Take a trip through the Interweb tubes to some shiny new locales.
I don’t normally do News posts here, but there are a couple sites that launched this week that I thought you lovely readers might be interested in. The feminists are coming for your anime (no, not really), and the light novels are coming for your bank account (well, sort of). Hit the jump for links and more!
This one’s already making (hilariously overblown) waves: Anime Feminist, a site dedicated to celebrating, reviewing, and analyzing anime and manga through an intersectional feminist lens. (It’s a little like what I’ve been trying to do here at JND, but with a wide variety of voices, which automatically makes it better.) The site is still in its early stages, but Amelia’s got detailed Fall premiere reviews posted, and essays have started rolling out as well. Check ’em out when you can!
You can follow AniFem on Twitter for updates and general chatter about cool shows and rockin’ characters. And, if you like the concept and want to see it grow, consider tossing a few bucks at the site’s Patreon. Your contributions go towards increasing content and paying writers (myself included!), so we’d all be super-grateful for your support!
The second Plug Of The Day is for J-Novel Club, which is basically Netflix except for licensed English translations of Japanese light novels. In the team’s own words:
Light novels, a type of Japanese novel targeting young adult audiences, have been enjoying a rise in popularity overseas alongside anime, video games, and manga. J-Novel Club will license the latest and greatest Light Novels from Japan, and release them in weekly installments for J-Novel Club Members on our website, j-novel.club and also on the J-Novel Club App for iOS and Android. When translations are finished, final collectible-quality e-books will be sold at all major e-book retailers like Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, and more.
J-Novel Club access will be only $4.50 a month for an annual membership, and gives you a new chapter a week from all of our series! We will be announcing at least 10 series and continuing to add to our lineup over the next few months. Members get access to a special members-only forum for discussing the latest releases. There is also a Premium Membership option, which gives you a free premium e-book version of one of any book in our catalog each month, saving you 20% or more off the retail price, and nabbing you a special high quality e-book with hi-res images!
The site has partnered with two publishers, Hobby Japan and OVERLAP. They currently have four available series (my Twitter feed has been having a ball with the satirical My Little Sister Can Read Kanji), with another 6+ to be announced by the end of the year.
I’m excited to see the English LN market expand, hopefully allowing more niche (and female-targeted!) titles to receive translations, so you can bet I’ll be supporting them. Check out the site to preview the available series and see if anything catches your interest!
Hope those keep you entertained and enlightened over the new few days! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to bury myself in Fall anime, attempt to trim down my way-too-long watch list, and figure out which of these shows I’m gonna be covering this season. It’s been a hectic, stressful autumn, but at least it’s a great time to be an anime fan.
The Josei Next Door 
You’re into Haruhi too I see, cool.
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It has its problems but overall I really like it! Just wish the LN writer would finish the next book already… :T
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I wish the Anime would start up again.
I only have 2 discs left in my Subbed watch of Noir.
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So excited about Anime Feminist! I noticed some of the tweets they’ve been getting though, yeesh. If anything I end up watching MORE anime because of sites like yours and AF’s. But no, clearly you’re trying to take everyone’s anime away and tell women what they should like. (Seriously, kudos to everyone managing the Twitter-front.)
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Thanks! I know a lot of the team members and they’re a grand group of geeks. I’m really excited for it too! I’m pretty sure Amelia’s handling all Twitter correspondence right now, and hoo boy, does she have my respect and sympathy. If you have the chance, please send AniFem an encouraging tweet now and again to let them/us know the work is appreciated! She’s been swamped working to get this site going and I know she’d really appreciate it.
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I’ve been trying to shoot them positive tweets and derail some of the more negative stuff when I can. I can tell she’s been working really hard to take the high road. She must have a lot of patience. It’s paying off though — I’ve noticed a number of users (naysayers included) admitting they respect how Anime Feminist has been so open and willing to address criticism. So yay!
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