My new pop culture review, Crunchyroll's A.I.-subtitling controversy, a Texan law which could lead to anime and manga censorship, Pixar's 'Elio' folly, and positive news
This newsletter will bring together articles about animation, anime, S.B. 20 in Texas, issues around Pixar's new film, and positive developments to contrast the awfulness that's going on right now
Hello everyone! It's been a while since my last newsletter (June 10th) and even longer since my previous newsletter about popular culture, particularly animation and queer content (on May 19th). This newsletter is "too long for email", meaning it may be cut off in your email inboxes. Just a fair warning about that. I'd like to first note my recent review of part one of Ark: The Animated Series for Okazu (a site run by Erica Friedman which describes itself as "the world's oldest and most comprehensive blog on lesbian-themed Japanese cartoons, comics and related media"). Here's an excerpt from that spoiler-heavy review, with some of the most salient parts:
...Helena has to survive, make new allies, and avoid being killed. This mature sci-fi series is bloody and brutal in some ways…[but is] inspiring, with Helena choosing science rather than cruelty. People from a variety of cultures...fight alongside her for what is right and against the forces of oppression...primarily led by two White men...The series serves as a bit of an antidote for the current, and terrible, political environment in the U.S. where anything and anyone claimed to promote diversity, inclusion, or equity is under attack...the voice cast is not the only place there is diversity...One series writer, Kendall Deacon Davis, is a Black man. The other, Marguerite Bennett, is a queer woman known for her depiction of female relationships...This series is queer from the very beginning. In the first episode, Helena, after she has been isekai'd to the Ark, has flashbacks of her with her wife Victoria...There's the implication Victoria somehow brings Helena back to life in the Ark...Helena has no chance to stay depressed...she is thrown into yet another life-threatening situation...This is when Meiyin comes into the picture...Their connection goes beyond any intimate friendship...Meiyin...is a skilled warrior [but]...has her own weaknesses and vulnerabilities...The final episode brings Meiyin and Helena closer..once Helena gets inside the enemy palace[, then] she discovers...Meiyin [who is[...tied up on a crucifix...While the series villains had hoped to exploit Helena's love for Meiyin...their actions allowed the love between them to blossom...Helena and Meiyin realize their feelings for one another...The next part of Ark: The Animated Series, set to come later this year, promises to be even more queer.
With that, let me move onto the rest of my newsletter.
There is some disturbing news when it comes to Crunchyroll seemingly using ChatGPT, OpenAI's awful and wicked generative A.I. chatbot, for subtitles, for the series Necronomico and the Cosmic Horror Show. That isn't surprising considering this the same company which disabled commenting on any episodes of anime series (which has its positives and negatives as I noted in a previous newsletter), failing to meet industry standards for closed captioning, shutting down the Funimation app, erasing digital libraries people had on Funimation that were "supposed to be accessible 'forever'," and the loss of "over 60,000 minutes of anime upon the transition to Crunchyroll" as I noted in another newsletter. Otherwise, Crunchyroll snubbed a meeting with a union rep from SAG-AFTRA, back in fall 2022, and removed its "long-running free ad-supported simulcast viewing option" in August 2022 as well.
More pertinent is the buried news about the Texas law (also known as Senate Bill 20 or SB 20) which commentators believe will be used to possibly ban anime. The law, on its face, aims to crack down on explicit child pornographic content involving minors (those under age 18), whether it is A.I.-generated, real, or drawn. However, it has been described by some critics as having "potential implications for fictional content," with concerns that the broad language in the legislation could "inadvertently criminalize certain forms of anime and manga" such as that which feature stylized characters who "may appear youthful." It could also inadvertently criminalize "certain forms of artistic expression," such as certain anime or manga, "even when no real children are involved."
The law's penalties range from a state jail felony to a second-degree felony for repeat offenses. Others described the law as an "anime ban" or having a chilling effect and creating anxiety among anime and manga fans, artists, and creators, many of whom argue that the law's scope is too broad. Additionally, Anime Hunch noted that the bill could, if enacted into law, "potentially criminalize the possession of anime, manga, and video games featuring characters appearing to be minors in 'obscene' situations." ScreenRant described the bill as going against the 2002 U.S. Supreme Court precedent set in Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition, which stated that "outlawing 'virtual' images of minors, that would not otherwise be considered obscene, was unconstitutional."
Chris Kincaid of Japan Powered has the most specific description of how the bill could impact anime and manga (and its fans), and even librarians, within Texas, after the bill takes effect on September 1st of this year. What he describes is scary to think about:
S.B. No. 20's language could include anime fans, streaming platforms, and librarians by possessing, intentionally viewing, and promoting anime and manga which would run afoul of the obscenity definition. Could this mean a fan could get in trouble with the law if they buy or view banned titles? Possibly…If you live in Texas and this gets passed, you could get into trouble by watching Gushing Over Magical Girls or some other ecchi anime. Librarians might also get into legal trouble if they offer access or even suggest, 'promote,' a manga or novel which has underage characters in sexual situations. Crunchyroll, HiDive, and other anime-related companies have headquarters and offices in Texas...so this bill may influence what they offer if passed into law. Texas's bill and other related state regulations often target LGBTQ+ materials, in particular, for bans. The Florida situation with Sasaki and Miyano happened because it's a Boys' Love story. These laws and bills also catch Young Adult novels, which are often sexually graphic and involve minors. Most book challenges come from concerned parents and people who haven't read or watched the content...S.B. No. 20's language looks like it will catch many anime and manga stories with its net. It's too soon to say how often this will happen if the bill and others like it become law. The US seems to be on course for more regulations like this and for regulations which establish criminal liability against teachers and librarians. Authors may also censor themselves. This...will likely drive more people away from those fields and...make some Japanese anime and manga companies hesitant to release some of their edgier stories to the States.
Kincaid has a point about Crunchyroll and HIDIVE. Crunchyroll LLC (formerly known as Funimation), which operates the Crunchyroll streaming service, is based at 3501 Olympus Blvd, Suite 400 in Coppell, Texas. HIDIVE and Sentai Filmworks, subsidiaries of AMC Networks (as is A.D. Vision), are based in Houston. Additionally, the Anime Matsuri convention happens in downtown Houston every year (one of the co-founders spoke out against the law). Other related conventions are also in Houston (Japan Festival), Irving, Texas (A-Kon), Fort Worth (Anime Frontier), Galveston (Oni-Con), Round Rock, Texas (Ikkicon), San Antonio (San Japan), Austin (Ushicon) and Arlington, Texas (AnimeFest). Also, there's Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, which says on their website, that, to them, "an obscure foreign language drama can be just as worthy of attention and fanfare as the latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe." They have aired various anime films in the past, and have seventeen locations within Texas (five in Austin, one in Houston, two in San Antonio, five in the Dallas-Forth Worth area, two in El Paso, and three in other Texas cities). Possibly this bill could lead to censorship of what films they show. Furthermore, the independent production company Troublemaker Studios is located in Austin. Rooster Teeth was located in Austin, before Warner Bros. Discovery cruelly shut it down, and it could return to Texas. While the law's possible effects aren't fully known, it could lead to censorship at these conventions and/or self-censorship by individuals and companies.
Other companies are either based in New York (GKIDS, Konami Cross Media NY, and Media Blasters), Washington State (Amazon, Inc.), North Carolina (AnimEigo), Florida (Discotek Media), or California (Disney, Eleven Arts, Hasbro Entertainment, Netflix, Shout! Factory/Shout! Studios, Aniplex of America, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Television, Viz Media, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Warner Bros. Television Studios), so they likely wouldn’t be affected, unless the law's reach somehow goes across state lines (again, another reason it could be declared unconstitutional). On the latter, Jeff Trexler, legal expert and director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, said that the law "allows for an unconstitutional prosecution for possessing certain cartoons or animation." On a related note are bills like HB 1375 which will authorize "filing lawsuits against comic shops for selling graphic novels that anyone finds objectionable." One article even noted that supporters of SB 20 said that "some of the more adult-themed anime and manga can cross the line" even if the law was reportedly "carefully drafted to likely pass muster under the First Amendment" (doubtful).
Some, like communications and internet law lawyer Jeremy Malcolm, said that even if it is "unlikely that mainstream manga or anime works" would be affected by the law, "there are still constitutional questions over laws such as this," and noted that those worried about this law are "wise to be concerned about this law and how it affects the constitutional rights of anime and manga fans." Another lawyer, working in consumer law, named James L. Arrasmith, added that although mainstream anime usually "avoids explicit underage sex," with the law's provisions, "fan art or more risqué subgenres could become targets," adding that "the vague language and fear of prosecution may chill your ability to legally buy, download, or gift manga and anime depicting youthful characters in borderline situations." And you know what they will target: queer anime and manga. Remember what Project 2025 said about porn. The introduction, written by Kevin D. Roberts, President of the Heritage Foundation, complains about non-existent "toxic normalization of transgenderism with drag queens and pornography invading...school libraries" (page 1). More than that, however, is what he says on page 5, declaring porn has "no claim to First Amendment protection" (wrong), says it should be outlawed, and that:
The people who produce and distribute it should be imprisoned. Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders. And telecommunications and technology firms that facilitate its spread should be shuttered.
That's exactly what S.B. 20 begins. It doesn't do all of what the Project 2025 plan is saying, but it does state that those who produce/distribute what is being considered child porn will be imprisoned, by saying that anyone who "knowingly possesses, accesses with intent to view, or promotes obscene visual material containing a depiction that appears to be of a child younger than 18 years of age," whether that is an actual child, animated, a cartoon, or "image created using an artificial intelligence application or other computer software," will be a state-level felony. It goes hand-in-hand with efforts in states such as Oklahoma to ban porn for "moral sanity" reasons or efforts by reactionary democracy-hating, queerphobic, and climate-change-denying senators like Mike Lee. He had such a broad definition of obscenity that Gizmodo noted it "could effectively criminalize Game of Thrones." The latter includes three gay characters (Renly Baratheon, Loras Tyrell, and Olyvar), four bisexual characters (Oberyn Martell, Ellaria Sand, Marei, and Doreah), two asexual characters (Olyvar and Hodor), one pansexual character (Yara Greyjoy) plus having a lot of female nudity, violence, and sexual violence, the latter three undoubtedly used to target the series.
Lee's law, named the Interstate Obscenity Definition Act (introduced first in 2022 and 2024, and again this year), is backed by reactionaries. It defines obscenity as content which "appeals to an excessive amount of interest in nudity or sex," "shows or describes real or fake sexual acts," or "lacks scientific, political, artistic or literary value." That's much broader than the 1973 Miller test in Miller v. California. Lee's bill is a free speech nightmare, as some call it. How it defines obscenity is much broader than how some anti-porn legislation like the Antipornography Civil Rights Ordinance in 1983 defined pornography, which is primarily centered on women. More states should do what Oregon did in 1987 (in the case of State v. Henry): abolish the offense of obscenity in state law, due to the possible First Amendment violations. Specifically, content could be deemed "obscene" when isn't actually obscene, as has happened throughout U.S. history, which reactionaries will exploit.
Various states have tried passing age-verification laws. Some had these laws declared legally invalid for now (Arkansas, California, Florida, Ohio, and Utah) while others have been legally challenged (Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas), along with those in other states (Nebraska, New York State, and Virginia), often instituting requirements saying websites must have age-verification so only those over age 16 (or 18 in some cases, including for porn websites) can view them, creating a restrictive internet system which violates people's rights. Adding to this are states which rejected such laws, like Colorado and Vermont, plus those which have proposed similar laws (Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Washington State). There's also been proposals like App Store Accountability Act on the federal level. The latter requires operators of app stories to verify ages of users and for those under age 18 to get parental consent to make purchases, download apps, or use the store, limiting children's rights and empowering reactionary parents. As a reminder, various forms of pornography are illegal under U.S. law, specifically child pornography, animal crush fetish pornography (original law ruled unconstitutional), video voyeurism pornography, and revenge pornography. Reactionaries wants to expand these categories and undoubtedly use them to censor queer content.
The word "obscene" has a broad definition, under Texas law, including:
patently offensive representations or descriptions of ultimate sexual acts, normal or perverted, actual or simulated, including sexual intercourse, sodomy, and sexual bestiality...patently offensive representations or descriptions of masturbation, excretory functions, sadism, masochism, lewd exhibition of the genitals, the male or female genitals in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal, covered male genitals in a discernibly turgid state or a device designed and marketed as useful primarily for stimulation...taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, and scientific value. "Material" means anything tangible that is capable of being used or adapted to arouse interest, whether through the medium of reading, observation, sound, or in any other manner, but does not include an actual three dimensional obscene device. "Performance" means a play, motion picture, dance, or other exhibition performed before an audience. “Patently offensive” means so offensive on its face as to affront current community standards of decency. "Promote" means to manufacture, issue, sell, give, provide, lend, mail, deliver, transfer, transmit, publish, distribute, circulate, disseminate, present, exhibit, or advertise, or to offer or agree to do the same. "Wholesale promote" means to manufacture, issue, sell, provide, mail, deliver, transfer, transmit, publish, distribute, circulate, disseminate, or to offer or agree to do the same for purpose of resale.
Texas law says that a person commits an offense if said person "intentionally or knowingly displays or distributes an obscene photograph, drawing, or similar visual representation or other obscene material and is reckless about whether a person is present who will be offended or alarmed by the display or distribution" (again it could draw in anime or manga, if Texas authorities want it to). Existing law is pretty broad when it comes to "obscene material," while visual material is defined broadly as "any film, photograph, videotape, negative, or slide or any photographic reproduction...any disk, diskette, or other physical medium that allows an image to be displayed on a computer or other video screen and any image transmitted to a computer or other video screen by telephone line, cable, satellite transmission, or other method" (again it could pull in anime or manga, if Texas authorities want it to). When S.B. 20 goes into effect, penalties include a $10,000 fine, 180 days to two years behind bars, which are some serious criminal consequences, to say the least.
The same can be said for Texas law provisions about electronic transmission of "certain visual material depicting a minor" or promotion/distribution of said material. As one site put it, if you create something and "it looks like a minor, the law treats it as real." Another predicted that "anime availability in Texas could be restricted if the bill passes," with the potential for censorship of anime, fanart, manga, and video games. There's adult themes in series like Goblin Slayer, Persona 5, Kill la Kill, Bleach, Gurren Lagann, Monogatari, Fruits Basket, The 100 Girlfriends, My Dress-Up Darling, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Dandadan, Dragon Ball, Kill la Kill, Hunter x Hunter, and many others. Pop Geeks did a great breakdown of the bill and how it could be used to censor magical girl series like Sailor Moon, and slice-of-life series like Clannad, K-On!, and Horimiya, all of which have underage characters. Although it may be hyperbolic to say this "could destroy anime in the US" (or even in Texas), it is certainly a concern as it undoubtedly will lead to censorship. It is not a stretch to say that with the law soon to be on the books, "owning and viewing anime and unspecified pieces of media in Texas may put people behind the slammer." That is certainly something to stand against. As one post stated, with the government "cracking down hard on self-expression and violently enforcing conformity we should [all] be wary about giving them more weapons [to use] against citizens." I can't agree more.
In a related note, some, like Elie Mystal, justice correspondent and a columnist for The Nation, have called on Democrats to become the "pro-porn party," arguing that Democrats must be "the party of free speech and artistic expression," adding, rightly, that "Republicans have hijacked the free speech issue...pornography is an actual free speech issue [as is]…smut…[and] obscenity. These are forms of free speech." He said that regulating adult access to porn is "a point-and-one-handed-click restriction on the freedom of speech and the freedom of expression," and noted that the 6-3 majority decision in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, written by Clarence Thomas, lowered the standard the government must meet when restricting speech to intermediate scrutiny (from strict scrutiny). Mystal argued that restricting porn is only "a small step" from restricting art, music, and video games. He further said that "Democrats should be the explicitly...pro-porn party...[the] pro-privacy party...[the] pro-OnlyFans and pro–sex workers party" and said that Democrats can outflank Republicans, and their puritanical nature, by "actually defending free speech from prudish Republican overreach." While you may grimace at his argument, it is surely a valid one in that any avenue should be taken to counter the growing fascism within the U.S.
The ACLU, for their part, called the Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton decision a blow to "freedom of speech and privacy" which overturns precedent that protected free speech rights of adults to access sexual content online even though it does not permit age verification for online "non-sexual content." The aforementioned press release, which I linked in the previous sentence, quotes Alison Boden, Executive Director of the Free Speech Coalition, saying that "throughout history, pornography [has been]...the canary in the coal mine of free expression...government should not have the right to demand that we sacrifice our privacy and security to use the internet." As The Atlantic even stated earlier this year, porn has "colored our ambitions, our sense of self, our relationships, our bodies, our work, and our art," becoming U.S. culture in and of itself, whether we wanted that or not, as some (but very few) admitted. Let's not forget that one of the first art works that Rebecca Sugar, now recognized for Steven Universe and Steven Universe Future, at the very minimum, got known for, was her NSFW art of various cartoon characters "getting it on" back in 2007, when she was only twenty years old. She'd start working on Adventure Time a few years later.
At least Elena Kagan dissented (which was joined by Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson), in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, saying that the U.S. Supreme Court should subject the Texas law to strict scrutiny, adding that the law "covers speech constitutionally protected for adults; impedes adults' ability to view that speech; and imposes that burden based on the speech's content." People across the political spectrum united against the decision, whether the libertarians at Reason, conservatives at the American Enterprise Institute, other groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, National Coalition Against Censorship, Public Knowledge, and FIRE. Many pointed out that the decision will only allow First Amendment rights to be further rolled back (see articles in Balls and Strikes, The 19th, The Verge, and Vox).
Let me switch gears and talk about some more positive news. Recently it was announced that one company acquired streaming rights for Rinkai, which has some yurish themes, RetroCrush. The latter is streaming Dear Brother, Strawberry Panic!, and many others. There's also an adaptation-in-progress of Tenma Asahi's boys love manga In Order to Love My Most Beloved Brother-In-Law, I'll Live a Long Life!, set to be released next year, and promo video and cast for Roll Over and Die (the longer name is Roll Over and Die: I Will Fight for an Ordinary Life with My Love and Cursed Sword), based on a manga by Sunao Minakata who drew the action yuri manga Akuma no Riddle: Riddle Story of Devil. The latter has yuri themes. I previously mentioned the series in newsletters back in mid-May and mid-March. Cast members include Ayaka Nanase, who voices Flum (in the manga she is called Flumme) Apricot, who begins a "blood-soaked quest to reclaim her life" after she's sold into slavery by a sage, Jean Inteige, and later falls in love with another slave girl named Milkit.
The light novel was described as grim but "worth it if you're looking for something different in your yuri fiction." Erica Friedman, who writes about yuri media on Okazu (and whose blog I have published a few pieces including the one I mentioned at the beginning of this newsletter), noted her ambivalence about this adaptation. She said she "expect[s] that the grossness will have to be ratcheted back for time" and hoped that it will be like The Executioner and Her Way of Life in that it is "better as an anime that it was a novel." She further noted that she could not bring herself to read the fourth volume of the light novel "after Sean Gaffney's obvious distress at having read it." As for Nanase, she is known for voicing Aghi Hijiri / Cure Butterly in Soaring Sky! Pretty Cure (and three related films), Mio in Encouragement of Climb season 3, Mirei Suzuki in Sound! Euphonium, and Reiko in Super Cub, some of which have yuri subtext.
Moving on, I was surprised to hear that the Guinness World Records gifted The 100 Girlfriends with an award for Rentaro's profession of love because it had the "longest monologue in Japanese animation." His speech contained "over 7,000 Japanese characters, and over 2,000 words translated into English." That's impressive (it is just as impressive in the manga)! Unfortunately, as ScreenRant notes, there isn't as of yet, official confirmation that The 100 Girlfriends will get a third season. However, it "has experienced quite a bit of success in both Japan and internationally." As such, Bibury Animation Studios has "an incentive to revisit the series" in the future.
In the past, I added this romcom harem series to my lists of favorite series for multiple years, calling it "bizarre and very entertaining" while clarifying that I wasn't sure that it sensibly portrays polyamory, and adding that the series makes clear what it "means to have a healthy relationship with multiple people and loving each one of those people equally." In other postings, I noted the yuri subtext between Karane Inda and Hakari Hanazono (who have a level of romantic closeness), in the anime, and states that the series, like Ouran High School Host Club or Yuri is My Job!, cleverly engages with tropes from classic shoujo, while playing up specific stereotypes, dismantling others, creating a more human portrayal in the process.
Recently there was more positive news: The Apothecary Diaries anime is getting a new sequel (not sure what that means, possibly season 3, as it ended a bit abruptly on July 4th with the end of the 24 episode second-season). Additionally, there's other wonderful news:
Fumika Minami launching a new manga titled Kawaii Dōmei (Cute Alliance) [it looks to be a yuri series]
Whoever Steals This Book, a novel by Nowaki Fukamidori, is getting an anime film in 2026, which centers on "Mifuyu…a high school student living with a large collection of books left by her great-grandfather―the vast library known as Mikura Hall...when several books are stolen from the library, triggering an ancient curse…the only way to put things right is for Mifuyu to catch the thief. With the help of...Mashiro, Mifuyu sets out on an adventure through the different story worlds!" Sounds kinda like Yamibou/Yami to Bōshi to Hon no Tabibito to me, so that's intriguing.
The streaming of Bad Girl (on HIDIVE), My Dress-Up Darling season 2 (on Crunchyroll), on July 6th, plus See You Tomorrow at the Food Court (on Crunchyroll) on July 7th, There's No Freaking Way I'll be Your Lover! Unless... on July 8th, and Turkey! Time to Strike (on Crunchyroll) on July 9th
RWBY is streaming on Hulu for the first time (it began on July 1st), after it was removed from Crunchyroll following Warner Bros. Discovery executives cruelly shutting down Rooster Teeth last year; it was recently announced that season 10 is in development.
Also, there was a review/examination of anime director Shinichirō Watanabe's "corporate dystopias" in Cowboy Bebop, Lazarus, and Carole & Tuesday, a review of "vital fluidity" through butchness in Sailor Moon S and Revolutionary Girl Utena by specifically focusing on Utena Tenjou and Haruka Tenoh, and a dive into the history of the two manga subgenres: yuri and yaoi (the latter is more often known as boy’s love or BL these days, while yuri is also called GL, especially on Webtoon). Putting aside the continued crackdown on anime piracy and Japan's animation industry disturbingly embracing A.I. (boo!), there was a good listing by Teen Vogue (written by writer, editor, and translator Sara Delgado) on the best anime to stream, including The Apothecary Diaries, Mr. Villain's Day Off, Bocchi the Rock! (second season in production), Cowboy Bebop, Spy x Family, Oshi no Ko, Delicious in Dungeon, and Komi Can't Communicate.
Then there's an interview with Shinya Watada, director of the recently ended Rock is a Lady's Modesty, who talked about the rise of girl bands, which are surely becoming more popular in anime and manga by the year. In fact, the 2020s alone, we have had school idol bands (Love Live! Superstar!! and Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club, Oshi no Ko, Yohane the Parhelion: Sunshine in the Mirror, Nijiyon Animation), pop and rock bands (Bocchi the Rock!, BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!!, Girls Band Cry, Jellyfish Can't Swim in the Night, Whisper Me a Love Song, BanG Dream! Ave Mujica, Rock Is a Lady's Modesty), magic bands (Luminous Witches, Maebashi Witches), and other musical series/films/manga (The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy at All [in development], Flower and Asura, Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop). That isn't even counting the at least 32 other manga and anime related to music which came out since 2020.
In late June, I read a distressing article in The Hollywood Reporter had a distressing article about the recently-released Pixar film, Elio. The publication quoted various (presumably) former employees who worked at the company, saying that originally Elio, the eponymous protagonist, was a queer-coded character, reflecting the identity of the film's first director, Adrian Molina, who is gay. Executives (likely including Pete Docter), pushed to make Elio more masculine, removed direct examples of how this character loved the environment and fashion, and fundamentally changed the film after Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi took the helm, following Molina's departure reportedly due to harsh response from executives (presumably including Docter).
The article stated that the edits that Sharafian and Shi made to the film, which led employees to leave, happened while executives kept "sanding down" moments which alluded to Elio's queer identity. In addition, America Ferrera, who originally voiced Olga, the mother of Elio, reportedly left the film's cast for two reasons: she was told to re-record lines due to script changes and her belief, rightly, that "there was no longer Latinx representation in the leadership" of the film (i.e. after Molina left). The same article said that themes about divorce and environmentalism were toned down in the upcoming sci-fi film, Hoppers, which is directed by Daniel Chong (and produced by Pixar), to give another example.
This isn't the first time Pixar has done something like this. Consider what happened to the series, Win or Lose. In a craven and disgusting move, a trans character named Kai, voiced by trans actress Chanel Stewart, was literally erased from the series and replaced by a Christian one, in contrast to all the animated coming out scenes in animated series (Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, RWBY, Dead End: Paranormal Park, Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, The Owl House, Wendell & Wild, and The Dragon Prince) in recent years. They also censored a non-binary character named Hannah. In addition:
Pixar made an announcement last year that it will not be "making original longform content for streaming" just as Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS) made a similar announcement, with the latter studio moving toward a focus on films and shortform series instead
Disney pushed back the release of Elio by one week so it didn't "compete directly with DreamWorks hit How to Train Your Dragon"
the lack of queer representation in Inside Out 2 which some "called a missed opportunity" as I noted in a previous newsletter
efforts to change lighting and tone in which Valentina "Val" Ortiz and Riley Anderson appeared together so it was "less gay" (these attempts were an utter failure, see the above clip as an example of this failure) because some executives were "uncomfortable" with the film having LGBTQ+ themes (in one newsletter I noted that "…they could have made her [Riley] actually fall in love with Val (as it is implied in the film) and not much would have to be changed, to be honest")
in March 2022 it was reported that "nearly every moment" of openly gay affection between characters was cut because Disney executives demanded it, even if creative teams and executives from Pixar objected
some critics said that Pixar downplayed queer moments in Turning Red with one of the characters, Priya Mangal
Disney and Pixar took the wrong lesson after Lightyear did badly at the box office in 2023 (thinking the queer themes were the reason is bombed, which isn’t why it bombed, but it was, rather, due to "brand confusion" and bad marketing), with many Pixar employees lamenting that they may "never see a major gay character in a Pixar movie" as a result
These recent developments are all the more disappointing considering that Pixar's short animated 2020 film, Out, was the first film, for Pixar and Disney, to feature an on-screen gay kiss and a gay protagonist. Furthermore, the 2023 film, Elemental, featuring Lake Ripple (voiced by non-binary actor Kai Ava Hauser), was the first non-binary character in a Pixar film, with a girlfriend named Ghibli. Surely, there's been queer representation in Disney animated series in the 2020s, including in The Owl House (ended), Strange World (2022 film), The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder (ongoing), Amphibia (ended, mostly subtextual), Firebuds (ongoing), The Ghost and Molly McGee (ended), Monsters at Work (ended), Primos (ended), Kiff (ongoing), Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures (set to end later this year), Baymax! (ended), X-Men '97 (ongoing), Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (ongoing), and DuckTales (ended).
Despite that, Disney has engaged in various anti-queer actions, when it comes to animation, putting aside those in live-action (like: not including Shang Li in the 2020 live-action remake of Mulan even though the character had become a queer icon, the cancellation of The Acolyte after one season, or the ending of Andor this year), in the past five years, going beyond what I said above:
cancelling Nimona when Disney took over and shut down Blue Sky Studios. Luckily, this film was saved by Annapurna Pictures and DNEG Animation, and it was released on Netflix in 2023, but Disney fucked up big time
not airing the Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur episode "The Gatekeeper" which focuses on a trans, non-binary character named Brooklyn, for unknown reasons. As of the writing of this post, it still is not on Disney+
cancelling The Owl House because it didn't fit the "Disney brand," according to series creator Dana Terrace, who couldn't even present a case for season four, resulting in a shorter third season consisting of three episodes, with each episode ranging from 46 to 55 minutes in length.
cancelling the futuristic series Neon Galaxy by Molly Ostertag (the wife of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power creator ND Stevenson) even though kids liked the series, possibly because two main cast members were trans
cancelling (quietly) Hailey's On It!, a series centering on a girl named Hailey Banks from the Hawaiian diaspora, with Becker Denoga as openly lesbian (crushing on Hailey and later entering into a romance with Kennedy, a girl she once disliked), two of Hailey's classmates (Jonathan and Thad) as a gay couple, and Frank, the pet flamingo of Hailey, is gay
Let me change gears again. Recently, I saw a few articles about the 100 "best movies" of the 21st century (which seems weird to write about now), including one in Rolling Stone and another in New York Times. Due to the fact the latter publication was cited in a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision to undermine trans rights and remains broadly transphobic, I ignored that article and read the Rolling Stone one instead. It had some animated films, like Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) [list item #88]. It also shared some list items with Empire magazine, particularly Wall-E and Spirited Away. As for the latter publication, they had a few other animated films on their list, particularly Coco (list item #84), Toy Story 3 (list item #65), Up (list item #40), Inside Out (list item #18), Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (list item #16), and Spirited Away (list item #15). I'd say these lists are missing some of the better animated films which have aired since 2000, since both of those two lists are heavy toward live-action and have very little in the area of animation (which is sadly too typical):
Cardcaptor Sakura Movie 2: The Sealed Card [2000]
Atlantis: The Lost Empire [2001]
Atlantis: Milo’s Return [2003]
Kim Possible: A Sitch in Time [2003] (possibly)
Howl’s Moving Castle [2004]
Kim Possible Movie: So the Drama [2005]
The Proud Family Movie [2005]
Ponyo [2008]
The Wind Rises [2013]
Kase-san and Morning Glories [2018]
Liz and the Blue Bird [2018]
Steven Universe: The Movie [2019]
Carmen Sandiego: To Steal or Not To Steal [2020; interactive film]
Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop [2020]
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio [2022]
Nimona [2023]
Justice League X RWBY: Super Heroes and Huntsmen [2023]
The Boy and the Heron [2023]
Those are only some of the movies I would include. I liked hearing about how the animated film, KPop Demon Hunters, thriving despite cancellation of animated series, Elio floundering, live-action remakes hollowing out animated classics, and Max removing original episodes of The Looney Tunes. The aforementioned film centers on a "K-pop girl group called HUNTR/X, comprised of pop idols Rumi (Arden Cho/EJAE), Mira (May Hong/Audrey Nuna), and Zoey (Ji-young Yoo/Rei Ami)" which are demon hunters tasked with "using their musical gifts to maintain the Honmoon barrier that seals demons...from the human world." The film itself is the feature debut of Maggie Kang, a Korean-born animation director at Sony Pictures Animation, who happens to be the wife of Rad Sechrist, who is known as the showrunner of Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts and one of the brains behind Project City. The film is said to have "Oscar-bait songs, stunning, inventive animation, and an emotionally resonant story about identity, resilience, and beating the odds with rhythm and righteous fury."
There were further articles of note, apart from those on the rumored Kim Possible revival (I sure hope it doesn't happen, as the series has already gotten more than enough play, for a total of 87 episodes or 92 segments to be precise, for a total of 1,758 minutes), but rather the fifth anniversary of Catradora, the canon ship between protagonists Adora and Catra in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, and how it stays with you, and SAG-AFTRA and Nickelodeon reaching a tentative agreement with A.I. protections. Additionally, the VFX supervisor of Andor (Mohen Leo) revealed the rebel secrets of season 2, and there was the announcement of Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom for 2026, plus the South Korean government committed one billion to grow country's animation industry. That'd never happen in the U.S.
Within South Korea, the industry is dynamic, including over 100 studios, and is known as aeni. That isn't including studios like Rough Draft Korea (the Korean branch of Rough Draft Studios), or others that do animation services for American animations (AKOM, Anivision, CNK International, Digital eMation, Dong Woo Animation, Dong Yang Animation, Saerom Animation, Studio Mir, Sunmin Image Pictures, Sunwoo Entertainment, Yearim, and DR Movie) and many others (like G&G Entertainment, Grimsaem, Hanho Heung-Up, Heewon Entertainment, Iconix Entertainment, and SAMG Entertainment).
There was other news, including about a new animated Ghostbusters series (the previous two series were The Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters) and YouTube becoming "something of a haven for small animators and startup animation companies to post their work for the public." One writer, Ana Torresarpi, noted series like Hazbin Hotel, Helluva Boss, The Amazing Digital Circus, plus those only starting (The Gaslight District) or those in development (Knights of Guinevere, by Dana Terrace). Torresarpi added that with "the help of newfound fans, respect and funds, indie animation is blossoming into something beautiful." I can't agree more.
Apart from the Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton case I noted earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court has aimed to limit rights of queer people. In a 6-3 decision in United States v. Skrmetti, the court, citing articles from the transphobic New York Times, upheld a Tennessee state law which banned hormone therapy and puberty blockers in treating gender dysphoria in minors (under age 18), absurdly claiming it didn't violate the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. Amy Coney Barrett more absurdly declared in, transphobic fashion, that transgender individuals haven't faced a history of documented discrimination (untrue).
Furthermore, while the six conservative justices accepted the reasoning of the Tennessee government, Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and Elena Kagan dissented. Sotomayor said that the court is obfuscating "a sex classification that is plain on the face of this statute…to avoid the mere possibility that a different court could strike down SB1" and added that this decision "does irrevocable damage to the Equal Protection Clause and invites legislatures to engage in discrimination by hiding blatant sex classifications in plain sight...[this decision]...also authorizes, without second thought, untold harm to transgender children and the parents and families who love them." The court's decision was likely influenced by the U.S. government, under the current regime, no longer supporting the plaintiffs. The latter were supported by ACLU attorney Chase Strangio, a trans man. Some Democrats and medical groups also condemned the court's decision while reactionaries like Margory Taylor-Greene, Mike Lee, and Tom Cotton celebrated it, of course.
If that wasn't enough, consider the decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor, which held that parents are entitled to opt-out their children from reading "LGBTQ+-inclusive" storybooks in public school systems, damaging the ability of public schools to educate children and strengthening the "rights" of reactionary jerkwad parents. The authors, whose books were challenged in this 6-3 ruling, gave a statement, which PEN America published. Part of it as as follows:
As the authors and illustrators of the books named in Mahmoud v. Taylor, we believe the Supreme Court's ruling today threatens students’ access to diverse books and undermines teachers' efforts to create safe, inclusive classrooms. To treat children's books about LGBTQ+ characters differently than similar books about non-LGBTQ+ characters is discriminatory and harmful. This decision will inevitably lead to an increasingly hostile climate for LGBTQ+ students and families, and create a less welcoming environment for all students...young people need to see themselves and families like theirs in the books they read; this is especially true for LGBTQ+ children and LGBTQ+ families...We know there are families and educators across the country who are committed to creating inclusive classrooms that meet the needs of the diverse groups of students in their school districts. We are with them in spirit as they work to ensure that all students are seen and supported. We will continue to support LGBTQ+ families and children everywhere and advocate for the right of all students to read freely. We strongly disagree with the Court's decision.
The above decision matters because it could prevent books like Nimona from ever reaching the hands of youth. That is a novel (originally a webcomic and later published in a physical graphic novel) we need more than ever now, as it "quickly became a classic of queer comics based on subtext" as the original book technically didn’t have any canon queer or trans characters, with the animated film adaptation in 2023 making queer content canon. As Danika Ellis wrote, the original story and the adaptation approach queerness in different ways, with Nimona as a "gender-nonconforming character, but also as a power fantasy to escape his [ND Stevenson's] discomfort with his body." The movie, in contrast, begins with Ballister and Ambrotius already in a relationship, torn apart when Ballister is framed for regicide, with Ambrotius "literally disarming him." Even these days, it can be rare for an animated series or movie aimed at younger audiences to "have a central queer relationship" (just look at what Pixar and Disney have done as noted earlier in this newsletter). In the film's climax, Nimona is overwhelmed by systemic bigotry and she transforms into a "monstrous, shadowy figure she feels others see her as," and attempts to end her own life.
Ellis noted that the animated adaptation and book have the message that "you don't need to understand someone to accept them and love them" and noted that Nimona is "the most boundary-pushing element…defiant, uncontainable, rebellious as a matter of course, and we need her more than ever" because she knows how to question authority (always), "rewrite dominant narratives, and be ungovernable" and saying we need her character "more than ever today." This matters not only with queer books under attack (as well as movies) but lacking representation of asexual characters (so far it has been broadly subtext and not directly shown, leading to issues with interpretation), and similarly with lacking representation when it comes to non-binary and trans characters.
For instance, trans characters appeared in at least fourteen series (So I'm a Spider, So What?, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, High Guardian Spice, Dead End: Paranormal Park, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Big Mouth, Wonder Egg Priority, Helluva Boss, Skip and Loafer, Young Justice, Life with an Ordinary Guy who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout, The Dragon Prince, The Owl House, and One Piece) and one animated film (Wendell & Wild), in the 2020s. Only three of these series is continuing: Helluva Boss, Skip and Loafer, and One Piece, a decline of eleven series, or about 80 percent. Of those series, none of them have trans protagonists, as the trans characters are only in supporting roles. This is putting aside those with offensive depictions (like in The Simpsons, South Park, and Family Guy).
As for non-binary characters, there have been several in films in the 2020s (Elemental, Ken, and Dragfox), plus those in 32 animated series: Primos, Summer Camp Island, Blue Period, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake, We Baby Bears, Dead End: Paranormal Park, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Middlemost Post, Mighty MonsterWheelies, Madagascar: A Little Wild, Ridley Jones, Steven Universe Future, Young Justice, Give Me Three Tickets, The Fairly OddParents: A New Wish, Supernatural Academy, The Dragon Prince, Velma, X-Men '97, Transformers: EarthSpark, Rubble & Crew, Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, Monster High, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Harley Quinn, Amphibia, City of Ghosts, The Owl House, Jellyfish Can't Swim in the Night, Pinecone & Pony, The Bravest Knight, and RWBY: Ice Queendom. Of these series, only ten are continuing (Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake, We Baby Bears, Mighty MonsterWheelies, One Piece, The Fairly OddParents: A New Wish, X-Men '97, Transformers: EarthSpark, Rubble & Crew, The Bravest Knight, and Harley Quinn), while the other 22 are not. That’s a decline of about 70 percent.
Of the six series (OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, Craig of the Creek, The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy, Dragon Ball Daima, Solar Opposites, and Star Trek: Prodigy) which had agender and genderless characters in the 2020s, only two (The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy and Solar Opposites) are currently airing. Even worse is for genderfluid characters. Six series had such characters (Adventure Time, Adventure Time: Distant Lands, Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake, Seton Academy: Join the Pack!, Final Space, and Gen:Lock) in the 2020s, only one of those is currently airing: Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake. Similarly, only a few series in the 2020s had characters with gender ambiguity (Attack on Titan, Komi Can't Communicate, and One Piece). Only one of those currently airing: One Piece. No series with characters which are gender non-confirming and non-binary (like Yū Asuka in Stars Align), fa'afafine (like Brother Ken in Bro’Town), transmasculine nonbinary (like Kino in Kino's Journey), or third gender (like Izana Shinatose in Knights of Sidonia) are currently airing.
Apart from the above, there's the great news that Ascendance of a Bookworm is getting another season, called Ascendance of a Bookworm: Adopted Daughter of an Archduke, TokyoPop licensed a release of Ayaka Is in Love with Hiroko! yuri manga, which got a live-action adaptation last year, and there's news about the release of the anime Harmony of Mille-Feuille (the previously known name was Utagoe wa Mille-Feuille) which seems it may be yurish.
In a final note, Erica Friedman, in her Yuri Network News update on Okazu, highlighted the release of various yuri manga in English, like How Do I Turn My Best Friend Volume 4, I Don't Know Which is Love Volume 3, Japanese releases of yuri manga, yuri audiobooks like Adachi and Shimamura, Vol 2 Audiobook, two Thai girl's love series premiering this month (Only You, Harmony Secret), yuri light novels, yuri visual novels, deluxe hardcover version of The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t a Guy At All, two new yuri manga series (Wicked Spot and Marrying the Dark Knight (For Her Money), successful funding of a Kickstarter to produce English subtitles for Miyuki Yorita's movie Her Kiss, My Libido Twinkles, and Yenzu's webcomic, Literary Link picked up as a Webtoon Original series, plus other news.
That's all for this newsletter. Until next time.
- Burkely