New home

We've transfered at http://kitsunetoneko.wordpress.com/  Please visit us there and relocate your links, because we'll make this blog private within a week. Thank you very much *waves rail*

Happy 2013!

Happy new year, minna-san!

This past year has been very special when we look back at our archives; and it's partially thanks to inspiration we got from fellow bloggers and the motivation ignited by our visitors and the Aniblog Tourney. So, thank you for your love and support!

On 31.1.2013 our blog and diaries will officially be 3 years old. In order to celebrate the fact, we've decided to move to Wordpress. Since moving there and getting everything ready till then will occupy quite some time, we'll take another short break from blogging. In the meantime, we'd like to know your honest opinion on our blog and make suggestions that would improve it. Don't be afraid to comment!

Yours faithfully,
Foxy Lady & Neko

A rose-colored life and thorns of youth: a Hyouka review

Houtarou Oreki, a high school freshman who believed in conserving his energy, finds himself in the classic club, a club on the verge of dissolution. There he meets Eru Chitanda, a heroine with a hearty curiosity, and his old friends from middle school, Mayaka Ibara and Satoshi Fukube. Together at Kamiyama High School the four of them investigate various incidents in this youthful academy mystery. ~ from ANN

Hyouka is surely one of the most memorable series that came out this year. Many people with different tastes embraced it and I think this speaks for how good it was. One may claim that popularity doesn't equal quality, but here Kyoto Animation amazed us at many levels. I can't say it's a flawless series or that everyone will like it. Yet if get excited with mundane questions and 'mysteries' and if you've got a little bit of patience to see the characters develop slowly, then you'll cherish Hyouka for sure.

It isn't very easy for me to talk about a series which was heavily discussed and for which you can find a review almost in every other anime blog. Nevertheless, I hope my fondness of the series will make up for this fact, and in case you haven't watched the series, I wish my enthousiasm will convince you to try it.

Left Unsaid: 2. Breeding Dehumanization

Preface

Transgenders are the part of the LGBT community that has suffered the most. At least half of them have been kicked out of their homes, bullied in their schools, laughed at in hospitals and churches. People like Charlie Trueman and Tom Blake[1], characters from Tab Kimpton's great webcomic Khaos Komix, have to fight and safeguard their identity all the time, so that one day they will earn universal respect.

Memory and Oblivion in Sora no Woto

The price of a memory, is the memory of the sorrow it brings.
― Pittacus Lore, I Am Number Four


We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.
— Kenji Miyazawa (1896-1933)


Remembrance of things past is not necessarily the remembrance of things as they were.
― Marcel Proust


The scars that are left in a person’s soul after surviving a war, the ways a society tries to console and redeem itself, how the historical truth gets twisted, suited and tailored to different people’s needs: these are topics that Sora no Woto, beyond its flaws, managed to sing about elegantly. The sound of the sky carried and awakened memories…

Animediet was kind enough to host me once more. Check the rest of my post there.

Okama, gay boys, blue boys, anime 'boys': transgenderism and homosexuality in Japan

Fire Emblem/ Nathan Seymour in his Hero suit

The past week (12-19 November) was Transgender Awareness Week, so I thought of bringing up some thoughts I had concerning how gender dysphoria and transgenderism seem to be often confused with homosexuality in Japan, especially in the media. Also, digging up internetic files can shed light to the aforementioned phenomenon, and I'm here to share the information with you.

Since Tiger & Bunny is a fresh 'hit' and its audience wasn't primarily children, Fire Emblem can be used as a good example of what I'm going to make a point of.

A small comment on Ojii-san no Lamp

Ojii-san no Lamp is a 23 minute long short film that was produced in 2010 for the Young Animator Training Project, an effort for revitalizing the anime industry. Out of the four short films that were produced that year, this one was unanimously the best. Not only did it amaze with its graphics, but also with its plot and storytelling.

A boy finds a strange object while playing hide-and-seek. His grandfather tells him the story of his own youth, and the important role the old lamp played. This story is about the modernization of Japan and the changes that came with it. ~ My Anime List

If you haven't watched it, just go already. The summary should be intriguing enough. If it hasn't convinced you, you can check other reviews and analysis. I'm here to contribute something else, even if it's just a small comment, that hasn't been mentioned up till now: the probable reference and meaning of the opening scene.

Asian Artists: lines & dots

clockwise: Kunie Kunibara, Minoru, pai, Naoki Yamamoto

Here I am again! I'm sharing with you colorful happiness on paper~ Lots of pretty, long hair with dozes of elegance and craziness after the cut!

The nature of love in Yuri and BL

Almost a year ago, 2DT, whom we all know and love, wrote a thought-provoking post over at Yi's Listless Ink, titled Learning the Art of Love: Yuri versus BL. I gave my two cents in the comment section and got the thumps up. And since it's not often you get credit from the most-respected figure in the anisphere, I think I should treasure these ideas here in our diaries, while I revisit them, elaborate on and add to the discussion.

I'll kiss you and you'll fall in love with me- Ramblings on Shoujo

starsamaria: Over at tokyojupiter Anna T. wrote a very nice post about the current running shoujo series. It’s interesting that all 3, Kamisama Hajimemashita, Sukitte Ii Na Yo, Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun feature a kiss in the first episode – I’m used to shoujo series taking a bit more time to get that far!

Reflections on Animanga Blogs- The Roundup

Blog carnival round up from Iris Alepoudeli

Some updates and a request

GLorious Love- Part 3 (special edition)

"The love that cannot speak its name" has long come out in streets in many countries around the world and talks in loud and prideful voice for itself. But queers aren't only the L and the G or even the B in LGBT. What about the T? Or the I that is still missing in many occasions or gets represented by the Q. This post suggests manga that are about transgenderism and intersexuality. We shouldn't forget these friends of us who go outside of binaries.

This post is dedicated to @PodaDixa and @anya_fennec.

The latter accepted my invitation and offers kindly her opinion on the featured manga as well as some tips to the young members of the transgender family. Anya is the blogger over at Forty-Four Fennecs, a MtF herself, and is currently writing a novel, Sweets and Steel, which deals with sexuality and transgendered issues. Feel free to contact her, if you need to ask anything!

GLorious Love - Part 2

This month the Pride Festivals around the world come to an end for this year. Before that, though, let's see some GL manga that take their protagonists' sexuality seriously. 

BLazed Passion - Part 2

Two dads can be equally awesome as other families - but doubly sexy ;) Yaoi sure understand that women have a thing for caring men and took advantage of the fact. And like always, there are very few of the bunch that stand out and show plausible situations and relationships. Let's take a look at the delicious titles I've gathered here.

When I wish upon a star

Ok, I know Tanabata was a month ago, but since I mixed things up, I can't do much. You'll just pretend the wishing paper was hung on the tree the proper day.

Left Unsaid: 1. Voluntary Death

Preface

This is the first post of a series of articles called Left Unsaid. The project will be dedicated on analyzing various social and personal aspects of life, usually subjects of ambiguous debate. We wish to use this series as a tool to go deeper into our own experiences and to help other people through mutually beneficial discussions. We believe that the world is beautiful and we wish to make it even better. This is one of our contributions to this effort.

Introduction

As a teenager I remember a word very intriguing to me: death. When I truly started to think and analyze the world around me, the majesty and absolute power of death seemed overwhelming to the eyes of this young boy. Like many other kids my age, I felt like it was something I desired to experience. On this article, I am using volume one of Confidential Confessions (CC) and the story of its heroines, Manatsu and Asparagus, to talk about my own experiences and explain how manga art treats one's wish to voluntary abandon life.

Reflections on Animanga Blogs

Allow me to start first to give you an idea of what I have in mind for this massive taking-notes session. :D

Blog Carnival: Reflections on Animanga Blogs

Grief and Loss in Anime: a case examination of Puella Madoka Magica Magi, Mawaru Penguindrum and X

Either you are recently introduced to anime or you are a seasoned fan, it's highly unlikely you haven't watched or simply heard about the first two shows in the picture above, because twitter, forums and blogs were abuzz and overly hyped about them last year. Now, it's highly possible you don't even recognize the hunks in the bottom and the anime/manga they are from, unless you are an obsessed fan of CLAMP or a MADHOUSE admirer. All three of them have as central themes the loss and how people face them. The important issue here is how these series present the themes and how well they handle them...