Happy Pride Everyone! EDIT: Any negative comment towards the LGBTQ+ community that I see will be deleted and result in a ban from my channel. Queer rights are human rights. EDIT 2! I've had a lot of people ask about Madoka Magica, and the reason that isn't on here is because its one of my girlfriends favorite series but she wasn't readily available during the timeframe I watched all of these anime, and I didn't want to watch it without her. If I do a follow-up, I will be sure to include Madoka! A video started last year at the beginning of the June finally gets its release this year in June. I cannot even begin to express how happy I am that this video is finally out there into the world, sometimes I thought it would never happen but here we are! I understand that as a straight cis male, I am teetering a thin line here with what I discuss in the video, which is why I got as much help as could to make sure I wasn't misrepresenting the people I'm making this video for. I love the LGBTQ+ community, I've been an ally to the community from a very young age because I have many family members in it. This is a video I knew I absolutely wanted to make for the people that I love, and for other people to be able to find good anime that resonate with who they are. All I can hope for is that I managed to meet everyone's expectations with the topics handled in this video. I will be doing a post-mortem Twitch stream tomorrow at 3PM Eastern Standard Time to discuss this video with anyone who wants to talk, so if there's anything that stood out or that you'd love to talk about; please come join tomorrow or join my Discord server. I want to hear what you have to say. And, as I said at the end of the video, I’d like to give a huge shoutout to all of the following people. At the beginning I said we had 23 members work on with me, and in the end I had far more than I ever anticipated guide me along the way. Many of these people played a part in this video being made, and without them reviewing my script, discussing these shows with me, and watching each segment as they were edited, this video could look very different. So thank you to: Juliet, Mimi, DarkAngel, Citrus, Izzle Shizzle, Jim, Sof, Mystic Shiki, Matthea, Rei, Alfredo, Matt, Sam, Juice, Ethan, Josiah, Nicole, Fish, Phoenix, the members of r/asktransgender, specifically growflet, Lena_Zelena, and L_V_N, the members of r/anime that helped me find a lot of these shows, onecanofbakedbeans, Holli, D_D, IshigamiCrisis, Argentum_Uranium, KingOftheHigurashiAbridged, Zach, Grayson, Sylvia, and probably many more. I’m very happy to have had the help and guidance of all of these people to give you one of the best experiences I could possibly give all of the people that watch this video. With that being said, good evening, good morning, and goodnight; take care of yourself, and you are loved. This channel will always be a safe place.
As an lgbt person, I love this video! I wish more people would be open to watching these anime. I was able to add a bunch of anime to my wish list so thanks for that ☺️ Also Loveless shared trauma 🤝
Of course! And yeah, I should have probably. The reason it wasn't here is while making the list, I realized there were far more gay anime than lesbian anime, and I wanted to try and have an equal balance if possible. Banana Fish unfortunately got the cut from this video... but I do think I will cover it in the future 👁
@@MrHunteru damn... that's sad 😭 you put some really really bad animes on here. Some of the lesbian animes where just h4ntei and absolutely not for lgbtq ppl but just for horny straight men. You could have easily switched these for a masterpiece like Banana Fish :( but it is how it is
Man, I cried as a Yuri on Ice fan when the movie got canceled. More because there were rumors it would talk about the coming out story of Viktor and how it reflected on his skating career. I got mad and sad we got baited for more representation, waiting 7 years just so they kept it in the closet still. *pour one out for me*
BRO WHAT! That makes the announcement way more disappointing what the fuck, now I'm pissed lmao. I hope that MAPPA goes back on their decision and makes it happen one day because otherwise that is such a missed opportunity
BRO, I'm not Gay nor a Yuri on Ice fan(cause I hadn't seen it yet), yet I feel like I got blue balled and pissed about it. I am so sorry about that. 😢 Edit: I hope the movie will be converted to something good like a season 2 of some sorts(or season 3 or season 4, again, haven't seen it).
No. 6 is criminally underrated imo. The characters feel so grounded and real, plus it's nice to have a gay love story in a genre series where that isn't the main focal point. Their relationship is definitely very sweet and well written, but there's so much more to the story than that.
ikr , it was my first official stepping into anime and i devoured that series , short , well paced , plot was chefs kiss , romance was the sub plot but u could still feel the care and love , animation was a little choppy time to time but the overall world building and characters natural chemistery made up for it and i highkey dont consider it a bl or yaoi , feels illegal to label sth so pure with those horrendous tropes ( yaoi) that fujoshis came up with and dig. ps. when i say yaoi , i specifically mean the rape, pedo , sexualization clture , to me thats the whole yaoi/fujoshi umbrella
Ong, no.6 it's amazing and I can't stop thinking about this anime even after years and years, everything feels so human and I love how there's more to the anime than the characters relationship
i did not like it. lowk felt like it had no depth/the characters felt shallow and i just couldn't really connect with them no matter how much I tried. that's just my opinion tho I'm glad u could enjoy it :)
@@aliceblauvelt7835 ah thats ok , i am like that with many significantly "popular" ships myself , i understand where u r coming from tho , because the series was never supposed to be love centric , infact nezumi's whole charrcater arc was to isolate himself until the end when he realizes that oh , he is actually very much in love and he cant deny it anymore and considering how short this series is , u not being able to connect with them is a real possibilty , i personally loved it because of that , the whole one sided effort in love , the structural and political world building , every character having somewhat of an individual personality, romance not even being a plot but love ( plattonic) still playing a role and i obvi have a bias , it being my first anime and everything lol
I’m pretty sure the direct Japanese translation of “yurikuma” is smth loosely along the lines of “bear lesbians”, which makes the title funnily straightforward 😭
Yeah, that's really funny (although I think "yuri" means "lily" and can technically include platonic female-female relationships too? Correct me if I'm wrong, Japanese speakers)
Devil man crybaby didn't just make me sad and mad. It made me DEVASTATED and LIVID! There's a part in the later half (you know the one if you seen the show, it involves sticks and fire) that filled me with a sense of rage that I have never felt before in my entire life! I literally screamed while I sobbed.
I know EXACTLY what you’re talking about, and I felt that same pain too. I was watching the show casually, like an episode per day, until episode 4. Episode 4 had me sobbing and so I binged after that. And then I finished THAT episode and I was so empty inside, and then that ending. GOOOD LORD! Devilman Crybaby destroyed me for like a month
He wouldn't like it, since the central gay thing is the toxic attraction between Adam and Langa, and Langa's conflict at having to choose between that and his actually healthy age-appropriate friendship with Reki.
An interesting note about Wandering Son is just an interesting similarity between me and my cousin. She went through a phase of her life where she did crossdress and start to act very masculine. This was at the start of puberty for us, and I was at the time questioning my interest in girls. After puberty, it ended with my cousin coming out as a lesbian, and I transitioned from female to male. Our moms make jokes sometimes that the opposite was expected from us.
That is very interesting! I wonder if they did something similar to this later on in the manga? Regardless, I’m glad you guys were both able to figure out who you are :0
Dude, thank you for PROPERLY giving trigger warnings. There were a few shows on here that i had no idea were so dark/explicit and planned on watching. Idk if it's just how i look for recs but that seems to be an issue with queer anime recs specifically. With another mlm show Banana Fish, the ony thing people talked about was how sad the ending was. I'd been spoiled about the ending so I thought I could handle it. There's SA and straight up R, P3d0philia, child S work, child 🌽ography, violence, homophobia, drug abuse and maybe more it's been a bit since I've seen it. That having been said it's a fantastic show and if you can handle all of that i suggest looking into it. However no one said anything about how dark it was. I expected two gay guys and for them to not be together at the end. So again thanks for actually warning people lmao
WOW, I would’ve never guessed the series had all of that in it. I’d also only heard the same 😭 thank you for warning me lmao and of course! I don’t want anyone going into something they aren’t prepared for
I think the lack of trigger warnings is at least partly cause people who read a lot of bl/yaoi are just so used to that stuff. Like I'm not sure how it is now, but Yaoi was the porn category of m/m manga, so a lot of fucked up stuff happening without much warning. And the non porn catergory, Shonen Ai, was basically only fluffy schoolboy first crush stories. So tbh... I mostly read yaoi back during my BL-obsessed phase. Like for SA and R specifically... I don't even react to most scenes with that in BL. Some of my most wholesome faves starts with SA or outright R.
same!! i wish i watched this video before watching revolutionary girl utena because all the people talking about it were just saying “it’s an amazing lesbian show where the girls actually get together!!!” and looking at the art style i assumed it was just a shoujo style anime…. BOI WAS I WRONG!!! completely triggered and had to stop watching it for a month to recover because holy god it’s A LOT!! amazing show yes, perfectly executed and the story is very interesting and engaging, but only if u knew what ur getting into first 💀
The thing with Yuri on ice that my friend explained to me is that, in Japan, since there's a bit of hate toward lgbtq+ themes, my friend said that they have to specifically state it's a BL or GL to have two of the same gender kiss on screen. Unfortunately, since Yuri on Ice wasn't centred around their relationship, it wasn't labelled as BL, and therefore, not allowed to be aired with an uncensored kiss. It just sucks, but I think (or really hope) that Japan's airing services are more lenient with same sex couples on TV now.
i heard they wanted it to be labeled as a "sport anime" so they could get the show in front of the eyes of more people so they could spread an LGBT message. People would watch it expecting a sports anime (and it was!) but would be surprised to also get a maybe/not maybe but probably gay story. Labeling it as BL would mean less people would watch it, especially not people who arent already accepting of LGBT people.
now i can understand why Gundam Witch from Mercury got the same treatment, as it's also mainly mecha, but still got a gay rep. bandai stated the same thing about the main couple, that "it's up to interpretation". glad that the production team replied to this by confirming the main same-sex couple to be canon and married to each other ❤
This actually changes a lot. I was under the impression that it had like, just happened lol. 2 years down the line makes him getting over it all feel waaaay more understanding
@@MrHunteruwhen I watched given for the first time, I cried. Just seeing the story unravel, the story is beautiful, the character growth is astounding, will I watch given again? Absolutely
@@MrHunteru to add to this, the story actually has a lot more to tell that hasn't been animated yet or was animated outside the first season, Mafuyu is healing but he's also still grieving and that leds to conflict from time to time with others, specially Uenoyama
@@MrHunteru Also, the movie shows that, even after the catharsis, there will always be something lingering, and the manga explores that more. It wasn't an overnight thing, but a continuous process.
Where did you get this information? Because I looked it up and apparently the story takes place half a year after Yuki's death. He started high school before he died and was 16 and in the anime mafuyu is still 16 as well
Also something i picked up on my rewatch of Yuri on Ice w/ friends is how biased of a narrator Yuuri is. i think his anxiety really plays a roll in how he's himself and how he thinks other people see him. because in the first episode yes, he flops and doesn't do well in the competition and he's this as the end of his career, but that was an OLYMPIC level competition. most people will admit that making it that far is not a career ender. We see in episode 5 with Minami how he's basically the best skater in Japan, but we wouldn't know that until then because Yuuri doesn't have the confidence to even realize that. (episode 11 ) but we get an intro and pov from Victor, and his view is more positive and romantic than Yuuri lets us believe. I think Yuri's anxiety about his relationship with Victor is what leads it to feeling wishy-washy on the first run, because Yuri only seems to pursue Victor when he's feeling some level of confidence and is scared to admit to himself that his affection is reciprocated. And i think the reveal of episode 11 where Victor explains that he basically fell in love with Yuri at the banquet (while yuri was wasted and super confident in approaching Victor) and agreed to be his coach. but then obviously Yuuri forgets all that and Victor basically gets ghosted for a year, but then sees the video of Yuri skating his routine (episode 1) and decides "fuck it im taking this romcom into my own hands" and shows up at his doorstep. Sorry for the paragraph i just picked up a lot on the my re-watch, i recommend "THE BEST EPISODE: Yuri on Ice!!!" by LadyIneia cause she gets more indepth on this
Oh my god, someone mentioned here in the comments that the movie was meant to be Victor's coming out story cause it was a prequel. I wonder if we were going to get a full story of him realizing he loves Yuri. If that's the case, we were insanely robbed
@@MrHunteru yeah, it seems the movie was well underway (with a few set backs cause of Covid) and the author and original writing team were still promoting it, until MAPPA released a statement about its cancellation. Most people theorized that it’s because MAPPA doesn’t see the series as profitable as their other shows. (Coleydoesthings has a video on it) But this also means the original writing team may be able to make other Yuri on ice related projects without MAPPA, it might end up more like light novels or manga and not a full anime but who knows
I was so hyped about an entire movie from Victor's POV. I love how just a single episode told by Victor completely changes the rest of the show, and there was so much potential for him during the movie to just be extremely blunt and direct about romantic feelings that Yuuri wasn't likely to admit as the show's narrator. It'd be such a smart way to continue developing a romance that perfectly fits both characters' differing personalities if it didn't feel squandered by shitty corporate decision-making leading to the movie being canceled.
i rlly love this comment,, you are SO right. like yuuri is thinking to himself "oh god i need to prove im worthy of viktor's time im gonna scREAM" meanwhile viktor is writing with a pink glitter pen variations of 'viktor katsuki-nikiforov' surrounded by hearts. i think a lot about that one tweet that says "yuri on ice is only a sports anime from yuuri's perspective. viktor is very confused about how long this romance novel's first act is taking". thank you for the rec!! i'll watch that video asap :D
Many of @MrHunteru's complaints make sense when you consider Yuuri's anxiety/insecurity bias as the POV character. His weight is the butt of everyone's fun-poking and the focus of many shots in the beginning because he's so very self conscious about it, especially when his magical idol shows up. Yes, his family are being blunt about his fatness. but it seems like a natural extension of their relationship with Yuuri and not malicious at all. They might be hurting Yuuri's feelings with it, but they sure don't seem to want that. They've helped Yuuri manage his diet and figure as a food loving competitive athlete for the last 10 or 15 years at least. Him gaining a bunch of weight is not just a naturalistic consequence for his sudden retirement and canonical katsudon habit, but also a physical aspect symbolic of his feelings of failure and inadequacy. Even after Yuuri gets back in shape, other characters do keep affectionately calling him a piggy and using food as the proverbial carrot, hell, Yuuri even gets his foot into the Eros door via his sensual enjoyment of katsudon. What changes seems to be Yuuri's confidence and sensitivity, not the treatment he's getting so much. I totally understand why how his fatness is handles in the beginning could be uncomfortable for someone who's experienced fat phobia, especially when it's being shown through Yuuri's insecurities, but I don't think it's fat phobic on its own. The ring thing, too. Judging by reactions, everyone else (including Victor) seems to take the rings as a romantic gesture, if not a de facto engagement, but Yuuri makes up a socially acceptable explanation for them to avoid confronting the exact nature of his relationship with Victor, and, it seems, especially to avoid confronting the reactions of his friends and the skating world. At one point he even gets internal monologue about being afraid of how Victor's fans would react to him "taking Victor away from them", and it's not wholly about Victor having skipped a season in competition to coach Yuuri.
The feeling of being in the Yoi fandom as it came out was wild, everyone expected it to be much less gay than it was (some calling queerbait), and when episode 7 (the kiss) dropped the fandom went INSANE. It was the most connected I felt to an anime community in a long while and I'll always love it for that.
I absolutely believe it. You're watching this pretty gay feeling sports anime, and then they DECIDE TO GO GAY HUH??? I can only imagine what that must have felt like, especially for an anime back in 2017 when it aired
Yuri on Ice actually is what made me realize (or mostly realize) i was gay. Originally i was only watching it because of the award it got for animation, and had no idea what "yaoi" was. I remember before episode 7 i had this weird feeling thinking there was a relationship between them, but probably not... right? Also I never had seen gay representation in media before and didnt know i wanted it (or needed it). So seeing the kiss (censored) FREAKED ME OUT, but in a good way. I remember throwing my laptop out of shock and my stomach dropped and i had this crazy high feeling and couldnt catch my breath. It made me wake up to the feelings i wasnt sure i had. Because it was censored i was forced to think about if it was a kiss or a hug and i realized that i really HOPED it was a kiss and was very disappointed that i would never know. TLDR; I'm happy it was labeled as a sports anime and not BL because that allowed me, and other people who didnt know they were LGBT or are maybe anti-LGBT, get to experience this story.
Bro an anime content creator with good taste, lgbt friendly, interesting points and who's not a low-key paedo? Sign me the fuck up. Subscribed! Thanks for the recs, I hadn't heard about many of these, which is CRIMINAL
Seeing Utena on this list makes me so happy 😭 I barely see it talked about today and to see someone enjoy it and go into a little depth about it and it’s topics is just so damn pleasing to see . I only discovered it by chance on a random hour-long analysis video I saw that inspired me to watch the show, and god it paid off. Super glad you pushed through all the..”princely” actions by the chairman and the Nanami episodes (seriously, what were those?) and got to see such an amazing series. Just buckle in for the movie. It’s Insanity.
Oh man, yeah I’ve heard the movie is a little bonkers. Also fr why does no one talk about one of the goats? It had like a mini resurgence a few years ago, but I’ve heard almost no discussion of it since
Utena is my most favourite media ever, lots of amazing analysis about it out there, but not enough ❤ I thought there were influences of Utena in Bloom into you.
Utena has been my Fav SINCE the 90's. I've been feeling like rewatching it for a good month or so. I have the DVD series but my 1st DVD has been missing for YEARS! Anywho, I wish more people talked about this series and watched this series. I have identified with Utena for like...forever. I don't remember where I was going with this (ADHD) But I love this series and the movie is a must watch & also a stand alone.
I was cheering like mad bc you actually talked about No. 6. it's such a classic, and the story is so so good even though when compared to the manga and especially the novel it kinda drops the ball in the end. Shion and Nezumi's relationship is just so beautiful and integral to how everything goes in the story, and the ending + the beyond novel still hurt my heart over a decade later. I can't recomend it enough.
No. 6 might just be one of the most underrated anime I’ve ever watched. I know I put a lot of love on Flip Flappers, but I seriously hope many of the people watching this video go to see No. 6 too. It’s too good to go unnoticed like this
@@MrHunteru I really recommend if you ever find the time to read the novels, they all have official translations (-beyond but there is fan translations of that one too) and god are they fascinating. Character development, worldbuilding, their relationship (which is really toned down in the anime when comparison to the original) and how the story ends is also different from the anime and it's honestly one of the best novels I've ever read.
@@theothemask Wait what the novels have official translations??? Since when??? Who licensed it??? I've been looking and waiting for 4 years and only ever found the fan translation. I still don't see a single official english version anywhere when i look it up..
I know it's not technically an anime, but I would recommend you watch heaven's official blessing based off a Chinese novel the same name. It's a really cute story and it has a pretty interesting plot. There are two seasons so far but i think it's scheduled for a third one. I also recommend you watch stranger by the shore. It's an incredibly beautiful story and I think you would really enjoy it based on the other thing you liked in the video.😊
Oooooo, I’ve never watched any Chinese anime before, I’ll be sure to check it out. And someone dropped by my stream earlier today to recommend stranger by the shore to me! It sounded very interesting
@@MrHunteruif you do end up trying Heaven Official’s Blessing, I’d recommend trying Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation too, both are written by the same author, HOWEVER. They are under Chinese censorship laws, as such, their relationships are only HEAVILY implied rather than anything explicit,,, the opposite of the original novels 😅 lol
I'll throw 'Spiritpact' into the mix of Chinese (BL) shows here as well since I found it to be quite good and entertaining, even though it got dropped (still had a decent ending if you ignore the setup for the next season that never was) . The Chinese censorship must have been sleeping with this one, or they were just like "it's obviously a joke when the grandma calls the two mc's a married couple even though no one in the show really denies it; also the magic simply requires kissing sometimes, nothing to be done about it and absolutely nothing gay going on there". I think it's really underrated as I couldn't really find a lot of videos on it on UA-cam. And for some reason I could only watch it in Japanese, but it was a decent dub, so no complains there.
Clicked for Utena segment first and foremost, and I’m glad you gave it the flowers it deserves. Overall a good video and props to you for watching all these animes 👏
The thing about Yuri on Ice was that during its run, it was solely sold as a sports anime, and the developing romance between Viktor and Yuri was just an aside. The studio didn't want to repel any potential audience and that's why it remains in the "plausible deniability" realm, while dropping enough clues to make their relationship evident. And a big reason why they didn't want to alienate any potential audience, is because it was one of Mappa's very first shows. They just could NOT afford it flopping, so a decision was made to make it ambiguous enough that homophobes could write everything off as just fanservice. As someone who watched it in real time as it aired, the consensus was that they went just as far as they possibly could without making the show explicitly a gay romance. When it started everyone was assuming that it would be another Free!, where there was tons of fanservice but no actual hint of romantic development. So the fact that they actually went that route, even if it was through subtext, was actually a nice surprise, not a letdown, because at the time nobody was expecting representation.
As much as I love Bloom into You, they could have finished the story with another couple of episodes, or an OVA or something instead of leaving it where they did. Oh the other hand, it's a good excuse to go ahead and read the manga 😈
Nice video. As someone who's aroace, I really connected with Bloom Into You. I would say though that Yuu could be labeled as demiromantic/demisexual since she only feels love for Touko after building a close emotional bond with her. Some other queer recommendations I have are: Rose of Versailles - Deals with many themes of gender and sexuality. This anime also influenced Revolutionary Girl Utena and was a huge pioneer for many other anime and manga in general, especially shoujo and BL. Land of the Lustrous - I'm not sure if I can count this as "good" or "bad" representation. While all the characters are gems and have no gender, I heard people saying that they related to the main character and their struggles with their body. I'm in Love with the Villainess - while not my favorite, I liked how it explicitly used the word gay and how there was a whole discussion on the protagonist's sexuality.
Ahhhh that’s true, I didn’t consider demi when I was making this video. I can definitely see that fitting Yuu’s character. I will write down those shows for representation though! Especially rose of Versailles, something that inspired Utena has gotta be pretty banger
Yuri on Ice actually is what made me realize (or mostly realize) i was gay. Originally i was only watching it because of the award it got for animation, and had no idea what "yaoi" was. I remember before episode 7 i had this weird feeling thinking there was a relationship between them, but probably not... right? Also I never had seen gay representation in media before and didnt know i wanted it (or needed it). So seeing the kiss (censored) FREAKED ME OUT, but in a good way. I remember throwing my laptop out of shock and my stomach dropped and i had this crazy high feeling and couldnt catch my breath. It made me wake up to the feelings i wasnt sure i had. Because it was censored i was forced to think about if it was a kiss or a hug and i realized that i really HOPED it was a kiss and was very disappointed that i would never know for sure. TLDR; I'm happy it was labeled as a sports anime and not BL because that allowed me, and other people who didnt know they were LGBT or are maybe anti-LGBT, get to experience this story.
Amazing video! might I also recommend Stars Align? its a tennis anime and one of the characters comes out as non binary and flat out says "I am non binary". Has its dark moments like child abuse and stuff like that but its representation is top tier.
I was very close to checking out Stars Align, but some people in my discord server seemed on the fence about some of the topics in the anime. Do you know what they might bet talking about?
@@MrHunteru mostly just the child abuse if you are very sensitive to that. It has multiple characters with child abuse storylines if you are sensitive to that. Nothing sexual if that concerns you. I still 100% recommend it. Also may I join your discord?
Ah yeah I remember Stars Align, the story can be kinda messy in regards to pacing (imo) but I did find the themes explored interesting. I appreciate a certain character a lot with them exploring their gender identity, and the other themes regarding different forms of abuse and trauma kids can go through in life
@@MrHunteruI think one of the main issues with Stars Align is that it ends on a crazy cliffhanger with no chance at a second season and since it is an original story there is no source material to finish it. There's a story about why this happened and it's pretty interesting.
After reading some of the Bloom Into You manga, I actually still think that Yuu could be some variant of aromantic-asexual, or something along those lines, because there are some types of asexuality where you really have to get to know someone before you like them. I don't know, though, and I'd like to see what other people think about this.
devilman crybaby has been on my to watch list for like three years, this has given me the final push to watch it. i'll also make sure to check flip flippers out! i appreciate how even though you made sure to be respectful at all times you still didn't spare any of the animes some criticisms, it shows you actually care. cool video! :)
Happy Sugar Life isn’t a romance/LGBT+ anime, it’s a horror. Their relationship is meant to disturb you since Shio is a child (Edit: not a hate comment btw! Your video is amazing and I just wanted to clarify that in case someone else hasn’t already told you 😓)
A lot of stories here aren't romances/LGBT anime but are talked about because they have LGBT elements. Happy Sugar Life isn't special or different in that regard. It still portrays lesbianism as predatory and pedophilic. You can say that you're "meant to feel uncomfortable," but why is the goal of the story to make you feel that way? What is it trying to achieve?
@@beatofromuminekorealnotcli4574 does it portray lesbianism at all? Sato is shown from the start to be heterosexual and an argument can be made that she doesn't feel any sexual attraction to Shio. She has a relationship more akin to mother/daughter or siblings with Shio.
AGH DUDE SEEING YOU PUT DOUKYUUSEI IN THIS MAKES ME SI HAPOY- I rarely ever see it talked about and it’s tragic because like- it’s just so good man ;0;!! I could go on a whole rant about it for ever little thing about it I find amazing and just how it’s deserved of more look because of how significant it was to me as a child searching for any representation 😭😭😭
HELL YEAAAAHH! Doukyuusei is a surprisingly underrated anime, like I could understand if there some really glaring issues but it's just a wholesome, quiet romance story? I'm so lost with how it isn't more popular, especially given how pretty it is
@@MrHunteru I agree! I do think it might be due to how kind of hard it is to find, considering it’s not on a lot of popular streaming platforms.. but I do believe its worth the watch considering how just natural it can feel-!
@@ojaymami dude sameeee!!!! When I’m sad or just need it I love to watch it ;w; I actually once wrote down the whole script and made notes of when each soundtrack played
As someone who loves yuri on ice, i have far too many positive opinions on that show lol. Firstly, i disagree with the nktion the romance wasn't given enough. Their relationship is treated so sweetly not with overt gestures or saying i love you, but by showing their love through skating as well as intimate moments. They hug each other alot, hold hands, smile constantly, give each other constant words of affirmation that they care about each other, etc. One of my favorite moments in the show is when they meet up in episode 9 at the airport and yuri asks viktor to be hus coach until he retires to which Viktor says, "it's almost like a marriage proposal. In that case, i hope you never retire." If that's not an expression of love, idk what is lol. I love this series bc it focuses on intimacy and emotional support rather than just kissing or saying i love you. You see how much they love each other without them ever needing to say it which was mostly to get around 2 things. 1, the yaoi tag, 2 the censorship. In order to avoid the series being labeled yaoi, they had to carefully tow the line in what they showed. Reason they wanted to avoid being labeled a yaoi is due to the massive backlash yaoi anime gets. The censorship is due to when the show was airing. Time slots in Japan are VERY different in what you can show. For example, if a show airs at 11pm or midnight, they can get away with damn near anything. Fairy ranmaru being a prime example. But if you air at 7pm or anytime in the morning, you are very limited on what you can get away with queer wise. Yuri on ice was a show i was obsessed with for years and i still think about it to this day bc i haven't seen anything like it since. The relationships, the comedy, the animation, the whackey characters, everything about thus is perfect to me🥰 Glad you still enjoyed it and loved the video! I am definitely watching flip flappers thnx to you
Everything you said! Omg, totally agree. I’ve never thought of it as queerbait as well…. Like, the way they demonstrate their feelings towards each other… how Yuri literally points at Victor at the end of his program… it’s literally there. And Victor… the man traveled the world after being ghosted for a year, put his career on hold and offered himself to Yuri from the start 🤣🫢 There’s a video around here about a member of the lgbt+ community that goes more in depth as to how it’s so important the way Yuri and Victor’s love is depicted I highly recommend. Time to rewatch! lol 🫶🏼
I'm so glad you liked Utena ! Ikuhara is one of my favorite director 😁 since you liked 2 of his work, i think you would enjoy mawaru penguindrum ! It's a beautiful story , just like Yuri kuma arashi, don't give up after 3 episodes, the beginning is a bit silly goofy but it's really worth the watch
i am gay so obviously ive watched a few of these. i wasn't very interested but then i saw Akira in the thumbnail and almost got a heart attack. your review for dmcb was amazing, and tears came to my eyes just hearing you talk about it(and the music playing in the background). i've watched it no less than ten times, every single time it gets better. i love devilman, the story, the characters, everything is amazing, and it inspired such beloved pieces of media like berserk and evangelion! i'm beyond happy with what you said and that you enjoyed it so much, this video was truly a great watch!
Devilman is peak. I had never really experienced anything quite like it, and sometimes I wish I could experience the series again for the first time. I'm glad you liked the review :D
Another one I’d personally include + recommend is sarazanmai (although idk if it’d count as solely an lgbtq anime) since the mc’s best friend has a crush on him and there is an actual gay relationship with its own spin off manga where they have a daughter. I love the anime personally, although the first few episodes are really strange the plot is really good and usually I’m in tears watching the second to last episode 🫶
I'll write it down! I will potentially talk about it next year :D Thank you for the recommendation. I can't believe I hadn't heard of it before making this video
I LOVE NO.6 SMM OMGGG i don't usually cry when watching anime, or shows in general, but when nezumi started singing to shion at the end... i did NOT hold back the tears (might've been partially due to the fact it was late at night while watching, and i was half brain-dead, but nevertheless still impacted me ), and don't get me started with their "goodbye kiss" at the end.. i really truly wish more people knew about it
If you do a part 2 nest year, I recommend: Destiny of a Shrine Maiden, Strawberry Panic, Yami to Boshi to Hon No Tabibito, I'm in Love With the Villaness, Whispered Words, Whisper Me A Love Song, Maria Holic, Kiss Him Not Me, Ouran High School Host Club.
Seconding Whisper me a love song and Strawberry panic. Strawberry panic is like the OG lesbian anime (for me personally), it was the first one I ever watched. I'm also reading the Manga for whisper me a love song & as far as I'm caught up the Anime does the Manga justice. In parts it's even better since we get to actually hear the songs.
@@noodles560 The problems I heard were it's plot and animation being a lot worse than the novel and manga version, so please be aware of that and enjoy the anime for what it is.
Dude has to make a second part in the future and HAS to put "The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady" and "Princess Jellyfish"
I heard you say Loveless and I screamed at the war flashbacks 😭 all my friends loved it and many other mangas made some sort of tribute or au in the extras 😢 even at 14 y/o I just couldn't finish it, I don't go to cruch but I HEARD GOD TELL ME TO STOP! And I DID! 🙏
I was shocked to find there was a fandom behind Loveless, like did they even watch the show? I think that's super funny though that your friends were really into it. The Almighty Gays helped stray you away from the harmful grasp of pedo catboys 🙏It's very much a product of its time lmao
@@MrHunteru 15 years ago there was a very short list of queer anime available so it was pretty much a mandatory watch if you were a young fujo/fudan browsing aarin. I watched the episodes split into 3 on yt subbed in spanish (no, I don't speak spanish) and moved on because man even though I could barely understand anything I could tell it sucked. I suspect the success it has came more from its base concept and the novelty of "first kemono mimi" anime than anything else. It's that one anime every fujo has seen but nobody liked.
@@MrHunteruI will say I read a summary of the manga on Reddit & it gets so crazy. The brother turns out to be Alive & forced the dude to go to the younger brother after he faked his death & ends up being the villain of the series. It’s extremely fucked up. Higurashi levels of fucked
@@somanygoodfandoms Yeah! Honestly this could a whole series - "fixing old BL/GL". I hope dubcon dies this decade. 🙏 The series I hope is rebooted the most is the 2000's gravitation series, mainly because I love the music in it. 🎶 What is yours? 🤔
@@taylordesouza7 I haven't watched Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne, and I'm basing this purely on what the video said, but I feel like it is an interesting concept. If it were taken in a less fetish-y direction, it could be really cool. I would love it as a dark drama. I don't mind if it's a little edgy, as long as it takes representation seriously and, again, not fetishized. I *love* the exploration of immortal characters (like Neil Gaiman's Sandman) and love even more when it's done really well (again, Sandman). Also, how each episode takes place during a different decade??? I could imagine getting attached to a character, and a few episodes later that character being on their deathbed- and maybe be a love interest/someone important to the immortal character to play with our heartstrings- ugh, I could see so many interesting possibilities. And the angel one, it would be interesting to see an AMAB character that's close to the main characters be turned into an angel, ugh, that could be so heart wrenching if done right. Someone you care about becoming a bloodthirsty creature that is after you? Grahhh, the angst could be so good. Also, the concept of an intersex villain (who is a villain not because they are intersex, but because any type of person can become a bad person) who is both immortal and an angel with the in-universe rules could be interesting. I'd love to also see a foil for that character. It pisses me off a little that it could've been such an interesting delve into different topics if given to the right minds. Sorry, I talked a lot- I get really passionate about this type of stuff. Also, death to dub-con would be amazing. 🙏
@@taylordesouza7 Now that I'm thinking about it, the sexual relationship between the two women (I'm don't remember their names) that are main characters could *also* be done well with the right people. Two women who are attracted to women, yet not romantically attracted to each other and are immortal. They've lost people and don't form romantic bonds to many because of loss, and find some comfort in each other. They've known each other for long enough and have casual sex. Or maybe it's one-sided and one of them is in love with the other, but one sees it as a perfectly platonic-sexual relationship. It could be complicated and messy. I wouldn't be good at writing it, but I've seen other writers do that type of relationship WELL. It can be done. Especially if you make one *not* look like a teenager- it could've been so good. Again, sorry for ranting, I'm very passionate about writing and the way that other writers do things.
Something I don't see being recommended is Cherry Magic. The full title is "Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!" It's a really nice slice of life story and EVERYONE IS AN ADULT🎉 Also other than the manga that's still ongoing the anime and drama series are pretty short. The drama has a movie and 2 ova's though. Still I highly recommend
SEEING HAPPY SUGAR LIFE IN THIS 10 SECONDS IN THE VIDEO IS CRAZZYYYY DAWG THATS NOT AN LGBT ANIME 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 THAT'S A THRILLER/PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR ANIME PLEASEEEE I'M HAVING FLASHBACKS TO F#CKING KILLING STALKING BEING CATEGORIZED AS BL/ROMANCE WHEN IT CLEARLY WASN'T 😭😭😭😭like the themes are there, girl likes girl and guy likes guy but that's not really the point of the story huhuhuhuhuh /no offense tho it just gave me whiplash seeing that 😔
THANK YOUUUUUUU. Def there are ppl who are gross ab it but sato is not meant to be a good person 😭 most of the characters are meant to be horrible people except for sato's friend, shio's brother, and shio herself at the beginning of the anime.
My favorite LGBTQIA+ anime is Madoka Magica, I really recommend it it's like one of those magical girl shows, but early on in the series it reveals itself to be a psychological horror
In "Happy Sugar Life," some people defend Satou and Shio's relationship because they feel sorry for Satou's tough past and her need for real love. The story is told from Satou's view, which can make her actions seem more understandable. Satou's protectiveness towards Shio is seen by some as a form of twisted but real love. The relationship is also used to explore dark and complex themes, showing the complicated sides of human behavior and morality, but obviously defending it in the story doesn't mean it's okay in real life, the story overall if the viewers have some sense of media literacy is shown to never defend the actions of the characters as seen with everyone that partakes in those disgusting areas to face some kind of consequence and to an extent satou knows shes in the wrong which is why she never does anything further than a simple kiss almost to deny the fact that she might be on the same level as the other pedophiles she condemns in the show, keeping shio pure in complete opposite to the defoliation pedos do to children
Hmmm that’s an interesting game, that Satou tries to keep Shio pure compared to what may have happened otherwise. I mentioned it in another comment, but the series dark contents made it pretty difficult to review for this video. Do I rate it based off what the series was going for, or do I rate it based off my criteria for this video and based off the other shows I watched? It was an odd spot to be in, especially since Happy Sugar Life absolutely does what it intends to do
@@MrHunteru Based on the criteria of the video, the rating fits, though the LGBTQ relationship feels mixed into the broader theme of love from different angles. Focusing just on the lesbian aspect undermines the series' overall message. The story doesn't explicitly address whether the relationship is right or wrong, only that Shio is a child. The dynamic could have been the same with a boy, but Shio represents Satou's ideal of perfection, and in her case due to her experiences with men from a young age that idea would not be a young boy
I think the main issue is that you’re showing cycles of abuse and trauma and how it affects the youth only then to have your main spotlight is on those two. It hammers in the idea - to people lacking media literacy - of “people who are LGBTQ are just like that from abuse and they’re pedophiles.” Like. There’s better series that handle that topic that doesn’t paint this bogeyman image for conservatives that are looking for anything they can prove their projected accusations with.
@@TowelRanger i understand this for sure, but any bigot can find media that represents their ideologies to further hammer in how they already see the people in question, so catering the media simply to please that aspect forgetting that there are actual people that have become like that due to abuse or repression in some way (eg, Jeffery Dahmer - bad example but he was a result of the homophobic times forcing himself to repress his homosexuality + trauma + loneliness and underlying mental issues which led him to do the things he did) , instead creates a almost unrealistic representation of the group, happy sugar life is supposed to show the 'fucked up' version of love and challenging the idea that people with no media literacy will see it and think 'people who are LGBTQ are just like that from abuse and they’re pedophiles' wouldnt there also be people that see the pedophilic male teacher and female student presentation and think ' all male teachers are like this' which is incorrect yes but there are actual teachers like that, or satous aunt and claim that women that live alone and sleep around are 'heartless monsters that do not care about their families', and ofc i do not deny that yes it is a bad representation of a lesbian relationship but all media will be interpreted differently by different people
Explanation Point did a great video on how the viewers' opinion of Satou is more forgiving because she looks like a cute schoolgirl. If she looked like an ugly old guy, nobody would be defending her, even if the backstory stayed the same.
SPOILERS By the time mafuyu met uenoyama at least 2 years has passed since yuki’s death. And if u read the manga you’ll see that even after uenoyama and mafuyu started dating mafuyu has moments where he can’t move forward with his current relationship due to his past trauma. Ive actually seen some ppl commenting that the author needs to forward the current relationship bc it felt like the author was dragging mafuyu’s grievances toward yuki on for too long, which i personally found iffy.
I have the distinct memory of being a young queer in middle school wanted to read some lesbian manga and someone recommended me Citrus and that NTR one 💀. I did unironically like it but when after growing up I very quickly realized "hey wait a minute these series are bullshit". Also great video! If you do a part I'd recommend Land of the Lustrous. Technically not really a queer show/manga but I really do love it and just the fact that all the characters are non-binary.
there's also another manga from the author of sasaki to miyano. It's hikaru to kagiura (romace between two side characters in sasaki to miyano) it's still ongoing but it's so fun, i think it does better job in going into finding out abt the sexuality of the characters. I honestly liked it much more than sasaki to miyano.
35:24 Yggdrasil is an old Norse word so it DEPENDS but most commonly it’s pronounced like Eeg-dra-seal. Yggdrasil is the world tree in Norse mythology; it connects all the realms together within itself, and that’s how gods travel from realm to realm. It also gets eaten in Ragnarok by Jörmungandr! Mnemosyne is the Greek goddess of memory and her name is pronounced like Nee-moss-en-ee. She’s the root of mnemonic devices
Even though the character isn’t confirmed aroace as far as I know, I gotta recommend watching The Disastrous Life of Saiki K if you haven’t already. I related to Saiki’s perspective so much in the way I viewed my peers being obsessed with getting into relationships when I was in high school as someone who is asexual. It’s not only super funny with a great dub of the first season but also some of the few great ace/aro representations I’ve seen in anime.
EXTREMELY COMMON 100% NATURALLY OCCURRING UTENA W Also about yuri on ice, I think the implication of them kissing, and the rings, were abundantly clear. Unfortunately the creators do need to censor to avoid bans , but managed to slip in as much as they could under the guise of “oh they’re just friends”, as a gay person, I think this is perfectly fine, especially with how glaringly obvious it is. I think in Yuris case, it truly was a crush (also victor is only 4 years younger than yuri) but since he drunkenly asked victor to be his coach, victor fell in love at first dance and assumed yuri felt the same. It’s funny that Victor thought he could skip all the slow burn romance and just get straight to the point lmao
Can't believe my dude forgot to mention the superb animation in Flip Flappers 😉 Not done watching yet but had to tease your (understandable) adoration of the fantastic look of Flip Flappers. Love the vid so far
THANK YOU SOOO MUCH. I forgot about the existence of Flip Flappers, and it was one of the first 10 animes I watched, back when it was airing. Thank you for unlocking my childhood memories 🥹
Thanks so much for this! I recommend Star Align! Its a sports anime about middle schoolers (mostly boys) on a tennis team. It's really entertaining and has a lot of dark subplots (child abuse, transphobia, bullying, really shitty parents) theres a gay and nonbinary character and the tennis matches are really detailed and I actually learned a lot about the sport through it. Unfortunately the show ended on a cliff hanger and theres no hope in sight for a season 2 but I still definitely recommend it
Little warning about the Given Movie: it contains sexual content and sexual assault in the first 30 minutes and the ramifications of those events affect the rest of the film. However, the film’s moral makes it worth watching and I really wish I could rewatch it for that alone (but the SA scene was quite graphic and I can’t rewatch the film for that reason). The aforementioned moral is that there is a definite difference between being in love and being happy, and the focal characters have to acknowledge that the one they love doesn’t make them happy and the one that makes them happy they aren’t in love with. Don’t worry though, this isn’t about Uenoyama and Mafuyu, they’re still together 👍
I’d recommend blue flag as another beautiful series. It’s only a manga (please anime adaptation!) but it’s fully available on shonen jump which is really rare considering there’s an explicitly gay character and the MC is implied bisexual. Really beautiful exploration/coming of age story :-)
I’d love to see your opinion on banana fish! It’s one of my favorite manga/anime and I love the way it handles the main couples relationship, but it does talk about a lot of sensitive topics and since it was written in the 80s there’s a lot of things they say that haven’t aged well (it’s a little more jarring in the anime tho since the manga takes place in 1985 and the anime changes it to 2016 but keeps everything they say and what happens almost the exact same)
you got to watch Sarazanmai (also by Kunihiko Ikuhara) it's so weird, psychological, beautifully animated, but also really good and it honestly made me tear up big recommendation
I see many recommendations for mo dao zu shi and heaven official's blessing (because they ARE great); but I'd add that Heaven Official's Blessing's animated adaptation is not complete. Also, along with mdzs' adaptation, they are both subject to censorship leaving you sitting in the most insufferable unresolved sexual tension ever. These series can also be quite confusing to jump into if you're not familiar with Chinese fantasy media (characters having about 5 different names, the concept of "cultivation", honorific usage), but these cultural elements are really fun to learn; and personally, mdzs has some of the best drama/tragedy I've ever seen.
About Yuri On Ice censorship - it was aired on some random channel after midnight which allegedly was the best they could do. In the interviews the creators said smth like "Japanese people would understand (that they kissed and got married) because it's not American TV where everything have to be stated explicitly". So yeah, it's 100% connected to homophobia in Japan and that they barely found a channel to air in the most ridiculous time that nobody watches. And about the Ice Adolescence: a big part of the writing process of S1 was traveling. The creators are the fans of figure skating (duh) and they basically would take a world tour to gather all the material for the stories throughout (they had visited sights and ate local dishes etc.). But with covid19 and now all Russia bs where its getting banned from international events, having a gay Russian lead when there's antiqueer laws dropping in Russia currently, and so on, it was only expected for the show/movie to be canceled, rip
The censorship stuff about Japanese TV is BS that English speakers live to repeat. Look up Dousoukai, a popular live action TV series from the 90s. That series has full guy on guy kisses, TV style sex scenes etc which were shown in prime time Japanese TV...in the 90s. The plot is pretty ludicrous and full of drama but to say Japanese TV cannot show same sex kisses is pure bullshit. There was even a scene where all the characters were shown masturbating at the thought of each other...and at the end one male character had a sex change and married one of the main characters. Stuff was wild, not necessarily good representation but shown full on in the best time slot in a popular channel.
When I found out Yuri on ice was cancled when I finished it (literally like 3 days ago) I STARTED SOBBING. I really hope the creators decide to make a second season or a movie ! I really want to see more of Yuri and Victor’s relationship.
Idea for next year: Kyo Kara Maoh! It's from 2008 and yet features both gay marriage and gay adoption. It also has a scene (in the manga and light novel, though I don't know if it's in the anime) where drag queen beats up three cops in the NYPD and declares that they're unwelcome at pride. Though it's in a weird position where it's both ahead of its time and aged kind of poorly, as it uses "muscular crossdressing men" and "effiminate man obsessed with another man" as punchlines only to turn around and portray both gay and transgender people as real characters and normal people. It feels impossible to comprehensively review, which might make for a fun challenge. (Note: The anime adaptation is different from the manga which is different from the light novel, so the anime can at times be homophobic in ways that don't mesh with the source material, which is probably why it's such a mixed bag as it's essentially multiple different people giving their own takes. Also it was REALLY popular in Japan, getting it's own stageplay and two different PS2 games.)
Honestly for happy sugar life, I enjoyed it as a horror and dark show Instead of a romance one. I have a very, very, very long history with sexual abuse, trauma, manipulation and more so it’s kinda a show that reopens wounds. It makes me very uncomfortable but I know that’s what I’m signing up for, kinda like a morbid curiosity that I know the outcome of.
(video spoilers) ... . . The fact that Loveless is so bad it gets its own tier at the bottom of BOTH tier lists is so fucking funny... You're so right for that lol
Skip to Loafer or its english title Skip and Loafer isn't an LGBTQ series but still hoped it'd included just cuz of its awesome portrayal of trans characters, tho i get it since it's not the main cast. Highly suggest it as both a series that brings smile to you each episode/chapter, with really well written characters AND as a trans friendly corner. The animation and the dedication to the original material's look is also really nice and super pleasant and unique to look at. Been reading the manga and it's just such a good series. Loved the video tho, always nice to see series i haven't visited in a while or finding new ones.
I see Utena in the thumbnail, I'm sat and watching. And this whole video was really, really good. Great editing, and I loved your personal insights into all the shows you mentioned - even some I hadn't heard of, like No. 6, have me intrigued enough to check them out. I will look forward to your own Utena video if you ever do it. One of the things I love about that show is how everyone seems to come away with different insights or thoughts about its themes, and I always love hearing people chime in what they think about it.
I'm glad you enjoyed the video, and I hope if you do go check it out that you enjoy No. 6. It's a really amazing show. An Utena video will definitely come, cause I both want to make one and many people are eager to see it made!
I'm so happy No.6 got a good review! I was obsessed with the anime and manga when I was in middle school and even named my OC Shion because of it. I still love it to this day and would definitely recommend it. Btw I'd recommend Stars Align an anime that I love but ended with 12 eps instead of 24 which is frustrating (it doesn't actually have an ending). It has some queer characters and it's really good.
hii this video was awesome! i have 2 recommendations for cool lgbtq manga (neither has animes). 1: the summer hikaru died - it's a horror manga that has heavily implied gay elements. i think it handles it very well. tw: body horror, horror in general 2: lonely wolf lonely sheep - a very sweet story about two women and their experiences in life tw: depicted self harm neither of these stories have fan service elements which i appreciate
I know I'm late, but the fact that you talked about no.6 is amazing. I hold the anime very close to my heart and feel that because you placed it so high up that people would actually watch it. It isn't a very known show, but its definitely what people would call a Hidden Gem.
I loved Given, but I’d be interested to hear what you think about the movie. I personally found myself hating it. The other couple in the band is messy, the drummer SA’s the bass player (can’t remember names) and even though the drummer felt bad and tried to make up for it. I just hate how it all played out. I agree that people should be given a second chance, but when it’s non consensual, I don’t understand how you could go back to being with someone who would do that to you. It had some nice moments, but overall made me feel sick.
really wished no.6 had more popularity, i love media about utopias, and they went there and did am amazing utopia with good lgbtq representation? perfect
I would love to hear your thoughts on Aoi Hana/Sweet Blue Flowers! It’s not perfect by any means, but it’s one of the first queer anime I watched so it’s near and dear to my heart. It’s also one of the few anime I’ve seen that specifically mentions bisexuality. The manga was made by the same mangaka as Wandering Son. I’d been wanting to check out the series but after seeing this video I think I’ll just seek out the manga.
just a quick thing about the yoi production, it went through a lot of changes because the author did write it with viktor/yuuri in mind but at it's core it is a figure skating anime (that's the authors passion). also the author and director had to fight for money and a decent time slot (it was actually pushed back to 2 am JST on a thursday) and the production studio (mappa who wasnt really on the map yet) didn't want to essentially fund something that would flop or would imply a gay relationship. so lack of time, funding, the fact that it's an original work that's MAIN focus is ice skating, a lot of it is left for interpretation and does feel rushed and that's why a lot of the focus is solely on figure skating.
Great video!! Another show I would personally recommend is Idolish7! Although I wouldn't consider it a queer anime, it's more of an idol anime with queer characters in it. The first season might be a little slow, but it picks up more in the second and third seasons. The second season is where a queer couple is introduced and it might seem that their relationship is fake or bait, but you really see how much they love and care for each other as the series goes on. There's also a trans women and multiple queer coded characters in it! I watched it last year and instantly fell in love with it, so I highly recommend it even if you don't particularly care for idol anime!!🌈:D
The first 30 seconds was giving me an "oh great another straight guy doing a pride video for clicks" impression but going through and finishing the video you actually did listen to people in the community and are probably a good ally, also if you need more reccomendations a youtuber called "translesva ruby" i think? I might remember the name wrong has some great "seasonal gay anime" videos, where she highlights anime with queer characters in them.
Omg I haven’t seen anyone talk about flipflappers since it came out in 2016!! Even then it was competing in the same season as Yuri on ice. I love this anime and anyone that was intrigued by it - do no more research! Just go watch it!!
i loved this video !!! will ALWAYS appreciate no.6 being given its flowers (the manga’s one of my faves of all time, with really beautiful art and, personally thinking, a better climax than the manga.) it’s also been sooo long since i watched wandering son, i remember feeling conflicted on it at the time and i had no clue there was a manga, so i’m pleasantly surprised and will be checking it out !!
I love yuri but I hate that so much of it features middle schoolers. Even if there isn't gratuitous fanservice, this obsession with purity/youth/innocence just feels noncey. Can we please get some grown women yuri adaptations?
Uh obsession with youth/purity/innocence is like... standard growing up a girl. Madonna complexes. Maybe it changed now with gen z/alpha, but it used to be something basically every girl went through and could relate to. Yurikuma is not just about lesbians, it's about society and growing up, and it's extremely relatable once you get all the metaphors; like that scene about putting girls in boxes that I still think about sometimes.
@@mfhs2775 The (female) school principal has a shelf of filing cabinets where she keeps her students (metaphorically), because what is pure must stay unsullied. At the same time inside the box it's a performation of purity, you want to be pure to fit your box rather than being inside there because you want to be pure. It's been a decade or so since I watched it but it really spoke to me. Girls aren't free to just be, we have to perform the role of a madonna because that's how we were filed, anything else makes society uncomfortable. Then we perpetuate it onto the next generation as the box becomes part of our identity. It's not done for or by men, but as a self-perpetuating cycle; men are there in the anime in the role of judges, but it's us women putting the next generation of girls into the boxes because that's what we know is proper and good. "Pure" lesbians in other anime are a performance from insidethe box, real people are messy. Something like Citrus is more realistic and more relatable than something like Maria-sama ga miteru, which is alienating and mostly has male fans. Yurikuma is just a giant string of metaphors for our role in society and various aspects of sexuality, it really makes you think and reconsider cliches.
@@ancalyme I really like your analysis and how you are aware that those high standards are so integrated to our culture that us women are also the ones that keep the cycle moving on, even when we are the ones that are suffering from it. I have only watched Utena, now I want to try more Yuri series that are more realistic with their characters. Besides citrus, what other series could you recommend?
What an amazing video dude!!! As a queer person myself, I'm always a bit cautious looking for LGBT+ anime to watch, because there's so much bad rep out there. I was happy to see some series I like here, and I'm looking forward to watch your recomendations now. Subscribed!
Was hoping to see umibe no etranger but there was some favs in here! Also I heard once that the reason yuri on ice was censored was because they didnt want it to be seen as a romance anime, they wanted it to be a sports anime and it wouldnt be seen as such if they hadnt censored it. Also was kinda hoping the dubs of some of these would be mentioned (ik they aren't the focus) because the yuri on ice dub they all have accents and the sasaki to miyano/given ones are just so funny and so good (so is the umibe no etranger one but again, it wasnt here). ALSO I watched happy sugar life way too young on youtube because i had no internet restrictions and honestly i dont remember much, i think my brain literally blocked it out 😭
I don’t normally watch dubs 😭 I’m sorry! I will say the Yuri on Ice sun sounds like it helps one of the pet peeves I mentioned in the video. I would also 100% believe that they wanted to keep it sports anime to keep it mainstream, but if that is the case that’s lameeee. I’ve never heard of umibe no etanger before, what’s it about? Also I’m so sorry you experienced Happy Sugar Life so early lol
@@MrHunteruUmibe no Estranger is a manga with an ongoing sequel series and a movie adaptation about two men that form a relationship. They meet when Mio is a teen and Shun is an adult, where Shun is attracted to Mio but Mio has to leave the island for an orphanage on the mainland. When he becomes an adult he returns to try to form a relationship with Shun. Mio went no contact for the 3 years he was gone, but I’m not sure either character really understands why that’s a good thing. I still really enjoyed the movie though! It discusses their attempts to be in relationships with women, the art is wonderful, and there’s a lesbian couple present throughout the movie that live in the same boarding house. I’ve read all of the mangaka’s works, and there’s a relationship I believe is implied to be a QPR(queer platonic relationship), but could also be a romantic relationship between two queer people. The author doesn’t shy away from calling an older man creepy, but will still sympathise with him? Like they’re supposed to be too pathetic to be dangerous? So I have mixed feelings.
Awwww I'm really happy to finally see the video be finished and done with, you did an amazing job with working on everything with the script and just watching through all of these shows and getting all of the opinions and I'm glad that you were finally able to finish with this video and release it over a month. It's nice to just have a celebration for pride month and celebrating queer people for who they are is really wonderful to have especially as one myself and I'm just glad to have been able to help out and see the video finally be finished now and put out and you did a great job with the scripting and talking about every show and it turned out to be a really nice and good video with a lot or respect and celebration for pride month and lgbtq+ people as a whole.
Bro I’m so relieved too, Oml. I really never thought I would finish it. I’m very happy to celebrate pride and the LGBTQ+ community, all I can hope is that they’re as happy as I am about this video lol. Thank you again for your help with making this happen
@@MrHunteru Awwww I'm happy that you feel that way after finishing the video and script and you did a wonderful job with celebrating the pride month and the LGBTQ+ community and I'm sure others will love and enjoy this video and everything that you put in and it's not an issue and I'm just happy that I was able to help out with this video and make it possible for it all to come out and it's a great video and dww I'm happy with the video and how it turned out as well and just hope it helps others out with finding new shows and makes them feel more represented and happy ❤
Tales of Zestria is actually a super subtle one that people dont know about! The MC's Sorey and Mikleo are canonically in love the whole time, its just their relationship takes a backseat to the plot. Then theres heavy implications on a side yuri relationship as well. It's based on a game so the plots kinda all over the place but hey, canon gays!
Thank you so much for this video. I was a little sceptic about how would a straight cis guy go about this but wow, you managed to put the video together so well and so respectfully and it's amazing how well it feels like you understand queer people. Such a good video, I bet you've put so much effort in it AND IT SHOWS. I would love to watch another video about any of these anime and I can't wait to watch more of your videos! Also I appreciate that you don't just tell the story of the anime but also say some critique that makes sense, as someone who studies tv and film, I really appreciate it. Thank you for this video!!
Here's a personal list of some of my favorite lgbtq+ anime/manga (that aren't already here) cause i have a problem - I'm in Love with the Villainess (lesbian love story, really sweet and actuallt addresses queer aspects) - Banana fish (tragic gays, has the very heavily implied gay relationship that has plossible deniabilty in show but that the creator confirms outside it, does have a lot of gay men being portrayed as sexual predators though) - Madoka Magica (tragic lesbians, has the very heavily implied gay relationship that has plossible deniabilty in show but that the creator confirms outside it) - Great Pretender (pretty subtle and not at all the focus, but generally enjoyable and a main character is heavily implied to be into another male character an is confirmed by the creator to be bisexual) - Welcome to Demon School Iruma-kun (its more obvious in the manga tbh, but has a canonically non-bianary character, a heavily implied poly/queer-platonic relationship, some side lesbians, a repeated side arc with the main character enjoying cross dressing, and both female and male characters being very heavily implied to like the main character) - Princess Jellyfish (straight yuri, it isn't actually queer at all but it is about the romance between a girl and a cross-dressing male character) - Wonder Egg Priority (main character whos very heavily implied to be trans, as well as a canonically trans side character (and they're t4t btw), and some heavily implied/maybe confirmed (i forgot) lesbian crushes - Buddy Daddies (sweet slice of life about two roomates raising a kid together, not canonically gay but it can very easily be read that was and is sweet anyway) - Carole and Tuesday (slightly implied gay feelings between main characters, canonically lesbian side character, and (admittedly slightly iffy) canonically trans side characters - Nana (ig it was technically mentioned, but implied lesbians) Have fun
Thank you for the recommendations! Would you say that Wonder Egg is worth finishing? I had started it, but stopped after hearing the uproar about it's ending
Thank you for making this video. I’m always down to watch anime with some lgbt rep in it, and although I’ve seen/knew of a lot of these, there were some I had thought of watching, and had no idea they had any rep in them like paradise kiss ,and devil man cry baby. And now I’m going to bump them up on the watch list.
Surprised to see Gravitation was not apart of this list, but so very glad to see such an in-depth exploration of various titles in anime media. Seeing all the comments that have other title suggestions make me look forward to a potential part 2. Great work!
GRAVITATION!! Omg, I barely remember anything about that anime aside from it being the first anime to actually make me cry! I remember relating to one of the main characters, I think it had to do with him loving the main guy whom didn’t reciprocate the same feelings at the time? I don’t fully remember, there was some line though that hit me so deep & I sobbed! I loved that one so much & even downloaded the soundtrack on the SoundCloud app back in the day so I could listen to it without WiFi lmao Time for a rewatch, hope it holds up! (EDIT: Went back to rewatch, the end of episode 6 when he’s talking to his red haired friend after being tricked & beaten is the part I cried at. His sadness at the fact things are more difficult because of their genders & the words his friend say to console him hit me so damn deep! I’ve only watched it dubbed but that scene is such a masterpiece to me 😭)
So, media literacy and being able to read into messages and representation is a great thing, and if being media literate and discussing those things is what it takes to get called a terminally online Twitter user, then so-be-it and sign me up then. You did really great at showing the positive and negatives to a lot of the series shown, I haven't seen most of them yet outside of Valkyrie Drive and Happy Sugar Life, but I already had a few others on my plan-to-watch list and will check them at some point~ Quality representation is needed in media for sure, and I feel that steps are being made and have been made in the past towards providing much better representation. Other series that probably could've been mentioned or covered are definitely a-plenty especially in the Mahou Shoujo genre with Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Madoka Magica!! (also could've used the two former and compared them to the issues of localization destroying representation as characters had relationships changed to "cousins" or "I just admire him!") With that said, I'll share some of my thoughts on HSL as someone that likes the series for the depictions of the negative effects of emotional, physical, and generational trauma. Completely agree that the relationship between Satou and Shiou is BEYOND problematic and disgusting when it's confirmed later to be a romantic one (I haven't gotten into the manga just yet but was told it is a lot more explicitly romantic). Initially I had taken it as a sibling/caretaker dynamic, with Satou showing and teaching Shio the ideals of a loving relationship and what it should be and she could find with someone else and the positive signs and green flags of that relationship, but yeah when it's confirmed romantic is when she lost me on that. It also just feels a lot less focus is put onto them both being female in the anime at least, again haven't touched the manga yet so idk if it's more open or discussed there), so representation in it really is lacking and more-so when you have just the other yandere lesbian obsessing over Satou. Also love the comparison to School Days, which is a series you know I love and will defend as great when you accept that it's purposefully made to have such unlikable characters and situations to emphasize the themes of not being ready/fully realizing what a relationship and love truly are, and allowing people to manipulate you into thinking of what love is and what the effects of all that could have on someone metaphorically as well as physically. That not everything is going to be positive, a happy ending (though Makoto probably would like a few of those), the complete tragedy fit with a drastic and dark end to their stories which feels more realistic when compared to how many series just end positive or hopeful, when in reality not everything is going to end up positive and happy. I feel that same comparison with Happy Sugar Life, except adding in the aforementioned affects of trauma and the message that not everyone can break those cycles, especially when they've been manipulated and groomed and broken to the extents that Shio and Satou have, and while Shio's brother *seems* to have broken that cycle it isn't always going to be a positive ride the rest of his life and pain and loss and tragedy will still follow, just as it can in reality. ALL IN ALL, it's definitely a series I want to explore in a video of my own eventually and go more in depth with those messages similar to School Days, my beloved. 🙏
Ayyo a Yan Certified Analysis? I will be excited to see what you have to say when that comes out. I don't blame you for initally thinking of Satou and Shio's relationship dynamic being sibling or caretaker like, but yeah some digging deeper makes it very yikes. Although I do agree that the series has a lot of really interesting things to say about trauma, and it is definitely made to be hated. That's what makes judging it in a video like this so like, odd. How do I review a show that's purposely meant to be fucked up? lmao I hadn't thought about that like breaking a cycle with them, and that Shio's brother is free. I think that's a good interpretation Also thank you, the one guy who wrote that Twitter comment ain't here anymore 💀 I try to keep that media literacy alive. I do need to check out the shows you mentioned, especially Madoka and Cardcaptor Sakura
I would love to see you deep dive into Devilman Crybaby. It’s one of my favorite anime and honestly one of the few anime that gave me such a visceral reaction to an animated death. Also, god, maybe it’s the trauma of being an ex-catholic, but so much of the guilt in the show felt so real. I think it’s an absolute must watch in terms of anime.
If you have time watch Kase San Morning Glories (it’s not a full anime but a one hour type episode. Manga kinda falls off abit since the characters don’t develop as much as they do in the beginning of the series).
I think your take on Wandering Son is interesting. I understand how you came to the conclusions that you did---that the show is acting like this is just a phase and everything. However, when I watched the show, I came away with a different interpretation. The way I saw it, these trans characters were very early on in their journey of self-discovery. They hadn't truly found their label or identity yet, and did not know what to call themselves or their experience. Their experience with gender was still uncertain because they were still figuring it out. I didn't come away from it thinking the anime implied it was just a phase, but rather that it depicted the characters questioning themselves and their gender identity due to societal pressure, and they allowed that pressure to get to them because they weren't yet fully confident in their identities and who they were. I suppose that's just my interpretation, though. Nonetheless, as a genderqueer individual, I enjoyed the show and found it to be very realistic. I plan to read the manga, and I'm sure the manga is much better, but I don't like judging adaptations as adaptations. As a standalone, I still felt it was really solid. Oh, also, I do believe the characters in YOI are canonically all speaking English as a second language, and you just hear it in Japanese. They could have clarified that though
As a genderqueer individual, your opinion on Wandering Son matters much more than my own. I like your interpretation of it being similar to a part 1 of their journey instead of it being the full thing, this is a very pleasant way to view the series and one I feel makes a lot of sense. That would make YOI make much more sense. Although I agree, if them all speaking English that was just auto translated to Japanese, I wish they’d conveyed that better. I would’ve had no clue
Happy Pride Everyone! EDIT: Any negative comment towards the LGBTQ+ community that I see will be deleted and result in a ban from my channel. Queer rights are human rights.
EDIT 2! I've had a lot of people ask about Madoka Magica, and the reason that isn't on here is because its one of my girlfriends favorite series but she wasn't readily available during the timeframe I watched all of these anime, and I didn't want to watch it without her. If I do a follow-up, I will be sure to include Madoka!
A video started last year at the beginning of the June finally gets its release this year in June. I cannot even begin to express how happy I am that this video is finally out there into the world, sometimes I thought it would never happen but here we are! I understand that as a straight cis male, I am teetering a thin line here with what I discuss in the video, which is why I got as much help as could to make sure I wasn't misrepresenting the people I'm making this video for. I love the LGBTQ+ community, I've been an ally to the community from a very young age because I have many family members in it. This is a video I knew I absolutely wanted to make for the people that I love, and for other people to be able to find good anime that resonate with who they are. All I can hope for is that I managed to meet everyone's expectations with the topics handled in this video.
I will be doing a post-mortem Twitch stream tomorrow at 3PM Eastern Standard Time to discuss this video with anyone who wants to talk, so if there's anything that stood out or that you'd love to talk about; please come join tomorrow or join my Discord server. I want to hear what you have to say.
And, as I said at the end of the video, I’d like to give a huge shoutout to all of the following people. At the beginning I said we had 23 members work on with me, and in the end I had far more than I ever anticipated guide me along the way. Many of these people played a part in this video being made, and without them reviewing my script, discussing these shows with me, and watching each segment as they were edited, this video could look very different. So thank you to: Juliet, Mimi, DarkAngel, Citrus, Izzle Shizzle, Jim, Sof, Mystic Shiki, Matthea, Rei, Alfredo, Matt, Sam, Juice, Ethan, Josiah, Nicole, Fish, Phoenix, the members of r/asktransgender, specifically growflet, Lena_Zelena, and L_V_N, the members of r/anime that helped me find a lot of these shows, onecanofbakedbeans, Holli, D_D, IshigamiCrisis, Argentum_Uranium, KingOftheHigurashiAbridged, Zach, Grayson, Sylvia, and probably many more.
I’m very happy to have had the help and guidance of all of these people to give you one of the best experiences I could possibly give all of the people that watch this video.
With that being said, good evening, good morning, and goodnight; take care of yourself, and you are loved. This channel will always be a safe place.
Thank you again for this video. It opened my eyes to more anime I need to watch and also you made me so interested in everything you talked about!
You should watch Sarazanmai and do a video on it. It really does deserve a video of it's own.
As an lgbt person, I love this video! I wish more people would be open to watching these anime. I was able to add a bunch of anime to my wish list so thanks for that ☺️
Also Loveless shared trauma 🤝
Sakura Trick manga author is a female my dude...
MADOKA MAGICCCCCC (Watched Flip flapper and Yayaka is best girl)
Bro is studying for the Gay people SAT
You know it >:)
the queer LSAT
The LGBAT
@@Analog_Anarchistoh thats clever i like that
The GAY-CT
The way that Banana Fish was not included is criminal, also I really appreciate the trigger warnings🔥😶🌫️
Of course! And yeah, I should have probably. The reason it wasn't here is while making the list, I realized there were far more gay anime than lesbian anime, and I wanted to try and have an equal balance if possible. Banana Fish unfortunately got the cut from this video... but I do think I will cover it in the future 👁
@@MrHunteruplease do🥲🥲🥲
real, it was my first thought when I clicked on this video
@@MrHunteru damn... that's sad 😭 you put some really really bad animes on here. Some of the lesbian animes where just h4ntei and absolutely not for lgbtq ppl but just for horny straight men. You could have easily switched these for a masterpiece like Banana Fish :( but it is how it is
YES!
Banana Fish
Almost forgot
Man, I cried as a Yuri on Ice fan when the movie got canceled. More because there were rumors it would talk about the coming out story of Viktor and how it reflected on his skating career. I got mad and sad we got baited for more representation, waiting 7 years just so they kept it in the closet still. *pour one out for me*
BRO WHAT! That makes the announcement way more disappointing what the fuck, now I'm pissed lmao. I hope that MAPPA goes back on their decision and makes it happen one day because otherwise that is such a missed opportunity
BRO, I'm not Gay nor a Yuri on Ice fan(cause I hadn't seen it yet), yet I feel like I got blue balled and pissed about it. I am so sorry about that. 😢
Edit: I hope the movie will be converted to something good like a season 2 of some sorts(or season 3 or season 4, again, haven't seen it).
@@himalayansalt32 Your bait comment is actually so out of touch, lmao.
@himalayansalt32 what an asshole. Grow up
@@shiroq6714 I thought it was A.I 🤣 not bother answering
No. 6 is criminally underrated imo. The characters feel so grounded and real, plus it's nice to have a gay love story in a genre series where that isn't the main focal point. Their relationship is definitely very sweet and well written, but there's so much more to the story than that.
ikr
ikr , it was my first official stepping into anime and i devoured that series , short , well paced , plot was chefs kiss , romance was the sub plot but u could still feel the care and love , animation was a little choppy time to time but the overall world building and characters natural chemistery made up for it and i highkey dont consider it a bl or yaoi , feels illegal to label sth so pure with those horrendous tropes ( yaoi) that fujoshis came up with and dig.
ps. when i say yaoi , i specifically mean the rape, pedo , sexualization clture , to me thats the whole yaoi/fujoshi umbrella
Ong, no.6 it's amazing and I can't stop thinking about this anime even after years and years, everything feels so human and I love how there's more to the anime than the characters relationship
i did not like it. lowk felt like it had no depth/the characters felt shallow and i just couldn't really connect with them no matter how much I tried. that's just my opinion tho I'm glad u could enjoy it :)
@@aliceblauvelt7835 ah thats ok , i am like that with many significantly "popular" ships myself , i understand where u r coming from tho , because the series was never supposed to be love centric , infact nezumi's whole charrcater arc was to isolate himself until the end when he realizes that oh , he is actually very much in love and he cant deny it anymore and considering how short this series is , u not being able to connect with them is a real possibilty , i personally loved it because of that , the whole one sided effort in love , the structural and political world building , every character having somewhat of an individual personality, romance not even being a plot but love ( plattonic) still playing a role and i obvi have a bias , it being my first anime and everything lol
gay people are confirmed real !! happy pride momth
GAY PEOPLE!!!! GAY PEOPLE ARE REAAAALL!!!!!
@@MrHunteruGAY PEOPLE REAL CONFIRMED BY UA-camR MR HUNTERU- THEY SAID IT WOULDN’T BE DONE BUT THIS PRIDE MOMNTH VIDEO PROVES EVERYONE WRONG!!
Happy pride moth
GAY PEOPLE REAL?!?!
I’m real?!?!
I’m pretty sure the direct Japanese translation of “yurikuma” is smth loosely along the lines of “bear lesbians”, which makes the title funnily straightforward 😭
I could absolutely see that being true given how like unserious the show can be lmao
yeah the translation of the title is lesbian bear storm 😭😭
Yeah, that's really funny (although I think "yuri" means "lily" and can technically include platonic female-female relationships too? Correct me if I'm wrong, Japanese speakers)
@@annahks LMFAO
@@rattersworld1016since when lily mean platonic female relationship. It's literally THE lesbian flower
bro is THE ally. loved this vid, great analysis and so respectful!
This comment deadass just made my day, thank you! I was so worried about making people upset lol I’m beyond relieved to hear this
@@MrHunteru dude ur great! Honestly if somebody says this is offensive they are wrong!
The fact that they abandoned the movie in the post production (some people say that was finished) angers me a lot! Hope someone leaks it!
If someone does, they will have so many peoples gratitude. It would be an insane move to abandon a movie when it’s nearly done
Devil man crybaby didn't just make me sad and mad. It made me DEVASTATED and LIVID! There's a part in the later half (you know the one if you seen the show, it involves sticks and fire) that filled me with a sense of rage that I have never felt before in my entire life! I literally screamed while I sobbed.
I know EXACTLY what you’re talking about, and I felt that same pain too. I was watching the show casually, like an episode per day, until episode 4. Episode 4 had me sobbing and so I binged after that. And then I finished THAT episode and I was so empty inside, and then that ending. GOOOD LORD! Devilman Crybaby destroyed me for like a month
When i say ive never had such a visceral reaction to a single moment in a show before..
OMGGGGG SAMEE MY JAW DROPPED
bro devilman crybaby completely destroyed me, i felt empty for weeks after finishing it 😭
Same here I watched it in 2020 and the ending made me SO PISSED like I’ve never gotten that mad at any show ending before
I watched Sk8 the Infinity for pride month this year, just like I do every day of every month of every year the last few 2 yrs.
He wouldn't like it, since the central gay thing is the toxic attraction between Adam and Langa, and Langa's conflict at having to choose between that and his actually healthy age-appropriate friendship with Reki.
An interesting note about Wandering Son is just an interesting similarity between me and my cousin. She went through a phase of her life where she did crossdress and start to act very masculine. This was at the start of puberty for us, and I was at the time questioning my interest in girls. After puberty, it ended with my cousin coming out as a lesbian, and I transitioned from female to male. Our moms make jokes sometimes that the opposite was expected from us.
That is very interesting! I wonder if they did something similar to this later on in the manga? Regardless, I’m glad you guys were both able to figure out who you are :0
So excited to see No 6 represented! It was my introduction to BL
It's still one of my all-time favorites, and I bought the blurays for it because it's no longer available to stream anywhere, at least in my country.
I loved the anime, but the manga/novel is actually 10 times better, I highly suggest it!
I'm not even a BL fan and man, No 6 is my fucking holy grail man
@@deny005 Which do you recommend more between manga or novel (if there are both)?
@@citrineconjurer Novel is the og, but the manga actually has all my heart hehe
(But if you can read both!)
Dude, thank you for PROPERLY giving trigger warnings. There were a few shows on here that i had no idea were so dark/explicit and planned on watching. Idk if it's just how i look for recs but that seems to be an issue with queer anime recs specifically. With another mlm show Banana Fish, the ony thing people talked about was how sad the ending was. I'd been spoiled about the ending so I thought I could handle it. There's SA and straight up R, P3d0philia, child S work, child 🌽ography, violence, homophobia, drug abuse and maybe more it's been a bit since I've seen it. That having been said it's a fantastic show and if you can handle all of that i suggest looking into it. However no one said anything about how dark it was. I expected two gay guys and for them to not be together at the end. So again thanks for actually warning people lmao
WOW, I would’ve never guessed the series had all of that in it. I’d also only heard the same 😭 thank you for warning me lmao and of course! I don’t want anyone going into something they aren’t prepared for
I think the lack of trigger warnings is at least partly cause people who read a lot of bl/yaoi are just so used to that stuff. Like I'm not sure how it is now, but Yaoi was the porn category of m/m manga, so a lot of fucked up stuff happening without much warning. And the non porn catergory, Shonen Ai, was basically only fluffy schoolboy first crush stories. So tbh... I mostly read yaoi back during my BL-obsessed phase.
Like for SA and R specifically... I don't even react to most scenes with that in BL. Some of my most wholesome faves starts with SA or outright R.
@@MsLilly200 thanks for the clarification, I was super confused lol
@@MsLilly200 Weird flex but ok
same!! i wish i watched this video before watching revolutionary girl utena because all the people talking about it were just saying “it’s an amazing lesbian show where the girls actually get together!!!” and looking at the art style i assumed it was just a shoujo style anime….
BOI WAS I WRONG!!! completely triggered and had to stop watching it for a month to recover because holy god it’s A LOT!! amazing show yes, perfectly executed and the story is very interesting and engaging, but only if u knew what ur getting into first 💀
The thing with Yuri on ice that my friend explained to me is that, in Japan, since there's a bit of hate toward lgbtq+ themes, my friend said that they have to specifically state it's a BL or GL to have two of the same gender kiss on screen. Unfortunately, since Yuri on Ice wasn't centred around their relationship, it wasn't labelled as BL, and therefore, not allowed to be aired with an uncensored kiss. It just sucks, but I think (or really hope) that Japan's airing services are more lenient with same sex couples on TV now.
That makes a lot of sense then why it was censored the way it was. A bit of a bummer, but it makes sense sadly Japan is that way
i heard they wanted it to be labeled as a "sport anime" so they could get the show in front of the eyes of more people so they could spread an LGBT message. People would watch it expecting a sports anime (and it was!) but would be surprised to also get a maybe/not maybe but probably gay story. Labeling it as BL would mean less people would watch it, especially not people who arent already accepting of LGBT people.
@@MajestiicCasual that's such a smart tactic to use for representation in media. Thank you so much for telling me this that's actually so cool 🤩
now i can understand why Gundam Witch from Mercury got the same treatment, as it's also mainly mecha, but still got a gay rep. bandai stated the same thing about the main couple, that "it's up to interpretation". glad that the production team replied to this by confirming the main same-sex couple to be canon and married to each other ❤
Maybe Bon Clay will get a kiss when he comes back
I don’t know if this changes anything but the main story of Given takes place two years after Mafuyu’s trauma
This actually changes a lot. I was under the impression that it had like, just happened lol. 2 years down the line makes him getting over it all feel waaaay more understanding
@@MrHunteruwhen I watched given for the first time, I cried. Just seeing the story unravel, the story is beautiful, the character growth is astounding, will I watch given again? Absolutely
@@MrHunteru to add to this, the story actually has a lot more to tell that hasn't been animated yet or was animated outside the first season, Mafuyu is healing but he's also still grieving and that leds to conflict from time to time with others, specially Uenoyama
@@MrHunteru Also, the movie shows that, even after the catharsis, there will always be something lingering, and the manga explores that more. It wasn't an overnight thing, but a continuous process.
Where did you get this information?
Because I looked it up and apparently the story takes place half a year after Yuki's death. He started high school before he died and was 16 and in the anime mafuyu is still 16 as well
Seraph of the End and Moriarty the Patriot are literally the goats for male gay shonens
yup, frfr
fr
lit
Moriarty is so underrated! The manga is incredible, it's hard to believe it's considered a shounen series. Looking forward to part 2 in December!
Damn, this made me think he reviewed it. Hopefully some day!
Sasaki to Miyano is such a sweet story. I hope the spin off gets adapted one day, as well.
There's a spin off??? I had no clue :0 I'll have to look into that
@@MrHunteru The spin off is between Sasaki's blond friend (I forgot his name) and his roomate. They both appear in the series.
@@MrHunteru It's a story about Hirano(Sasaki's blond friend) and Kagiura (Hirano's roommate) titled...well... Hirano and Kagiura :D
sasamiya is my comfort manga 😭😭 it’s just so sweet and easy to digest
@@puffy6763 🤗🤗🤗
The lack of Banana Fish feels insane, but good video overall
Yeah I was kinda slacking not including this, I cannot lie
@@MrHunteru Part 2 next pride maybe? There's so much out there it's crazy my personal love is stars align.
Also something i picked up on my rewatch of Yuri on Ice w/ friends is how biased of a narrator Yuuri is. i think his anxiety really plays a roll in how he's himself and how he thinks other people see him. because in the first episode yes, he flops and doesn't do well in the competition and he's this as the end of his career, but that was an OLYMPIC level competition. most people will admit that making it that far is not a career ender. We see in episode 5 with Minami how he's basically the best skater in Japan, but we wouldn't know that until then because Yuuri doesn't have the confidence to even realize that. (episode 11 ) but we get an intro and pov from Victor, and his view is more positive and romantic than Yuuri lets us believe. I think Yuri's anxiety about his relationship with Victor is what leads it to feeling wishy-washy on the first run, because Yuri only seems to pursue Victor when he's feeling some level of confidence and is scared to admit to himself that his affection is reciprocated. And i think the reveal of episode 11 where Victor explains that he basically fell in love with Yuri at the banquet (while yuri was wasted and super confident in approaching Victor) and agreed to be his coach. but then obviously Yuuri forgets all that and Victor basically gets ghosted for a year, but then sees the video of Yuri skating his routine (episode 1) and decides "fuck it im taking this romcom into my own hands" and shows up at his doorstep.
Sorry for the paragraph i just picked up a lot on the my re-watch, i recommend "THE BEST EPISODE: Yuri on Ice!!!" by LadyIneia cause she gets more indepth on this
Oh my god, someone mentioned here in the comments that the movie was meant to be Victor's coming out story cause it was a prequel. I wonder if we were going to get a full story of him realizing he loves Yuri. If that's the case, we were insanely robbed
@@MrHunteru yeah, it seems the movie was well underway (with a few set backs cause of Covid) and the author and original writing team were still promoting it, until MAPPA released a statement about its cancellation. Most people theorized that it’s because MAPPA doesn’t see the series as profitable as their other shows. (Coleydoesthings has a video on it) But this also means the original writing team may be able to make other Yuri on ice related projects without MAPPA, it might end up more like light novels or manga and not a full anime but who knows
I was so hyped about an entire movie from Victor's POV. I love how just a single episode told by Victor completely changes the rest of the show, and there was so much potential for him during the movie to just be extremely blunt and direct about romantic feelings that Yuuri wasn't likely to admit as the show's narrator. It'd be such a smart way to continue developing a romance that perfectly fits both characters' differing personalities if it didn't feel squandered by shitty corporate decision-making leading to the movie being canceled.
i rlly love this comment,, you are SO right. like yuuri is thinking to himself "oh god i need to prove im worthy of viktor's time im gonna scREAM" meanwhile viktor is writing with a pink glitter pen variations of 'viktor katsuki-nikiforov' surrounded by hearts. i think a lot about that one tweet that says "yuri on ice is only a sports anime from yuuri's perspective. viktor is very confused about how long this romance novel's first act is taking". thank you for the rec!! i'll watch that video asap :D
Many of @MrHunteru's complaints make sense when you consider Yuuri's anxiety/insecurity bias as the POV character.
His weight is the butt of everyone's fun-poking and the focus of many shots in the beginning because he's so very self conscious about it, especially when his magical idol shows up. Yes, his family are being blunt about his fatness. but it seems like a natural extension of their relationship with Yuuri and not malicious at all. They might be hurting Yuuri's feelings with it, but they sure don't seem to want that. They've helped Yuuri manage his diet and figure as a food loving competitive athlete for the last 10 or 15 years at least. Him gaining a bunch of weight is not just a naturalistic consequence for his sudden retirement and canonical katsudon habit, but also a physical aspect symbolic of his feelings of failure and inadequacy. Even after Yuuri gets back in shape, other characters do keep affectionately calling him a piggy and using food as the proverbial carrot, hell, Yuuri even gets his foot into the Eros door via his sensual enjoyment of katsudon. What changes seems to be Yuuri's confidence and sensitivity, not the treatment he's getting so much. I totally understand why how his fatness is handles in the beginning could be uncomfortable for someone who's experienced fat phobia, especially when it's being shown through Yuuri's insecurities, but I don't think it's fat phobic on its own.
The ring thing, too. Judging by reactions, everyone else (including Victor) seems to take the rings as a romantic gesture, if not a de facto engagement, but Yuuri makes up a socially acceptable explanation for them to avoid confronting the exact nature of his relationship with Victor, and, it seems, especially to avoid confronting the reactions of his friends and the skating world. At one point he even gets internal monologue about being afraid of how Victor's fans would react to him "taking Victor away from them", and it's not wholly about Victor having skipped a season in competition to coach Yuuri.
The feeling of being in the Yoi fandom as it came out was wild, everyone expected it to be much less gay than it was (some calling queerbait), and when episode 7 (the kiss) dropped the fandom went INSANE. It was the most connected I felt to an anime community in a long while and I'll always love it for that.
I absolutely believe it. You're watching this pretty gay feeling sports anime, and then they DECIDE TO GO GAY HUH??? I can only imagine what that must have felt like, especially for an anime back in 2017 when it aired
Yuri on Ice actually is what made me realize (or mostly realize) i was gay. Originally i was only watching it because of the award it got for animation, and had no idea what "yaoi" was. I remember before episode 7 i had this weird feeling thinking there was a relationship between them, but probably not... right? Also I never had seen gay representation in media before and didnt know i wanted it (or needed it). So seeing the kiss (censored) FREAKED ME OUT, but in a good way. I remember throwing my laptop out of shock and my stomach dropped and i had this crazy high feeling and couldnt catch my breath. It made me wake up to the feelings i wasnt sure i had. Because it was censored i was forced to think about if it was a kiss or a hug and i realized that i really HOPED it was a kiss and was very disappointed that i would never know.
TLDR; I'm happy it was labeled as a sports anime and not BL because that allowed me, and other people who didnt know they were LGBT or are maybe anti-LGBT, get to experience this story.
@@MajestiicCasual I absolutely adore this comment. Also, the creators confirmed it was a kiss :)
Bro an anime content creator with good taste, lgbt friendly, interesting points and who's not a low-key paedo? Sign me the fuck up.
Subscribed! Thanks for the recs, I hadn't heard about many of these, which is CRIMINAL
Yes all of the recommendations are AMAZING if you haven’t seen them!
Seeing Utena on this list makes me so happy 😭 I barely see it talked about today and to see someone enjoy it and go into a little depth about it and it’s topics is just so damn pleasing to see . I only discovered it by chance on a random hour-long analysis video I saw that inspired me to watch the show, and god it paid off. Super glad you pushed through all the..”princely” actions by the chairman and the Nanami episodes (seriously, what were those?) and got to see such an amazing series. Just buckle in for the movie. It’s Insanity.
Oh man, yeah I’ve heard the movie is a little bonkers. Also fr why does no one talk about one of the goats? It had like a mini resurgence a few years ago, but I’ve heard almost no discussion of it since
Utena is my most favourite media ever, lots of amazing analysis about it out there, but not enough ❤ I thought there were influences of Utena in Bloom into you.
@@MrHunteruin my opinion the movie closes the story beautifully. Check out the analysis by Noralities 👍🏼
Utena has been my Fav SINCE the 90's. I've been feeling like rewatching it for a good month or so. I have the DVD series but my 1st DVD has been missing for YEARS! Anywho, I wish more people talked about this series and watched this series. I have identified with Utena for like...forever. I don't remember where I was going with this (ADHD) But I love this series and the movie is a must watch & also a stand alone.
@@Elektrochoke Yay, someone mentioning Noralities! Also, I'm totally going to check this series out when I can, but I may have to wait a while.
I was cheering like mad bc you actually talked about No. 6. it's such a classic, and the story is so so good even though when compared to the manga and especially the novel it kinda drops the ball in the end. Shion and Nezumi's relationship is just so beautiful and integral to how everything goes in the story, and the ending + the beyond novel still hurt my heart over a decade later. I can't recomend it enough.
No. 6 might just be one of the most underrated anime I’ve ever watched. I know I put a lot of love on Flip Flappers, but I seriously hope many of the people watching this video go to see No. 6 too. It’s too good to go unnoticed like this
@@MrHunteru I really recommend if you ever find the time to read the novels, they all have official translations (-beyond but there is fan translations of that one too) and god are they fascinating. Character development, worldbuilding, their relationship (which is really toned down in the anime when comparison to the original) and how the story ends is also different from the anime and it's honestly one of the best novels I've ever read.
OMG yesss!!!
I literally said the same thing in my comment! It's so good to see someone else that also really appreciates the manga and the novels ♡
@@theothemask Wait what the novels have official translations??? Since when??? Who licensed it??? I've been looking and waiting for 4 years and only ever found the fan translation. I still don't see a single official english version anywhere when i look it up..
Can you give me spoilers about beyond? I am sooo curious how it ended but I know I won't read it
I know it's not technically an anime, but I would recommend you watch heaven's official blessing based off a Chinese novel the same name. It's a really cute story and it has a pretty interesting plot. There are two seasons so far but i think it's scheduled for a third one. I also recommend you watch stranger by the shore. It's an incredibly beautiful story and I think you would really enjoy it based on the other thing you liked in the video.😊
Oooooo, I’ve never watched any Chinese anime before, I’ll be sure to check it out. And someone dropped by my stream earlier today to recommend stranger by the shore to me! It sounded very interesting
@@MrHunteru Glad I could give you a recommendation. Link click is also a good Chinese anime even though it's not technically a BL.
@@MrHunteruif you do end up trying Heaven Official’s Blessing, I’d recommend trying Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation too, both are written by the same author, HOWEVER. They are under Chinese censorship laws, as such, their relationships are only HEAVILY implied rather than anything explicit,,, the opposite of the original novels 😅 lol
TGCF MENTIONED❤❤❤
I'll throw 'Spiritpact' into the mix of Chinese (BL) shows here as well since I found it to be quite good and entertaining, even though it got dropped (still had a decent ending if you ignore the setup for the next season that never was) . The Chinese censorship must have been sleeping with this one, or they were just like "it's obviously a joke when the grandma calls the two mc's a married couple even though no one in the show really denies it; also the magic simply requires kissing sometimes, nothing to be done about it and absolutely nothing gay going on there".
I think it's really underrated as I couldn't really find a lot of videos on it on UA-cam.
And for some reason I could only watch it in Japanese, but it was a decent dub, so no complains there.
Clicked for Utena segment first and foremost, and I’m glad you gave it the flowers it deserves. Overall a good video and props to you for watching all these animes 👏
Gotta respect one of the absolute legends of anime 🔥 I’m glad you liked the video!
The thing about Yuri on Ice was that during its run, it was solely sold as a sports anime, and the developing romance between Viktor and Yuri was just an aside. The studio didn't want to repel any potential audience and that's why it remains in the "plausible deniability" realm, while dropping enough clues to make their relationship evident.
And a big reason why they didn't want to alienate any potential audience, is because it was one of Mappa's very first shows. They just could NOT afford it flopping, so a decision was made to make it ambiguous enough that homophobes could write everything off as just fanservice.
As someone who watched it in real time as it aired, the consensus was that they went just as far as they possibly could without making the show explicitly a gay romance. When it started everyone was assuming that it would be another Free!, where there was tons of fanservice but no actual hint of romantic development. So the fact that they actually went that route, even if it was through subtext, was actually a nice surprise, not a letdown, because at the time nobody was expecting representation.
"The director of utena and yurikuma is the same"
Ok bro, i'm gonna watch this shit this guy is peak 😔👍🏽
In Ikuhara we trust 🙏
He also did Mawaru Penguindrum which isn’t LGBT but is EXCELLENT. If u can handle yurikuma, u can handle Mawaru.
As much as I love Bloom into You, they could have finished the story with another couple of episodes, or an OVA or something instead of leaving it where they did.
Oh the other hand, it's a good excuse to go ahead and read the manga 😈
Dude fr they robbed us. Maybe one day it'll come out
Fr like I was actually kinda disappointed at first when I finished the anime, only to find out that the real good stuff wasn’t adapted
so happy to see No.6 on here, its one of my favorites and no one talks about it anymore 😭
FR I hope that changes, it’s so good
Nice video.
As someone who's aroace, I really connected with Bloom Into You. I would say though that Yuu could be labeled as demiromantic/demisexual since she only feels love for Touko after building a close emotional bond with her.
Some other queer recommendations I have are:
Rose of Versailles - Deals with many themes of gender and sexuality. This anime also influenced Revolutionary Girl Utena and was a huge pioneer for many other anime and manga in general, especially shoujo and BL.
Land of the Lustrous - I'm not sure if I can count this as "good" or "bad" representation. While all the characters are gems and have no gender, I heard people saying that they related to the main character and their struggles with their body.
I'm in Love with the Villainess - while not my favorite, I liked how it explicitly used the word gay and how there was a whole discussion on the protagonist's sexuality.
Ahhhh that’s true, I didn’t consider demi when I was making this video. I can definitely see that fitting Yuu’s character. I will write down those shows for representation though! Especially rose of Versailles, something that inspired Utena has gotta be pretty banger
Oh, that's what I was saying, just way more clearly put! Thanks!
Yuri on Ice actually is what made me realize (or mostly realize) i was gay. Originally i was only watching it because of the award it got for animation, and had no idea what "yaoi" was. I remember before episode 7 i had this weird feeling thinking there was a relationship between them, but probably not... right? Also I never had seen gay representation in media before and didnt know i wanted it (or needed it). So seeing the kiss (censored) FREAKED ME OUT, but in a good way. I remember throwing my laptop out of shock and my stomach dropped and i had this crazy high feeling and couldnt catch my breath. It made me wake up to the feelings i wasnt sure i had. Because it was censored i was forced to think about if it was a kiss or a hug and i realized that i really HOPED it was a kiss and was very disappointed that i would never know for sure.
TLDR; I'm happy it was labeled as a sports anime and not BL because that allowed me, and other people who didnt know they were LGBT or are maybe anti-LGBT, get to experience this story.
Amazing video! might I also recommend Stars Align? its a tennis anime and one of the characters comes out as non binary and flat out says "I am non binary". Has its dark moments like child abuse and stuff like that but its representation is top tier.
I was very close to checking out Stars Align, but some people in my discord server seemed on the fence about some of the topics in the anime. Do you know what they might bet talking about?
@@MrHunteru mostly just the child abuse if you are very sensitive to that. It has multiple characters with child abuse storylines if you are sensitive to that. Nothing sexual if that concerns you. I still 100% recommend it. Also may I join your discord?
Ah yeah I remember Stars Align, the story can be kinda messy in regards to pacing (imo) but I did find the themes explored interesting. I appreciate a certain character a lot with them exploring their gender identity, and the other themes regarding different forms of abuse and trauma kids can go through in life
@@MrHunteruI think one of the main issues with Stars Align is that it ends on a crazy cliffhanger with no chance at a second season and since it is an original story there is no source material to finish it.
There's a story about why this happened and it's pretty interesting.
After reading some of the Bloom Into You manga, I actually still think that Yuu could be some variant of aromantic-asexual, or something along those lines, because there are some types of asexuality where you really have to get to know someone before you like them. I don't know, though, and I'd like to see what other people think about this.
I think you mean DemiRomantic or DemiSexual. Aromatic and Asexuality are spectrums and it takes fins to figure one out (speaking from experience),
@@jasminguiza6227 Thank you so much. I thought I saw somewhere that Demi was a form of asexual, but maybe I misunderstood.
devilman crybaby has been on my to watch list for like three years, this has given me the final push to watch it. i'll also make sure to check flip flippers out!
i appreciate how even though you made sure to be respectful at all times you still didn't spare any of the animes some criticisms, it shows you actually care. cool video! :)
Yess I care a lot :D I'm happy to have given you the final push you need to watch PEAAAK!! I hope you enjoy it and Flip Flappers as much as I did
Happy Sugar Life isn’t a romance/LGBT+ anime, it’s a horror. Their relationship is meant to disturb you since Shio is a child
(Edit: not a hate comment btw! Your video is amazing and I just wanted to clarify that in case someone else hasn’t already told you 😓)
But the fact that many people believe that it's fine and dandy is the problem.
I would give the story (anime only) a 6/10 but I agree with the representation being a 1/10 or even lower!
A lot of stories here aren't romances/LGBT anime but are talked about because they have LGBT elements. Happy Sugar Life isn't special or different in that regard. It still portrays lesbianism as predatory and pedophilic. You can say that you're "meant to feel uncomfortable," but why is the goal of the story to make you feel that way? What is it trying to achieve?
@@beatofromuminekorealnotcli4574 does it portray lesbianism at all? Sato is shown from the start to be heterosexual and an argument can be made that she doesn't feel any sexual attraction to Shio. She has a relationship more akin to mother/daughter or siblings with Shio.
AGH DUDE SEEING YOU PUT DOUKYUUSEI IN THIS MAKES ME SI HAPOY- I rarely ever see it talked about and it’s tragic because like- it’s just so good man ;0;!! I could go on a whole rant about it for ever little thing about it I find amazing and just how it’s deserved of more look because of how significant it was to me as a child searching for any representation 😭😭😭
HELL YEAAAAHH! Doukyuusei is a surprisingly underrated anime, like I could understand if there some really glaring issues but it's just a wholesome, quiet romance story? I'm so lost with how it isn't more popular, especially given how pretty it is
@@MrHunteru I agree! I do think it might be due to how kind of hard it is to find, considering it’s not on a lot of popular streaming platforms.. but I do believe its worth the watch considering how just natural it can feel-!
it's one of my comfort movies ahhhhhh
@@ojaymami dude sameeee!!!! When I’m sad or just need it I love to watch it ;w; I actually once wrote down the whole script and made notes of when each soundtrack played
As someone who loves yuri on ice, i have far too many positive opinions on that show lol.
Firstly, i disagree with the nktion the romance wasn't given enough.
Their relationship is treated so sweetly not with overt gestures or saying i love you, but by showing their love through skating as well as intimate moments. They hug each other alot, hold hands, smile constantly, give each other constant words of affirmation that they care about each other, etc.
One of my favorite moments in the show is when they meet up in episode 9 at the airport and yuri asks viktor to be hus coach until he retires to which Viktor says, "it's almost like a marriage proposal. In that case, i hope you never retire." If that's not an expression of love, idk what is lol. I love this series bc it focuses on intimacy and emotional support rather than just kissing or saying i love you. You see how much they love each other without them ever needing to say it which was mostly to get around 2 things. 1, the yaoi tag, 2 the censorship. In order to avoid the series being labeled yaoi, they had to carefully tow the line in what they showed. Reason they wanted to avoid being labeled a yaoi is due to the massive backlash yaoi anime gets. The censorship is due to when the show was airing. Time slots in Japan are VERY different in what you can show. For example, if a show airs at 11pm or midnight, they can get away with damn near anything. Fairy ranmaru being a prime example. But if you air at 7pm or anytime in the morning, you are very limited on what you can get away with queer wise.
Yuri on ice was a show i was obsessed with for years and i still think about it to this day bc i haven't seen anything like it since. The relationships, the comedy, the animation, the whackey characters, everything about thus is perfect to me🥰
Glad you still enjoyed it and loved the video! I am definitely watching flip flappers thnx to you
Everything you said! Omg, totally agree. I’ve never thought of it as queerbait as well…. Like, the way they demonstrate their feelings towards each other… how Yuri literally points at Victor at the end of his program… it’s literally there. And Victor… the man traveled the world after being ghosted for a year, put his career on hold and offered himself to Yuri from the start 🤣🫢
There’s a video around here about a member of the lgbt+ community that goes more in depth as to how it’s so important the way Yuri and Victor’s love is depicted I highly recommend.
Time to rewatch! lol 🫶🏼
I'm so glad you liked Utena ! Ikuhara is one of my favorite director 😁 since you liked 2 of his work, i think you would enjoy mawaru penguindrum ! It's a beautiful story , just like Yuri kuma arashi, don't give up after 3 episodes, the beginning is a bit silly goofy but it's really worth the watch
Oh fuck YEAH I will for sure check that out! Consider me an Ikuhara fan, he is doing so much work over in Japan for demographics that need it
i am gay so obviously ive watched a few of these. i wasn't very interested but then i saw Akira in the thumbnail and almost got a heart attack. your review for dmcb was amazing, and tears came to my eyes just hearing you talk about it(and the music playing in the background). i've watched it no less than ten times, every single time it gets better. i love devilman, the story, the characters, everything is amazing, and it inspired such beloved pieces of media like berserk and evangelion! i'm beyond happy with what you said and that you enjoyed it so much, this video was truly a great watch!
Devilman is peak. I had never really experienced anything quite like it, and sometimes I wish I could experience the series again for the first time. I'm glad you liked the review :D
Another one I’d personally include + recommend is sarazanmai (although idk if it’d count as solely an lgbtq anime) since the mc’s best friend has a crush on him and there is an actual gay relationship with its own spin off manga where they have a daughter. I love the anime personally, although the first few episodes are really strange the plot is really good and usually I’m in tears watching the second to last episode 🫶
I'll write it down! I will potentially talk about it next year :D Thank you for the recommendation. I can't believe I hadn't heard of it before making this video
@@MrHunteru If you want an idea of what to expect, Sarazanmai is made by the same director as Yurikuma Arashi and Revolutionary Girl Utena.
SARAZANMAI MENTIONED ?????1?1?11
Yes! Sarazanmai is one of my favorites ❤
I LOVE NO.6 SMM OMGGG
i don't usually cry when watching anime, or shows in general, but when nezumi started singing to shion at the end... i did NOT hold back the tears (might've been partially due to the fact it was late at night while watching, and i was half brain-dead, but nevertheless still impacted me ), and don't get me started with their "goodbye kiss" at the end..
i really truly wish more people knew about it
Oh god that ending scene... and FR how does No. 6 not have a fandom yet? The series has like everything that would make a popular anime
If you do a part 2 nest year, I recommend: Destiny of a Shrine Maiden, Strawberry Panic, Yami to Boshi to Hon No Tabibito, I'm in Love With the Villaness, Whispered Words, Whisper Me A Love Song, Maria Holic, Kiss Him Not Me, Ouran High School Host Club.
Noted! A lot of people seem very interested in a follow up so I’ll be sure to make it, and I will write these down to check out. Thank you!
Seconding Whisper me a love song and Strawberry panic. Strawberry panic is like the OG lesbian anime (for me personally), it was the first one I ever watched. I'm also reading the Manga for whisper me a love song & as far as I'm caught up the Anime does the Manga justice. In parts it's even better since we get to actually hear the songs.
I was also coming to the comments to mention Strawberry Panic ❤🍓
I've also just got done watching Otherside Picnic, which I think would be an interesting addition to the list somewhere too!
@@noodles560 The problems I heard were it's plot and animation being a lot worse than the novel and manga version, so please be aware of that and enjoy the anime for what it is.
Dude has to make a second part in the future and HAS to put "The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady" and "Princess Jellyfish"
I heard you say Loveless and I screamed at the war flashbacks 😭 all my friends loved it and many other mangas made some sort of tribute or au in the extras 😢 even at 14 y/o I just couldn't finish it, I don't go to cruch but I HEARD GOD TELL ME TO STOP! And I DID! 🙏
I was shocked to find there was a fandom behind Loveless, like did they even watch the show? I think that's super funny though that your friends were really into it. The Almighty Gays helped stray you away from the harmful grasp of pedo
catboys 🙏It's very much a product of its time lmao
@@MrHunteru Praise the Almighty Gays that the source of my trauma wasn't Loveless 😭🙏
Omgg same 😭 I watched it when I was 14/15 and I hated that ped0 dude so much. It felt so wrong but at the time no one seemed to mind.
@@MrHunteru 15 years ago there was a very short list of queer anime available so it was pretty much a mandatory watch if you were a young fujo/fudan browsing aarin. I watched the episodes split into 3 on yt subbed in spanish (no, I don't speak spanish) and moved on because man even though I could barely understand anything I could tell it sucked.
I suspect the success it has came more from its base concept and the novelty of "first kemono mimi" anime than anything else. It's that one anime every fujo has seen but nobody liked.
@@MrHunteruI will say I read a summary of the manga on Reddit & it gets so crazy. The brother turns out to be Alive & forced the dude to go to the younger brother after he faked his death & ends up being the villain of the series. It’s extremely fucked up. Higurashi levels of fucked
ahh! no.6! if you liked the anime, i suggest reading the manga or light novels, as the anime rushed and skipped a few of my favorite parts!
Oooo I want to, especially the epilogue. Is something like that available in English?
@@MrHunteru there’s a fan translation of the epilogue but i havent found any official translations - the rest is totally translated and available!
I hope some old GL and BL get rebooted one day, without their problamatic elements. 🤞
With the right minds, so many old queer anime could be *so* good.
@@somanygoodfandoms Yeah! Honestly this could a whole series - "fixing old BL/GL".
I hope dubcon dies this decade. 🙏
The series I hope is rebooted the most is the 2000's gravitation series, mainly because I love the music in it. 🎶
What is yours? 🤔
@@taylordesouza7 I haven't watched Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne, and I'm basing this purely on what the video said, but I feel like it is an interesting concept. If it were taken in a less fetish-y direction, it could be really cool. I would love it as a dark drama. I don't mind if it's a little edgy, as long as it takes representation seriously and, again, not fetishized.
I *love* the exploration of immortal characters (like Neil Gaiman's Sandman) and love even more when it's done really well (again, Sandman). Also, how each episode takes place during a different decade??? I could imagine getting attached to a character, and a few episodes later that character being on their deathbed- and maybe be a love interest/someone important to the immortal character to play with our heartstrings- ugh, I could see so many interesting possibilities.
And the angel one, it would be interesting to see an AMAB character that's close to the main characters be turned into an angel, ugh, that could be so heart wrenching if done right. Someone you care about becoming a bloodthirsty creature that is after you? Grahhh, the angst could be so good.
Also, the concept of an intersex villain (who is a villain not because they are intersex, but because any type of person can become a bad person) who is both immortal and an angel with the in-universe rules could be interesting. I'd love to also see a foil for that character.
It pisses me off a little that it could've been such an interesting delve into different topics if given to the right minds.
Sorry, I talked a lot- I get really passionate about this type of stuff.
Also, death to dub-con would be amazing. 🙏
@@taylordesouza7 Now that I'm thinking about it, the sexual relationship between the two women (I'm don't remember their names) that are main characters could *also* be done well with the right people. Two women who are attracted to women, yet not romantically attracted to each other and are immortal. They've lost people and don't form romantic bonds to many because of loss, and find some comfort in each other. They've known each other for long enough and have casual sex.
Or maybe it's one-sided and one of them is in love with the other, but one sees it as a perfectly platonic-sexual relationship. It could be complicated and messy.
I wouldn't be good at writing it, but I've seen other writers do that type of relationship WELL. It can be done. Especially if you make one *not* look like a teenager- it could've been so good.
Again, sorry for ranting, I'm very passionate about writing and the way that other writers do things.
That would be awesome.
Something I don't see being recommended is Cherry Magic. The full title is "Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!" It's a really nice slice of life story and EVERYONE IS AN ADULT🎉 Also other than the manga that's still ongoing the anime and drama series are pretty short. The drama has a movie and 2 ova's though. Still I highly recommend
SEEING HAPPY SUGAR LIFE IN THIS 10 SECONDS IN THE VIDEO IS CRAZZYYYY DAWG THATS NOT AN LGBT ANIME 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 THAT'S A THRILLER/PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR ANIME PLEASEEEE I'M HAVING FLASHBACKS TO F#CKING KILLING STALKING BEING CATEGORIZED AS BL/ROMANCE WHEN IT CLEARLY WASN'T 😭😭😭😭like the themes are there, girl likes girl and guy likes guy but that's not really the point of the story huhuhuhuhuh /no offense tho it just gave me whiplash seeing that 😔
You'd be surprised, a lot of people consider it one lol it was recommended to me by many for this video
it's not a yuri but it is an anime with queer themes
THANK YOUUUUUUU. Def there are ppl who are gross ab it but sato is not meant to be a good person 😭 most of the characters are meant to be horrible people except for sato's friend, shio's brother, and shio herself at the beginning of the anime.
My favorite LGBTQIA+ anime is Madoka Magica, I really recommend it
it's like one of those magical girl shows, but early on in the series it reveals itself to be a psychological horror
In "Happy Sugar Life," some people defend Satou and Shio's relationship because they feel sorry for Satou's tough past and her need for real love. The story is told from Satou's view, which can make her actions seem more understandable. Satou's protectiveness towards Shio is seen by some as a form of twisted but real love. The relationship is also used to explore dark and complex themes, showing the complicated sides of human behavior and morality, but obviously defending it in the story doesn't mean it's okay in real life, the story overall if the viewers have some sense of media literacy is shown to never defend the actions of the characters as seen with everyone that partakes in those disgusting areas to face some kind of consequence and to an extent satou knows shes in the wrong which is why she never does anything further than a simple kiss almost to deny the fact that she might be on the same level as the other pedophiles she condemns in the show, keeping shio pure in complete opposite to the defoliation pedos do to children
Hmmm that’s an interesting game, that Satou tries to keep Shio pure compared to what may have happened otherwise. I mentioned it in another comment, but the series dark contents made it pretty difficult to review for this video. Do I rate it based off what the series was going for, or do I rate it based off my criteria for this video and based off the other shows I watched? It was an odd spot to be in, especially since Happy Sugar Life absolutely does what it intends to do
@@MrHunteru Based on the criteria of the video, the rating fits, though the LGBTQ relationship feels mixed into the broader theme of love from different angles. Focusing just on the lesbian aspect undermines the series' overall message. The story doesn't explicitly address whether the relationship is right or wrong, only that Shio is a child. The dynamic could have been the same with a boy, but Shio represents Satou's ideal of perfection, and in her case due to her experiences with men from a young age that idea would not be a young boy
I think the main issue is that you’re showing cycles of abuse and trauma and how it affects the youth only then to have your main spotlight is on those two. It hammers in the idea - to people lacking media literacy - of “people who are LGBTQ are just like that from abuse and they’re pedophiles.”
Like. There’s better series that handle that topic that doesn’t paint this bogeyman image for conservatives that are looking for anything they can prove their projected accusations with.
@@TowelRanger i understand this for sure, but any bigot can find media that represents their ideologies to further hammer in how they already see the people in question, so catering the media simply to please that aspect forgetting that there are actual people that have become like that due to abuse or repression in some way (eg, Jeffery Dahmer - bad example but he was a result of the homophobic times forcing himself to repress his homosexuality + trauma + loneliness and underlying mental issues which led him to do the things he did) , instead creates a almost unrealistic representation of the group, happy sugar life is supposed to show the 'fucked up' version of love and challenging the idea that people with no media literacy will see it and think 'people who are LGBTQ are just like that from abuse and they’re pedophiles' wouldnt there also be people that see the pedophilic male teacher and female student presentation and think ' all male teachers are like this' which is incorrect yes but there are actual teachers like that, or satous aunt and claim that women that live alone and sleep around are 'heartless monsters that do not care about their families', and ofc i do not deny that yes it is a bad representation of a lesbian relationship but all media will be interpreted differently by different people
Explanation Point did a great video on how the viewers' opinion of Satou is more forgiving because she looks like a cute schoolgirl. If she looked like an ugly old guy, nobody would be defending her, even if the backstory stayed the same.
SPOILERS
By the time mafuyu met uenoyama at least 2 years has passed since yuki’s death. And if u read the manga you’ll see that even after uenoyama and mafuyu started dating mafuyu has moments where he can’t move forward with his current relationship due to his past trauma. Ive actually seen some ppl commenting that the author needs to forward the current relationship bc it felt like the author was dragging mafuyu’s grievances toward yuki on for too long, which i personally found iffy.
I have the distinct memory of being a young queer in middle school wanted to read some lesbian manga and someone recommended me Citrus and that NTR one 💀. I did unironically like it but when after growing up I very quickly realized "hey wait a minute these series are bullshit".
Also great video! If you do a part I'd recommend Land of the Lustrous. Technically not really a queer show/manga but I really do love it and just the fact that all the characters are non-binary.
there's also another manga from the author of sasaki to miyano. It's hikaru to kagiura (romace between two side characters in sasaki to miyano) it's still ongoing but it's so fun, i think it does better job in going into finding out abt the sexuality of the characters. I honestly liked it much more than sasaki to miyano.
35:24 Yggdrasil is an old Norse word so it DEPENDS but most commonly it’s pronounced like Eeg-dra-seal. Yggdrasil is the world tree in Norse mythology; it connects all the realms together within itself, and that’s how gods travel from realm to realm. It also gets eaten in Ragnarok by Jörmungandr!
Mnemosyne is the Greek goddess of memory and her name is pronounced like Nee-moss-en-ee. She’s the root of mnemonic devices
Even though the character isn’t confirmed aroace as far as I know, I gotta recommend watching The Disastrous Life of Saiki K if you haven’t already. I related to Saiki’s perspective so much in the way I viewed my peers being obsessed with getting into relationships when I was in high school as someone who is asexual. It’s not only super funny with a great dub of the first season but also some of the few great ace/aro representations I’ve seen in anime.
EXTREMELY COMMON 100% NATURALLY OCCURRING UTENA W
Also about yuri on ice, I think the implication of them kissing, and the rings, were abundantly clear. Unfortunately the creators do need to censor to avoid bans , but managed to slip in as much as they could under the guise of “oh they’re just friends”, as a gay person, I think this is perfectly fine, especially with how glaringly obvious it is.
I think in Yuris case, it truly was a crush (also victor is only 4 years younger than yuri) but since he drunkenly asked victor to be his coach, victor fell in love at first dance and assumed yuri felt the same. It’s funny that Victor thought he could skip all the slow burn romance and just get straight to the point lmao
No. 6 mentioned !!! LOVE THIS ONE AAAAA
RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Can't believe my dude forgot to mention the superb animation in Flip Flappers 😉
Not done watching yet but had to tease your (understandable) adoration of the fantastic look of Flip Flappers. Love the vid so far
Damn you're right, I can't believe I forgot to say something about that! :p I'm glad you enjoyed the video
THANK YOU SOOO MUCH. I forgot about the existence of Flip Flappers, and it was one of the first 10 animes I watched, back when it was airing. Thank you for unlocking my childhood memories 🥹
YESSSS YOU'RE SO WELCOME!!! WE MUST BUILD THE FLIP FLAPPER FANDOM
Thanks so much for this! I recommend Star Align! Its a sports anime about middle schoolers (mostly boys) on a tennis team. It's really entertaining and has a lot of dark subplots (child abuse, transphobia, bullying, really shitty parents) theres a gay and nonbinary character and the tennis matches are really detailed and I actually learned a lot about the sport through it. Unfortunately the show ended on a cliff hanger and theres no hope in sight for a season 2 but I still definitely recommend it
Little warning about the Given Movie: it contains sexual content and sexual assault in the first 30 minutes and the ramifications of those events affect the rest of the film. However, the film’s moral makes it worth watching and I really wish I could rewatch it for that alone (but the SA scene was quite graphic and I can’t rewatch the film for that reason). The aforementioned moral is that there is a definite difference between being in love and being happy, and the focal characters have to acknowledge that the one they love doesn’t make them happy and the one that makes them happy they aren’t in love with. Don’t worry though, this isn’t about Uenoyama and Mafuyu, they’re still together 👍
I’d recommend blue flag as another beautiful series. It’s only a manga (please anime adaptation!) but it’s fully available on shonen jump which is really rare considering there’s an explicitly gay character and the MC is implied bisexual. Really beautiful exploration/coming of age story :-)
I ADORE THIS SERIES. YOU ARE AMAZING FOR RECOMMENDING IT 💪
I’d love to see your opinion on banana fish! It’s one of my favorite manga/anime and I love the way it handles the main couples relationship, but it does talk about a lot of sensitive topics and since it was written in the 80s there’s a lot of things they say that haven’t aged well (it’s a little more jarring in the anime tho since the manga takes place in 1985 and the anime changes it to 2016 but keeps everything they say and what happens almost the exact same)
I do really need to get to banana fish. Maybe in a follow up video 👀
you got to watch Sarazanmai (also by Kunihiko Ikuhara) it's so weird, psychological, beautifully animated, but also really good and it honestly made me tear up big recommendation
I adore sarazanmai! It helps that I already love kappa.
I see many recommendations for mo dao zu shi and heaven official's blessing (because they ARE great); but I'd add that Heaven Official's Blessing's animated adaptation is not complete. Also, along with mdzs' adaptation, they are both subject to censorship leaving you sitting in the most insufferable unresolved sexual tension ever.
These series can also be quite confusing to jump into if you're not familiar with Chinese fantasy media (characters having about 5 different names, the concept of "cultivation", honorific usage), but these cultural elements are really fun to learn; and personally, mdzs has some of the best drama/tragedy I've ever seen.
Yuri on ice legit made me cry when it got discontinued. It was one of my favorite animes😢😢😢
About Yuri On Ice censorship - it was aired on some random channel after midnight which allegedly was the best they could do. In the interviews the creators said smth like "Japanese people would understand (that they kissed and got married) because it's not American TV where everything have to be stated explicitly". So yeah, it's 100% connected to homophobia in Japan and that they barely found a channel to air in the most ridiculous time that nobody watches.
And about the Ice Adolescence: a big part of the writing process of S1 was traveling. The creators are the fans of figure skating (duh) and they basically would take a world tour to gather all the material for the stories throughout (they had visited sights and ate local dishes etc.). But with covid19 and now all Russia bs where its getting banned from international events, having a gay Russian lead when there's antiqueer laws dropping in Russia currently, and so on, it was only expected for the show/movie to be canceled, rip
The censorship stuff about Japanese TV is BS that English speakers live to repeat. Look up Dousoukai, a popular live action TV series from the 90s. That series has full guy on guy kisses, TV style sex scenes etc which were shown in prime time Japanese TV...in the 90s. The plot is pretty ludicrous and full of drama but to say Japanese TV cannot show same sex kisses is pure bullshit. There was even a scene where all the characters were shown masturbating at the thought of each other...and at the end one male character had a sex change and married one of the main characters. Stuff was wild, not necessarily good representation but shown full on in the best time slot in a popular channel.
When I found out Yuri on ice was cancled when I finished it (literally like 3 days ago) I STARTED SOBBING. I really hope the creators decide to make a second season or a movie ! I really want to see more of Yuri and Victor’s relationship.
Idea for next year: Kyo Kara Maoh! It's from 2008 and yet features both gay marriage and gay adoption. It also has a scene (in the manga and light novel, though I don't know if it's in the anime) where drag queen beats up three cops in the NYPD and declares that they're unwelcome at pride. Though it's in a weird position where it's both ahead of its time and aged kind of poorly, as it uses "muscular crossdressing men" and "effiminate man obsessed with another man" as punchlines only to turn around and portray both gay and transgender people as real characters and normal people. It feels impossible to comprehensively review, which might make for a fun challenge. (Note: The anime adaptation is different from the manga which is different from the light novel, so the anime can at times be homophobic in ways that don't mesh with the source material, which is probably why it's such a mixed bag as it's essentially multiple different people giving their own takes. Also it was REALLY popular in Japan, getting it's own stageplay and two different PS2 games.)
Honestly for happy sugar life, I enjoyed it as a horror and dark show Instead of a romance one. I have a very, very, very long history with sexual abuse, trauma, manipulation and more so it’s kinda a show that reopens wounds. It makes me very uncomfortable but I know that’s what I’m signing up for, kinda like a morbid curiosity that I know the outcome of.
(video spoilers)
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The fact that Loveless is so bad it gets its own tier at the bottom of BOTH tier lists is so fucking funny... You're so right for that lol
LMAOOOO it had to be done
Skip to Loafer or its english title Skip and Loafer isn't an LGBTQ series but still hoped it'd included just cuz of its awesome portrayal of trans characters, tho i get it since it's not the main cast. Highly suggest it as both a series that brings smile to you each episode/chapter, with really well written characters AND as a trans friendly corner. The animation and the dedication to the original material's look is also really nice and super pleasant and unique to look at.
Been reading the manga and it's just such a good series. Loved the video tho, always nice to see series i haven't visited in a while or finding new ones.
I had been putting off this show for awhile but this is making it a high priority of mine
@@MrHunteru if you end up watching or reading it, i hope you like it!! i cant recommend it enough hehe
I see Utena in the thumbnail, I'm sat and watching. And this whole video was really, really good. Great editing, and I loved your personal insights into all the shows you mentioned - even some I hadn't heard of, like No. 6, have me intrigued enough to check them out.
I will look forward to your own Utena video if you ever do it. One of the things I love about that show is how everyone seems to come away with different insights or thoughts about its themes, and I always love hearing people chime in what they think about it.
I'm glad you enjoyed the video, and I hope if you do go check it out that you enjoy No. 6. It's a really amazing show. An Utena video will definitely come, cause I both want to make one and many people are eager to see it made!
I'm so happy No.6 got a good review! I was obsessed with the anime and manga when I was in middle school and even named my OC Shion because of it. I still love it to this day and would definitely recommend it. Btw I'd recommend Stars Align an anime that I love but ended with 12 eps instead of 24 which is frustrating (it doesn't actually have an ending). It has some queer characters and it's really good.
hii this video was awesome!
i have 2 recommendations for cool lgbtq manga (neither has animes).
1: the summer hikaru died
- it's a horror manga that has heavily implied gay elements. i think it handles it very well.
tw: body horror, horror in general
2: lonely wolf lonely sheep
- a very sweet story about two women and their experiences in life
tw: depicted self harm
neither of these stories have fan service elements which i appreciate
in case you haven't heard, it was recently announced the summer hikaru died will be getting an anime adaptation!
@@aaronhyslop3923 nice!! i hope the adaptation turns out good!
I know I'm late, but the fact that you talked about no.6 is amazing. I hold the anime very close to my heart and feel that because you placed it so high up that people would actually watch it. It isn't a very known show, but its definitely what people would call a Hidden Gem.
I loved Given, but I’d be interested to hear what you think about the movie.
I personally found myself hating it. The other couple in the band is messy, the drummer SA’s the bass player (can’t remember names) and even though the drummer felt bad and tried to make up for it. I just hate how it all played out.
I agree that people should be given a second chance, but when it’s non consensual, I don’t understand how you could go back to being with someone who would do that to you.
It had some nice moments, but overall made me feel sick.
really wished no.6 had more popularity, i love media about utopias, and they went there and did am amazing utopia with good lgbtq representation? perfect
I would love to hear your thoughts on Aoi Hana/Sweet Blue Flowers! It’s not perfect by any means, but it’s one of the first queer anime I watched so it’s near and dear to my heart. It’s also one of the few anime I’ve seen that specifically mentions bisexuality.
The manga was made by the same mangaka as Wandering Son. I’d been wanting to check out the series but after seeing this video I think I’ll just seek out the manga.
just a quick thing about the yoi production, it went through a lot of changes because the author did write it with viktor/yuuri in mind but at it's core it is a figure skating anime (that's the authors passion). also the author and director had to fight for money and a decent time slot (it was actually pushed back to 2 am JST on a thursday) and the production studio (mappa who wasnt really on the map yet) didn't want to essentially fund something that would flop or would imply a gay relationship. so lack of time, funding, the fact that it's an original work that's MAIN focus is ice skating, a lot of it is left for interpretation and does feel rushed and that's why a lot of the focus is solely on figure skating.
Great video!! Another show I would personally recommend is Idolish7! Although I wouldn't consider it a queer anime, it's more of an idol anime with queer characters in it. The first season might be a little slow, but it picks up more in the second and third seasons. The second season is where a queer couple is introduced and it might seem that their relationship is fake or bait, but you really see how much they love and care for each other as the series goes on. There's also a trans women and multiple queer coded characters in it! I watched it last year and instantly fell in love with it, so I highly recommend it even if you don't particularly care for idol anime!!🌈:D
Yoooo what? I wasn’t expecting to hear about an idol anime with rep, we love to see it. I will for sure check that out, thank you!
The first 30 seconds was giving me an "oh great another straight guy doing a pride video for clicks" impression but going through and finishing the video you actually did listen to people in the community and are probably a good ally, also if you need more reccomendations a youtuber called "translesva ruby" i think? I might remember the name wrong has some great "seasonal gay anime" videos, where she highlights anime with queer characters in them.
Omg I haven’t seen anyone talk about flipflappers since it came out in 2016!! Even then it was competing in the same season as Yuri on ice. I love this anime and anyone that was intrigued by it - do no more research! Just go watch it!!
i loved this video !!! will ALWAYS appreciate no.6 being given its flowers (the manga’s one of my faves of all time, with really beautiful art and, personally thinking, a better climax than the manga.) it’s also been sooo long since i watched wandering son, i remember feeling conflicted on it at the time and i had no clue there was a manga, so i’m pleasantly surprised and will be checking it out !!
I love yuri but I hate that so much of it features middle schoolers. Even if there isn't gratuitous fanservice, this obsession with purity/youth/innocence just feels noncey. Can we please get some grown women yuri adaptations?
Uh obsession with youth/purity/innocence is like... standard growing up a girl. Madonna complexes. Maybe it changed now with gen z/alpha, but it used to be something basically every girl went through and could relate to.
Yurikuma is not just about lesbians, it's about society and growing up, and it's extremely relatable once you get all the metaphors; like that scene about putting girls in boxes that I still think about sometimes.
@@ancalyme I haven't watched that anime and I am very curious about the metaphor, could you please elaborate?
@@mfhs2775 The (female) school principal has a shelf of filing cabinets where she keeps her students (metaphorically), because what is pure must stay unsullied. At the same time inside the box it's a performation of purity, you want to be pure to fit your box rather than being inside there because you want to be pure.
It's been a decade or so since I watched it but it really spoke to me. Girls aren't free to just be, we have to perform the role of a madonna because that's how we were filed, anything else makes society uncomfortable.
Then we perpetuate it onto the next generation as the box becomes part of our identity.
It's not done for or by men, but as a self-perpetuating cycle; men are there in the anime in the role of judges, but it's us women putting the next generation of girls into the boxes because that's what we know is proper and good.
"Pure" lesbians in other anime are a performance from insidethe box, real people are messy. Something like Citrus is more realistic and more relatable than something like Maria-sama ga miteru, which is alienating and mostly has male fans. Yurikuma is just a giant string of metaphors for our role in society and various aspects of sexuality, it really makes you think and reconsider cliches.
@@ancalyme I really like your analysis and how you are aware that those high standards are so integrated to our culture that us women are also the ones that keep the cycle moving on, even when we are the ones that are suffering from it. I have only watched Utena, now I want to try more Yuri series that are more realistic with their characters. Besides citrus, what other series could you recommend?
What an amazing video dude!!! As a queer person myself, I'm always a bit cautious looking for LGBT+ anime to watch, because there's so much bad rep out there. I was happy to see some series I like here, and I'm looking forward to watch your recomendations now. Subscribed!
What exactly is "queer"?
@@NorthSea_1981 "Queer" is originally a slur against LGBT people, but many of us have reclaimed it and use it to refer to ourselves!
Was hoping to see umibe no etranger but there was some favs in here! Also I heard once that the reason yuri on ice was censored was because they didnt want it to be seen as a romance anime, they wanted it to be a sports anime and it wouldnt be seen as such if they hadnt censored it. Also was kinda hoping the dubs of some of these would be mentioned (ik they aren't the focus) because the yuri on ice dub they all have accents and the sasaki to miyano/given ones are just so funny and so good (so is the umibe no etranger one but again, it wasnt here). ALSO I watched happy sugar life way too young on youtube because i had no internet restrictions and honestly i dont remember much, i think my brain literally blocked it out 😭
I don’t normally watch dubs 😭 I’m sorry! I will say the Yuri on Ice sun sounds like it helps one of the pet peeves I mentioned in the video. I would also 100% believe that they wanted to keep it sports anime to keep it mainstream, but if that is the case that’s lameeee. I’ve never heard of umibe no etanger before, what’s it about? Also I’m so sorry you experienced Happy Sugar Life so early lol
@@MrHunteruUmibe no Estranger is a manga with an ongoing sequel series and a movie adaptation about two men that form a relationship. They meet when Mio is a teen and Shun is an adult, where Shun is attracted to Mio but Mio has to leave the island for an orphanage on the mainland. When he becomes an adult he returns to try to form a relationship with Shun. Mio went no contact for the 3 years he was gone, but I’m not sure either character really understands why that’s a good thing. I still really enjoyed the movie though! It discusses their attempts to be in relationships with women, the art is wonderful, and there’s a lesbian couple present throughout the movie that live in the same boarding house. I’ve read all of the mangaka’s works, and there’s a relationship I believe is implied to be a QPR(queer platonic relationship), but could also be a romantic relationship between two queer people. The author doesn’t shy away from calling an older man creepy, but will still sympathise with him? Like they’re supposed to be too pathetic to be dangerous? So I have mixed feelings.
We need a whole Utena video!
Awwww I'm really happy to finally see the video be finished and done with, you did an amazing job with working on everything with the script and just watching through all of these shows and getting all of the opinions and I'm glad that you were finally able to finish with this video and release it over a month. It's nice to just have a celebration for pride month and celebrating queer people for who they are is really wonderful to have especially as one myself and I'm just glad to have been able to help out and see the video finally be finished now and put out and you did a great job with the scripting and talking about every show and it turned out to be a really nice and good video with a lot or respect and celebration for pride month and lgbtq+ people as a whole.
Bro I’m so relieved too, Oml. I really never thought I would finish it. I’m very happy to celebrate pride and the LGBTQ+ community, all I can hope is that they’re as happy as I am about this video lol. Thank you again for your help with making this happen
@@MrHunteru Awwww I'm happy that you feel that way after finishing the video and script and you did a wonderful job with celebrating the pride month and the LGBTQ+ community and I'm sure others will love and enjoy this video and everything that you put in and it's not an issue and I'm just happy that I was able to help out with this video and make it possible for it all to come out and it's a great video and dww I'm happy with the video and how it turned out as well and just hope it helps others out with finding new shows and makes them feel more represented and happy ❤
Tales of Zestria is actually a super subtle one that people dont know about! The MC's Sorey and Mikleo are canonically in love the whole time, its just their relationship takes a backseat to the plot. Then theres heavy implications on a side yuri relationship as well. It's based on a game so the plots kinda all over the place but hey, canon gays!
Thank you so much for this video. I was a little sceptic about how would a straight cis guy go about this but wow, you managed to put the video together so well and so respectfully and it's amazing how well it feels like you understand queer people. Such a good video, I bet you've put so much effort in it AND IT SHOWS. I would love to watch another video about any of these anime and I can't wait to watch more of your videos! Also I appreciate that you don't just tell the story of the anime but also say some critique that makes sense, as someone who studies tv and film, I really appreciate it. Thank you for this video!!
Here's a personal list of some of my favorite lgbtq+ anime/manga (that aren't already here) cause i have a problem
- I'm in Love with the Villainess (lesbian love story, really sweet and actuallt addresses queer aspects)
- Banana fish (tragic gays, has the very heavily implied gay relationship that has plossible deniabilty in show but that the creator confirms outside it, does have a lot of gay men being portrayed as sexual predators though)
- Madoka Magica (tragic lesbians, has the very heavily implied gay relationship that has plossible deniabilty in show but that the creator confirms outside it)
- Great Pretender (pretty subtle and not at all the focus, but generally enjoyable and a main character is heavily implied to be into another male character an is confirmed by the creator to be bisexual)
- Welcome to Demon School Iruma-kun (its more obvious in the manga tbh, but has a canonically non-bianary character, a heavily implied poly/queer-platonic relationship, some side lesbians, a repeated side arc with the main character enjoying cross dressing, and both female and male characters being very heavily implied to like the main character)
- Princess Jellyfish (straight yuri, it isn't actually queer at all but it is about the romance between a girl and a cross-dressing male character)
- Wonder Egg Priority (main character whos very heavily implied to be trans, as well as a canonically trans side character (and they're t4t btw), and some heavily implied/maybe confirmed (i forgot) lesbian crushes
- Buddy Daddies (sweet slice of life about two roomates raising a kid together, not canonically gay but it can very easily be read that was and is sweet anyway)
- Carole and Tuesday (slightly implied gay feelings between main characters, canonically lesbian side character, and (admittedly slightly iffy) canonically trans side characters
- Nana (ig it was technically mentioned, but implied lesbians)
Have fun
Thank you for the recommendations! Would you say that Wonder Egg is worth finishing? I had started it, but stopped after hearing the uproar about it's ending
The ending definitely leaves a whole lot of questions unanswered (there is a special though that sort of helps that) but I'd say it's worth watching
Thank you for making this video. I’m always down to watch anime with some lgbt rep in it, and although I’ve seen/knew of a lot of these, there were some I had thought of watching, and had no idea they had any rep in them like paradise kiss ,and devil man cry baby. And now I’m going to bump them up on the watch list.
Yessss I’m happy to hear they’re getting bumped up! They absolutely deserve it, and of course :)
Surprised to see Gravitation was not apart of this list, but so very glad to see such an in-depth exploration of various titles in anime media. Seeing all the comments that have other title suggestions make me look forward to a potential part 2. Great work!
GRAVITATION!! Omg, I barely remember anything about that anime aside from it being the first anime to actually make me cry! I remember relating to one of the main characters, I think it had to do with him loving the main guy whom didn’t reciprocate the same feelings at the time? I don’t fully remember, there was some line though that hit me so deep & I sobbed!
I loved that one so much & even downloaded the soundtrack on the SoundCloud app back in the day so I could listen to it without WiFi lmao
Time for a rewatch, hope it holds up!
(EDIT: Went back to rewatch, the end of episode 6 when he’s talking to his red haired friend after being tricked & beaten is the part I cried at. His sadness at the fact things are more difficult because of their genders & the words his friend say to console him hit me so damn deep! I’ve only watched it dubbed but that scene is such a masterpiece to me 😭)
So, media literacy and being able to read into messages and representation is a great thing, and if being media literate and discussing those things is what it takes to get called a terminally online Twitter user, then so-be-it and sign me up then. You did really great at showing the positive and negatives to a lot of the series shown, I haven't seen most of them yet outside of Valkyrie Drive and Happy Sugar Life, but I already had a few others on my plan-to-watch list and will check them at some point~ Quality representation is needed in media for sure, and I feel that steps are being made and have been made in the past towards providing much better representation. Other series that probably could've been mentioned or covered are definitely a-plenty especially in the Mahou Shoujo genre with Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Madoka Magica!! (also could've used the two former and compared them to the issues of localization destroying representation as characters had relationships changed to "cousins" or "I just admire him!")
With that said, I'll share some of my thoughts on HSL as someone that likes the series for the depictions of the negative effects of emotional, physical, and generational trauma. Completely agree that the relationship between Satou and Shiou is BEYOND problematic and disgusting when it's confirmed later to be a romantic one (I haven't gotten into the manga just yet but was told it is a lot more explicitly romantic). Initially I had taken it as a sibling/caretaker dynamic, with Satou showing and teaching Shio the ideals of a loving relationship and what it should be and she could find with someone else and the positive signs and green flags of that relationship, but yeah when it's confirmed romantic is when she lost me on that. It also just feels a lot less focus is put onto them both being female in the anime at least, again haven't touched the manga yet so idk if it's more open or discussed there), so representation in it really is lacking and more-so when you have just the other yandere lesbian obsessing over Satou.
Also love the comparison to School Days, which is a series you know I love and will defend as great when you accept that it's purposefully made to have such unlikable characters and situations to emphasize the themes of not being ready/fully realizing what a relationship and love truly are, and allowing people to manipulate you into thinking of what love is and what the effects of all that could have on someone metaphorically as well as physically. That not everything is going to be positive, a happy ending (though Makoto probably would like a few of those), the complete tragedy fit with a drastic and dark end to their stories which feels more realistic when compared to how many series just end positive or hopeful, when in reality not everything is going to end up positive and happy. I feel that same comparison with Happy Sugar Life, except adding in the aforementioned affects of trauma and the message that not everyone can break those cycles, especially when they've been manipulated and groomed and broken to the extents that Shio and Satou have, and while Shio's brother *seems* to have broken that cycle it isn't always going to be a positive ride the rest of his life and pain and loss and tragedy will still follow, just as it can in reality. ALL IN ALL, it's definitely a series I want to explore in a video of my own eventually and go more in depth with those messages similar to School Days, my beloved. 🙏
Ayyo a Yan Certified Analysis? I will be excited to see what you have to say when that comes out. I don't blame you for initally thinking of Satou and Shio's relationship dynamic being sibling or caretaker like, but yeah some digging deeper makes it very yikes. Although I do agree that the series has a lot of really interesting things to say about trauma, and it is definitely made to be hated. That's what makes judging it in a video like this so like, odd. How do I review a show that's purposely meant to be fucked up? lmao I hadn't thought about that like breaking a cycle with them, and that Shio's brother is free. I think that's a good interpretation
Also thank you, the one guy who wrote that Twitter comment ain't here anymore 💀 I try to keep that media literacy alive. I do need to check out the shows you mentioned, especially Madoka and Cardcaptor Sakura
I would love to see you deep dive into Devilman Crybaby. It’s one of my favorite anime and honestly one of the few anime that gave me such a visceral reaction to an animated death.
Also, god, maybe it’s the trauma of being an ex-catholic, but so much of the guilt in the show felt so real. I think it’s an absolute must watch in terms of anime.
Just added a lot of things to my watching list! thank you for giving sapphic stories the spotlight too
If you have time watch Kase San Morning Glories (it’s not a full anime but a one hour type episode. Manga kinda falls off abit since the characters don’t develop as much as they do in the beginning of the series).
I think your take on Wandering Son is interesting.
I understand how you came to the conclusions that you did---that the show is acting like this is just a phase and everything. However, when I watched the show, I came away with a different interpretation. The way I saw it, these trans characters were very early on in their journey of self-discovery. They hadn't truly found their label or identity yet, and did not know what to call themselves or their experience. Their experience with gender was still uncertain because they were still figuring it out. I didn't come away from it thinking the anime implied it was just a phase, but rather that it depicted the characters questioning themselves and their gender identity due to societal pressure, and they allowed that pressure to get to them because they weren't yet fully confident in their identities and who they were.
I suppose that's just my interpretation, though. Nonetheless, as a genderqueer individual, I enjoyed the show and found it to be very realistic. I plan to read the manga, and I'm sure the manga is much better, but I don't like judging adaptations as adaptations. As a standalone, I still felt it was really solid.
Oh, also, I do believe the characters in YOI are canonically all speaking English as a second language, and you just hear it in Japanese. They could have clarified that though
As a genderqueer individual, your opinion on Wandering Son matters much more than my own. I like your interpretation of it being similar to a part 1 of their journey instead of it being the full thing, this is a very pleasant way to view the series and one I feel makes a lot of sense.
That would make YOI make much more sense. Although I agree, if them all speaking English that was just auto translated to Japanese, I wish they’d conveyed that better. I would’ve had no clue