It honestly saddens me that the discussions around Lady Oscar's sexuality are always wether she's a lesbian or heterosexual because, as I see it, Lady Oscar doesn't care about her partner's gender at the time of actually having feelings for them. Why is bisexuality never an option for her??
@@ColleensMangaRecs no, ellas son heterosexuales ustedes son los que se sacan las tontas ideas de que son gays porque no pueden ver una amistad sin shippearlos. Gringos siendo gringos
On the brief reference to shonen having a lot of BL undertones... my husband is a little slow on the uptake, but once I pointed out the chemistry between shonen male leads, he can't unsee it now and notices it allll the time. 😅😂 Any time we watch a shonen, my husbands asks if it's a BL 😂😂😅 (He's watched BL with me as well.)
I’d also like to mention there is a bunch of yuri in Shojo-inspired shows (not based on manga). Like Utena of course but also Pretty Cure has a ton of Yuri content. Even outright yuri couples in my opinion. The two closest couples to becoming canon in Pretty Cure (in my opinion) are Karen and Kurumi (they had a literal “I love you” confession in a season last year). And also Yukari and Akira from the season Kira Kira Precure a few years ago. There’s also 2 heavily implied gay couples among the side characters in Yes Precure 5 and Huggto Precure. Lots of gay rep in Precure it seems. There was even a gay kiss in the manga as well between Mirai and Liko the main girls from Mahoutsukai Precure
I actually asked around before this video to see what queer identities/subtexr showed up in shoujo series (just to see if I could add anything else) and precure was def mentioned!!
I remember the gay side characters in Huggto Precure. Henri (the crossdressing ice skater) and Masato (edgy boy) they did have a very wonderful bond that felt very gay to me, they held hands a lot, slept over at each other’s houses and are just overall very queer coded in a way that feels similiar to Touya and Yukito from CCS
The first anime that I've seen that had LGBT+ characters was Sailor Moon. It was one of the first mainstream anime in the West that had characters in same sex relationships, androgynous appearances, and gender fluid characters. The main cast even experiment and discuss their sexuality. The main character, Usagi, is depicted to be either bi or pansexual as she is shown to attraction to different types of genders. There's even a video recently uploaded called Is Anyone in Sailor Moon Straight? by Anthony Gramulga, which I recommend to anyone looking for more discussions on gay shoujo. The same director of Sailor Moon, Kunihiko Ikuhara, would later direct another popular magical girl anime from the 90s, Revolutionary Girl Utena. These two magical girl anime would popularize the trend of having some gay in magical girls.
@WoodwindBuddies The 90s English dub tried to erase all queer relationships. Luckily, there's a new uncensored English dub by Viz Media, which is more accurate to the Japanese and does not erase the same sex relationships.
The Heart of Thomas was so incredible, I feel like my life is better for having read it. The essay at the end of the Fantagraphics publication was also really fascinating and a great inclusion. It was really amazing to see the origin of so many iconic story beats and visuals that have gone on to be referenced throughout BL. And the literary writing style was so engaging and refreshing to read, despite the age of the story. Moto Hagio is such a master of her craft. She wrote and illustrated Heart of Thomas at such a young age it blows me away!
I love Kimi ni Todoke, and I love Sawako’s growth as well as the development of her relationship with Kazehaya and her friends. Ngl though there was definitely something between her and Kurumi, although it seems more one-sided on Kurumi’s part. Kurumi is probably one of my favorite rival characters. I need to get around to season 3.
Queer subtext has always been such a fascinating topic, and I love the whole “Heterosexual couple but make it as gay as possible” dynamic ever since Jessie and James from team rocket existed, lol. And on that other side of the spectrum there’s the BL works where characters don’t outright claim a queer identity. Since you mentioned about the need for overtly queer media, it reminded me of how this BL trope made it a bit controversial in the first place. The confessions where the man who isn’t gay loves his partner for who he is as a person is so Pan-coded. I just thought I’d mention that ^^.
Imo "I'm not gay but I like you" is kinda realistic, speaking as someone who was raised in a conservative country. Also, demisexuality exist, but people just don't know about it so they think themselves as "straight". And nowadays there's plenty of BL with characters being openly gay, bi or questioning. All you need is too search for it on databases like manga updates ^^
I actually finally accepted myself as demisexual/Ace thanks to Yaoi when I was 13 lol, thats why I defend the genre everytime I can because sometimes we are not gay, straight, bi, etc. , but genuinely don't care about gender in general, and its so refreshing, seeing that your feelings are valid.
@@Tenoreyumik and also the user after you, are using demisexual as some sort of synonym of "pansexual"? Demisexual is not about "not caring the gender of people", it's about needing a profound connection with someone before being attracted to them (usually that means longer time knowing eachother than non-demi people for intimacy). It's no related to orientation, you can be demi and het, or demi and homo, etc.
I agree with most of what you said here. But I want to point out while it's true that gay marriage hasn't been legalized yet in Japan, most surveys show that at least 70% of Japanese people support gay marriage and the number is even higher if you control for age and gender. Japan's government is way more conservative than the general population. And while I agree that their needs to be more yuri in shoujo. BL magazines are far from niche. You go to any Japanese manga store and you will find nearly as much bl as het shoujo. And BL is not limited to just manga in Japan within the last decade BL live action dramas have become mainstream in Japan. You are really underestimating the success of BL as a genre. I also want to add that some of the stuff you are saying here about BL is outdated. While the boys in early BL stories were written as audience surrogates nowadays that's just not the case and it is far more common for BL characters to explicitly identify as gay or bi.
To add to that, BL has become majority popular across Asia like Thailand, Taiwan, and the Philippines live action. Best example would be the recent anime adaptation of Cherry Magic which already had a bunch of live action dramas. Colleen has a bias against BL fandom which is sad since BL and Yuri are equally important for queer fans.
I did see one article saying that gay marriage is going to be legalised in Japan, and it's just a matter of how long the hardline conservatives can hold out.
love colleen but I do feel that she has a biased view on bl and yuri :( the old stereotypes from these genres still exist but we've come a long way from that and have more variety and people go nuts whenever we get a crumb of official english licensing (moreso for yuri)
@@pulped69dago91True, I understand her excitement but there's no denying that BL and yuri kind of came about to please a heterosexual audience's fetish, hence the stereotypes in this genre.
I love it when you take the time to talk about the history of shojo manga Colleen, and this video was certainly no exception! I also hope that we get to see more overtly queer stories in the demographic, as it could really help some kids feel more comfortable with LGBTQ+ topics and asking questions about their identity. Encountering “Sailor Moon” and “Cardcaptor Sakura”, and learning about the censorship their original English dubs contained, helped me ask those kinds of questions about myself and realize that I’m bisexual. Once again, excellent work diving into the interconnected histories of shojo, yuri, and BL.
another great video as always! the queer aspects of shoujo manga have always been what i've loved about the genre. it makes me think about requiem of the rose king and how a protag like richard who is intersex couldn't really exist in the shounen genre (or maybe he could, there may just be a ton of discourse lol) at the very least, shoujo is a genre that has cultivated an audience that is open to gender bending and introspection because of the reality of existing as a girl/woman. the escapism BL presents vs. yuri was something i could never quite put my finger on but makes a lot of sense.
youtube is broken. the video showed to be 1.2 hrs long before i clicked on it and i was like wow i'm seated! 😭 and another reason to love shoujo manga 💓
Oh, I feel so validated by this video. I've been saying shoujo is gay for years, so I feel a bit less crazy now. Such an engaging, insightful and interesting video! (I love how you have the bibliographic reference for everything lol). I believe shounen is gay too, though that's a conversation I don't think the fans are ready to have yet. (Your disclaimer on not wanting to address it any further is so valid)
Bunch of utena roses, frames and shadow girls in the background? I see you Great video! Definitely going to check a lot of these out as I’m obsessed with rgu and now I don’t want to watch or read anything unless it’s gl hah
Yet another reason I tend to prefer shoujo over shounen. "Why is shoujo so gay?" might as well ask why it reflects reality so well. Being raised as a boy and having shounen power fantasies force-fed to me my entire early life, something clicked when I started reading shoujo. Is it a coincidence that I happen to be nonbinary? I kinda doubt it.
I'm an afab nonbinary person, and I started with manga thanks to shojo (sakura was the first manga I ever bought as a kid) and seeing so much queer identities, even if they were subtle or never labeled, helped me to normalize and accept my own. A few years later I discovered yaoi and it helped even more in other sense, but I'd forever be grateful to shojos like Utena and the Rose of Versailles for helping me to feel better in my own skin, to not feel weird or like an alien💜 So, as you said, showing this things in stories directed for young girls still matters!
This definitely makes me want to read more Yuri mangas (I struggle to find them), but hilariously enough this is also such a breath of fresh air in comparison to watching the old vods of you reading Rent a Girlfriend for Charity.
Try the advanced search on anime-planet, the "GL" tag includes a LOT and the advanced search lets you pick and choose very well! (Note that the description drawing a line between yuri (good umbrella) and shoujo ai (not a good term) is completely wrong, but old style anime indexes tend to cling to shoujo ai so what can ya do) They tend to be in ungendered magazines (yuri hime) or male demographic (manga time kirara is big), but don't let that scare you off because there really is 0 consistent difference in shonen yuri vs shoujo yuri beyond yuri being allowed to get published in shonen mags more often. Having shoujo as a demographic is good in general, but yuri is kind of a ronin genre that just goes wherever it is able so don't let a seinen tag scare you off a good time Idk what you in particular like, but some more shoujo/josei-esque yuri is hanamonogatari (old woman yuri, not the one seen in this video or the monogatari anime season lol), the summer you were there, the guy she was interested in wasn't a guy at all, her tale of shim cheong, the moon on a rainy night, run away with me girl, fed up OL wants to serve the villainess, and I see you aizawa-san. There's a lot more, but that's a taster and with an index to look at I'm sure you can discern your own preferences lol
Finally someone who pointed out this !! ❤🔥I've always noticed there is far less Yuri than Yaoi and never understood why, not to mention the overall queer/gay content is mostly around men. And even when there is, it has to portray some sort of men-link (most often). I guess this is sort of linked to "societal pressures" of patriarchy that generally tries to control women or their lives, so content for women or anything related to them would be thrown under the rug most of the time, this bullshit needs to change.
@@ColleensMangaRecs Finished it. Honestly, when it comes to pseudo-queer relationships, I didn't really get that kind of read on Chihaya and Shinobu, but was way more invested in whatever Inokuma and me- sorry, got delulu for a second, I mean Inokuma and Sakurazawa had going on. Kuzuryuu and Kyouko too. Though, I definitely get the Taichi x Arata thing too, the pseudo-sexual tension is 100% there, which is funny, considering part of it comes from het rivalry.
I always wondered why there was an abundance of BL (I'm not into) but hardly any Yuri (love it.) Should have known it was plain old sexism the whole time... ...Even if I don't like BL I will defend fujos with my life. It's not easy being female period but is especially hostile for us in the anime community.
...orrrrrr it's mostly men who consume anime/manga/visual novels and this has nothing to do with sexism and is instead just not enough women participating
I've been waiting for this! That tweet about RoV was great and everyone who got upset about it has no sense of humor, truly tragic. This was a great, nuanced look at queerness in shojo storytelling. I'm glad to see so much spotlight put on the history and how it plays in to current works in a very thoughtful way. Thank you!!
1:45 Thank you for calling out the Twitter weirdos. Istg for people who claim to be anime fans they know the least about anime history than anyone! else
I can't believe fans disliked Rosalie, Im genuily shocked lol I love her character and her relationship with oscar On the other hand, I havr nothing against BL but is kind of upsetting that yuri doesn't have as much visibility because of being "too realistic" as opposite of self inserting in one of the male leads in a BL sometimes is kind of funny hearing the annoying crowd say yuri is made for men because if that was the case, yuri would be way more popular lmao
I find it surprising how much of other asian societies and Indian society have in common. There is untold levels of bromance in Indian films. Tollywood film RRR had two leads having a larger-than-life friendship that primarily non-Indian viewers and critique read that as gay (and lot of Hindu and political overtones far more in-need for discussions went over them). But this is part of Indian (and mainly Hindu) society - where female-male interactions are considered undesirable until marriage. So boys need to support each other. It's common to see boys holding hands and walking. They grow up to be having as strong relationships as siblings. Movies with protagonist male leads usually are operating on THIS chemistry, instead of homoerrotic. (Plus Queerness, their humanization and representation in media in India is a whole can of radioactive worms; homosexuallity is looked down upon and mocked in general society, even in educated and well off wealth classes. I'm afraid while writing this comment that someone in my known actually finds this out.)
I always love how looking back on older media reveals how hard it really is to have neat and simple labels for everything 😅 especially across different societies! So fun and interesting
I finally finished watching Rose of Versailles less than a month ago after at least ten years of trying because the movie was announced. So many tears sparkled from my eyes.
On the topic of the legal status of same sex unions in Japan, though there is still no national level process to recognize same sex unions in Japan, several prefectures have implemented stopgap measures. Furhtermore, some more progressive companies like Nintendo of Japan provide equal benefits to employees in a same sex union as those in a heterosexual marriage. This is all possible thanks to a landmark legal case in which the national level ban on same sex unions was deemed unconstitutional setting a legal precident for cases involving similar laws. This is to say that while Japan still lags behind most of the Wetern world in terms of LGBTQIA+ rights, there are promising developments happening across the country, at least at time of writing.
awesome vid, as a lesbian who loved reading shoujo it makes a lot of sense to me. some good actual GL manga recs: A Monster Wants to Eat Me, The guy she was interested in wasn't a guy at all, I'm in love with the Villainess. Mikagura school suite anime has a lesbian MC too if you got some more GL or yuri recs that that are pretty shoujo-y, drop me some
princess jellyfish is my favorite straight yuri www. there's no hetro explanation for why tsukimi likes kuranosuke in girl mode and no cis logic behind Kuranosuke wishing he was born a girl
It's kind of interesting/tragic to think of how BL manga is seen as fantasy. While I didn't get into BL until after I realized my identity as a gay trans guy, a lot of gay trans men talk about how it helped them realize their queer identities. It's maybe just projection, but I tend to imagine a lot of authors/readers were gay/queer transgender men, who may never realize their identity, which is heartbreaking to think about. (According to wikipedia, there was a guy named Shihomi Sakakibara who published a book in 1998, called "やおい 幻論 : 〈やおい〉 から 見えた もの" or "Yaoi genron : yaoi kara mieta mono" that argued a similar idea that many BL fans, including him, were gay transgender men, but I can't find any information, let alone a translation of the book.)
I very much agree with this! There's definitely a lot of gender identity playing in the enjoyment of BL (especially if one of the guys isn't taken seriously as a male/treated overly femininely to his dismay which can be relatable to transmascs).
I think it's an outdated view of the genre as a whole. Fantasy was always a major part of romance, gay or not. But nowadays many popular BL titles tackle different social issues as well being meta about themselves. For example let's take bisexual rep. Pink Heart Jam and Therapy Game have MCs figuring out they're bi after meeting their partners and accepting their identities. Both also tackle the uncomfortable fact that bisexuals are often ostracized by hets and queer people alike. But there are also titles with bisexual characters who are just casually bisexual and don't deal with much prejudice. Breathless Momentum and The Farthest Love in the World are like that. And that's another valid bi rep, letting characters just exist. I can continue this topic with different examples, but you catch my drift.
As a sapphic trans girl who is an enjoyer of Yuri, it's pretty cool to hear the other end of the aisle! On one hand this BL-transmasc correlation sounds maybe more plausible because of how many proportionately more BL fans are cis women identifying compared to Yuri Fandom which is a more evenly mixed audience of pretty much everyone but queer guys from what I've seen. On another, I think fujoushi space has carved out a niche to make it in some ways acceptable or like a community to talk about BL for girls and women out there. I can see an amount of BL fans being trans guys or maybe trans guys in denial, but the fujoushi audience is so huge in Otaku spaces I think even adding together trans guys and even possible eggs in denial trans guys etc, it'd be a small minority
@himalayansalt32 you realize it's pretty easy to be a cisgender straight girl right? He's had to do tons of work internally and most likely physically and logistically, get new wardrobe figure out how guy socialization works etc. All for what, to have an extremely small dating pool of the queer guys that actually do accept trans guys? Assuming you're a troll but in the 1% scenario you're not I figured this is worth sharing
Yup, Nanae Chrono, author of josei mlm manga Vassalord, is a gay trans man. I wouldn't say "a lot", since trans people are still a minority after all, but of course we exist in BL spaces.
Not adding examples for 'subtextual BL series in shounen manga' was the best option, as doing so would most likely invite a crowd that you definitely dont want here
After watching this video it made think about how Sawako and Kurumizawa reverse the classic yuri couple dynamic. They are both presented/perceived with classic characteristics of those characters (due to their appearance/first impression that they give) only to turn out to be the opposite due to their personalities (with Sawako being more wholesome and liking to socialize and Ume being more brash)
There was also a yuri manga called "Maidens of the forest of wild roses" that was published in Nakayoshi magazine in around 2010. It only had 2 volumes, but I remember being surprised to see yuri manga in a mainstream shoujo magazine back then.
There is one yuri I foundly remember, Girlfriends! And, there is a decent amount of Yuri that can be found, even though BL manga far outnumber them. Also, based on my observations, a higher percentage Yuri works tend to be adapted more than BL works
I generally observe for some Yuri-coded series, like Rose of Versailles, that it’s largely just a deep admiration for the other girl, whereas for others like Otherside Picnic, it’s actually romantic sentiment.
While viewing everything with lgbtq+ helps gain new perspectives, what about stereotypic friendships and relationships? For me it would result in an exchange of lenses, rather than expansion of a greater picture. Great discussion!
My first experience with Yuri was through Attack on Titan in 2014, which isn't a shoujo obviously (imagine if it was 😭) but it did lead me into looking into more GL media. I feel as though over the years its gotten scarcer and scarcer in the States to find Yuri content. A lot of it seems to be out of print, neglected by their publishing houses, or just not published at all. Its become a bit saddening to see.. On a lighter note, I also found out I was a lesbian through AOT because of Mikasa 😭
I really like Girl Friends by Milk Morinaga. It helped me realized that I’m a lesbian. I think Girl friend is a seinen though which is kind of creepy to think about since I always thought of it as a shoujo.
Girl Friends was publised in Comic High! which was marketed as a gender neutral magazine with the tag line "Girlish comics for boys and girls" but got lumped into Seinen by booksellers or dismissed as 'that Shoujo magazine aimed at boys'. After 9 years of publishing Comic High! was merged into Monthly Action (same magazine as Dragon Maid) in 2015 and Milk Morinaga's manga Hana & Hina After School continued in it. Monthly action was an atypical seinen magazine that went defunct last febuary. But a lot of Yuri ends up in Seinen magazines because its hard to get it published so intended audiences can be a very ambiguous and Josei series like 'Citrus' gets dismissed as 'fetishistic crap for men' by foriegn audiences all the time.
Have you read "Passionate Friendship The Aesthetics of GIrls' Culture in Japan"? It has a really interesting take on this topic and contextualizes it in Japanese culture and history. I imagine you'd find it interesting. :)
I just realized I responded to this wrong because I thought you said "have I heard" and not "Have I read". I haven't read it but I HAVE heard of it. Unfortunately couldnt get my hands on it in time for this one so it was not referenced but Deborah Shamoon was my source for much of the RoV segment.
I'm currently (and finally) reading Uruwashi no Yoi no Tsuki, and even tho I think the queer subtext is definitely very on the nose (the manga is also I think very self-aware in that aspect), when you mentioned that in BL stories the blonde guy usually is meant to represent a more feminine character, my mind immediately went back to Ichi's and Yoi's character design and I wonder if the colors of their hair are meant to further emphasize in a way the queer subtext of the story. Idk I'm just rambling but I wonder If that was the intention 🤔 And as always your videos are one of the few things I look forward every week 🤌🏻🤩
I'm reading this manga about older lesbians (hanamonogatari i think) and there was references to the novels that has these class S relationships. It's really nice to finally learn the context cuz I did not get the reference
I watched a Takarazuka performance for the first time last year. My Japanese friend is a huge fan, and Takarazuka really felt like a shojo manga lesbian fever dream 😂. I also think Sailor Moon was responsible for my queer awakening because I fell in love with Haruka and Michiru immediately, and they weren't "cousins" in my country's dub. So I was like, "Oh, girls can love girls. Nice." Also x1999 and Tokyo Babylon was sooooo queer, no wonder I love them till today.
I just thought back to cardcaptor sakura the moment I heard the title like whatever feelings Li had for Yuki- it was definitely a crush (even with that bogus moon energy explanation they gave later on). I'm saying this not because I think that they had romantic potential or anything (lol Li didn't even get to dream, I was more concerned about elementary school Sakura having a chance the way they were writing it) but if we can admit that Sakura had a crush then so did he. It was also honestly really shocking to me because I thought it was cool how he's possibly bi but also one of the main characters who gets a lot more definition that just that (usually any gay characters in mainstream shows are background side characters if they even exist). But honestly looking back on other shows, there really is a trend here, isn't there? Pretty interesting topic.
CHINOBU & ARATAICHI MENTION 🙌🏼 i also heard that yuki suetsugu was inspired by andre when writing taichi, not sure if that’s true though! amazing video as always, i learned so much ❤️❤️
To me the majority not liking Rosalie was always a bit wild, because I personally really loved the whole Rosalie x Oscar bit of the manga! I'm not that much into yuri in general, so I didn't mind either way, but I thought it was more interesting to see Oscar and Rosalie go against the norms not only in terms of class but also gender and sex. Sure Andre and Oscar relationship also felt queer, but in universe they were still technically considered "man and woman," so I always considered them ultimately as a straight couple, so Rosalie x Oscar just felt more interesting, as a reader.
I genuinely can not imagine how so many people could've hated Rosalie. I went into Rose of Versailles blind and ended up getting so attached to her and invested in their relationship that when she was written out, I actually rage quit for a while. I know that the show is still good without her but it hurt my heart so much, it almost felt like it was me getting broken up with lol. Justice for Rosalie fr
@@ColleensMangaRecs Yeah I think if the manga had been published closer to our times, the ship might've thrived a bit more?? XD I guess this is when we as fans can make all the fanfics and doujinshi, XD
Why is shoujo so gay you ask? I like the answer Arthur C. Clarke gives in The Songs of Distant Earth - to paraphrase, it is pathologic to have less than 2% gay thoughts, or so the human inhabitants of the planet Thalassa think, and they seem to be doing quite fine. Also for a drinking game drink every time you see the rotating rose of Utena! And years back my girlfriend at the time did not care for me being into Rose of Versailles, said OscarxAndre was gay and i was like 1. your point? 2. how?
Being a lesbian who used to be really into yuri, I always wondered, "why does yuri feel so un-gay even when it's technically meant to be about romance between women?" I guess the answer is that all the sapphism escaped elsewhere
thr queer subtext of a lot of shoujo manga was a huuuuge factor in me figuring out i liked girls AND that i myself was not 100% a girl. it was in the late 2000's so lgbtq things weren't talked about all that much. basically, i found myself relating to the more feminine boys of shoujo and their love for whatever cute girl was the main character.
@@user-vx3wc8yc9v wooow you're sooo special and you've totally changed how i view my gender, random person who i've never spoken to in my life but who's opinion i value above my own experience.
I will watch the video later, but my answer before watching would be: “All shoujo is derived from Princess Knight, which is inspired by Takarazuka, which is inspired by the previous all-women-form of Kabuki-theater. Hence why *women with swords*. Previously made to be a pleasure for the eyes of men its has become european and gay musicals ✨✨”
Look at those historically notable good friends.
Historians said they were the best of friends
And they were roommates.
The The 😅😅😅 2:02
DO YOU THINK YOUR YURI JUST FELL OUT OF A COCONUT TREE??
Ai Yazawa is waiting for gay marriage to become legal before she brings back Nana.
I know this is a joke, but please remember that she is very sick! That’s why she can’t finish Nana. 💔
@@tamponeragerardway9590 and we all hope for her to return to good health soon. ❤️
Haha this is so real!
If that series ever ever with those two married I would cry forever. Gosh I hope so.
Nana y Hachi no son lesbianas
It honestly saddens me that the discussions around Lady Oscar's sexuality are always wether she's a lesbian or heterosexual because, as I see it, Lady Oscar doesn't care about her partner's gender at the time of actually having feelings for them. Why is bisexuality never an option for her??
My personal theory is that pretty much every main girl protagonist in shoujo is bi or pan or something... but never straight fully lol
Reminds of how shounin boys are always kinda gay@@ColleensMangaRecs
Sounds more like a pansexual
@@ColleensMangaRecs no, ellas son heterosexuales ustedes son los que se sacan las tontas ideas de que son gays porque no pueden ver una amistad sin shippearlos. Gringos siendo gringos
@@e-hn8br aha, maria antonieta q dijo q desearia q lady oscar fuera hombre. eso se llama heterosexualidad forzada. I hope it´s helps
Don't forget the other major yuri trope: the aquarium date.
Kou and Mitsuba my favorite yuri couple ❤️ /j
the summer you were there !!!!
Haruka and Michiru 🥺🩷
Asaden best yuri
They're all good friends.
"good friends"
And they were roommates.
Of course, all “intense friendships”
On the brief reference to shonen having a lot of BL undertones... my husband is a little slow on the uptake, but once I pointed out the chemistry between shonen male leads, he can't unsee it now and notices it allll the time. 😅😂 Any time we watch a shonen, my husbands asks if it's a BL 😂😂😅
(He's watched BL with me as well.)
I’d also like to mention there is a bunch of yuri in Shojo-inspired shows (not based on manga). Like Utena of course but also Pretty Cure has a ton of Yuri content. Even outright yuri couples in my opinion. The two closest couples to becoming canon in Pretty Cure (in my opinion) are Karen and Kurumi (they had a literal “I love you” confession in a season last year). And also Yukari and Akira from the season Kira Kira Precure a few years ago. There’s also 2 heavily implied gay couples among the side characters in Yes Precure 5 and Huggto Precure. Lots of gay rep in Precure it seems. There was even a gay kiss in the manga as well between Mirai and Liko the main girls from Mahoutsukai Precure
I actually asked around before this video to see what queer identities/subtexr showed up in shoujo series (just to see if I could add anything else) and precure was def mentioned!!
I remember the gay side characters in Huggto Precure. Henri (the crossdressing ice skater) and Masato (edgy boy) they did have a very wonderful bond that felt very gay to me, they held hands a lot, slept over at each other’s houses and are just overall very queer coded in a way that feels similiar to Touya and Yukito from CCS
i'm no expert but doesn't the first two precures (black and white) have a whole official wedding figurine?
@@MissSun23yes
benibara comes to mind lol
The first anime that I've seen that had LGBT+ characters was Sailor Moon. It was one of the first mainstream anime in the West that had characters in same sex relationships, androgynous appearances, and gender fluid characters. The main cast even experiment and discuss their sexuality. The main character, Usagi, is depicted to be either bi or pansexual as she is shown to attraction to different types of genders. There's even a video recently uploaded called Is Anyone in Sailor Moon Straight? by Anthony Gramulga, which I recommend to anyone looking for more discussions on gay shoujo.
The same director of Sailor Moon, Kunihiko Ikuhara, would later direct another popular magical girl anime from the 90s, Revolutionary Girl Utena. These two magical girl anime would popularize the trend of having some gay in magical girls.
Also includes the best cousins ever 💀
@WoodwindBuddies The 90s English dub tried to erase all queer relationships. Luckily, there's a new uncensored English dub by Viz Media, which is more accurate to the Japanese and does not erase the same sex relationships.
New video? CONTAINING A ROSE OF VERSAILLES SECTION? Oh. Hell. Yeah.
The Heart of Thomas was so incredible, I feel like my life is better for having read it. The essay at the end of the Fantagraphics publication was also really fascinating and a great inclusion. It was really amazing to see the origin of so many iconic story beats and visuals that have gone on to be referenced throughout BL. And the literary writing style was so engaging and refreshing to read, despite the age of the story. Moto Hagio is such a master of her craft. She wrote and illustrated Heart of Thomas at such a young age it blows me away!
I love Kimi ni Todoke, and I love Sawako’s growth as well as the development of her relationship with Kazehaya and her friends.
Ngl though there was definitely something between her and Kurumi, although it seems more one-sided on Kurumi’s part. Kurumi is probably one of my favorite rival characters.
I need to get around to season 3.
THERE'S A SEASON 3!!!??? Why didn't anyone tell me this!?😭
@@MuckyMarci it’s on Netflix
there is also a 3-volume manga sequel Kimi ni Todoke: Soulmate that focuses on Kurumi. It takes place in college, after the main series. :)
Especially in the sequel series
Queer subtext has always been such a fascinating topic, and I love the whole “Heterosexual couple but make it as gay as possible” dynamic ever since Jessie and James from team rocket existed, lol. And on that other side of the spectrum there’s the BL works where characters don’t outright claim a queer identity. Since you mentioned about the need for overtly queer media, it reminded me of how this BL trope made it a bit controversial in the first place. The confessions where the man who isn’t gay loves his partner for who he is as a person is so Pan-coded. I just thought I’d mention that ^^.
Imo "I'm not gay but I like you" is kinda realistic, speaking as someone who was raised in a conservative country. Also, demisexuality exist, but people just don't know about it so they think themselves as "straight".
And nowadays there's plenty of BL with characters being openly gay, bi or questioning. All you need is too search for it on databases like manga updates ^^
I actually finally accepted myself as demisexual/Ace thanks to Yaoi when I was 13 lol, thats why I defend the genre everytime I can because sometimes we are not gay, straight, bi, etc. , but genuinely don't care about gender in general, and its so refreshing, seeing that your feelings are valid.
@@rebecamendez5456 this
@@Tenoreyumik and also the user after you, are using demisexual as some sort of synonym of "pansexual"? Demisexual is not about "not caring the gender of people", it's about needing a profound connection with someone before being attracted to them (usually that means longer time knowing eachother than non-demi people for intimacy). It's no related to orientation, you can be demi and het, or demi and homo, etc.
I agree with most of what you said here. But I want to point out while it's true that gay marriage hasn't been legalized yet in Japan, most surveys show that at least 70% of Japanese people support gay marriage and the number is even higher if you control for age and gender. Japan's government is way more conservative than the general population. And while I agree that their needs to be more yuri in shoujo. BL magazines are far from niche. You go to any Japanese manga store and you will find nearly as much bl as het shoujo. And BL is not limited to just manga in Japan within the last decade BL live action dramas have become mainstream in Japan. You are really underestimating the success of BL as a genre.
I also want to add that some of the stuff you are saying here about BL is outdated. While the boys in early BL stories were written as audience surrogates nowadays that's just not the case and it is far more common for BL characters to explicitly identify as gay or bi.
To add to that, BL has become majority popular across Asia like Thailand, Taiwan, and the Philippines live action. Best example would be the recent anime adaptation of Cherry Magic which already had a bunch of live action dramas.
Colleen has a bias against BL fandom which is sad since BL and Yuri are equally important for queer fans.
I did see one article saying that gay marriage is going to be legalised in Japan, and it's just a matter of how long the hardline conservatives can hold out.
love colleen but I do feel that she has a biased view on bl and yuri :( the old stereotypes from these genres still exist but we've come a long way from that and have more variety and people go nuts whenever we get a crumb of official english licensing (moreso for yuri)
@@pulped69dago91True, I understand her excitement but there's no denying that BL and yuri kind of came about to please a heterosexual audience's fetish, hence the stereotypes in this genre.
@@pulped69dago91True
And now I know there's a Rose of Versailles movie announced. Hyped!!
You didn't know? OMG! I was so hyped a month ago! Gotta wait till next year for it, the pain is real!
Same. Not sure how they’re gonna condense the story in the movie format, but still excited.
I love it when you take the time to talk about the history of shojo manga Colleen, and this video was certainly no exception! I also hope that we get to see more overtly queer stories in the demographic, as it could really help some kids feel more comfortable with LGBTQ+ topics and asking questions about their identity. Encountering “Sailor Moon” and “Cardcaptor Sakura”, and learning about the censorship their original English dubs contained, helped me ask those kinds of questions about myself and realize that I’m bisexual.
Once again, excellent work diving into the interconnected histories of shojo, yuri, and BL.
another great video as always! the queer aspects of shoujo manga have always been what i've loved about the genre. it makes me think about requiem of the rose king and how a protag like richard who is intersex couldn't really exist in the shounen genre (or maybe he could, there may just be a ton of discourse lol) at the very least, shoujo is a genre that has cultivated an audience that is open to gender bending and introspection because of the reality of existing as a girl/woman. the escapism BL presents vs. yuri was something i could never quite put my finger on but makes a lot of sense.
youtube is broken. the video showed to be 1.2 hrs long before i clicked on it and i was like wow i'm seated! 😭 and another reason to love shoujo manga 💓
well that's weird 😭
Oh, I feel so validated by this video. I've been saying shoujo is gay for years, so I feel a bit less crazy now. Such an engaging, insightful and interesting video! (I love how you have the bibliographic reference for everything lol).
I believe shounen is gay too, though that's a conversation I don't think the fans are ready to have yet. (Your disclaimer on not wanting to address it any further is so valid)
UTENA REFERENCED IN THE FIRST 5 SECONDS? WE MOVE
Bunch of utena roses, frames and shadow girls in the background? I see you
Great video! Definitely going to check a lot of these out as I’m obsessed with rgu and now I don’t want to watch or read anything unless it’s gl hah
Yet another reason I tend to prefer shoujo over shounen. "Why is shoujo so gay?" might as well ask why it reflects reality so well. Being raised as a boy and having shounen power fantasies force-fed to me my entire early life, something clicked when I started reading shoujo. Is it a coincidence that I happen to be nonbinary? I kinda doubt it.
non-binary is not a real thing
Amount of Revolutionery Girl Utena references in this video is crazy and i'm loving it
They are all roommates, besties, colleagues, buddies anything but lovers
I'm an afab nonbinary person, and I started with manga thanks to shojo (sakura was the first manga I ever bought as a kid) and seeing so much queer identities, even if they were subtle or never labeled, helped me to normalize and accept my own.
A few years later I discovered yaoi and it helped even more in other sense, but I'd forever be grateful to shojos like Utena and the Rose of Versailles for helping me to feel better in my own skin, to not feel weird or like an alien💜
So, as you said, showing this things in stories directed for young girls still matters!
"Dude look at your hair dye, you're either gay or color blind"
- Nicole , Class of 09
This definitely makes me want to read more Yuri mangas (I struggle to find them), but hilariously enough this is also such a breath of fresh air in comparison to watching the old vods of you reading Rent a Girlfriend for Charity.
I'm a person of complexities lmaoo
Well theres the part where she ships the main girl with cuck boys granma so :D
Try the advanced search on anime-planet, the "GL" tag includes a LOT and the advanced search lets you pick and choose very well! (Note that the description drawing a line between yuri (good umbrella) and shoujo ai (not a good term) is completely wrong, but old style anime indexes tend to cling to shoujo ai so what can ya do)
They tend to be in ungendered magazines (yuri hime) or male demographic (manga time kirara is big), but don't let that scare you off because there really is 0 consistent difference in shonen yuri vs shoujo yuri beyond yuri being allowed to get published in shonen mags more often. Having shoujo as a demographic is good in general, but yuri is kind of a ronin genre that just goes wherever it is able so don't let a seinen tag scare you off a good time
Idk what you in particular like, but some more shoujo/josei-esque yuri is hanamonogatari (old woman yuri, not the one seen in this video or the monogatari anime season lol), the summer you were there, the guy she was interested in wasn't a guy at all, her tale of shim cheong, the moon on a rainy night, run away with me girl, fed up OL wants to serve the villainess, and I see you aizawa-san.
There's a lot more, but that's a taster and with an index to look at I'm sure you can discern your own preferences lol
Yuri just doesn't really get licensed :/
I read the title and immediately remembered Card Captor Sakura.
Finally someone who pointed out this !! ❤🔥I've always noticed there is far less Yuri than Yaoi and never understood why, not to mention the overall queer/gay content is mostly around men. And even when there is, it has to portray some sort of men-link (most often). I guess this is sort of linked to "societal pressures" of patriarchy that generally tries to control women or their lives, so content for women or anything related to them would be thrown under the rug most of the time, this bullshit needs to change.
"Chihayafuru is kinda gay"
FINE, I'LL READ IT
😈😈😈 agenda continues to work
@@ColleensMangaRecs Finished it. Honestly, when it comes to pseudo-queer relationships, I didn't really get that kind of read on Chihaya and Shinobu, but was way more invested in whatever Inokuma and me- sorry, got delulu for a second, I mean Inokuma and Sakurazawa had going on. Kuzuryuu and Kyouko too. Though, I definitely get the Taichi x Arata thing too, the pseudo-sexual tension is 100% there, which is funny, considering part of it comes from het rivalry.
"Karuta and the downfall of the French monarchy. Same stakes," got a chuckle out of me. 😂
AM I WRONG
I always wondered why there was an abundance of BL (I'm not into) but hardly any Yuri (love it.) Should have known it was plain old sexism the whole time...
...Even if I don't like BL I will defend fujos with my life. It's not easy being female period but is especially hostile for us in the anime community.
...orrrrrr it's mostly men who consume anime/manga/visual novels and this has nothing to do with sexism and is instead just not enough women participating
@@user-vx3wc8yc9v Well that's utter crap women are constantly into anime and manga and read it alot so this falls flat
I've been waiting for this! That tweet about RoV was great and everyone who got upset about it has no sense of humor, truly tragic.
This was a great, nuanced look at queerness in shojo storytelling. I'm glad to see so much spotlight put on the history and how it plays in to current works in a very thoughtful way. Thank you!!
1:45 Thank you for calling out the Twitter weirdos. Istg for people who claim to be anime fans they know the least about anime history than anyone! else
Another day blessed with a Colleen video~
I can't believe fans disliked Rosalie, Im genuily shocked lol I love her character and her relationship with oscar
On the other hand, I havr nothing against BL but is kind of upsetting that yuri doesn't have as much visibility because of being "too realistic" as opposite of self inserting in one of the male leads in a BL
sometimes is kind of funny hearing the annoying crowd say yuri is made for men because if that was the case, yuri would be way more popular lmao
Is it weird now that I want to put “ ima candy girl looking for her crimson rose” in my dating app bio
I find it surprising how much of other asian societies and Indian society have in common.
There is untold levels of bromance in Indian films.
Tollywood film RRR had two leads having a larger-than-life friendship that primarily non-Indian viewers and critique read that as gay (and lot of Hindu and political overtones far more in-need for discussions went over them). But this is part of Indian (and mainly Hindu) society - where female-male interactions are considered undesirable until marriage. So boys need to support each other. It's common to see boys holding hands and walking. They grow up to be having as strong relationships as siblings. Movies with protagonist male leads usually are operating on THIS chemistry, instead of homoerrotic.
(Plus Queerness, their humanization and representation in media in India is a whole can of radioactive worms; homosexuallity is looked down upon and mocked in general society, even in educated and well off wealth classes. I'm afraid while writing this comment that someone in my known actually finds this out.)
Indians aren't asian.
I always love how looking back on older media reveals how hard it really is to have neat and simple labels for everything 😅 especially across different societies! So fun and interesting
I clicked on this because your hair looks amazing and stayed for the content.
It's no wonder I enjoy shoujo manga. So very queer.
it's one of the best features lol
@@ColleensMangaRecs True indeed
I finally finished watching Rose of Versailles less than a month ago after at least ten years of trying because the movie was announced. So many tears sparkled from my eyes.
oh Nana and Hachi...they will always have realized they were bi and became a couple to me :')
yay new video!
Wow, when you namedropped Chihayafuru my heart started to gallop! Now I have a better understanding why I love that title so much, thank you 🙏❤
On the topic of the legal status of same sex unions in Japan, though there is still no national level process to recognize same sex unions in Japan, several prefectures have implemented stopgap measures. Furhtermore, some more progressive companies like Nintendo of Japan provide equal benefits to employees in a same sex union as those in a heterosexual marriage. This is all possible thanks to a landmark legal case in which the national level ban on same sex unions was deemed unconstitutional setting a legal precident for cases involving similar laws. This is to say that while Japan still lags behind most of the Wetern world in terms of LGBTQIA+ rights, there are promising developments happening across the country, at least at time of writing.
awesome vid, as a lesbian who loved reading shoujo it makes a lot of sense to me.
some good actual GL manga recs: A Monster Wants to Eat Me, The guy she was interested in wasn't a guy at all, I'm in love with the Villainess. Mikagura school suite anime has a lesbian MC too
if you got some more GL or yuri recs that that are pretty shoujo-y, drop me some
my go tos are always gonna be Run Away With Me Girl, Pink Candy Kiss, She Loves to Cook, and Moon After a Rainy Night
@@ColleensMangaRecs i'll check these out, thank you so much!
I really like Kageki Shojo. Another Takarazuka inspired series.
princess jellyfish is my favorite straight yuri www. there's no hetro explanation for why tsukimi likes kuranosuke in girl mode and no cis logic behind Kuranosuke wishing he was born a girl
It's kind of interesting/tragic to think of how BL manga is seen as fantasy. While I didn't get into BL until after I realized my identity as a gay trans guy, a lot of gay trans men talk about how it helped them realize their queer identities. It's maybe just projection, but I tend to imagine a lot of authors/readers were gay/queer transgender men, who may never realize their identity, which is heartbreaking to think about. (According to wikipedia, there was a guy named Shihomi Sakakibara who published a book in 1998, called "やおい 幻論 : 〈やおい〉 から 見えた もの" or "Yaoi genron : yaoi kara mieta mono" that argued a similar idea that many BL fans, including him, were gay transgender men, but I can't find any information, let alone a translation of the book.)
I very much agree with this! There's definitely a lot of gender identity playing in the enjoyment of BL (especially if one of the guys isn't taken seriously as a male/treated overly femininely to his dismay which can be relatable to transmascs).
I think it's an outdated view of the genre as a whole. Fantasy was always a major part of romance, gay or not.
But nowadays many popular BL titles tackle different social issues as well being meta about themselves.
For example let's take bisexual rep.
Pink Heart Jam and Therapy Game have MCs figuring out they're bi after meeting their partners and accepting their identities. Both also tackle the uncomfortable fact that bisexuals are often ostracized by hets and queer people alike.
But there are also titles with bisexual characters who are just casually bisexual and don't deal with much prejudice. Breathless Momentum and The Farthest Love in the World are like that. And that's another valid bi rep, letting characters just exist.
I can continue this topic with different examples, but you catch my drift.
As a sapphic trans girl who is an enjoyer of Yuri, it's pretty cool to hear the other end of the aisle! On one hand this BL-transmasc correlation sounds maybe more plausible because of how many proportionately more BL fans are cis women identifying compared to Yuri Fandom which is a more evenly mixed audience of pretty much everyone but queer guys from what I've seen.
On another, I think fujoushi space has carved out a niche to make it in some ways acceptable or like a community to talk about BL for girls and women out there. I can see an amount of BL fans being trans guys or maybe trans guys in denial, but the fujoushi audience is so huge in Otaku spaces I think even adding together trans guys and even possible eggs in denial trans guys etc, it'd be a small minority
@himalayansalt32 you realize it's pretty easy to be a cisgender straight girl right? He's had to do tons of work internally and most likely physically and logistically, get new wardrobe figure out how guy socialization works etc. All for what, to have an extremely small dating pool of the queer guys that actually do accept trans guys?
Assuming you're a troll but in the 1% scenario you're not I figured this is worth sharing
Yup, Nanae Chrono, author of josei mlm manga Vassalord, is a gay trans man. I wouldn't say "a lot", since trans people are still a minority after all, but of course we exist in BL spaces.
The thumbnail alone sold me IMMEDIATELY.
i remember watching ohshc when i was 13 and i was SO suspicious of haruhi the wholeeeeee time. she’s still one of my favourite characters EVER 😭😭
Gosh Colleen, ur just unable to miss with your haircolor and styles. I love it ❤!
Considering I got into yuri because of a shoujo manga, yeah, that checks out
nice video tho!!
Not adding examples for 'subtextual BL series in shounen manga' was the best option, as doing so would most likely invite a crowd that you definitely dont want here
You get it lol
After watching this video it made think about how Sawako and Kurumizawa reverse the classic yuri couple dynamic. They are both presented/perceived with classic characteristics of those characters (due to their appearance/first impression that they give) only to turn out to be the opposite due to their personalities (with Sawako being more wholesome and liking to socialize and Ume being more brash)
Love the Utena framing on this video :)
There was also a yuri manga called "Maidens of the forest of wild roses" that was published in Nakayoshi magazine in around 2010. It only had 2 volumes, but I remember being surprised to see yuri manga in a mainstream shoujo magazine back then.
The timing is uncanny as I just watched the entirety of revolutionary girl utena
Huge W. Make sure at some point in the future to rewatch it.
There is one yuri I foundly remember, Girlfriends! And, there is a decent amount of Yuri that can be found, even though BL manga far outnumber them. Also, based on my observations, a higher percentage Yuri works tend to be adapted more than BL works
I generally observe for some Yuri-coded series, like Rose of Versailles, that it’s largely just a deep admiration for the other girl, whereas for others like Otherside Picnic, it’s actually romantic sentiment.
While viewing everything with lgbtq+ helps gain new perspectives, what about stereotypic friendships and relationships? For me it would result in an exchange of lenses, rather than expansion of a greater picture.
Great discussion!
My first experience with Yuri was through Attack on Titan in 2014, which isn't a shoujo obviously (imagine if it was 😭) but it did lead me into looking into more GL media. I feel as though over the years its gotten scarcer and scarcer in the States to find Yuri content. A lot of it seems to be out of print, neglected by their publishing houses, or just not published at all. Its become a bit saddening to see.. On a lighter note, I also found out I was a lesbian through AOT because of Mikasa 😭
I really like Girl Friends by Milk Morinaga. It helped me realized that I’m a lesbian. I think Girl friend is a seinen though which is kind of creepy to think about since I always thought of it as a shoujo.
Girl Friends was publised in Comic High! which was marketed as a gender neutral magazine with the tag line "Girlish comics for boys and girls" but got lumped into Seinen by booksellers or dismissed as 'that Shoujo magazine aimed at boys'. After 9 years of publishing Comic High! was merged into Monthly Action (same magazine as Dragon Maid) in 2015 and Milk Morinaga's manga Hana & Hina After School continued in it. Monthly action was an atypical seinen magazine that went defunct last febuary.
But a lot of Yuri ends up in Seinen magazines because its hard to get it published so intended audiences can be a very ambiguous and Josei series like 'Citrus' gets dismissed as 'fetishistic crap for men' by foriegn audiences all the time.
I was a high school exchange student in Takarazuka. It was absolutely wild and very fascinating in many ways
I LOVE YOUR HAIR!!!
I love this video I want to live inside this video the Utena roses and even a skull-faced bookseller clip??? Month made.
Have you read "Passionate Friendship The Aesthetics of GIrls' Culture in Japan"? It has a really interesting take on this topic and contextualizes it in Japanese culture and history. I imagine you'd find it interesting. :)
Yes I have!! I've been meaning to read it for awhile now, I just need to get a copy. I did use that author's paper on RoV for this video though.
@@ColleensMangaRecs Nice! I might have missed it in your vid if you referenced it, so for that I apologize.
I just realized I responded to this wrong because I thought you said "have I heard" and not "Have I read". I haven't read it but I HAVE heard of it. Unfortunately couldnt get my hands on it in time for this one so it was not referenced but Deborah Shamoon was my source for much of the RoV segment.
I'm currently (and finally) reading Uruwashi no Yoi no Tsuki, and even tho I think the queer subtext is definitely very on the nose (the manga is also I think very self-aware in that aspect), when you mentioned that in BL stories the blonde guy usually is meant to represent a more feminine character, my mind immediately went back to Ichi's and Yoi's character design and I wonder if the colors of their hair are meant to further emphasize in a way the queer subtext of the story. Idk I'm just rambling but I wonder If that was the intention 🤔
And as always your videos are one of the few things I look forward every week 🤌🏻🤩
Came for Rose of Versailles, stayed for Nana, pleasantly surprised by mention of Even Though We’re Adults. ❤ Colleen never disappoints.
I’m so happy to see someone talking about queer subtext in chihayafuru! I should rewatch / reread it …
I'm reading this manga about older lesbians (hanamonogatari i think) and there was references to the novels that has these class S relationships. It's really nice to finally learn the context cuz I did not get the reference
Do beastar. Because oh my god the subtext from that series
this is like my favourite genre of manga of all time and i'm so glad that you made a whole video on it
Loved the video, had to subscribe once you mentioned Chihayafuru ❤
Love youuuu
💕💕💕
this is why you’re my favorite channel on youtube
I see a Colleen video essay, I like right away.
your fit is incredible, oh my god
Colleen I see all the Utena imagery, please tell me you've finally watched it!
omg, i love chihayafuru, and i never thought of it having queer subtext! it makes so much sense now
I watched a Takarazuka performance for the first time last year. My Japanese friend is a huge fan, and Takarazuka really felt like a shojo manga lesbian fever dream 😂.
I also think Sailor Moon was responsible for my queer awakening because I fell in love with Haruka and Michiru immediately, and they weren't "cousins" in my country's dub. So I was like, "Oh, girls can love girls. Nice." Also x1999 and Tokyo Babylon was sooooo queer, no wonder I love them till today.
And even Oscar and Andre have a Yuri/yaoi vibes in their romance 😂
I just thought back to cardcaptor sakura the moment I heard the title like whatever feelings Li had for Yuki- it was definitely a crush (even with that bogus moon energy explanation they gave later on). I'm saying this not because I think that they had romantic potential or anything (lol Li didn't even get to dream, I was more concerned about elementary school Sakura having a chance the way they were writing it) but if we can admit that Sakura had a crush then so did he. It was also honestly really shocking to me because I thought it was cool how he's possibly bi but also one of the main characters who gets a lot more definition that just that (usually any gay characters in mainstream shows are background side characters if they even exist). But honestly looking back on other shows, there really is a trend here, isn't there? Pretty interesting topic.
But why does everyone look like Björn Andresén
I think he literally inspired a lot of the Bishounen aesthetic early on? I can't really remember precisely
They don't, some of them look like David Bowie.
Pixar’s Luca has been the only modern piece of media that encapsulated non canon gay yearning I’ve low key been craving lol
The amount of work you must have poured into this video 😮😮😮 Thank you ❤❤❤❤
CHINOBU & ARATAICHI MENTION 🙌🏼 i also heard that yuki suetsugu was inspired by andre when writing taichi, not sure if that’s true though! amazing video as always, i learned so much ❤️❤️
To me the majority not liking Rosalie was always a bit wild, because I personally really loved the whole Rosalie x Oscar bit of the manga! I'm not that much into yuri in general, so I didn't mind either way, but I thought it was more interesting to see Oscar and Rosalie go against the norms not only in terms of class but also gender and sex. Sure Andre and Oscar relationship also felt queer, but in universe they were still technically considered "man and woman," so I always considered them ultimately as a straight couple, so Rosalie x Oscar just felt more interesting, as a reader.
I also liked Rosalie and Oscar more, but I guess that's just different time periods of fans as well lol
I genuinely can not imagine how so many people could've hated Rosalie. I went into Rose of Versailles blind and ended up getting so attached to her and invested in their relationship that when she was written out, I actually rage quit for a while. I know that the show is still good without her but it hurt my heart so much, it almost felt like it was me getting broken up with lol. Justice for Rosalie fr
And there's me, who doesn't remember who the fuck Rosalie is XD
@@ColleensMangaRecs Yeah I think if the manga had been published closer to our times, the ship might've thrived a bit more?? XD I guess this is when we as fans can make all the fanfics and doujinshi, XD
@@oe2758 A few times when I re-read the manga, I'd actually skip everything except the Oscar x Rosalie parts XD
Yay! A new Colleen video! (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ
As a Chinese lesbian, I can confirm Lady Oscar is my Roman Empire since early 90’s 🤔😍
Why is shoujo so gay you ask? I like the answer Arthur C. Clarke gives in The Songs of Distant Earth - to paraphrase, it is pathologic to have less than 2% gay thoughts, or so the human inhabitants of the planet Thalassa think, and they seem to be doing quite fine. Also for a drinking game drink every time you see the rotating rose of Utena! And years back my girlfriend at the time did not care for me being into Rose of Versailles, said OscarxAndre was gay and i was like 1. your point? 2. how?
“BL is a fantasy and yuri is reality”
Wrong. Yuri is also a fantasy for me because I have no rizz and cannot talk to women
😂 I never questioned it that much until you listed all the queer aspects of shōjo and, suddenly, I realised it fitted every shōjo I've read 😂
Loved the Chihayafuru part :D
Being a lesbian who used to be really into yuri, I always wondered, "why does yuri feel so un-gay even when it's technically meant to be about romance between women?" I guess the answer is that all the sapphism escaped elsewhere
thr queer subtext of a lot of shoujo manga was a huuuuge factor in me figuring out i liked girls AND that i myself was not 100% a girl. it was in the late 2000's so lgbtq things weren't talked about all that much.
basically, i found myself relating to the more feminine boys of shoujo and their love for whatever cute girl was the main character.
that's still just being a girl, you just don't adhere to stereotypes lol
@@user-vx3wc8yc9v wooow you're sooo special and you've totally changed how i view my gender, random person who i've never spoken to in my life but who's opinion i value above my own experience.
@@amelieh9499 hmmmm interesting, anyway you should write a shoujo story about how hard you cry
Hey thanks for this video my friend i understand the witch hat a lil better now!
I will watch the video later, but my answer before watching would be: “All shoujo is derived from Princess Knight, which is inspired by Takarazuka, which is inspired by the previous all-women-form of Kabuki-theater. Hence why *women with swords*. Previously made to be a pleasure for the eyes of men its has become european and gay musicals ✨✨”
Loved this one so much
How can we forget the supreme court of shoujo magical girls Sakura Card Captor and Sailor Moon both which are SUPREMELY QUEER.