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Read below to get to know this artist! 💜 What inspired you to start drawing fan art or in general? @meliie.moon: Well, I never really thought about it. It's just that when I really like a character from an anime or a video game, I feel like drawing it, haha! I think it's a way to pay tribute to the author, it's a way to thank him. 💜 How long have you been drawing for? @meliie.moon:I have been drawing since the day I was able to hold a pencil in my hands . And it's been 3 years since I decided to get more serious about it 💜 What is your favorite medium to use (digital vs traditional)? @meliie.moon: I prefer to draw on a graphic tablet because it's faster, I can draw where I want and it's easier to correct mistakes, haha! I'm very clumsy so when I do traditional drawing, I waste a lot of paper (spilling the cup of water, tearing the paper while erasing, making ink blots...) 💜 Do you have any advice for other artists? @meliie.moon: I don't know if it will be very useful but you should have fun while drawing ! Draw what you like and don't focus on what other artists are drawing. You should never think "wow this artist draws so much better than me, I will never have his talent". If you think like that you will never evolve. You draw for yourself first. By thinking like that, you will develop your own style and over time you will be better than any artist you admire ! 💜 Just for fun! What is your favorite anime if any? @meliie.moon: It's very hard to choose because I really like a lot of anime! But I think I'm going to say Cardcaptor Sakura because it's the anime of my childhood and even now I still love it. Follow her for more art! @meliie.moon (Instagram) (No copyright interferential intended). All rights reserved to the respective owner(s).

Cypress Catwell is a staff editor for Anime Feminist, podcaster for ChattyAF, contributing reviewer, and journalist for the Anime News Network! If you are interested in becoming an editor in the anime industry this is the Q & A for you! If not, we recommend reading on to get a glimpse of how life can be as a professional in the anime industry. 💜Read more below 💜 A: Cypress, you are a staff editor for Anime Feminist, podcaster for ChattyAF, contributing reviewer, and journalist for the Anime News Network. How do you balance your schedule? C: This is a question I get asked a lot because I’m a bit notorious for wearing a lot of hats: I think it’s one of the things people have come to identify with me, alongside my passion for queer media and my love of City pop music. A lot of me wearing multiple hats and doing so many gigs is a holdover from when I first got into the industry and was entirely freelance: plus, I just like to do a lot of things. The way I balance it all comes down a very meticulous Google Calendar: I use Google calendars for everything, partially because my day job as a light novel editor keeps me busy, I’m autistic and have ADHD, and also because I’m human and forget. Having a regular stream of notifications has really helped me stick to deadlines and get what I need—and what I want—done. It’s how I’m able to balance it all and still budget in time for myself, which I sometimes also slap on my Google calendar, just to make sure I take lots of breaks. Speaking candidly, I did make the choice in 2022 to step back from doing so much: namely, I stepped back from doing weekly reviews at ANN. My ability to keep up was starting to flag, largely because of private reasons, but also, because I was just doing too much. I knew something had to give: if I didn’t yield at least one place I worked, I’d be the one to give, and it wouldn’t be good for my morale. So, I made the decision to downsize and step back to doing less, but more impactful, things. Going into 2023, it’s easily been one of my best decisions. I have more energy to write the things I really want to write, and I can pour a lot more into my work at Anime Feminist and ChattyAF. 💜 A: What was the most challenging event in your career you had to overcome? How did you overcome it? C: Honestly, the shift from freelancer to in-house was incredibly hard, especially since I started right in the thick of year one (2020) of the pandemic. I’d just moved back from Japan in Aug. 2020, largely because of personal reasons but also, because I didn’t want to potentially get stranded in-country in a field that wasn’t a good fit for me. I decided that I’d start picking up freelancing gigs to tide me over until I got gainful employment. I’d love to say that I got that pretty quickly, but it took me until December 2021 to get a job that allowed me to make more than a few thousand in a year. A lot of my early days were sending cold emails to people: it was a lot of sending a form letter with a few tweaks, my resume, and just…crossing my fingers. Sometimes, the work was paid: a lot of times, it was paid in review copies of things, which ranged from PDFs to physical items. Still, against all else, I kept on going because I knew if I could just demonstrate what I could do at the right place and right time, I’d land something that paid me a bit more. And ultimately, all that hard work did payoff: I started working for a publisher in December 2021, and have largely been able to step back from hustling as hard as I'd think what helped me overcome is my belief in myself: it took a lot of therapy and personal growth, but I really learned to never give up on myself, even while expressing how anxious I was online or when I was blogging about my fear that I’d never find stability. What also, realistically, helped me overcome this was setting boundaries, which is hard when your income and stability depend on taking on gig after gig. I can’t necessarily pinpoint when, but at some point in 2021, I just hit a wall: I got really tired, my chronic fatigue caught up to me, my exhaustion became more and more, and I just had to start saying no to projects that paid too little and asked too much, or worse, asked all my time on a voluntary basis. I had to put myself first. At this point, I was only making maybe 1k a month so saying no was really, really hard. I was at a point where I budgeted daily out of fear of never having enough, of running out of savings before another gig came through. Even with that, practicing saying no really helped me keep myself up to keep saying it once I had a job that paid a lot more. It saved me from myself, essentially. 💜 A: Do you have any future goals or projects you are looking forward to? C: Oh, so many! I’m working on a bunch of mature rates games, and I’m really excited about what that’ll allow future Cypress to do. Adult media is really important to me, especially with how it pertains to the LBTQAI+ community and to BIPOC creatives. I’m also getting my first chance to work with horror, which is a genre that I can’t stomach in movies but love when it comes to literature and visual novels. I can’t name a lot of things because I’m under NDA for most of the work I did in 2022 but here’s what I can say: watch my Twitter (@pixelatedlenses), my retweets, and specifically, my quote retweets. You’ll find out all the neat things I did very, very soon! 💜 A: What is your favorite manga you have translated or proofread so far? C: These days, I don’t proofread manga as much as I edit light novels. My favorite LN I’ve worked on, thus far, is easily Qualia the Purple, which I had the honor of serving as editor for. It’s a romp of a good time, and it really pushed my ability to understand string theory and quantum physics, two things I spent hours research just so we’d have our ducks in a row with the translation. I’m also quite proud of my work with visual novels: I’ve done a number of big budget titles, including Idea Factory International’s Cupid Parasite (I worked on Gill and Raul) and Sekai Project’s Watamari—A Match Made in Heaven Part 1. The latter is a yuri visual novel, and as a yurijin, I was especially excited to get to work on a queer piece of media. That said, I do have a manga series I think of fondly: Campfire Cooking in Another World. I had the joy of proofreading this series in 2021, and now, it’s got an anime in 2023. It’s always nice to see things I worked on, even if briefly, get a bit of a media glow-up. 💜 A: Any advice for aspiring editors/writers? C: My biggest piece of advice is to do as much skill training as you can. Learn not only to edit, but to copyedit and proofread. Even if you choose to specialize in one thing, it’ll help you appreciate what others can do. I am, by trade, an editor and a proofreader, but this year, I’ll be taking some copy-editing courses, just so I can become a better editor and appreciate what my publisher’s copy editors can do. My recommendation? This class on Udemy. It’s one of the best courses out there, and routinely goes on sale. I also encourage prospective writers and editors to read, read, read. Pick up books, listen to audiobooks, engage with graphic novels, comics, and manga: it all counts and it helps you grow. Study English by reading outside your comfort zone: if you like fiction, pick up some non-fiction. If you only read romance, take a walk through a horror novel. If you like hard sci-fi, pick up some fanciful fantasy. If you’re going to go into translated and localized media specifically, then read outside your language pair as often as you can. Reading outside what your personal preferences are makes you a better writer, reader, and editor: it’s my secret for being able to be flexible when it comes to hopping genres in my day job. 💜 A: Lastly, of course. What is your favorite anime/manga if any? C: Super Cub: it’s just gotta be Super Cub, which is a Spring 2021 anime that’s had amazing staying power in my mind. A lot of it is because of how grounded the series is: it follows Koguma, a lonesome girl, who finds joy in sharing a new hobby with two equally lonesome girls who are still figuring out their femininity and lives. I wrote one of my most important pieces on this series in the same year, and while I’m in a very different position than when I wrote it, I think it speaks to just how deeply this anime affected me.

"I got into cosplay as a creative outlet during quarantine. I started playing around with makeup and i just really gravitated towards how transformative cosplay was. It was freeing to be able to be someone else for a few hours and it has become a passion!" -@annier0se_ Follow @annier0se_ on Instagram and Tiktok! (No copyright interferential intended). All rights reserved to the respective owner(s).

(Seras Victoria from Hellsing cosplay by @asylum_queen_cosplays) *picture from https://www.wallpaperflare.com * Read below to get to know the cosplayer! Animeforwomen: What made you get into cosplaying? @asylum_queen_cosplays: "What made me start cosplaying is wanting to find a hobby. That gives me confidence and expresses my love for anime and such and like Hellsing." 💜 Animeforwomen: What is your favorite anime cosplay? @asylum_queen_cosplays: "My favorite anime cosplay is Seras Victoria. Cause of how strong of a character she is." 💜 Animeforwomen: Do you have a cosplay that was very challenging for you? If so what did you do to overcome the challenge? @asylum_queen_cosplays: "Yes my resent cosplay Raiden shogun. I had to look up how to tie a kimono." 💜 Animeforwomen: What is your favorite anime if any? @asylum_queen_cosplays: "My favorite anime is Hellsing Ultimate and one of my favorites because they have strong female characters and I’m a sucker for gory animes." 💜 Follow her for more cosplay content! @asylum_queen_cosplays (No copyright interferential intended). All rights reserved to the respective owner(s).

( Himiko Toga from My Hero Academia by @Lily0fthedawn) Read below to get to know the cosplayer! Animeforwomen: When did you start cosplaying? @Lily0fthedawn: "I did my first cosplay back in 2015 at Anime Boston as Blake Belladonna from RWBY, and started again this year at the same convention as Nezuko from Demon Slayer!" 💜 Animeforwomen: What inspired you to start cosplaying? @Lily0fthedawn: "There were several instrumental people who reintroduced me to cosplay. Their influence definitely inspired me to try it again. But beyond that, I think there are many cosplayers who can relate to the escapism of cosplay. For a time, I didn’t really want to be myself, and found myself lured by the prospect of being my favorite characters instead. I soon realized this hobby was a perfect amalgamation of my other hobbies, and I was hooked." 💜 Animeforwomen: Do you have a favorite cosplay? @Lily0fthedawn: "I really enjoy cosplaying Nezuko and Chuuya! Nezuko was my first cosplay as Lily of the Dawn, and has a special place in my heart. It is very cozy and comfortable to wear, and I felt adorable cosplaying her! A couple experiences have made me hesitant to cosplay her again, but I’m not going to let them bring me down. Chuuya was my first closet cosplay, and was the first wig I tried really hard to style properly. I had less than a day turn around for the con, and was very pleased with what I was able to pull together in such a short time frame! I can’t wait to see how this particular cosplay will evolve with time." 💜 Animeforwomen: Have you found anything challenging in your cosplay journey so far? @Lily0fthedawn: "Oh sure, as a disabled person there are countless challenges I face in cosplay. My energy, chronic pain and health are huge limiting factors to any project I take on, and my mobility often presents challenges at cons. I’m still figuring out where my limits are, and I encounter new problems all the time, but I am learning as I go!" 💜 Animeforwomen: What is your favorite anime? @Lily0fthedawn: "Oh gosh trying to choose a favorite anime is like trying to choose a favorite child! My account is named after Yona of the Dawn, but I can’t choose that as my favorite anime because they never finished it :( My current favorites include Demon Slayer, Bungo Stray Dogs, Case Study of Vanitas, Spy Family, Jujutsu Kaisen, and SK8 the Infinity! Some of the animes that shaped my high school experience were Hunter x Hunter, Blue Exorcist, Soul Eater and RWBY (if you count that as an anime)!" Follow her for more cosplay content! Instagram @Lily0fthedawn TikTok is Lilyofthedawn (No copyright interferential intended). All rights reserved to the respective owner(s).

Yuji Itadori/ Sukuna by @queenisthirsty (created for a Zine cover) Read below to get to know this artist! Animeforwomen: What is your favorite fan art you ever made? @queenisthirsty: "My favorite fan art I’ve ever made is probably something I did for markiplier years ago on my old tumblr! The accounts long gone but he reblogged and replied to it and I died inside a little! It was also the first real fan art I made so to get recognition right off the bat was so wild!" 💜 Animeforwomen: What inspired you to draw and create fan art in general? @queenisthirsty: "What inspired me to create fan art in general? Um this one is tricky to answer- I had a bad “childhood” if you can even call it that- and art was my only outlet. So I leaned into painting until adulthood when I got access to tv and internet for the first time! I was so amazed by anime and other animated shows and quickly became obsessed with them, found fan fiction and then it was just natural that I created fan art for the fan fiction that I loved!" 💜 Animeforwomen: What is your favorite anime? @queenisthirsty: "My favorite anime? How can I choose! The most influential one might be Fairy Tail (pre 7 year arc) or sailor moon? But the show I keep going back to is oraun high host club!" Follow her for more fan art! @queenisthirsty (Instagram), @queenisthirsty (Twitter) (No copyright interferential intended). All rights reserved to the respective owner(s).

(Photo by @manishgosalia) ( Faye Valentine from Cowboy Bepop @teddysher_cosplay) Read below to get to know the cosplayer! Animeforwomen: What inspired you to start cosplaying? @teddysher_cosplay: "I’ve always loved dressing up for Halloween and my dad got me into video games and anime when I was little. Cosplay was the natural intersection of the two!" 💜 Animeforwomen: What is your favorite cosplay? @teddysher_cosplay: "My favorite anime cosplay is Faye Valentine from Cowboy Bebop." 💜 Animeforwomen:Do you have a cosplay that was very challenging for you? If so what did you do to overcome the challenge? @teddysher_cosplay: "My first bodypaint cosplay (Odette Widowmaker) was a white corset dress and a lot of purple body paint — I makeup tested half a dozen times to figure out how to get the paint to hold (especially for Blizzcon in hot weather!). For most challenges I end up doing a lot of trial and error to find solutions." 💜 Animeforwomen: What is your favorite anime if any? @teddysher_cosplay: "Favorite anime is Cowboy Bebop! :)" Follow her for more cosplay! @teddysher_cosplay (No copyright interferential intended). All rights reserved to the respective owner(s).

We asked @artqueue 💜What is your favorite fan art you ever made? 💜What inspired you to draw and create fan art in general? 💜What is your favorite anime? Before you read her answers check out her favorite fan art that she has done. Hinata Hyuga from Naruto. Her answers: 💜 "My favorite fan art that I ever made was a dark Hinata Hyuga." 💜 "I really love to watch anime especially since I was young. It inspires me to draw and become an amazing artist someday." 💜 "My favorite anime is Naruto. Forever and ever.🖤" Follow her for more content! https://artqueue.carrd.co/ (No copyright interferential intended). All rights reserved to the respective owner(s).

(Beerus from DragonBall Z by cosplayer @miniiwise) Read below to get to know the cosplayer! Animeforwomen: What inspired you to start cosplaying? @miniiwise: "In 2015 I went to my first comi-con, and it was the first time I really felt fully in my element. I was always an artistic person with a lot of love for different kinds of arts and I always loved the times when I could create and wear makeup and costumes. So when I found cosplay in 2015 and saw that existed so many amazing people that were just like me I felt right at home. I knew that I finally had found my call. Since then I never stopped , and I always apply my love for makeup, creation, and other activities that I always loved around my cosplays. I dream of one day having a full time career in cosplay and fx make-up. I love what I do." 💜 Animeforwomen: What is your favorite cosplay? @miniiwise: "I have a lot of love for all the caracteres that I cosplay like all of us do, but I will always say that Beerus is on of my favorite characters to cosplay." 💜 Animeforwomen:Do you have a cosplay that was very challenging for you? If so what did you do to overcome the challenge? @miniiwise: "To this day my most difficult cosplay to create was my Sylvanas cosplay. It was the one that took me more time to do, and that took several tries to make everything work. I knew it was going to be a big challenge to me, but I went for it. I always wanted to create a cosplay of her and I didn't let the difficulties of the process stop me. It was my first time building an armor like that, creating props like hers and making everything that I wanted to light up. I had to do a lot of search and even when some things looked like they had no salvation, I took a deep breath I keept going.I always think of the love I have for the characters and why I do what I do. Don't quit and believe in your self and always remember why did you start. At the time some things on her cosplay went wrong after I used the cosplay in public for the first time. I always wanted to upgrade her cosplay more. So I made sure I was prepared to make that happen and I did. The new upgraded version of my Sylvanas cosplay is now ready, and soon I will be showing her cosplay again. Remember that theres always space to be better and if you what or feel that you whant to improve something, do it." 💜 Animeforwomen: What is your favorite anime if any? @miniiwise: "I have a lot of favorite animes in my list, so I wouldn't say I have a favorite one. But I will always definitely say that I have a special place for Dragon Ball in my heart. I remember being a little kid and watching it on TV with my brother. Those are memories I treasure a lot. Also when Beerus character appeared, It definitely became one of my favorite characters from the entire anime world. I will always have that special place for Dbz and for Beerus." Follow her for more cosplay! @miniiwise (No copyright interferential intended). All rights reserved to the respective owner(s).

Word of Oda was created by director/writer Nesha Jackson. About the Film "Word of Oda is a thriller comedy short film that follows a night full of mischief and mayhem from the perspective of three individuals. Joker, Soul King, and Stealth Black, three initiates of an underground cult of One Piece extremists known as Club Oda, arrive at the group's headquarters in an abandoned cathedral. There, they are assigned the 'Test of Faith' by Im, the mysterious leader of the club, and his five elders as their final task for full membership. The mission? Kidnap One Piece anti-fans and bring them back to the cathedral by midnight for rehabilitation." Read more on their crowdfunding campaign page! 👉 Here Animeforwomen was able to ask Jackson more about Word of Oda, including what she hopes to accomplish with the film. Watch the video below to get to know Nesha and how to help make this film come to life!👇👇 💜Follow @wordofodafilm for more updates ( No copyright interferential intended) All rights reserved to the respective owner(s).

(Ahsoka Tona from Clone Wars by FlyPennyCosplay wins our Halloween cosplay contest: the most accurate cosplay category) We asked FlyPennyCosplay what inspired her to become Ahsoka and more! Read on to get to know this cosplayer. 👇👇👇 Animeforwomen: Your Ahsoka Tano from Clone Wars won the most accurate category. What inspired you to do this cosplay? Is Ahsoka one of your favorite characters from the series? FlyPennyCosplay: "I was inspired to cosplay Ahsoka because of the impact she made on me in her first appearance in the 2008 movie: Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Honestly she looked like me and acted like me.... and I felt an immediate connection. The Clone Wars series was the icing on the cake and sealed the deal as being an Ahsoka fan. She's definitely one of my favorite Star Wars characters. My followers actually voted for me to cosplay her because I was torn between Ahsoka and Neytiri from Avatar. Needless to say, I'm glad they chose her!" 💜 AFW: Was there anything challenging about this cosplay? If so how did you overcome the challenge? FPC: "There were definitely some challenges that popped up (as they always do) in the cosplay world. For me, it was about timing. I'm at a point in my life now where my creativity is being pulled in many directions and finding balance with them all at times can be taxing. (I can't complain though lol It's what i prayed for lol) Example: The Ahsoka project was officially announced on August 21st but I didn't post the final product until October 16th. Was there pressure from August to the final date? Absolutely because I wanted to please my followers but I had to check myself and work at my own pace and not stress myself out. I had a certain vision for Ahsoka and I was going to take my time and create her the right way piece by piece." 💜 AFW: How long have you been cosplaying? FPC: "I have been in the cosplay world for 4 years (July 17,2018)." 💜 AFW: Do you have any advice for other cosplayers especially ones just starting out? FPC: "My advice is this: Please continue to be yourself and do not cave into the pressures of social media and do not listen to people who try to belittle your creativity with their words. Cosplay who YOU want and cosplay HOW you want the character to be cosplayed. This is your baby. Also, take risks and stretch your creativity." 💜 AFW: What is your favorite anime or show? FPC: "This is a loaded question. I have so many! My number one animes are Inuyasha and Naruto with Sinbad as a close second. I don't have a favorite show because it depends on n my mood at the time." Follow @FlyPennyCosplay for more cosplay! ( No copyright interferential intended) All rights reserved to the respective owner(s).

(Harley Quinn by Wensday wins our Halloween cosplay contest: the sexiest cosplay category) We asked Wensday what inspired her to become Harley and more! Read on to get to know this cosplayer. 👇👇👇 Animeforwomen: Your Harley Quinn from the Batman comic series won the sexiest category. What inspired you to do this cosplay? Is Harley one of your favorite characters in Batman? Wensday: “Harley Quinn is one of my favorite Anti-Heroes from Batman. I love her New 52 Comics where she gets away from the Joker and learns more about herself as a person and about what she can do on her own, that she does not need the Joker to be happy. It was a great message for women who may have been in bad situations and got out and needed to find themselves. I was inspired to put this cosplay together because along with it still being mostly her original colors the New 52 has so many variations it made her fun and almost challenging to put together because she has so many looks in this particular comic series.” 💜 AFW: Was there anything challenging about this cosplay? If so, how did you overcome the challenge? W: “One of the biggest challenges to the Harley Quinn Cosplay was fitting in her Personality. I feel like sometimes I am the opposite of Harley when it comes to personality. How I overcame it was rewatching and rereading some comics to remind myself Harley does have a more serious side to her. She is a Psychologist and before the Joker she was about her career and I think if she can have multiple sides to her everyone can as well.” 💜 AFW: "How long have you been cosplaying?" W: “I have been cosplaying most of my life however I only over the last few years became serious about it. To be fairly honest it has only been the last year I have thought about going more professional into cosplaying and learning skills to build my costumes and props myself.” 💜 AFW: Do you have any advice for other cosplayers, especially ones just starting out? W: "Have fun, Don't let others tell you what you can and cannot do. So what if something is not perfect as long as you love it don't let others tell you otherwise. It doesn't matter who they are in your life if you keep doing what makes you happy, that is all that matters." 💜 AFW: What is your favorite anime or show? W: “Inuyasha, Elfin Lied, Helsing, The Ancient Magus Bride, Vampire Hunter D, Trigun, The Batman, Harley Quinn, Star Trek, Supernatural, Charmed, and What We Do in the Shadows the list goes on and on. I could go on however I don't think there would be enough room for that." ( No copyright interferential intended) All rights reserved to the respective owner(s).