Dr Kania Arini Sukotjo

Dr Kania Arini Sukotjo is an educator, researcher, and animator with a passion for exploring how popular culture shapes everyday life. Her research interests span Japanese, Singaporean, and Indonesian contemporary culture, as well as animation, comics, film studies, gender studies, participatory culture, and social media culture. She received her PhD in Comparative Asian Studies from the National University of Singapore in 2020, where she conducted research on fujoshi communities in Tokyo and Jakarta. She is also part of the organizing committee for Mechademia, an international conference on Asian popular cultures.

Her career began in the animation industry, where she worked on the feature film Tatsumi (2011) before transitioning to a producer and storyboard artist at Film Magik Studio. Her creative journey then led her to Keio University in Tokyo, where she pursued a Master’s degree in Media Design. While in Japan, she also joined artist booths at conventions such as Comiket and Super Comic City. These experiences shaped her academic focus on participatory culture, intertextuality, parasocial relationships, and social media communities, concepts she later explored in depth in her doctoral research.

As a lecturer, Dr Kania has taught at the National University of Singapore, the School of the Arts (SOTA), and LASALLE College of the Arts. She has guided students in showcasing their films at events like the Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival, providing them with opportunities to engage directly with audiences and industry professionals.

Outside the classroom, Dr Kania is an active participant in local anime and manga conventions, keeping a close eye on trends in female-centric anime, manga, and gaming cultures. This ongoing involvement keeps her teaching and research connected to the latest currents in fan and media communities, particularly those related to Chinese, Japanese, and Korean games, animation, and comics. Her current research explores how Japanese popular culture influences political imagery in Indonesia, reflecting her ongoing interest in the intersections of media, identity, and society.

She is exceptionally dedicated to mentoring students, helping them navigate challenging academic texts, build confidence in their ideas, and discover the joy of learning. She also actively supports students in their creative pursuits, supervising projects in filmmaking, comic writing, and animation.

Over the past eleven years, Dr. Kania has taught at the National University of Singapore, the School of the Arts (SOTA), and LASALLE College of the Arts, offering a range of modules such as:

• Manga Culture
• Film Visual Analysis
• World Cinema
• Production Analysis
• Film and Animation History
• Popular Culture in Contemporary Japan
• Samurai, Geisha, Yakuza as Self or Other
• Critical Thinking Skills
• Public Speaking
• Principles of Communication Management

• Japanese and Indonesian contemporary popular culture
• Animation and film studies
• Manga and comics studies
• Gender and sexuality in media
• Social media, digital communities, and parasocial relationships
• Participatory culture, fan production, and intertextuality

• Ethnography
  • Digital ethnography/Netnography
  • Visual Ethnography
• Qualitative studies
• Fieldwork studies
  • On-site and internet observation
  • Interviews
• Visual Analysis
  • Feature Film, Television series, Public Service Announcement Videos, Advertising Videos, and Social Media Shorts
  • Comic, Manga, Manhwa, Manhua, and Webtoon
  • Animated Film, Animated Series, Anime, and Donghua

“Comparative Studies of Fujoshi Communities in Japan and Indonesia” (2014-2020)
Funded by the National University of Singapore’s Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences Graduate Research Support Scheme, and the National University of Singapore Research Scholarship

 

Articles

“Shipping in Fandom: Structure or Division? A Case Study of Fans’ Negative Behaviour in Voltron Fandom”. Beyond Fandom: The Dark Side of Social Media Discourse, Emerald Publishing (2025) (Upcoming)

“Hiding in Plains Sight: Boys Love Content at Indonesia’s Comic Frontier”. Queer Transfigurations: Boys Love Media in Asia (Asia Pop!), University of Hawaii Press (May 31, 2022).
https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1xcxqw2.15

“Mikazuki Munechika: Simulacra”. Japanese Media and Popular Culture, University of Tokyo (2019).
https://jmpc-utokyo.com/keyword/simulacra/ 

“Expression of Love on Yaoi Content in Tokyo and Surabaya Comic Events”. Trans-Cultural Dynamics of Asia and Europe: Mobility, Negotiation and Transformation, Kyoto University (2017): 304-311.
https://www.kuasu.cpier.kyoto-u.ac.jp/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/8-2.Kania-Arini-Sukotjo_20160910.pdf

PhD Dissertation 

Dissertation title: “Comparative Studies of Fujoshi Communities in Japan and Indonesia”. 
Research methodology: Ethnography, Qualitative Research, Overseas Fieldwork, Focus group, and individual interview

Book Review

Rev. of Identity and Pleasure: The Politics of Indonesian Screen Culture. Ariel Heryanto. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 47 (February 2016): 148-149. 
link.gale.com/apps/doc/A448900645/AONE?u=anon~e82bfb65&sid=googleScholar&xid=85b27b01
 

I am interested in supervising undergraduate and graduate dissertations that align with my research expertise:

• Popular culture
• Animation and film studies
• Manga and comics studies
• Gender and sexuality
• Social media studies
• Participatory culture

Dr. Kania is a lecturer in Japanese popular culture and a researcher of Indonesian and Singaporean popular culture and media studies. With a professional background in animation and film production, she brings together academic theory and creative practice, enabling students to see how concepts are applied in real-world media contexts. This unique combination allows her to bridge critical analysis with hands-on practice, preparing students to engage with today’s rapidly evolving digital and cultural landscape.

Committee Member for Mechademia 2026, the premier international academic conference on anime, manga, and Asian popular culture. 

Speaker · Singapore Writers Festival (Nov 2024) 
Panel Discussion: Makeup or Made up: The Look of Beauty

Speaker · Making Anime Inbetween Art & Cinema Symposium - Lasalle College of the Arts (Sep 2024) 
Presentation title: Finding the Hidden: Fujoshi Community in Indonesia and Singapore

Assistant Organizer · Drawing Inspiration: Southeast Asian Women Artists and Japanese Manga - National University of Singapore (Jan 2023) 

Speaker · Asian Studies Association of Australia Conference 2018 - Sydney University (Jul 2018)
Presentation title: Translating Yaoi Content in Indonesia: Safe Spaces for Fujoshi and Fudanshi

Speaker · Queer Transfigurations: International Symposium of Boy's Love Media in Asia - Kanagawa University (Jul 2017)
Presentation title: From Shojo Manga to Yaoi in Indonesia

Speaker · Association of Asian Studies in Asia Conference 2017 - Korea University (Jun 2017) 
Presentation title: Hidden in Plain Sight: Yaoi Content in the Surabaya Anime Convention

Speaker · The Fan Studies Conference 2016 - University of East Anglia (Jun 2016) 
Presentation title: Expressions of Female Desire in Surabaya’s Anime Convention

Speaker · ICA16 Preconference Communicating with Cool Japan: New International Perspectives on Japanese - Waseda University (Jun 2016) 
Presentation title: Attracting the Female Audience through the 2.5 Dimensional Musical

I am interested in supervising arts projects that align with my creative expertise and experience:

• Short Films and Animation
  • Public Service Announcement Videos
  • Advertising Videos
  • Social Media Shorts
• Comics
  • Book format
  • Digital (webtoon)
• Anime, Manga, and Game Events and Festivals

• The National University of Singapore Graduate Students’ Teaching Award, 2018-2019
• The National University of Singapore Research Scholarship, 2014-2018
• National University of Singapore’s Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences Graduate Research Support Scheme 2016