We Need To Talk About Black Women In Anime...

Exploring anime and anime-inspired series that actually happen to depict black womanhood with some level of respect, and explore how even these series are still flawed.
The Congo: friendsofthecongo.org/movemen...
Sudan: eyesonsudan.net/
Palestine: ceasefiretoday.com/
Advocating for Palestine: sites.google.com/view/advocat...
Black Voices Talking About Black Anime:
The Hidden History Behind Legendary Black Anime
• The Hidden History Beh...
an exploration of anti-blackness in the anime industry
• an exploration of anti...
Why Annette is Black (Castlevania: Nocturne) | READUS 101
• Why Annette is Black (...
SOCIAL MEDIA
linktr.ee/theanimetea
Inquiries: [e-mail]
CHAPTERS:
0:00 Being a black woman who watches anime....
1:45 Carole from Carole and Tuesday
9:32 Michiko and Atsuko from Michiko to Hatchin
18:01 Annette and Drolta from Castlevania: Nocturne
24:10 Finding real representation
RESOURCES
docs.google.com/document/d/1b...
TRANSCRIPT
docs.google.com/document/d/1O...
SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:
Patreon: / theanimetea
Ko-Fi: ko-fi.com/theanimetea
LISTS
anilist.co/user/theanimetea/a...
myanimelist.net/profile/thean...
PURPOSE
My name is Phoenix and I dive into the world of visual storytelling in anime and sometimes manga on a weekly basis.
LEGAL INFO
I do not own any of the animated content in this video.
Some links provided may be part of an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means of compensation for referring traffic and business to other companies.

[@TheAnimeTea]

The Wheels and Roses kickstarter is over but You can still donate to the project here: emails.kickstarter.com/ss/c/u001.ve_cohKhuPeeDM4za-dvo-RLJPZ2O1_IH32GJLZkk5apMpPY_n3Okh2aNmWJLarT/45k/iyanGWsNQFWjaDCE4Fx7CQ/h4/h001._MFYXbIEilJNV0ezQZJ1XEI_SuUTT_gn81Fzro-UVcY Full audio of this (originally 1 hour video) will be posted on Patreon! www.patreon.com/theanimetea. Also want to apologize for the audio quality and lack of face cam. I ran into technical issues and I really wanted to get this out for Black History Month so the production quality isn't as high. I also didn't talk about a whole slew of black girls from series like Cannon Busters, The Great Pretender, and more because I didn't get a chance to watch/re-watch their series. But hopefully one day I'll talk about them! I hope the video is still enjoyable though!

[@hiwrenhere]

omg this is my partner! yay! Thank you for shouting out their and their team's work!!! :) I am sharing this with them noooow!!

[@Captainn4t]

What a cute series, I didn't even know this was a thing. Glad I caught it in time, I went ahead and backed it :D

[@RobertHeatly-up5hj]

Happy black history month

[@coronarysteaka1213]

New sub luv ❤️ 😍

[@xianxiaemperor1438]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/g53SfK2tgtFof6M

[@katsikatra]

Carol and Tuesday dosent get talked about enough these days. Also you've made me realize that i need to rewatch Michiko and Hatchin

[@beckybertish7841]

I will add both of those to my watch list.

[@thisisavivistanaccount7866]

i loved both of them 🥺 gonna have to rewatch them

[@McSnezzly]

The music is so good too, have a lot of the songs on my Spotify playlist

[@sandcrack0873]

@@beckybertish7841it’s so good the music and visuals HIT

[@Kiran37369]

@@McSnezzlydo y’all REMRBER the Mars Beyoncé 😂😂😂her songs were bangers!

[@nagigachamania6936]

Brazilian here, I'm not black, but the way they behave in Michiko to Hatchin and their slice of life moments are very accurate, at least for those who live in the southeast region of Brazil, which is where the story takes place

[@guessdeeznuts]

todo beim?

[@guessdeeznuts]

todo 🎅🏿🤙

[@nagigachamania6936]

@@guessdeeznuts "tudo bem"? Yes

[@p0lyb1u5]

Região sudeste 🔥🔥🔥

[@zanashuki]

Real, eu que gosto de anime sempre tento falar de representação

[@Takejiro24]

"9/10 it's the lips y'all" Thank you for saying it! And it's not just in anime. I've seen it webcomics, too. If there's a Black character, you better believe their lips will be pronounced in some way. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing; but, it sticks out like a sore thumb when it's *only* the black characters that have them. Like, rarely do I ever see any white people drawn with Macauly Caulkin lips.

[@sladedari8595]

If it makes you feel any better about it, the entire world is envious of those lips we are no for, even doubling either own lip size with make up just to slightly reach our natural prowess over it

[@aoi_lovesart]

That's because white people don't have that feature? Why take a Beautiful thing from black people and wanting to See it in white people? Huhh

[@midshipurchin1]

Bleach has a good balance, there's quite a bit of variance in their character designs.

[@mjf40087]

For me, its not that they are pronounced that makes it distasteful. It's that they draw donut lips specifically. The stylistic choice is practically identical to the art depicted in historical anti-Black propaganda. It's deeply uncomfortable to look at.

[@Virjunior01]

Yukito Kishiro and his brother... look up their work in Battle Angel Alita (GUNNM). Plenty characters of all backgrounds have pronounced lips, as does Alita herself. They even made it a running joke for over a decade, some characters describing her as "octo-lips"

[@BeautifulDiaspora]

Junko from “Nana” is to me one of the most well-done Black female characters in anime. They gave her a personality that wasn’t rooted in stereotypes, didn’t have her as a throw away character or one that is solely there to add diversity to the cast, and you can tell the artists actually put thought and effort into her Afrocentric features; from the skin-tone to the hair texture. They even had her going through a little loc journey throughout the series😂🔥 Although all of that is the bare minimum, it was nice and refreshing to see since we don’t get a lot of good representation. Nice video btw🩵 Edit: a few ppl are saying she isn’t confirmed to be black(biracial) on any Japanese sites…Didnt know this and would like to apologize for the mistake of saying her race has been confirmed and expand on the “Black women in anime” convo with that in mind. To me, It seems like a lot of the presumed black characters (especially the female ones) we see in anime are purposely drawn to look racially ambiguous because of how anti-black Japan is. These writers and artists clearly want to create black characters, but it seems like they’re afraid of what Japanese people may think of them or their work, so they choose the “up for interpretation” route🤦🏾‍♀️ That and the fact that a lot of Japanese artists like to make their characters black-fish makes it hard to know wether or not a dark skinned anime character is black. The only time we get characters who are clearly black is when their features are exaggerated/purposely drawn to look funny. Idk…it’s frustrating but I hope we get some black creatives on these anime teams soon. Black people deserve better representation🗣️

[@leannewheeler5351]

Junko was Black? Is this confirmed or speculation? She didn't seem Black to me...

[@BeautifulDiaspora]

@@leannewheeler5351 she’s confirmed Afro-Japanese

[@leannewheeler5351]

@@BeautifulDiaspora oh okay! Thank you 😊

[@BeautifulDiaspora]

@@leannewheeler5351 for sure💛

[@CalebC5647]

She’s also one of my favs. Sure, she wasn’t the best-written character, but for the anime to have come out in the early 2000s they did well with designing/writing a black woman

[@krissydiggs]

Fun fact! Japan and Brazil have a huge connection. There are more Brazilians in japan than any other minority! And lots of Japanese people or people with Japanese heritage live in Brazil! I didn’t know that until I moved to Japan. I’ve met more Brazilian people here than in my whole life. So while maybe Michiko to Hatchin isn’t perfect, the director might have known more about Brazilians than you might think.

[@anacarolinamenezes8912]

Brazil has the biggest Japanese diaspora in the world. Our countries are very connected, which is surprising to a lot of people. That’s why Brazilian jiu jitsu exists to begin with hahah

[@irinaiturri]

While the brazilian diaspora in Japan is big, the korean , vietnamese, chinese and filipino diasporas in Japan are each one bigger than brazilian

[@krissydiggs]

@@irinaiturri I meant non Asian, my bad.

[@minka2387]

I mean, she travelled to Brazil in order to get references of environment and culture

[@someuser4166]

on the topic of black women always being portrayed as violent or rude etc. the protag girl from Cannon Busters (from 2019) is like the direct opposite. she was always very polite, cute and caring, and tried to befriend everyone. i really liked her. Theres also Dorothy from the great pretender. Edit: Nadia from the secret of blue water was great too. She's also very caring Idk if the following characters would qualify since theyre also like 'ambiguously brown' but theres: - Triela from gunslinger girl. - Raly Vincent from gunsmith cats. - Hibiki Sakura from Dumbbell Nan Kilo Moteru

[@TheAnimeTea]

Thank you for bringing this up! I will forever regret not adding Cannon Busters to this list, I couldn't rewatch it in time for the video but it may get it's own one day. Other than that I tried to include black women who were the main characters of their stories that I'd seen. But I know I'm missing a lot of great characters outside of the ones I mentioned. Triela from Gunslinger Girls brings me BACK.

[@Shinigami88X1]

Rally Vincent is Indian-American

[@restlessfae2407]

There was another girl from a anime called Gangsta. I think they said she was mixed. Alex Benedetto is the character name from the anime.

[@ptlovelight2971]

​@restlessfae2407 GANGSTA was really good...but i didn't read Alex as "black", more "exotic/other"

[@ptlovelight2971]

Canon Busters was beautifully animated, but had a frustrating story for me. And i loved Triella in Gunslinger Girl, but did not read her as "black" or "brown", perhaps some olive skinned Mediterranean or European...

[@yassvaritaass]

Not even an entire minute into the video, but I wanted to say that it is so lovely to see more content creators talking about these issues/situations. I actually wrote a research paper on black representation in anime for university two years ago, and I brought up Watanabe’s work as a talking point ❤️

[@teacheriggy5146]

Sis, you can't say this and not give us a link to your paper. C'mon, sharing is caring. Give the academic girlies something to read...PLEASE! But make sure you watermark the hell out of it, though.

[@yassvaritaass]

@@teacheriggy5146I’ve actually been thinking about putting it up on a blog/publishing it or turning it into a video essay, so I’ll let you know as soon as I figure it out 😂

[@milkdispenser7280]

Made me like and subscribe before she even got info the topic

[@LaNoir.]

"Why is this secluded island not having more representation of an ethnicity that barely lives there!?" Issue indeed. I suggest you not watching german crimes then. Besides them being very very bad, they don't have much representation either.

[@teacheriggy5146]

Nobody is watching German crime shows, babe, So, we don't care if the cast is 2000% white. Nobody cares. Japan has a history of dark-skinned, ethnic people. Japan has a history of taking inspiration from Black people, from music, pop culture, etc - soooo, it doesn't make sense why they act "homogenous" when it comes to representing people of darker complexions (including those ethnically Japanese) but they can draw every de-melanated shade of Caucasian. Japanese people AREN'T white. Very few are actually pale. So, even by their own standards, they aren't representing themselves. Just because you see not the issue, doesn't mean the issue doesn't exist. "The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence." - Ed Wuncler III@@LaNoir.

[@witchplease9695]

Thank you for this video. Canary from Hunter x Hunter, Carole from Carole and Tuesday, and Dorothy from Great Pretender are the BEST representations of Black female characters in anime that I've seen. Hope to see more in the future

[@Blueblurz]

Fr I love Canary, she's so sweet and powerful!!

[@Mcpollo_Justdonalds]

I love Canary!

[@rentacop7038]

​@Blueblurz she is legit best girl! I love how kick ass she is!

[@beatrizandera]

I missed seeing Canary here too!

[@kurobeard9467]

Yoruichi is my all time favourite black girl character

[@ApolloandMuse]

There’s actually a chunk of East Asian diaspora in Brazil. There were there as early as the 1800’s, mostly as labourers brought in to make up for the labour shortage after slavery was formally ended.

[@anacarolinamenezes8912]

Brazil has the biggest Japanese diaspora in the world.

[@irinaiturri]

the east asian diaspora in Brazil begun in 20th century, with the arrival of Kasato Maru ship in 1908. The majority of east asian diaspora in Brazil is japanese, being the first migrants from East Asia here

[@sumayyahadetunmbi4347]

oh, interesting

[@Daisy-Ke]

Do they speak the language? Portuguese?

[@stupidnani]

@@Daisy-Ke yep

[@LavenderTowne]

amazing video!!! 🤍

[@derangeduck]

omg lavender!towne!!!

[@purpleberry3564]

Oh my God!!! Lavendertowne!!

[@lilskronklbloop]

@@purpleberry3564 :D

[@SpectralSyn]

Hi LavenderTowne

[@sunshines4898]

Hi lavendertowne!

[@_MeloKai]

THANK YOU for talking about Congo Sudan and Palestine ❤ These people don't deserve this...

[@theultimateartist4153]

I wonder when people will talk about the Palestinian Elite in Haiti performing mass murder now

[@MightyTameLion]

I'm very happy that there is an indirect critique in The Promised Neverlands character design - specifically with Sister Crone/Krone. I remember in live time people (some black) trying to defend that monstrous depiction. It was so very frustrating.

[@lordtette]

I hated her depictions but man I have to stay away from the anime community with their takes at times.

[@tsuyuasui7297]

Omg she literally looked like à minstrel show in some panels, like the mangaka was so sick for that fr😭 and it doesn't help that one of the other black characters name is "jemima"

[@MightyTameLion]

@@tsuyuasui7297 ain't no way 🤢

[@sissysovereign1294]

Oh my god I remember when she first popped on screen for the first time. I was so mortified because of how goofy she was drawn compared to everyone else. I literally sat there thinking "is this what they actually think that we look like!?"

[@awtumn]

I remember a KZbinr made a video about Sister Krone's design a couple years ago. Mentioning how offensive the design is, along with other black anime characters. Some people were claiming he was "reaching". Those comments were truly disheartening.

[@doracosta1760]

As a Brazilian i can say that in Michiko to Hatchin was pretty accurate, the fashion and behavior of the characters really feel like a person you could meet normally in the streets But Brazil is very diverse so in some regions things are VERY different

[@sheryll1536]

Free Sudan, Congo, Palestine, West Papua, and any other people living under oppression and colonization

[@RowdyyRyland]

I know what it’s like to feel underrepresented as a black man while watching anime, so I can only imagine what black women feel; seeing as though black women are alot less shown in anime than black men. I pray we get more well-written/well-designed black female characters in the near future

[@orchidart]

Anime is a Japanese product for Japanese people, they don't care about representing ethnicities. When you and me watch a Latin American person or a black one in our respective cases, that was not because an agenda, it's because the creator wanted to include characters with those features (which make a more natural representation).

[@RowdyyRyland]

@@orchidart Japanese people have been making it their business to go global and market their product to other countries for awhile now (hence anime dubbing). Saying “they make anime for Japanese audiences” isnt true and is just another tired excuse for people to shut POC up about representation in anime. Btw, adding black characters isn’t about “pushing an agenda”, It’s about giving people something they can relate to…The way black people are always associated with “wokeness” will forever be funny to me.

[@thelingeringartist]

@@orchidartthere’s a reason why a lot of these series have black and brown characters compared to back then… people want to see interesting stuff.

[@tsuyuasui7297]

​@@RowdyyRylandand lets not forget the countless of anime that are based on european history ( AOT) or have characters that straight up look white and yet are still "japanese" lol

[@Imxel21]

@@orchidartthis excuse has been played out for decades give it a rest

[@restlessfae2407]

And yea they actually made Annette a deeper character background in Castlevania Nocturne. Because in the game she was just a side character and Richter's girlfriend.. that was all.

[@Alias_Anybody]

I mean, the whole show has basically nothing to do with the plot of the game it's based on. In the games, every title from Dracula's Curse to Order of Eccleasia (approximately 1450-1900 in terms of timeline) afaik takes place in modern day Romania, or at least east of Vienna. The French Revolution never came up once in Rondo of Blood. Only Bloodlines which takes place in 1914 is set all over Europe. At that point, changing the characters too makes little difference. Though recycling the name was probably a mistake.

[@Merinkous]

I'm obsessed with anime that actually give characters noses. I think that's why I like Naoki Urasawa's work (Monster and Pluto). I enjoyed Carole and Tuesday but need to check out the other animes. Thank you for making this sort of video ❤

[@daeith1233]

I would say Gangsta too, it's an anime with different nose types, and Black ppl but I don't think they are the best representation you will find since the events in this anime are kinda dark. It's still one of my favorite anime btw

[@BlueEyedVibeChecker]

Krillin is crying somewhere in the distance.

[@lostzephyr2191]

Noses are ugly, that's part of why I like anime to begin with.

[@Merinkous]

@@lostzephyr2191 I love noses. We can agree to disagree 😅

[@Merinkous]

@@BlueEyedVibeChecker 🥴

[@LivingInZeroZen]

My only gripe with Michiko to Hatchiin is the EN casting monica rial as Michiko putting on her best blaccent. They had a black woman VA for Atsuko so at least they tried but cmon.

[@ChiWillett]

no fr tho!!!

[@blurrymoon3919]

Thank you. I couldn't get into Michiko to Hatchiin because that blaccent was ridiculous. It sounded like a mockery. I'm still so bothered that I don't even want to watch the sub, lol, even though her accent there is probably just standard Japanese.

[@nicklaurindo1916]

I mean in theory none of the characters should have an American black accent, because the show is set in Brazil (or at least a fictional version of it) so I think a latin cast for the voice actors would be more accurate

[@LivingInZeroZen]

@@nicklaurindo1916 Afro Latin people exist. I was saying they somewhat tried with atsukos casting but if they casted maybe Anairis Quiñones it would do better

[@rosephoenix954]

​@@LivingInZeroZen I highly doubt that Anaris is able the character back then since made in 2010. It was dub now then yes or so redub to cast a person of color.

[@rosephoenix954]

As Black woman I never felt. Struggle with my blackness. Always being told that i never belong , how can anyway how can connect other black women? I feel lost.

[@Piddypng]

I find comfort in knowing that I'm not the only one who feels like this. That's how I overcome it. Now I don't have many black female friends irl, online there's always a community of black people that are like you and have similar interests.

[@cruzsmemory]

Black anime characters with depth are always a treat

[@Jannaria]

I personally don’t care what race or gender a character is, I just want a good character

[@jerm-gv9rv]

@@Jannariagood for you… When you’re black person or realize there’s effort to exclude them then you might care about actual representation

[@Jannaria]

@@jerm-gv9rv nah man idgaf just make them a good character

[@jerm-gv9rv]

@@Jannaria that’s good for you…but we KNOW that good characters can be “made” It would be great if the horizon could broadened just a bit… No asking them to “dismantle” racism or anything like that

[@devilslayer3548]

@@jerm-gv9rvyou don’t talk for all black people and not all of us have your mindset So make your own characters than instead of crying about it

[@jenavevesnowolf13]

I'm super into folklore from all over the world and when I watched Castlevania nocturne and saw that they actually did their research on folklore instead of making stuff up I was so excited! Lol. Thanks for sharing this deep dive and sharing your perspective! All your videos are really enjoyable for me!

[@mitsiejc1077]

Being a Black woman who loves anime and video games is so isolating. Everyone hates us and we can't even cosplay without backlash. So seeing some positive representation and characters we can identify with is very rare and refreshing.

[@DanielGoodLarson]

who tf hates u

[@Cleifairy]

Real. I really dislike anime/comic book fans because they’re so hostile to bw.

[@devilslayer3548]

That not true you are trying to be a victim so bad Who is everyone

[@Cleifairy]

@@devilslayer3548 It is true and you know it’s true. You guys treat black women like shit in the cosplay community and anime community I truly get why black women or girls would segregate themselves from such evil people. They can’t even enjoy a series without one of you nerds saying a slur for no reason.

[@virgondust5562]

I'm from the Caribbean and I can garuntee you we don't do any form of representation of races outside of our main ethinic population so we tend not to care about representing foreigners but we do at least want to be represented appropriately when in foreign media (which to what I've seen never happens) so I understand that more work should be put into not making offensive stereotypes of other races but that doesn't mean that the lack of a certain race in foreign media would offend me in any way

[@m.i7211]

I always say that the sentiment that “anime is made by the Japanese for the Japanese so it’s ok to not have black representation” is just an excuse, because we have plenty of popular anime that feature Caucasian characters like Yuri on Ice for example, proving that it’s commercially viable for anime to include people who aren’t Japanese, and there are also plenty of anime inspired by black culture or are set in places like New York where black ppl are prominent, and where it makes sense to incorporate black characters as part of the world building. But all of the misrepresentation and caricatures of black people almost makes me wish that there were no black representation at all…

[@m.i7211]

And then of course there are the few decent to golden characters mentioned in ‘‘tis video that gives me hope again.

[@tokyoslut]

I don't see black shows and cartoons breaking their necks to include Japanese ppl so why do yall care so much when they return the energy? It's not malicious

[@m.i7211]

@@tokyoslut I feel like black cartoons, especially those made in America and such, often purposely focus on having an entirely black main cast because black characters are already underrepresented, whereas in Japanese anime there’re a lot of white characters (eg. Alex Tachibana from Himouto Umaru chan who’s German or Olivia from Asobi Asobase off the top of my head, don’t judge my tastes in anime lol) but very little black characters which just seems skewed in my opinion. I do agree with you that the absence of black characters isn’t because of malicious intent on the part of Japanese creators. Though I do think that there is some level of unconscious bias at play. And sure we all have unconscious biases, not just the Japanese but black people as well, I hope I don’t sound like I’m singling out Japanese people, I just think “we all have it” isn’t a reason to not point out bias when we see it.

[@Sh12pen]

Anime is traditionally aimed towards western audiences, hence why there is such a large standing outside of Japan for fans of anime and whole companies dedicated to dubbing/translating shows for people to watch and such

[@applejones1697]

Oh god.

[@ntellaS2]

I'm here because I'm brazilian! Carole is also Brazilian which a lot of people don't remember. Michiko has a lot of WONDERFUL representation for the Brazilian southeast favelas and periphery, even the Japanese/Chinese mix ups can get accurate because of how many asian people have come here to escape war. I also like that Michiko is homophobic towards Atsuko because it adds even more depth and reality. Homophobia and transphobia in Brazil are still very prevalent and even though we seem like an overall cheerful country, depending on who you are Brazil can be extremely dangerous and even people who are also endangered here can turn on you based on internalized prejudice

[@kaicenat2015murder]

wonderfully said though brazil is diverse by nature racism and bigotry are still ingrained in popular culture and its often overlooked, brazil is the leading country in murder of trans people sadly

[@aaa-xe9gr]

Eu assisti Carole & Tuesday faz um tempão e queria saber qual informação diz que a Carole é brasileira? Não me lembro e nunca vi nada que falasse sobre ela ter nascido no Brasil, apenas que ela era da Terra

[@raioh4747]

On Michiko and Hatchin, Brasil has a lot of history with Japan, it's a very interesting topic, but tldr a lot of migration happened between the two countries that's why we see so much representation of brasilian and japanese culture in each country's works. Anyways, loved the video! Come visit Brasil if you ever have the oportunity you'll love it, we are huge weebs down here

[@sandgi2035]

Here before the “mE nO bLaCk” crowd ruin another great video.

[@TheAnimeTea]

thank you for the early support 😭😭

[@sandgi2035]

@@TheAnimeTea no problem your content is always high quality

[@Isaacthesensei]

@@sandgi2035girl they here. just read a few comments that nearly ruined my day😂 🤦🏾‍♀️

[@Jay-jb2vr]

Either that or they're playing bachata..

[@TechnoticPlate]

you know who else is "nO bLaCk"? The mf creators of the shows that you want black people to be in. Like, bruh just make your own.

[@tanziameherin2696]

my admiration for you has grown at your mention of the genocide going on and you you taking a stand for the best. its true even while enjoying our lives we should not forget about the people of Palestine, Congo and Sudan because as fellow humans they also deserve to live free and safe lives instead of being colonized and wiped out. humanity needs to come togeather to make that happen. Your break downs of anime is very precise and well done and girl your voice is very soothing i wait on your updates. ❤

[@harriyanna]

this is part of the reason why i love gangsta so much because i could connect with character alex. I feel like i connected with her so much is because she looked similar to me and had been through similar situations. alex is blasian but it was nice to see a darker skin woc in anime be portrayed the way she was because it’s something we rarely ever get in animation in general. as much as i love michiko and hatchin, michiko’s vulnerability only when it had to do with how men treated her, on top of the fact that she is heavily stereotyped as much as hate to admit it.

[@RedSora-vs4qh]

You are self hating black woman

[@user-fo8ey1ix6f]

What's wrong with stereotype? It exist for a reason.

[@moustik31]

Alex still haunts me, love her.

[@dasytaylor]

I saw Carole in the thumbnail and instantly clicked, love her sm!

[@nerd26373]

We appreciate your insights. You'll always have our support.

[@eelnetflix5196]

I appreciate your opening so much. Free Palestine. Thank you for speaking up! It is so important!!

[@devilslayer3548]

That’s nice and all but that’s doesn’t do anything to help

[@eelnetflix5196]

@@devilslayer3548 raising awareness is better than doing nothing.

[@MIZZ.BLKNRD]

I'm adding all these shows to my watch list! As a black woman, I am glad we are starting to see more representation and diverse storytelling in animation overall, not just anime. I remember being so hyped to see dark-skinned characters like Yoruichi from Bleach and Iris from Pokemon. I do give Japanese creators a slight pass when it comes to the depiction of black characters (even though it is still cringe). Less than 1% of the population in Japan is black so I'm sure a lot of their views (and misunderstandings) on black people come from overseas media and entertainment which is FULL of stereotypes.

[@lolitaku7229]

I really enjoyed this video/ topic. I'd like to broaden my understanding on cultures outside my own (white american), so when there's a chance to see another's cultural/ personal views as it relates to representation in media. Thank you for making this video! Hope to see more in the future

[@TheAnimeTea]

Thanks for taking some time to give this video a watch!

[@gsgaming6976]

I hope you don't mind me making a few recommendations for different podcasts and such, if you're genuinely interested. 1) Pod Save The People (Podcast) 2) T1J, especially some of the older videos (KZbin) 3) Sora the Troll (Japanese culture, KZbin) 4) This Land (podcast, modern day Native American political issues) 5)Hood Politics With Prop (American political podcast, each episode the host Jason Petty introduces a street slang term, defines it, then explains how it applies to an issue in politics) 6) Lovett or Leave It (podcast, hosted by a gay former White House staffer with LGBTQIA comedians as guests. Mostly covers politics) There are some others I can think of, but can't look up on my phone on KZbin while typing this all out. Hope you find some of those helpful. Oh, and the old episodes of With Friends Like These (podcast) tend to be decent. Some are hit or miss. But basically it's a white progressive woman interviewing people with different political backgrounds who she has disagreements or questions for. Some are further to the left than she is, some further to the right (by a good bit).

[@wonder_wombat4674]

Love the Annette and Drolta mention! This was such an excellent, informative video with great shows and characters featured!

[@MorganRhysGibbons]

This was excellent, thank you! I learned a lot. Can't wait to check these shows out!

[@fairylesbyaintdve6536]

Thank you so much for the resources and statement at the beginning of the video I had no expectation about that being in here but I felt such a flood of warmth hearing someone with something unrelated to talk about , not let your audience be complacent or ignorant about the people around the world suffering , I respect you so much and thanks again for mentioning all those issues and adding the links. Love your content and was so glad to see it on my feed again! Ok now to watch the rest of the video :))

[@kafkaesqueee]

Idk if this is off topic but I personally love Annette's design especially her soft baby face 🥺 she's literally one of the cutest characters I've ever seen 💕

[@harriyanna]

oh im SEATED

[@anythingispossible111]

Thank you, this was great. I had avoided these shows for years because I was tired of having my heart broken, and didn't want to see anymore disrespect. But I will check them out.

[@Trenephviews]

Phoenix! Thank you for this girl, this is exactly what I needed to hear, as someone who wants to create anime inspired characters, representation is definitely something that is important to me. I want others and myself to feel like they’ve met these characters before.✨We literally have come a long way, as we are a community that are growing in supporters. So it’s important we are properly depicted in the entertainment we consume. Most children consume cartoons/anime as well.

[@gadeyeye6268]

Great video Anime tea. Castlevania looks beautiful, thanks for the perspective.

[@Havanah-ov4yt]

Beautiful video! So well said. Really glad to see people talking about things like this. Love your perspective

[@vulpinefae]

Must watch them all now! Will look into Wheels and Roses, thanks for spreading the word!

[@AB-oy3on]

What about Great Pretender?! Loved the video and totally have shared sentiment as a fellow black girly 🩷

[@Manabi05]

I watched it a long time ago so take what I’m going to say with a grain of salt. I loved the anime and I would always recommand it 100%, plot wise. It’s now one of my favorite netflix animes, it’s funny, witty and entertaining. Overall, I’m sure you’d enjoy it a lot, so you should really give it a try. BUT, when it comes to representation... Let’s say that, they’ve tried. Honestly, it’s still a lacking in a lot of areas. As a french black women, I’m only gonna talk about how they represented french people and black people not the rest, but I’m sure other people could also tell you the same thing. My biggest problem with how they represent black people is that... it’s very shallow and ofc all the black characters have very cliché facial features OR if they’re women (since they want them to be "attractive") they get the asian/anime-washed treatment as I like to call it, meaning their get tiny little noses, straight hair and no it’s not a wig, lighter skin, etc. None of the main cast is black either even tho they’re supposed to be a group from all over the world. Also, a very important female character is supposed to be black but because her hair is litteraly blue et straight I didn’t even register her as black during my first watching ! That’s such a missed opportunity, especially since every women in the show, no matter their race, all have their hair straight somehow... So that’s very much a shame. I guess the only brown female character that was well-done and fully fleshed was Abby (she’s part of the main cast) but since she’s not black I won’t get too much into it. They also like to represent other cultures with a LOT of stereotype, especially cultures that are very different from japan. It feels like they wanted to include different countries and ethnie in the story but only stopped at the bare minimum in terms of research. At one point in the story, they go to France a d that’s probably one of my least favorite episodes since they couln’t even use real french actor to voice the french characters, i could barely understand what they were saying sometimes and it definitely didn’t sound native. This makes me wonder if the other languages we hear throughout the story were also not from native actors. Despite those complains, the story is still very interesting so I recomend it. Also, like I said earlier, I watched it a few years ago so I might be wrong about some things.

[@lordtette]

​@@Manabi05 when I saw her hair it reminded me of the meme that said black characters in anime are given silver, grey hair.

[@Manabi05]

@@lordtette YES ! Same haha. I don't know why they can't make actual black hairstyles and respect that curly nature of black hair 😒 Like it's probably less of a hassle to just copy a picture of a black person's hair than to create a whole new and unrealistic hair color tbh. Such a shame really 😔

[@KomoraKriogeniczna]

​@@Manabi05On the other hand... Isn't it like anime's thing? Unrealistic flashy hair colours, gravity-defying hairstyles, big freaky eyes and totally inaccurate facial features (there was that pic flying around proving that anime facial structure is closer to a cat than to any living human). That applies to absolutely every character, Japanese ones included. I do love a little bit realism and effort from time to time too, though, so I understand. I still kinda think that a certain degree of unrealistic stylism is to be expected from anime in general.

[@Manabi05]

@@KomoraKriogeniczna Yes you're right of course. It's all a question of preferences and perspective ^^

[@snailart9214]

I now work as a youth advocate and I'm trying really hard to learn so I can support these kids, thank you so much for creating ❤️ you are a wonderful resource

[@NeroMai]

The only thing I knew about Castlevania was the dommy mommy that everyone was down disastrous for, but I didn't feel like watching an entire vampire series for a character I assumed wouldn't stick around for long. However, now that I know about Annette and her Caribbean backstory, it is now illegal for me to not watch this show.

[@raynebow5289]

THANK YOU so much for this! I’ve got some great shows to catch up on and I KNOW I’m gonna cry my eyes out 😂❤😭

[@ama4121]

Happy black history month! Thank you for this video ❤

[@lucykukes8379]

Thank you for adding a section to raise awareness about Palestine! lovely video :]

[@Sarumanu]

Crystal Kay provided the vocals for Nodame Cantabile's 2nd ED (the best one)

[@RoseofRainbow]

Awesome. I loved her song Candy and have been looking into her as of late. I'll have to check it out. Nodame Cantabile was one of my favorite mangas back in high school.

[@amadeusandrew76]

I loved this video, I think you Took the time to articulate your appreciation and the minor setbacks, which is fair great job.

[@Shinigami88X1]

A long time ago, I pitched an idea where there was a blasian shonen character who is a kuudere, but their mum is black and their father is Japanese. Now i kinda want to revist them after seeing this video

[@characterblub2.0]

😮 🎉

[@lewa3910]

Very interesting watch. Also I'm a backer of Wheels & Roses! I hope it reaches its stretch goals so it can get way more produced!💖 A couple of interesting additions to black women in anime rep i think could be covered later might be Great Pretender and Metallic Rouge. Metallic Rouge is recent studio bones anime with a black female lead, along with Great Pretender just got a spinoff called 'Razbliuto' who focuses on the character Dorothy from the original show. Hope they're atleast of interest or get more clout in fandom later once they've finished airing

[@TheAnimeTea]

Ah so happy to see more supporters of the series! I just started Metallic Rouge and I love Dorothy from Great Pretender! Didn't get to see Razbliuto but when I do it may get reviewed in a future video one day. Thanks for recommending them!

[@nojams5202]

Thank you for making this video ❤️ from spreading awareness to addressing the flaws animes have while representing black and queer people! And giving good examples of representation and characters breakdowns

[@riverofpower5659]

Good vid, the more people that talk about the wonderful gem that is Carol and Tuesday the better!

[@tiffanypham8126]

as a non-black POC who's writing their own story with black characters in the main cast, this video is not only immensely well done but SO informative to me of stereotypes that could be seen as good (aka the independent black woman trope) but are too overdone and overshadow cases where we can have soft black women - having black characters i know i have a responsibility to do them right and your videos are such a good source on both good and bad examples of how representation can be done in cartoons

[@JJpersona]

Love your content , and wanted to give my support. It is doubly hard being black and a women anime fan. Gotta deal with white fans as well as black men who also try to exclude or belittle black women who are fans. I only know the racism aspect of it since I am dude, but sending my love support to you and all the black anime girlies out there. I hope the black anime and video game community does a better job combating Misogynoir in our spaces and making it safe and welcoming for black women and also queer folks and all other marginalized black people.

[@Atinakiwis]

i completely loved your analysis of michiko to hatchin, it made me go back to the first time i watched it, thank you

[@Eszra]

On behalf of Jinx from pokemon. The pokemon is not a black face character. They are a joke on the Gal culture in Japan. Girls with bleached long hair, and dark heavy make up or dark tans. Also in all the art for Jinx her face is purple not black. The anime messed up.

[@samuellatuffour1584]

Thank you for your insights and thoughts on the topic at hand, appreciate it very much. Carole and Tuesday, I love the series. Keep up the great work and content @TheAnimeTea❤

[@TheAnimeTea]

thank you for watching! Always appreciate your support 💖💖

[@cornkopp2985]

I definitely need to check out michiko to hatchin and castlevania, both sound really interesting. I'll admit i don't watch a ton of anime, and even less netflix these days but you've sold me. My favorite black woman in an anime (also sadly one of the few I can even think of having seen) is Sakaki Sowande who's the student council secretary in eizouken. She doesn't get a toooon of screen time but does have just enough that I feel like we get a glimpse at her character so she doesn't feel one dimensional. I will readily admit she acts pretty rough on the outside but I feel like it fits with the zany over the top vibes of the series as a whole. And it's not just her, I love the diversity presented in the series more generally, and how in an interview with crunchyroll the mangaka described simply modeling the school off of their own experiences growing up in yokohama I believe, where there were students from around the world all in school together.

[@Dave102693]

I love Michiko and Hatchin so much

[@sonial.burton2315]

Love love love Carole and Tuesday!

[@brwaters4924]

Rad video. You gave me some things for my watch-list.

[@guardurcircle]

Great video. I definitely subscribed. I read some comments saying that we shouldnt worry about being represented. To those...it is not about forcing black characters into anime. It's about when they are drawn, they are drawn in the worse way with the stereotypical background. All we ask is stop representing us in the worse way when the creaters are aware that not all black people are ghetto or gangsters. They are not that clueless about black people.

[@Big0of]

This is my first time seeing carol and tuesday being talked about and i love to see it😭 it deserves so much love

[@teacol4991]

Thank you for making a very interesting and cool video on a topic that needs more discussion!

[@rossovivie]

*Ok you're GOATED for mentioning Sudan, Congo, and Palestine. You also have such a nice soothing narrating voice. I've only watched Carole & Tuesday from the list and i thought it was lovely and cozy and didn't mind the overall chill vibes and simple story and characters : ) I want to watch that second anime i've seen a lot of but never knew the name. Keep it up.*

[@seiyoutscreator104]

I kind of feel uncomfortable watching the anime involving Carole. She is paired with another girl that is depicted more "feminine" than her and we can see the stark difference in their backgrounds that often dehumanizes black girls from having other roles than "tough independent woman that will protect her lily dainty gf archetype. Its a masculine trope that follows black female characters and i found myself dropping the anime halfway just for that instance.

[@jonasweber9408]

Or it acknowledged the difficulties she had in life and that despite of that she was able to make change happen with her friend that put into question the way she view the world from a privileged standpoint?

[@seiyoutscreator104]

@jonasweber9408 Complexities aside, it still used a trope that I have always hated for black female characters. It's a thin line that roots to a thicker issue in media that has been there since the beginning that portrays black women as "independent, strong willed, not so feminine". This show may have ended on a good note, but I am voicing my personal reasons to dropping it. I'm sure the other aspects are more enjoyable to those that don't mind its themes for Carole, which is fine, but I do.

[@jonasweber9408]

@@seiyoutscreator104 that’s bad… As a European (sorry if my English is bad BTW) I learn everyday about new ways how the systemic racism in the US works… heartbreaking 💔 we learn a lot in school but there’s so much more but I wonder, this trop, isn’t it also coming from Blaxploitation too? This representation has always greatly inspired Watanabe. I don’t know how to phrase it, sorry if I appear rude or anything, but given my point of view of Europeans where we don’t have the same tropes than in the US, is it good to see this show like it was produced in the US with the the American mentality? I mean because in Japan black history is not the same I don’t think Watanabe is influenced by racists history. Wouldn’t it be wrong to view it in this way? Sorry I don’t know if it makes sense in English

[@PrincessLioness]

@@seiyoutscreator104That’s one of the reasons I haven’t watched the show. I don’t like that dynamic.

[@seiyoutscreator104]

@jonasweber9408 no problem! You didn't come off as rude to me I just wanted to clarify further reasons why I didn't want to continue watching the show. Also, if I'm being honest, I dont really use the term blaxploitation in anything (I'm not familiar with it). Thank you for lending an ear and further realize more about what some tropes can effect negative experiences for others. And I want to restate again, the show is visually wonderful, good music, and plenty of other characters are worth while to watch so I hope it gets its recognition for those aspects from people that liked it. ❤️

[@m.g.6321]

I didn't agree with everything you said, BUT your opinion and observations are totally valid and I love how calm and serene you expose your point of view!

[@AshleyHope4More]

Thank you for making this. Instant subscribe. I'm just some random girl but I really believe the hobby should welcome everyone 💙 I am grateful for your perspective

[@starrshort6403]

Great video and I’m glad someone’s talking about this ! I love your channel

[@shanicestella2226]

Why the Space Beyoncé from Carole and Tuesday , Crystal didn’t given a mention ?

[@majikai9077]

Space Beyonce for the win

[@MineShackle]

I hope to keep seeing this channel grow.

[@chibivesicle9612]

Thanks for another interesting video! As far as anime OSTs go, your comment about the artists involved in Carole and Tuesday makes me wonder who contributed to Blood Blockade Battlefront and the second season (& Beyond). One of my fav tracks, 'Queen of the Night' features Bilal, making me think that they put a lot of effort into finding a diverse set of artists to guest on the OST for season 1 and 2. I'm trying to think of another anime series besides ones with Shinichiro Watanabe involved that have that level of thought into getting a truly diverse soundtrack. It is slightly off in another direction, but the music behind a lot of these series makes a huge difference with the viewer.

[@cinniqie]

Thank you for talking about this!

[@ShadowKitsu13]

"Cannon Busters" was another one that I thought had a nice range of personalities and personal growth with a good spread of character designs.

[@irinaiturri]

Cannon Busters was created by a black man living in Japan. His name is LeSean Thomas

[@recon441]

Happy Black History Month! Great video 👍 keep up the good work

[@spookyjones6577]

Definitely going to check out Carole and Tuesday, it sounds really beautiful. Two girls on mars from wildly different backgrounds becoming friends who are passionate about music? Sign me tf up

[@dad.b.y]

i had no idea abt the castlevania thing 😭 ive heard of it but never actually seen clips! so much black representation omg, including caribbean??? love!!! ive gotta see it, tysm for this video ❤

[@shiningsafira2216]

Another example of a song used in an anime that's sung by a black woman is Motherland by Crystal Kay, it was one of the ending songs for the original Fma anime! A great song!!

[@arundhatiinamdar-yi6sk]

idk bout black people much but can we add nessa from pokemon?

[@BeautifulDiaspora]

Facts! She has such a nice character design

[@msimperfect288]

@arundhatiinamdar-yi6sk yes I love nessa and how they design her but come on we gotta talk about Lenora to me she just radiated a confident gym leader based off her design also her hair was gorgeous

[@arundhatiinamdar-yi6sk]

@@msimperfect288 for REAL

[@FoxxyFatima]

Nessa is Okinawan.

[@Ninjaananas]

​@@FoxxyFatima Pokemon has Okinawa?

[@By_Ash_Away]

This introduced me to Castlevania Nocturne, which I want to watch right this second! Thank you for this video

[@livetoloveandlaughlivefora6800]

You did a wonderful job I enjoyed it I listen to the whole thing while I get dressed to go to work Thank you for the wonderful morning

[@LilTomatoBoi]

I would love for some1 to make a video about the misogynoir in the boondocks and how terribly the black femme characters were written and represented.

[@mellodees3663]

I want fanart of the Castlevania villians in their boudoirs in bonnets or flat ironing/hot combing their hair.

[@AgentMulder120]

only a minute into the video and i had to thumbs it up, thanks for being a decent person and standing with humanity

[@amarualvarez5215]

thanks for this video ! very well done

[@JanelleBearden246]

Oh my gosh, so glad that you are talking about this… I was watching Signs of Affection and I really liked it until this one character popped up with the stereotypical “black person” lips and it killed my love for the show instantly. Idk if that person was supposed to be black I just know that after seeing use portrayed in this way so many times, for such a long time I couldn’t tolerate it.

[@ohlove0]

There's a manga from the 90s called Natural by minako narita and there's a black couple (both are blasians). It shows both sides of living in japan and navigating their place in society, it's really interesting and I highly recommend. One thing I can see (I'm latina so I can relate but my perspective can be wrong) is that the black girl falls into the "rude and strong" stereotype but later on it's revealed why she acts like that and she changes as a character. The author could have done some things better but I felt like she handled the topics with a lot of care, and knowing the mangaka she loves drama. There's also another mangas from her that's there's black characters but they are more secondary. In Cipher, the GL best friend and in Alexandrite there's a bisexual character and there's also the ML rival/friend

[@m.i7211]

Minako Narita! She’s one of my mom’s favorite mangakas. I just read Cipher and also noticed that she draws black features very well but was kinda disappointed they were only side characters. I’m interested in Natural now.

[@mothdotslot]

im so glad this video was recommended to me! very thoughtful insight, and i now have some new anime in my list of things to watch (:

[@oliiebee]

had this pop up in my recommended, I've never seen you before, but I'm so glad I did

[@333angeleyes]

I'm surprised that you did not bring up the colorism problem in anime. If the black woman is a lead character then her skin color is so light that she appears either mixed or just as a white woman with a tan... As much as you praise "Castlevania" It was made by an American studio with American ideals of what a black woman looks like; that a black woman can be dark but still beautiful. I think Japanese culture for all the praise we give it is ashamed of dark skin.

[@kermitgotthesickkicks4265]

I agree.

[@theoriginalbunnygirl]

What about the Japanese versions of these black girls in anime? Im pretty sure the black American voice actresses can't speak Japanese.... Also I am pretty sure Japan still has a loooong way to go when it comes to LGBTQ issues....they are nowhere near the West when it comes to their portrayal and so in a way I'm not very shocked.... There is also quite a large Japanese population in Brazil so Im not sure which area of Brazil the creator of Michiko and Hatchin visited to have those stereotypes. I was surprised when that was mentioned to be honest because Brazil has the largest Japanese population outside of Japan.

[@user-fo8ey1ix6f]

That's the only reason I still like anime, because they don't give a crap about the west.

[@natalimoina]

@@user-fo8ey1ix6f cringe

[@Shinesart]

I mean think about how western media portrayed Japanese or Asia as a whole. Everyone makes stereotypes of eachother. There are only one representing anime characters I know of in anime of my people who are Burmes/Myanmar. One in Kengen Asura named Yorozuya Saw Paing and he's pretty much stereotypes of our people. Hard headed (literally), helpful and kind and use our traditional fighting style call Latwei. I don't think you would be able to represent in depth until you live like them or live in their country for quite a while. Just researching online or a visit for a short time won't be enough.

[@owenlee7146]

I mean u can’t expect one author to present everyone on earth. You cannot please everyone, if u wanna include that diverse cast into one story there are bound to be stereotypes to tell them apart. In my opinion, it is way more logical to make the work that represented you or support the creators in your community ,than expect someone else to represent for you.

[@Imxel21]

@@user-fo8ey1ix6fshows that you don’t read anything about the creators of legendary anime’s like one piece

[@givowl2160]

Thoughtful commentary and enjoyable presentation, plus i now have some great show recommendations!

[@ms1472]

This was so informative and I am thankful to have found your channel. I'm currently creating characters for a story I'm working on, and I wanted to have a strong black female character in it, but wanted to be sure to do it right.

[@srose1088]

I got to go check out Michiko & Hatchin 😻 I think Japan has started to get a greater amount of black immigrants and hence more black or hafu children who are nationality japanese. I hope this will help the industry to be more educated in the future.

[@blackfish86]

Didn't really see Michiko as black, more as mestiza/ambigously brown given her intense colourism towards Atsuko. Other than that great video. Would have loved an analysis of the design of Dorothy from The Great Pretender.

[@CalebC5647]

She’s confirmed Afro-Brazilian

[@FoxxyFatima]

Hmm, Black people can be very colorist (no matter our ethnicity), so I never questioned her background.

[@avaphynx]

She was literally based off of Aaliyah. Who's black American for looks wise. Shes Afro Brazilian in the anime.

[@blackfish86]

I haven't denied that she's been identified as black by the creator of the anime. *I'm just explaining why I and others may not have perceived her that way, and it's probably because she's ambiguously brown with straight hair like many non black/race unconfirmed characters in anime. She's also portrayed as an immature, impulsive mess and I can't help but get the impression that if you called Michiko black to her face she'd punch you.

[@reneedennis2011]

Thank you for this video. Subscribed.

[@Ian_mar]

Love the energy❤ Good video!