Carole and Tuesday. Music anime, fiction, light sci-fi

[eri-la-nutria]

Friendly reminder: Poison Ivy is canonically bi and an activist for the trans rights

[dark-nimbus]

My Opinions on Anime and Manga in Western Countries

CW: fetishization, oversexualization, racial stereotyping, as always lmk if I’m missing anything

Everytime I tell someone I'm not an avid fan of anime or manga, the usual response is shock and confusion, paired with "how?? But you're Asian!"

What hasn't occurred to them, I assume, is that those kinds of stereotypes are part of why I'm not a huge fan

Do I hate all anime and manga? No, not at all. In fact I do have a few books and shows that I enjoy, my favorite manga of all time being Arslan Senki (go check it out, the series is criminally underrated). However, I'm very picky about which ones I read and watch, and for very good reason. To be more specific, I'm not a fan of anime and manga as it's been generally received by Western countries

For the record: if you're from the Americas and like manga and anime, this is not me dogging on you. Everyone has the right to enjoy what they do, as long as they aren't harming anyone or their integrity

Now unfortunately, in my experience I've had to deal with the not harmless enjoyers more often than not

Take the first sentence of this post as an example. People always expect me to be largely enthusiastic about East Asian-originating media, despite knowing I've spent the vast majority of my life living in the middle of the US and was raised by people who are the furthest thing from Asian. I know next to nothing about my heritage or my culture and have grown up completely in American society, but even with this knowledge I'll still be met with shocked expressions when I say I've never watched whatever show or how anime isn't my favorite thing in the world. All because I look a certain way

That stereotyping attachment of race to media is just one of the many reasons I don't like anime or manga, and it unfortunately goes deeper than that

Japan already has an issue of oversexualizing women in their media, and you can see it in the skimpy outfits, big boobs, giant eyes, petite forms, and overall simping mannerisms they have towards male characters. This is by no means found in every show or book, but it's present in most. Even Arslan Senki, my favorite manga, favors putting Farangis, a priestess, in a sexualizing outfit over living up to the rest of the story's historical authenticity. With anime and manga growing more popular in the West, the impact of how women are portrayed is reflected in how people interact more and more

I can't tell you how many times I've had to hear about how people, from first dates to classmates to random strangers have fetishized Asian women because they wanted someone to live out their weird anime fantasies with. Hell, I have some stories of my own too. I've known Asian content creators who've been left creepy comments from viewers, some of which asking for them to talk in a high-pitched whiney "anime girl" voice and say a sexualized line using Japanese honorifics in a fetishizing manner. Asian cosplayers will constantly get demands to dress up in a maid outfit or cosplay certain anime characters for them to "simp" over

Even other cosplayers aren't safe from fetishizers. Other PoC cosplayers, black cosplayers especially, are consistently put on blast for cosplaying anime characters because those characters "aren't black." If it's not an Asian cosplayer, the creeps' fetishizing fantasies can't be lived up to, so they give black cosplayers shit instead. But gods forbid they do the same to white cosplayers, since being white is always the default to them apparently. How dare anyone try to give a white cosplayer shit for cosplaying a Japanese character when all anime characters are Japanese, that's unfair to them, right? But it's okay to have a double standard because the characters look white enough, right?

There was even a Japanese boxer from a few months ago that people latched onto, because apparently any East Asian guy with messy blond hair looks like Bakugo. MHA fangirls, many of which being minors, went crazy on him, making comments that are far from appropriate for that kind of interaction and fully reimagining this completely real human being as a fictional character for their own fetishizing purposes

If we're not stereotyped, we're being sexualized. The spreading influence of fetishizing Asian people only grows with the popularity of anime and manga in countries further west. It's been used to thirst, hit on, even threaten East Asian people, women especially. Our safety and comfort has been royally screwed by anime "simps" and it only continues to worsen, even more so for Asian Americans and content creators

One of the worst things about being Asian and growing up in America is how anime was the closest thing to connecting to my culture, and what did anime tell little me about being Asian? That my skin had to be pale, my eyes wide, I had to be short and curvy, and I had to sound ultra-feminine. Those were the values that the world expected out of me. Cassandra Cain was there to be my saving grace, thankfully, but the impression anime girls have on others will never be a positive or realistic one unless Japan re-evaluates its media as a whole and non-Asian viewers can find the maturity to not implement the same things on other people

[troythecatfish]

[overthemoonx]

The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn’t a Guy at All: An Offbeat Romance

❌No Spoilers❌

I say no spoilers because this can all be found in the series description and first chapter. If you want to go into this series completely clean, not knowing what it’s about at all, then stop reading and go for it!

Anyways.

For a brief synopsis of the series, picture this: You’re a popular, fashionable girl who fits the stereotypical “preppy” title in some sort of way (or gyaru if you will). But you stand out from the rest. Why? Maybe because you have Aerosmith or Skid Row blasting in your ears as you’re finding an old MTV music video to watch as your friends are talking about the latest drama.

And before you’re all like “Pick me! She’s a pick me!” Don’t even. Aya, the girl I was just describing, is anything but. She’s just a fashionista with music taste that doesn’t align with her style, or the style of anyone around her. And with that in mind, it’s no surprise she’s at least a tad bit lonely.

But this loneliness is short lived once she finds her way into the life of a cute CD store worker, who shares the same music taste as her. Just like that, a crush is born!

Aya can’t help but rant to her friends at school about this new person in her life. Her rants catch the attention of Mitsuki, a girl with a striking resemblance to the guy Aya’s interested in…

My goodness, I binged this series in an entire day. This series perfectly captures the whole “falling for a girl for the first time” feeling in such a fresh way. The characters are extremely well written and fleshed out, especially the main duo.

I find Aya the most relatable to me because she’s just such a hopeless romantic, I love her. And yes! Expect many music references, you’ll be surprised. Not to mention probably the most iconic moment in history (chapter 26).

If you like music and lighthearted romance (that can be real when needed to be), give this one a shot! Btw, on Twitter, the author Sumiko Arai posts many cool doodles of the series!

[yurimother]

Deaf Character Featured in Newly Licensed Yuri Manga 'The Moon on a Rainy Night'

On Sunday at Anime NYC, Kodansha USA announced that it will publish Kuzushiro's romance manga The Moon on a Rainy Night (Amayo no Tsuki) in English. The manga is notable for featuring a deaf character, Kanon, in its central Yuri storyline.

The publisher describes the manga:

One day, while rushing to a piano lesson, a girl named Saki collides with someone on the street. As Saki collects herself, the stranger picks up the sheet music Saki dropped, hands it to Saki together with a band-aid, and continues on her way-all without saying a word. Saki is left wondering about the identity of the tall, lovely stranger, only to discover the next day that she is one of her classmates at her new high school. The girl's name is Kanon, and though she is hearing impaired, she refuses any kind of support or "special treatment" from her teachers or classmates. Over the course of the year, Saki slowly grows closer to Kanon and begins to chip away at her cold exterior.

The Moon on a Rainy Night has received mostly positive reviews from critics and audiences. Erica Friedman of Okazu gave the first volume an 8/10 score, praising Kuzushiro's signature artwork and the way the manga "neither fetishizes nor romanticizes deafness." However, she criticized some elements of the story, like the early chapters pacing and the bully characters. The first Japanese volume holds a perfect five-star rating on Amazon with 348 reviews.

The manga began serialization in June 2021 on Comic Days, with new chapters releasing every other week. It is one of several LGBTQ+ works serialized on the platform, alongside Keito Gaku's Boys Run the Riot, Asuka Miyazaki's X-Gender, and Koyubi Sugawara's My Idol Sits the Next Desk Over! Kodansha publishes three volumes of the manga in Japanese.

Kuzushiro is a Japanese mangaka known for her Yuri series, including Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san, Love Death., and Living With My Brother's Wife, which is published in English on Square Enix's Manga Up! app.

The first volume of The Moon on a Rainy Night will be released in English in the Fall of 2023.

[existingtm]

There's truly a popular manga/anime where one of the most important characters is openly genderqueer/nonbinary! Openly! Not alluded to but openly! And they're portrayed very well!

I just have to let that sink in every now and then.

I really am grateful for MochiJun's work—not just because it's incredible overall—but also because it has so much beautiful queerness in it!

[autumnmobile12]

I finally got around to watching Requiem of the Rose King.

Let me tell you, this manga got me back into history; I read a lot on the Wars of the Roses after reading this series. I loved the story and the artwork. The creator, Aya Kanno, also did Otomen, which is an adorable manga about defying traditional gender roles and learning acceptance, so she does good stuff. Requiem of the Rose King is based off of several Shakespearean plays and the English civil war that eventually brought about the downfall of the Plantagenet Dynasty.

Keeping true to Kanno's previous work about positive messages about gender, the story also features an intersex individual as the main protagonist and the emotional strife they face in a medieval world that cruelly labels anyone who doesn't fall into the strict 'male or female' gender as 'demonic.' Richard's father declared he should be raised male, he is denied the affection from his mother who is horrified she gave birth to a 'demon,' and his brothers are unaware of their intersex sibling. In addition, Richard is tormented by his 'female half' and denounces his own body as demonic, which is a true tragedy brought about by a time period of people who just didn't know any better and couldn't see past their own prejudices.

Requiem of the Rose King is a beautiful story and I highly recommend the manga.

So the anime....

Oh, the pacing...the pacing....holy shit, slow down, slow down! Episode 1 practically raced through volume 1. Shit, if I hadn't read the manga first, I probably wouldn't have a clue was what was going on.

I'm gonna stick it out on the hope it gets better and treated the first book like a severely rushed prologue, but...wow, I am not impressed by this opening.