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Helen McCarthy

@helenmccarthy51.bsky.social

520 followers 130 following 580 posts

Writer, speaker, poet, scholar, mad about creative life. A dozen books plus presentations/articles on anime, manga, cosplay, history, art, crafts. I've given talks across the UK, USA, Europe and Asia. You can contact me via my website helenmccarthy.net

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Helen McCarthy @helenmccarthy51.bsky.social · 23d

Hello everyone, I'm Helen McCarthy. I've been researching anime, manga and Japan since 1981 and my first book was published in 1992. A dozen books since, two more in 2026, cosplay history and talks. Follow me for anime/manga titbits, snippets about Japan, recommendations, daily poems and fun stuff!

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Helen McCarthy @helenmccarthy51.bsky.social · 2h

I'm not saying she has support from all women on or off social media. I am saying I think it's at least part of the reason for this split. If she were he I think the coalition would have gritted its teeth and struggled on.

Helen McCarthy @helenmccarthy51.bsky.social · 20h

Happy book birthday! Can't wait to read it! #anime #animation

Michael Leader @michaeljleader.bsky.social · 20h

📚 Our new book is out today! 📚

The Animation Atlas, our round-the-world trip through the global history of animation, is now available from all good bookshops!

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Reposted by Helen McCarthy

Joanne Harris @joannechocolat.bsky.social · 21h

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 259:
Failure is nothing to be ashamed of. It means you tried something. No-one succeeds without failures: it’s a necessary part of the process.

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Reposted by Helen McCarthy

'Olly-ween 🎃 @lilprincesays.com · 22h

Inspired by our previous episode on genres, we decide to chat today about a thing that happens, particularly in fan spaces. Flanderization is the process of a character being distilled to the point of removing many deeper aspects of their character.
#fandom #popculture #thesimpsons #fanculture

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Helen McCarthy @helenmccarthy51.bsky.social · 23h

I was taken to dinner there by a very flash chap not long after I arrived in London. It was astonishing to see the sun set over London and all the lights stretching away like a blingy spiderweb.

Reposted by Helen McCarthy

Postcard From The Past @pastpostcard.bsky.social · 1d

We have just come down from the top of the post office tower. It was very exciting being 499 feet up. The cars and buildings looked like dinky toys.

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Helen McCarthy @helenmccarthy51.bsky.social · 1d

the ageing year is
now more greying than golden
but still well-dressed
in a riot of colour
not yet time for monotone

#tanka #poetry #changingseasons #enduringbeauty

Helen McCarthy @helenmccarthy51.bsky.social · 1d

the rose called Peace
has buds streaked red as blood
yet transmutes to gold

#haiku #poetry #hope #GivePeaceAChance

Reposted by Helen McCarthy

Helen McCarthy @glider.bsky.social · 1d

Thrilled and can't wait to read the seventh story in one of the best and most beautifully illustrated adventure series for just about anyone!
@helenmccarthy51.bsky.social

Sarah McIntyre @sarahmcintyre.bsky.social · 1d

'Adventuremice: Mousehole to the Centre of the Earth', the seventh in our highly-illustrated series, is out now!
Available at all good bookshops!
🐭🐭✍️✍️
@philipreeve.bsky.social
@dfbstoryhouse.bsky.social

Cover with Pedro, Fledermaus & Ptiny the Pterodactyl

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Helen McCarthy @helenmccarthy51.bsky.social · 1d

Up on my website now: a post on #transgenerationality and its impact on anime. (And not just anime - every aspect of Japan's media mix will be affected by it.)
helenmccarthy.net/transgenerat...

Transgenerationality - the ageing up (and ageing out) of Japan's animation industry - Helen McCarthy

At the beginning of July I was privileged to speak at a symposium on Transnational Perspectives in Anime. It was held on the Lancaster University campus, co-hosted by Dr. Zoe Crombie and Japan Foundat...

helenmccarthy.net

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Helen McCarthy @helenmccarthy51.bsky.social · 1d

robinsong
get yourself out here
get living

#haiku #poetry #lifeinallseasons

Helen McCarthy @helenmccarthy51.bsky.social · 1d

This month is the 56th anniversary of the #TV #anime Sazae-san, running weekly since 5 October 1969, the longest-running animated TV show in the world. Midori Kato holds the record for the longest career as the voice of a single character. Last year's celebrations: soranews24.com/2024/11/19/s...

Sazae-san breaks own Guinness World Records again for 55 years on television

Star voice actor is 85 going on 25.

soranews24.com

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Helen McCarthy @helenmccarthy51.bsky.social · 2d

The "polluter pays" principle is often ignored (eg with the environmental costs of #AI) but in this case it would prevent far greater costs and health risks from hitting communities and consumers all over the world.

Helen McCarthy @helenmccarthy51.bsky.social · 2d

Invasive species have a massive impact on agriculture (and hence good prices) as well as disease control and the natural and built environment. Requiring shipping companies and ports to sanitise all containers would add to distribution costs but minimise much greater costs from species incursion.

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Reposted by Helen McCarthy

Catsuka @catsuka.bsky.social · 2d

Note: the new Pokétoon animated short is a co-production between Studio Colorido (Japan) & Rudo (Argentina).
"Can't Take My Eyes Off You, Kangaskhan" :
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfNr...

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Helen McCarthy @helenmccarthy51.bsky.social · 2d

Check out #ZoeCrombie's six-week Introduction to #StudioGhibli course at the #CityLit in #London - starts 27 October, still time to enrol! www.citylit.ac.uk/courses/intr...

Introduction to Studio Ghibli

Founded by Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, and Toshio Suzuki in 1985, Studio Ghibli is the most well-known anime studio of all time, combining boundless imagination with a complexity that has led them ...

www.citylit.ac.uk

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Helen McCarthy @helenmccarthy51.bsky.social · 2d

“To give shape to the idea that the passage of time itself adds value is the achievement of Japanese diligence and an unyielding spirit of inquiry." Full Count jeans are resolutely old-tech even though the Levis that inspired them no longer use old-school looms. www.asahi.com/ajw/articles...

Full Count jeans maker embodies craft and value of Japanese denim | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

When Mikiharu Tsujita launched Full Count in 1992, he did so with a singular, almost romantic ambition: to re-create the jeans he revered most—the Levi’s 501s of the 1940s and ’50s, the bedrock of blu...

www.asahi.com

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Helen McCarthy @helenmccarthy51.bsky.social · 2d

Animals have colonised far-flung corners of the world on human transport, often devastating ecosystems unprepared for them. The largest incursion of fire ants in Tokyo to date arrived on three containers from China. Time shipping companies took action? mainichi.jp/english/arti...

Over 10,000 invasive fire ants found at Tokyo port, largest discovery since 2017 - The Mainichi

TOKYO -- Over 10,000 invasive fire ants along with at least 8,000 eggs, larvae and pupae were found at the Port of Tokyo's Aomi container terminal, th

mainichi.jp

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Helen McCarthy @helenmccarthy51.bsky.social · 2d

Enter the world of Aomame, the assassin who strays into an alternate world in Haruki Murakami's "IQ84", with installations and events across the triennial Okayama Art Summit. Until 26 November.
www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2025...

Artists turn Okayama into Murakami-esque city of wonder

The fourth edition of the triennial Okayama Art Summit transmutes the sensibility of Haruki Murakami’s “1Q84” into an urban art program.

www.japantimes.co.jp

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Helen McCarthy @helenmccarthy51.bsky.social · 2d

Dolly Parton's sister asked for prayers because Dolly's feeling unwell. The reaction across social media - from those of all faiths and none - suggests that if an American wins the Nobel Peace Prize, it should be this generous, kind, hardworking joybringer.
www.newsweek.com/entertainmen...

Dolly Parton's sister provides update after telling fans to pray for star

Freida Parton concerned fans with a social media message saying she was "was up all night praying" for the country music icon.

www.newsweek.com

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Helen McCarthy @helenmccarthy51.bsky.social · 2d

That's uk.bookshop.org here in Britain. Money for indie bookshops supports diversity and choice. You can even nominate the bookshop you want to benefit!

Bookshop

uk.bookshop.org

Reposted by Helen McCarthy

Bookshop.org @bookshop.org · 2d

Can’t decide what to buy on Prime Day?

Try: absolutely nothing, and then go support indie bookstores instead 📚

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Reposted by Helen McCarthy

Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 2d

Bookshop.com is running two-days of anti-Prime free shipping. Now is a great time to stock up on your RJL back-list or get ready for RJL next episode, all about Lafcadio Hearn and different versions of the story "The Peony Lantern".

In Ghostly Japan: Japanese Legends of Ghosts, Yokai, Yurei and Other Oddities

Japanese Legends of Ghosts, Yokai, Yurei and Other Oddities

bookshop.org

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Reposted by Helen McCarthy

Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 2d

Happy N American release day to Yasushi Kitagawa's The Lucky Ride, trans Takami Nieda.

Shuichi settles into the backseat of a mysterious taxi and embarks on a series of magical rides that will teach him surprising life lessons.

(Buy today or tomorrow for free shipping!)

The Lucky Ride: A Novel Full of Opportunity

A Novel Full of Opportunity

bookshop.org

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Reposted by Helen McCarthy

Bookshop.org @bookshop.org · 2d

$41 million: The amount of money we’ve raised for indie bookstores since 2020.

$0: The amount of money Amazon has raised for indie bookstores since 1994.

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