u/nekosreams326

I just finished watching episode 2 of ogres bride, and I made the mistake of reading r/anime comment sections about the story, criticizing it for having a so called " male saviour" character who essentially fixes all the fls problems, calling this unrealistic, a red flag, and bad.

I'm sorry, but I am a queer ( bisexual) woman, and very much a feminist, yet I see nothing inherently wrong with this story so far, which is nothing more than wish fulfillment with a dash of social commentary, and delicious wish fulfillment at that. I honestly kinda find it insulting that the Internet is filled with people who assume shoujo readers don't understand the difference between fiction and reality, and act as though it's warping our minds!

Is the concept/ romance aspect unrealistic? Yes.

Would someone Immediately meeting to you and calling you their bride/ claiming they are going to love you forever be a red flag in real life? Also yes.

Are fox demons and ogres real? No!

Shounen and seinen are filled with the unrealistic fantasy of large busted, submissive women falling head over feet for the self insert YN male protagonist, I don't understand why this is so normalized, yet wish fulfillment stories for women are demonized ( pun intended). Whether it be shoujo readers, book tok girlies, or simply teenage fanfiction writers on the internet, it seems that if women enjoy something that isn't 100% "healthy" in the real world, said media is deemed as completely destructive, which imo just seems like an excuse to shame women for their sexuality and interests.

Would I be with some random person who claims me out of nowhere in real life? No id probably run away. But in sexy fantasy hot demon husband land, I don't understand anyone who wouldn't want someone that devoted to making your life better and loving you more than anyone. It reminds me of Twilight, which I will admit the writing is not the best, but is comforting to it's readers BECAUSE IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN IN REAL LIFE. FICTION IS AN ESCAPE METHOD FOR MANY PEOPLE, AND HONESTLY I'D RATHER BE ESCAPING TO MY ANIME HUSBANDOS THAN CRYING ABOUT MY GOVERNMENT TAKING MY RIGHTS AWAY 24/7.It's not even like we're talking about Hana Yori dango, which while I love I see the potential harm it can bring very young viewers, but ogres bride is NO WHERE near HYD in terms of how "problematic" it is. While Ml and Fls meeting would definitely be a red flag IRL, so far the ml has been nothing but wonderful and sweet to Fl.

too bad for you, r/anime, more sexy black haired ogres for me! God forbid a girl wants to dream...

edit: I wrote the original post at like 12 AM, and now that I've slept I realized that I should probably clarify some stuff. I absolutely think it's ok to dislike this series and series similar to it. I believe that nothing should be above criticism, and i wrote this post not to completely defend the story, but to call out the moral police who act as though series like this are evil. I very much see a difference between " I didn't like this bc the ML was possessive and took over Fls life, just not my cup of tea" and "this is a disgusting misrepresentation of real life, the Ml is evil and toxic, this shouldn't exist, but please ignore my post history about why some random isekai protagonist needs a harem of servant girls, including his sister, and why this is totally necessary to the story." I'm just saying I dislike the communities hypocrisy, calling some ( Aka, intended for a female audience) media a moral failing.

It seems like in episode 15 and 16 some internal dialogue and other dialogue is muted or does not exist. anyone else experiencing this?

I just finished episode 12 of the banana fish dub about an hour ago, and I am extremely curious as to whether you believe the show will get any backlash for it's political scenes. With Republican politicians working with pedophile mob bosses, and the main character saying the white house can go to hell, I wouldn't be surprised if this would make certain viewers angry especially with the current US political climate and the pretty big similarities with hot button topics, such as the war in the middle east and all the pointless distractions from the Epstein files.

Do any of you think that Banana Fish could become so called "antifa propaganda" or do you think being a niche anime series it probably won't get any large criticism. I honestly think that this is the perfect time for the dub to come out, and our political climate makes it more meaningful now, especially due to the removal of its post vietnam themes in the manga.

Tw: mentions of SA/ED.

I just finished episode 7 of the banana fish dub, and while I know this is mostly because of the localization, I'm noticing a bit of a pattern; Ash being feminized by other characters, and there is some other dialogue about women that can be interpreted to reflect Ash's experiences as well, therefore leading me to look at Ash as being a metaphor for womanhood, and just having gender roles and expectations pushed on you.

"I hope you're not hustling again, well, a girls gotta make a living"

Alot of the time Ash is feminized, it's by people who desire power over him. Like the men in jail calling him a "princess", or Dawson? comparing him to being Golzine's daughter. In contrast to the way people speak about Ash, he presents himself in a stereotypically masculine way, fighting, yelling, doing things often associated with masculinity. His pretty looks, experiences, and traumas often diminish his masculinity in the eyes of others, leading him to see him as girly and weak. Being girly is not a bad thing, but it is often pushed onto people, especially women, as a way to trap and control them.

While Ashs character shows the mistreatment of male victims in a hyper masculine society, which is important in itself, I think that his character can also be a metaphor for girlhood and the tragedy of having patriarchal roles forced on you. I am a woman who relates very much to Ash in a few different ways, and one of those is the fact that society keeps trying to push him into a box.

Girls grow up being forced to be feminine, getting sexualized by adult men and boys alike, and when we try to push out of these boxes, we are criticized. At the end of the day none of us are truly free, because we have no choice in how our world sees us. Ash is trapped in a world that simultaneously wants him to be a submissive puppet, yet needs him to be strong and fight in order for him to survive. Women are expected to wear heels and makeup, and also to be independent, but then we are pushed down for being bossy, and judged for not listening to the every whim of men.

Ash lynx is a great character because despite the gender of the reader, you can easily picture yourself in some of his actions and empathize with him, but this is especially easy for those if us who are women, present in society as feminine, or were assigned female at birth. Dino Golzine, who strives for complete control over Ashs mind and body, as well as pretty much everything else, tries manipulating the other characters roles in the story, much like the patriarchy tries putting us into roles because of our circumstances. In many ways, Dino reminds me of the character Akio from Revolutionary Girl Utena, the literal personafication of patriarchy.

When Jennifer dies in episode 6, Ash's father says "All the good women die young" or something similar to that. While Ash is not a woman, his tragic and untimely death can be foreshadowed with this, because the other characters often view him as woman like do to his stereotypically "female" experiences and queerness. Jessica taking the place as his narrative foil later in the series in response to her SA allows the reader, who may or may not have been through similar experiences, see parts of themselves in Ash and Jessica.

society likes to pretend is that things such as rape, sexual assault, and eating disorders are just problems that belong to women, despite these issues having no gender, but that doesn't mean that young girls and women don't experience these at all. It makes sense that Banana Fish, being written for an audience of mostly teenage girls can be interpreted this way. In my honest opinion, if Ash's gender were to be swapped, I don't think much would change thematically at all, but I do think that the removal of that degree of separation a female reader has due to Ash being a male would probably effect its audience differently.

Simulatiously, this also shows how patriarchy pushes toxicly masculine traits upon men, looking down on them for being wounded because pain and trauma is viewed as being more feminine. Being a victim or survivor of anything doesn't make you more of a man, or a woman, but this point of view sadly exists.

Ash and his best friend/ love interest Eiji are both men, and I would argue that despite both of them exibiting stereotypically "masculine" and "feminine" traits, Ash can more easily be related to by female readers because he is more directly effected by societies expectations of him. Ash must perform feminity and masculinity to survive, while Eiji lives in an interesting place where he doesn't notice these expectations. I know a lot of men like Eiji in real life, who live their lives every day not knowing the bigotry and violence experienced by others, until meeting people, usually women, who open their eyes to said injustice. Ignorance for men is a safety that women will never have, but when those mens eyes are opened, they too realize that they are being held back by these same institutions. Eijis ignorance is refreshing to Ash, because his lack of knowledge and experience of these issues, yet desire and willingness to learn and understand others perspectives. This allows him to neither be submissive or be a fighter. Eiji is sensitive and caring, yet strong in his own way, which is something to be admired regardless of gender.

The metaphor isn't perfect, again, this is just the way I view the story. Humans are biased, and as a feminist who's had her fair share of struggles due to the disenfranchisement of women, I tend to believe that I see what I want in the media I consume. I am also Cisgender, so I acknowledge that my view on gender and my experiences may be different to that of other genders, and I would love to hear the perspectives of individuals with different gender identity than my own. Also this is not meant to invalidate the feelings of men or other genders who relate to Ash, this is just me trying to look at him through a female perspective.

What interpretations do you have of banana fish that are shaped by your world view or experiences?

I genuinely don't know how to function right now, I'm so excited. My VPN cut me off after the first 7 minutes of episode one and I've been doing nothing but pacing my house back in fourth, concerning my household members with my odd smirks and stims.

Banana Fish has been my ADHD hyper fixation since I was 12 years old, and now being between Ash and Eijis ages, I feel completely different in the way I view the characters. I wish it would just be out now. I don't think I'll be able to sleep at all tonight, who else is with me?

I'm so nervous and excited and scared all at once. Banana Fish I love you so much

It's currently only able to be streamed on Netflix Japan. I can find the subtitled version easily but no one has uploaded the dub yet, and I want to be able to watch it before it releases on Netflix america. Thank you

Are there any shoujo with dark, gloomy, alternative vibes? I'm looking for cool stuff to consume and some fashion inspiration lol. I've seen Nana which features many punk characters, and vampire Knight, which is very aesthetically similar to Twilight. Some non shoujo I've read/watched that I've adored the vibes with are death note, serial experiments lain, black butler, and paradise kiss, but I typically prefer shoujo writing. Josei recommendations are cool too!

As the title says, I just watched episode one of red river. I definitely didn't hate it, but I felt like it was kinda slow, and the animation wasn't my favorite. I'm planning on watching it either way, but I want to know if it gets better in terms of story and animation. I know there's only 3 episodes out right now but I absolutely want to love this and so far I'm not really feeling it. I'm also okay with minor spoilers if that might help.

If there's anything I should keep in mind to make my viewing experience better lmk, I appreciate it very much! On the other hand I've really been enjoying hana-kimi so far lol🩷

Eiji has been my one true love since I was 13 years old, are there any other shoujo with similar love interests to him? Sweet dark haired boys with a bit of a wild side are definitely my type. I really liked sailor moon crystal because tuxedo mask had the same voice actor in the Japanese version as Eiji, and I listened to his character song over and over again upon finishing the series. It's definitely a bonus if his love interest happens to have blonde or brown hair. I'm very hyped for the upcoming banana fish dub so I can fall in love with Eiji all over again lol. I've watched so many shoujo but no character has my heart like Eiji lol🩷

I'm seeing it with my older brother on monday, and I am really excited!! I became obsessed with Revolutionary Girl Utena early this year, and while I have already seen adolescence of Utena, this is my first time seeing anime in theaters! My brother also knows absolutely nothing about it, aside from it having swordfighting lesbians in it LMAO. I don't think there will be merchandise, but if there is I NEED IT.

So yeah, anyone else hyped?!

I primarily watch shoujo anime, since around early 2025 watching Dan da Dan I just got really tired with the over the top sexualization of girls, don't get me wrong, I still consume shounen and seinen media, and I like Dan da Dan, but it gave me the push to go towards female centered stories more.

I always enjoyed cardcaptor sakura and Ouran highschool host club, so I tried giving the original Fruits Basket anime a try around this time last year, and I liked it. The story was good, the characters were interesting, I liked the art style and it's nostalgic vibes. Overall it was a good time and influenced me into checking out other shoujo anime like sailor moon, kimi ni todoke, and Nana.

Around late November/ early December, I decided to check out the new Fruits Basket anime, and I was hooked, finishing the last couple of episodes on new years eve ( I binged citrus after that... It was whiplash to say the least lmao.)

Then, in March, the week before my birthday, I decided to pick up the box set of the Fruits Basket manga. I currently have four volumes left to read, and two of said volumes are in my bag right now waiting to be read.

This is probably a dumb post but I really want to show appreciation for Fruits Basket as a whole, and for being a story I love even more every time I consume a new piece of media from it. The characters are all so well written, and I like how surprisingly dark it can be sometimes. Every volume makes me fall deeper in love with the characters and the story.

I just needed to say this!!🐈🍙🐀

Btw, what are you guy's favorite shoujo manga, and who is your favorite character in fruits basket? My favorite shoujo manga is either Banana Fish, Cardcaptor sakura, or Nana, and my favorite character in Fruits Basket is Tohru, because I am just a little bit older than her, and her personality reminds me of myself. I'm so jealous of her friend group, uotani and hanajima are so cool! Oh also, shout out to The Agents of the Four seasons anime, I think it's my favorite of the season aside from go for it Nakamura!

I'm BIG into shoujo, and it's practically all I read and watch anymore. I was wondering about what anime and mangas with a black haired male leads you guys would recommend. For example, I really liked yona of the dawn, kimi ni todoke, my little monster, and kimi ni todoke. I am pretty adverse to blond male leads, not sure why but I just dislike them. Bonus if the female lead is either blonde or brunette ( kinda like how usagi is blonde and mamoru has black hair in sailor moon; I just really like that lol)

Thank you alot