Little Miss Period: the manga character challenging Japan's menstruation taboos www.theguardian.com

Film praised by women in Japan where talking about periods in public is considered dirty or embarrassingA manga character shaped like a pink blob with bright red lips and leggings is challenging taboos surrounding menstruation in Japan, but not everyone is convinced that Seiri-chan – Little Miss Period – is a force for good.
“Until now menstruation has been something to hide and many people completely lack a proper understanding of it,” said Kazue Muta, a sociology professor at Osaka University.
In the manga series, Seiri-chan adopts a blunt approach, “visiting” several women to administer a “period punch” to represent menstrual cramping.
The film’s protagonist, Aoko, is a publishing company editor whose male boss shows little compassion for her monthly pain.
“We received positive messages about how the badges raised questions about our society … but [we] felt that resistance to making the topic of periods public was still strong,” it told the Kyodo news agency.