Sailor Moon was so twenty-five years ago! Five modern anime proving girl power never died.

Sailor Moon was so twenty-five years ago!

Five modern anime proving girl power never died.

Image Credit: Bosozoku Sailor Scouts - Babs Tarr

 

The Bechdel Test is used by parties to analyze gender representation in film and television (among other media). This test was originally designed by Allison Bechdel in her book Dykes to Watch Out For. Below is a short discussion and a list of current (2018) anime that not only pass the test, but also go beyond the standard gender representation seen in many forms of media by main characters.

Dustin Kidd point out in his book Pop Culture Freaks that gender representation in prime-time animation holds one of the largest gaps with only 26% gender representation being female, he doesn’t state the overall body of animation percentage nor if this was just limited to the US.

Anime, animation from Japan, doesn’t appear to be mentioned here. It is worth noting as anime can often go beyond genre and deserves its own examination. It is easy to create a general list of older anime (pre-2018) or examine the most popular anime when it comes to passing the test (which has been done). Here I want to strictly look at “current/airing” anime that is less likely to be examined. The Fall 2018 season contains fifty-two different “full length” anime, sixteen shorts, seventeen movies, and nineteen specials (anichart.net). This is all “new” content, not reruns. These series will span all age ranges, genres, and topics. This content is coming from a country that ranks 114th (of 144) in gender equality in 2017 (japantimes.co.jp). Anime can be considered a double-edged sword to use for gender representation. Anime itself is often scrutinized for its sexualization of characters, designs, and outfits. In turn, Anime has gay (Yaoi) and lesbian (Yuri) specific (none pornographic, which would be hentai) series, series filled with all female casts and leads, and series that tackle other socio-political topics. This list is focused on gender representation and the Bechdel Test.

In conclusion, my goal is to provide a list of current anime exclusively from 2018 that passes the Bechdel Test which requires the series to contain at least two named female characters, who have at least one conversation, which is not about (or involving) a man. I added including anime from different genres, that were rated relatively highly (7+ by 5000+ Votes via myanimelist.net) and avoids oversexualization as a selling point of the series. The characters will also be “named” prior to giving the “pass”, have an even or greater female gender representation, and have a female protagonist/lead.

The List

Title: Yuru Camp / Laid Back Camp
Genre: Comedy / Slice of Life

Score: 8.32 (56, 587 Users)

Image Credit: Yuru Camp on Crunchyroll

Passed in 24 seconds of the start of the series. Shocked? I don’t know how many times anything passes this quickly. This anime follows a group of high school girls who love camping. All five of the main cast is present around a camp fire talking about roasted marshmallows and cocoa (while camping). Not just two, but four of the five girls are not just “implied”/seen but directly named while all five are shown.

The series centers between Shima, Rin and Kagamihara, Nadeshiko Nadeshiko will encounter Rin on one of Rin’s solo camping trips. This inspired Nadeshiko to get into camping as well. The series follows both girls (sometimes they camp separately) camping excursions. Nadeshiko and the Outdoors Club she joins while Rin often camps on her own. While there are male characters within the series, the cast is mainly all female and often shows various forms of agency and independence. The opening is also super catchy with a Jackson 5 like sound which you can hear by clicking on the video!

Title: Sora yori mo Tooi Basho / A Place Further Than The Universe

Genre: Adventure / Slice of Life

Score: 8.61 (57,493 Users)

Image Credit: A Place Futher Than the Universe on Crunchyroll

The series opens with standard “waking up” and talk between a named (and main character) Tamaki, Mari and her mom. A legit conversation happens within four minutes of the series starting with Mari and her “best friend” Takahashi, Megumi. Mari is talking about wanting to “get the most out of life” now that she is high school. Megumi’s name isn’t directly mentioned until the 4:54 marker (the conversation started at 3:56). This goal for Mari is what sparks this whole journey. Megumi is a key point of conflict for Mari later and throughout the series serving as a sharp contrast to the rest of the girls Mari will befriend and go on the journey with.

The series is about five girls who don’t know each other at the start, coming together with a goal of going to Antarctica as part of an expedition. The series captures the entire journey from meeting each other, gathering the resources, to joining, performing, and returning as part of the expedition. The expedition is also headed by a woman who wants to fulfil her goal of setting up a scientific base camp in an artic area and is familiar with another of the main character Kobuchizawa, Shirase (there is a whole well told story involved here as well). A Place Further Than the Universe goes beyond just friendship, overcoming adversity, and trying new thing, but also one of the best series (in my own opinion) that demonstrates female empowerment and achievement which includes deep personal problems and resolution, bullying, and women in science. 

Title: Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online

Genre: Action / Game / Fantasy / Military

Score: 7.33 (76,381 Users)

Image Credit: Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online on Crunchyroll

It takes this anime a bit more time to get the pass grade. The first episode jumps into the “first part” of the game/battle (with her partner Goushi) and the second episode is the one that provides the backstory. The first episode doesn’t have much dialogue and LLENN is the only female character featured until the end of the episode. The “pass” is earned four minutes into the second episode (23:46 + 3:54) taking 27:40 into the series. Kohiruimaki, Karen (Protagonist) & Shinohara, Miyu (her best friend who joins her later on) discussing Karen’s interest in wanting to try VRMMORPG (Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game). From here Miyu helps her shop, setup, and test various games before choosing the First-Person Shoot, Gun Gale Online.

Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online (GGO) is a side story of the popular Sword Art Online (SAO). I chose Gun Gale Online because it stands in sharp contrast to its parent story which follows a male lead (Kirito) who is liked by multiple female characters (Genre - Harem) and goes around saving the “game worlds.” GGO in turn follows college student Karen (LLENN), who in the series has no love interest, chooses the game because she “take on another avatar”, and eventually becomes one of the more feared players in GGO. The series has the standard topic of friendship, but also some deeper concepts including “girl gamers”, body image and perception, suicide/death, and finding confidence in oneself. The series contrasts LLENNS’s cute pink character with her being known as a dangerous and feared player in a military shooting game (Pink Demon). LLENN’s mentor (Pito) is also a female player who has a similar skilled and feared MO within the game. The anime isn’t perfect topic/issue wise, but I feel it would provide a good talking point merging the worlds of anime and games and challenging stereotypes when it comes to gender perception.

Title: Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii / Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku

Genre: Comedy / Romance

Score: 8.07 (78,560 Users)

Image Credit: Wotakoi on Amazon Video

The series main characters are 50/50 male to female, but our main lead is Momose, Narumi (female). I wanted to grab one series where there was a mixed cast and romance was a primary genre as often it can be a bit more difficult for a series to earn the “pass.” Wotakoi (for short) still manages do this early on. The “pass” is earned midway through the first episode starting 13:20 mark where Narumi comments over Koyanagi, Hanako’s shoulder about a famous crossplayer (a cosplayer who cosplays as the opposite or different gender) Hana-san. This conversation continues as they reveal their hidden otaku natures and connect as fellow female anime nerds (Narumi used to be a doujin/fan made comic artist). This moment is very interesting as often the trope of girls talking about guys, in this case fellow co-worker and childhood friend Hirotaka, would have been the common course. Instead, their first real conversation (I bypassed the “show her around work start”) is about their common interest and nerding out.

Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii centers around four working adults at the same company who all happen to be otaku (hardcore fans of anime and/or games in this case). Wotakoi breaks the mold in several ways. First, it centers with a female lead in the work place who is an otaku referred to as fujoshi. They are often linked to being fans of yaoi (gay) or BL (boy love) manga (comics). Second, it focuses on adults finding friends with similar interests versus high schoolers (or younger) which is often the case with anime (and its target audience). Lastly, it deals with the often-maligned anime nerd romance culture. In Japan, being an otaku of anything is seen in negative light. Due to the negative image being an anime nerd or gaming nerd carries, it can be hard for adult to find romantic partners. Often people may hide this fact or hope to find someone of similar interest. Hanako’s relationship with her boyfriend (given how he accepts and deals with her nature as a popular crossplayer) takes this notion a bit further. If I was going to go full “socio-friendly” scale, I would note that the series is still based on hetero-(kinda)-normative relationship tropes and standards. That still isn’t to say that gender role behavior is set in stone. The anime plays with reactions, roles, “girls/guys are like…” and emotions which add to romantic comedy effect. 

Title: Zombieland Saga

Genre: Comedy / Music / Supernatural

Score: 7.48 (11,851 Users)

Image Credit: Zombieland Saga on Crunchyroll

The first conversation doesn’t take place until the second episode at the 7:00 mark totaling 30:39 into the series. Zombieland Saga took the longest to pass the test. The conversation takes place between Sakura (Protagonist) and Nikaidou, Saki (with the other girls present). It is their actual introduction/first conversation as you learn a little bit of “Biker” Saki. Sakura is the only “awakened” girl in the first episode, but they do name and introduce each “legendary girl” via exposition.  

This is the last one for my list and “currently airing” with three episodes on tap hitting airwaves every Friday. Zombieland Saga is an odd anime where seven female zombies (this isn’t explained) are brought together to form an idol group (a very popular phenomena in Japan) with the goal of saving Saga (still ambiguous). It is important to note that this is a comedy first and foremost, but also seems to center on the overcoming adversity through friendship and hard work (common themes in anime). What seems to stand out is that the girls are often thrown into their situations without help or advice, just “what to do.” This means that each problem (so far) is taken on and solved solely by our female idol group (Franshoushou) with the producer serving a “support them from the shadows role” after dropping whatever challenge they need to tackle in their laps. There is so much I can say about the producer, but for now I'll say that his role and actions would be a discussion in itself (comic relief or not). Oh, and yes, there is a lot of zombie fun still involved!