History of LGBTQ characters in anime: 2000s

In the early years of the 21st century, the Class S genre saw new life,[1] even as Sailor Moon, key work for the yuri genre,[2] came to a close,[3] with no new anime films since 1995 (apart from one set to air in 2020).[4] Sailor Moon stopped broadcasting on Cartoon Network's Toonami in October 2000[5] despite efforts by fans to continue its run.[6] From 2005 to 2009, a plethora of anime including LGBTQ+ characters began showing despite the fact that the number of anime productions began to decline after peaking in 2006 due to alternative forms of entertainment, less ad revenue, and other reasons, with TV Tokyo remaining one of the only channels airing anime shows.[7] The same year, one Western anime fan, Erica Friedman, created what would become Yuricon, a conference of those who appreciated yuri animation.[8] She did so in a broader context of homosexuality in Japan. While the country does not have a puritanical history saying that homosexuality is a "cardinal sin," meaning that there could be anime with gay characters, although this didn't translate to an easy ability to be out as gay in Japan, even as late as 2015.[9] This manifested itself in the fact that yuri manga is often geared toward male readers[10] which is relevant because anime has a "steady relationship" with manga.[11]:8 While the days of "laughably wrong" American anime dubs in the 1980s and 1990s had long past,[12] anime began entering U.S. homes like never before, with fans able to get their hands on Japanese-language originals of animesthey watched, thanks to the internet.[13] Anime further became entrenched in U.S. households with the launch of Adult Swim by Cartoon Network in 2001, aimed at those in the "older OVA & tape trading crowd," with a new fandom forming.[14]

For a list of LGBTQ+ animated characters, see List of animated series with LGBTQ characters. For history of homosexuality in U.S. film, see History of homosexuality in American film. For the history of anime, see History of anime. For media portrayals of bisexuals, see Media portrayals of bisexuality. For media portrayal of lesbians, see Media portrayal of lesbianism. For history of anime characters in the 2010s, see History of LGBTQ characters in anime: 2010s. For history of Western animated characters in the 2000s, see History of LGBTQ characters in animation: 2000s. For history of anime and Western animated characters in the 2000s, see History of LGBTQ characters in animated series: 2000s.
Cosplay of Sailor Pluto, Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus at Katsucon 2015; Neptune and Uranus were lesbian characters in a romantic relationship in the series; photo by peyj_turner

This fandom was, however, exclusive and elitist with newcomers expected to know how to use IRC, some basic Japanese, and so on. This began to change with the launching of Crunchyroll in 2006 by graduates of the University of California, Berkeley,[15] becoming the first "anime streaming service," a model later used by Netflix, Funimation, and Amazon.com in the later 2010s. This trend echoes the argument, by some, the Japanese people had been long removed from anime itself since it had been exported to the West, especially since the 1990s[16] even though others have pointed out that Japan's Seven Eras of History can be told through anime.[17]

TV Tokyo pushes forward

In the 2000s, TV Tokyo, the same channel that had aired Revolutionary Girl Utena in the 1990s, continued to air anime with LGBTQ characters. One in particular, Whispered Words, had at least four lesbian characters: Sumika Murasame, Ushio Kazama, Tomoe Hachisuka, and Miyako Taema. For the first two characters, Sumika tries to get Ushio to like her over the course of the anime, but Ushio is oblivious to her feelings, and instead falls in love with cute girls, having many one-sided crushes.[18][19] This contrasts with Tomoe and Miyko, who are openly lesbian couple, with Tomoe attempting to start a "Girls Club," while Miyako is bossy to boys, and end up spending more time together.[18] The series as a whole has themes of unrequited love "is a theme omnipresent throughout the story," with these themes even made comedic.[20] Other reviewers described the story as about a "romance is between two openly lesbian high school students," with interesting side stories about lesbophobia and "being young gay student in Japan."[21]

"Ranma ½" Ranma Saotome (female) cosplayer at the 29th Taiwan Doujinshi Sales Fair in Kaohsiung in March 2019; photo by Solomon203; Ranma is a trans woman in this series

Apart from Whispered Words, in Doki Doki School Hours, there is a lesbian character, Rio Kitagawa, who loves small girls and constantly flirts with another girl, Mika-sensei, from the show's first episode[22] while there is a male honor student, Yuichi Kudo, who is gay and in love with a male student, Suetake, from the beginning of the same anime.[23] Additionally, Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl features a lesbian trans woman and a bisexual girl. In the anime, the "gender identity, gender performance, and sexual orientation" of the characters often conflict, with their characteristics threatening "the regulatory norms found within Western society and possibly Japanese society."[24] Hazumu Osaragi, the series protagonist, begins the series as a boy, and is inadvertently killed due to an alien spacecraft crash-landing on them, with the alien, Hitoshi Sora, resurrecting Hazumu, but changes their physical sex to female. Even before that point, Hazumu presents as male but is "constantly in a state of a drag performance" and later learns how to "perform" the female gender with the help of Tomari Kurusu, who acts a bit masculine herself.[25] As Hazumu adopts to life as a girl, she is attracted to two of her childhood friends: Yasuna, and Tomari Kurusu.[26] Tomari is the bisexual girl, who is Hazumu's childhood friend, who liked Hazumu more as a boy, not knowing what to do after Hazumu's initial transformation, later comes around to Hazumu later in the series, competing with Yosuna for Hazumu's love.[26][27] As the anime progresses, Hazumu remains attracted to Yosuna and Tomari, but does not want to be "identified based upon the traditional notions of gender" but rather just wants to seen as a person who "has hopes, dreams, and desires like any other person," while Hazumu's male friend, Asuta, becomes attracted to him in an unrequited crush.[28] Kashimashi was compared which involved gender switching, Ranma ½[29] and was positively reviewed by Erica Friedman, founder of Yuricon. Friedman argued the anime had normal ending reminiscent of something "that might have actually happened in real life."[30]

Just as significant, in terms of representation, is Simoun, which aired in TV Tokyo in 2006. In this anime, there is a close lesbian couple, Aer and Neviril, with Aer frustrated when Neviril is thinking of Amuria.[31] In the end of the series, she and Neviril are in the new world, happily dancing. She and Neviril piloted the Ventus Simoun. Neviril and Amuria were very close,[31] and she is devastated by the loss of her beloved partner. Despite the fact she keeps being reminded of Amuria, she falls in love with Aer and march to the new world together. There is also Alty, whose name is also spelled Alta, who harbors an incestuous crush toward her older sister, Kaim, which causes her sister's hostility to her, as shown in the episode "Sisters."[31] She may also have feelings toward others, such as Floe. Amuria, on the other hand, has been romantically partnered with Neviril, as they kissed g multiple times, ever since Neviril first joined Chor Tempest in the show's first episode.[31] Apart from these LGBTQ characters, in the anime as a whole, gender and sexuality don't work the same as in our existing world, with the strong yuri themes shining through as Theron Martin of the Anime News Network explains.[32] That's because in this sci-fi anime, the premise revolves around a warship filled of young priestesses "not old enough yet to pick a permanent gender," meaning that it is ripe for "yuri content with countless pairings and scenarios"[20] and is unabashedly yuri.[33] Erica Friedman of Yuricon also positively reviewed Simoun', saying it was one of the best yuri anime of 2006[34] while she also criticized the character designs.[35]

Cosplay at Youmacon 2008 of Soi Fon and Yoruichi; image by Michael Carian; Soi Fon is a lesbian character in the series, Bleach.

There are a number of anime which aired on TV Tokyo which have scattered LGBTQ characters, often only one at a time. For instance, Fruits Basket has a bisexual man, Hatsuharu Sohma, as a character,[36][37] while Azumanga Daioh has a character, Kaorin, whose gender is ambiguous[38][lower-alpha 1][39] Additionally, the well-regarded .hack//sign has a lesbian relationship between two characters, An Shoj/Tsukasa and Mariko Misono/Subaru[40][41][42] Bleach features a lesbian character, Sui Feng, who is the commander of a militia,[43][44][45][46][47] and Best Student Council features a lesbian assault squad rookie named Kaori Izumi[48] who has a secret crush on a female character, Kanade Jinguuji.[49][50] Apart from the flamboyant homosexual character, Leeron Littner, in Gurren Lagann[51][52] or the growing gay relationship between two characters in Monochrome Factor, Akira Nikaido and Shirogane[53][54] which ultimately culminates in a kiss,[55] there is one anime that stands out. That is Cheeky Angel. In this anime, Megumi Amatsuka is a physically attractive trans woman who retains her masculine mannerisms and fighting abilities, which she uses very often, attracting the 'Megu-chan Protection Club', a group of misfit admirers.[56] Nobody else knows she used to be a boy but was transformed into a girl. Initially, only Megumi's best friend, Miki, knew her secret, however the protection club quickly finds out.[57] Other reviewers described the series as addressing "several gender identity questions" like it means to be a man or woman, and how someone decides who they are.[58] Another series, My-HiME, which aired on TV Tokyo from 2004 to 2005, included a "girl-girl couple is between secondary characters," Natsuki Kuga and Shizuru Fujino.[20] Erica Friedman described it as focusing on the "sexist psychotic lesbians in anime" while warning people about possible fan service in the show.[2] The show later developed a devoted fanbase, and Natsuki and Shizuru have unrequited love which "ultimately pinnacles in a dramatic scene" in the anime. On the same token, Maria Watches Over Us had a light yuri flavor. While it is focused on a "deeply platonic relationship," it follows Yumi Fukuzawa as she begins attending an all-girls' Catholic school, with a student Sachiko Ogasawara asking her to be her petite sœur, or "little sister." As such, the series features a "Class S relationship between Yumi and Sachiko."[20]

Similarly, AT-X, a channel owned by TV Tokyo, had a number of shows with LGBTQ characters. This included shows with lesbian characters. The first of those is Ikki Tousen: Battle Vixens. It included a lesbian character, Chinkyuu Koudai, who loves her childhood friend, Ryofu.[59] Similarly, Godannar included two lesbian characters, Shadow Dunaway and Luna, who share romantic feelings for each other and are partners on the giant American robot Genesister.[lower-alpha 2][60] In an interesting coincidence, Shinichi Watanabe who directed the Puni Puni Poemy series, also directed episodes of Godannar and Bleach, later going on to direct episodes of Baka and Test and No-Rin. Additionally, Tsuyokiss included a lesbian character. Erika Kiriyais is an arrogant student council president inclined to flirt with other girls and even try to seduce Yoshimi, like in the anime's first episode, only to be accidentally interrupted by Sunao.[lower-alpha 3] Erika is one of the canonical love interests of the protagonist in the original visual novel.

There were three other shows which aired on AT-X which included LGGBTQ characters. Gakuen Heaven, a boy's love anime, based on a manga with similar themes, had a canon gay couple: Keita Itō and Endō Kazuki.[61][62][63] Mnemosyne, a nicely animated[64] but critically reviewed[65] series had a plethora of LGBTQ characters. This included Rin Asogi and Mimi, the main characters of the story, running a consulting business together,[65] known as Asogi Consulting and both are immortal.[66] Throughout the series they have an intimate relationship.[67] Later on, Mimi appears to have grown close to the second informant (the informants being a group of women), while Rin had a relationship with two men: Ihika and the Tajimamori, making her bisexual. Finally there was Kanamemo. This series featured a lesbian couple who are protagonists, Yuuki Minami and Yume Kitaoka[68] with both sharing an expressive yuri love, kissing at least four times over the course of the series. They even kiss in the show's first episode.[20] There are two other lesbian characters, one of whom, Haruka Nishida, is attracted to girls under the age of 15,[68] and another, Mika Kujiin, who is a loli tsundere who seems to have a crush on Kana.[lower-alpha 4]

LGBTQ storylines on Wowow and Chiba TV

TV Tokyo was not alone. Wowow had a number of shows which had gay and bisexual characters. In 2000, Descendants of Darkness began airing on the channel. Asato Tsuzuki and Hisoka Kurosaki were a gay couple,[69] and LGBTQ+ characters Shuichi Shindo and Eiri Yuki.[70] while Hisoka showed some level of feelings for a girl. Similarly, Gravitation featured gay and bisexual characters. Specifically, Shuichi Shindo falls in love with Eiri Yuki beginning in the first episode.[71] and over the course of the anime as a whole the two become a couple.[72] In one episode, it is revealed that Eiri has a fiancée named Ayaka Usami, but she backs away after seeing the love between Shuichi and Eiri.[73]

During the 2000s, a number of other anime on Wowow featured LGBTQ characters. In X, which aired from 2001 to 2002, Subaru Sumeragi and Seishirō Sakurazuka were gay characters.[74] Their past is elaborated in the manga, Tokyo Babylon, where it was shown Seishirō would often flirt with and tried to seduce Subaru as part of a bet: if Subaru could make him fall in love with him, he wouldn't kill him. While Subaru did grow to love Seishirō, Seishirō couldn't reciprocate but killed Subaru's sister Hotaru in his stead per her request, and as Seishirō dies, he confesses "I also.." before dying.[75] Other than X, Le Chevalier D'Eon, which aired from 2006 to 2007, had a genderqueer character, D'eon de Beaumont/Lia de Beaumont, with the spirit of his sister inhibting the body when his life is in danger.[76][77] This character is based on the identity that real-life cross-dresser, Chevalier d'Eon claimed in a 1756 mission to Russia.[78] During the same time, Sasami: Magical Girls Club featured a lesbian character named Anri Misugi and also known as An-An. She has a strong infatuation with Tsukasa and lavishes words of love and flattery on her constantly.[79]

A genderqueer pride flag held aloft with the words "El Futuro No Es Binario - Genderqueer" (The Future is Not Binary - Genderqueer) written across it at Gay Pride in Valencia 2019; Dorieo, Wikimedia Commons (License CC-BY-SA 4.0); relates to Kino being a transmasculine character

One Wowow show, Kino's Journey, was different from the rest. It featured a transmasculine character, and traveler,[80] named Kino who was assigned female at birth, but has an "androgynous persona." They alternate between using feminine and masculine pronouns while resisting those that attempt to pin a gender on them as a "girl" or "boy."[51] This led Baron Rueben to call Kino one of the "rare transmasculine anime protagonists."[51] Similarly, Vrai Kaiser on Anime Feminist says that while the series focuses on human nature, with Kino described as "an agendered character," with Kino almost never "gendered in dialogue" and when they are, it is commented upon, making him a nonbinary character who was assigned female at birth,[81] and "isn’t a robot, alien, or sentient rock, but a human being."[82] Kino also explicitly says they don't "want to be called a boy or girl,"[83] with no one calling him non-binary directly as the term X-gender and their backstory "strongly reflects a trans childhood," even rejecting their previous name, similar to dead names. Kaiser talks about gender reveals in anime referencing Naoto Shirogane in Persona 4, Dogkeeper in No. 6, Nuriko in Fushigi Yugi, and concludes by saying that Kino is non-binary because they were assigned a gender at birth and they "decided to change their presentation and how they wanted the world to refer to them."

Apart from shows on Wowow, a number of anime on CTC and Chiba TV had LGBTQ characters, whether bisexual, lesbian, trans, or something else. In 2004, DearS began showing on Chiba TV. The show included an exhibitionist, and bisexual, high school English teacher, named Mitsuka Yoshimine, who often strips down to her lingerie during classes, makes her students read erotic stories, openly asks about their sex lives and flirts with them from the first episode.[84] In the same vein Kannazuki no Miko, also known as "Destiny of the Shrine Maiden", included bisexual and lesbian characters, Himeko Kurusugawa and Chikane Himemiya specifically, with Erica Friedman described the series as having themes surrounding "giant robots and lesbian desire."[2] In the anime, Chikane has loved Himeko since they met. As such, since Himeko has a close relationship with a boy, Sōma, Chikane she does not admit her feelings until much later, with her feelings for Himeko bordering on obsession.[85] One critic described the show as featuring a "fan-favorite type of romance," with the greatest strength of the anime being the relationship between Himeko and Chikane, and called the anime "one of the best yuri from the 2000s."[20] Apart from DearS and Kannazuki no Miko, Blue Drop, which aired on Chiba TV in 2007, among other networks, revolves around an alien species consisting solely of females. The main characters of the anime, Mari Wakatake and Hagino Senkōji (also known as Ekaril), fall in love with each other,[86] and later kiss one another At the same time, Azanael blames Ekaril for the death of her female lover in an explosion five years earlier. This series was not alone. Ultimate Girls, which aired two year prior, featured a character, Vivenne Ōtori, who is described by one reviewer as "the older-sister lesbian"[87] while Happiness! featured a gay or trans woman, Jun Watarase, who may have been born male.[88] She is alluded to being either an androgynous gay boy who crossdresses to appear as a girl or a trans woman largely due to the fact that in the OVA, "The Brilliant Day of Jun Watarase," she was happy to have been turned into a girl.[89] Additionally, Shattered Angels featured a couple of lesbian characters, Mika Ayanokōji, Kaon, and Himiko,[90] while Maria Holic, Kanako Miyamae, included a character who is parodied as a stereotypical "flaming lesbian" with a constant exaggerated demonstration of her attraction to other girls.[91] On the other hand, Shangri-La began airing on CTC in 2009. This series included two trans women, Miiko, a younger trans woman who often gets teased by Momoko.[92] On the other hand, Momoko is a trans woman with a flamboyant personality.[92]

One series, based on a yuri manga,[93] which aired on Chiba TV, shined above the rest: Strawberry Panic! Some considered it "a classic of yuri anime" due to the fact it includes a primary relationship between two of the protagonists, Aoi Nagisa and Shizuma Hanazono, with their relationship growing during the series.[20] Erica Friedman also reviewed Strawberry Panic! positively, calling it a "clever, fun-to-be-around street whore of a Yuri series."[94] There were many other yuri couples, including between Kaname Kenjō and Momomi Kiyashikim who are in a sexual relationship, the first explicitly lesbian couple depicted in the series, Yaya Nanto and Tsubomi Okuwaka who have feelings for each other, Amane Ohtori and Hikari Konohana, whose feelings for each other grow during the series.[94] At the same time, Miyuki Rokujō and Tamao Suzumi had crushes on other girls.[94] Some praised the series. Friedman described it as not only "a melodramatic romance about love affairs at a private girls’ school" but a parody of many other "earlier Yuri series" and a story of the "politics and pressures at a girls’ school."[95][96] Even Jack L. Godek who criticized the series, calling it not "good yuri" and "unoriginal" admitted he liked the music, called the soundtrack decent, and even praised the art.[97]

From Sweet Blue Flowers to Yamibou: Fuji TV and JNN

Fuji TV, like other Japanese television channels, had their host of LGBTQ characters. For instance, Gantz had gay characters: Jakotsu, Suzaku, and Chiaki Onizuka.[98][99] More broad was Paradise Kiss. This anime included a bisexual character named Jōji "George" Koizumi[100] and a trans woman named Isabella Yamamoto,[101] Isabella was described as "one of the most realistic and accepting portrayals of a transgender character in manga."[102] Also Nodame Cantabile had a gay timpanist, Masumi Okuyama,[103] who loves another guy while Antique Bakery featured a gay chef, Yusuko Ono, who is often out of job because "he is irresistible to men," leading coworkers to fight for his affection.[72]

One series on Fuji TV had an influence above the others: Sweet Blue Flowers. It was directed by Ken'ichi Kasai who had been a director for Nodame Cantabile in 2007 and Sailor Moon from 1992 to 1997, both of which had LGBTQ characters. It was a yuri series, where Fumi Manjome, a high school student is reunited with "her long-lost childhood friend Akira Okudaira," who she falls in love after they come together.[21] This series focuses on the protagonists but "relationships between all its characters," even side characters,[104] and includes gender-bending elements used in various manga.[58][105] In this yuri drama, some called it a queer animation which focuses on coming-of-age, which "subverts the traditional notions of gender and sexuality" and explores alternative sexualities.[106][20] Scholars also pointed to how memory and trauma affects queer identity, that Yasuko, through her actions, subverts "the heteronormative system of oppression and marginalization," and various "queer memories" found in the show itself.[107] Sweet Blue Flowers also had a connection to a previous show: Kunihiko Ikuhara had previously worked on Revolutionary Girl Utena. Ikuhara specifically storyboarded the opening of Sweet Blue Flowers, while working on various episodes. He would later storyboard and direct various episodes of Penguindrum, which premiered in 2009, featuring various LGBTQ+ characters.

Winry Rockbell (Fullmetal Alchemist) cosplayer at WonderCon 2012; Winry is the mentee of Garfiel, who seems to have a crush on him; image by Pop Culture Geek

In the 2000s, a few anime which aired on JNN had LGBTQ characters. The first of these was Yami to Bōshi to Hon no Tabibito, otherwise known as Yamibou/Yamibou or Yami, the Hat, and the Travelers of the Books. In this anime, Hazuki Azuma is a tomboyish female with numerous female admirers, throughout her journeys, who develops a sexual attraction to her adopted older sister, Hatsumi Azuma, who reciprocates, as noted in episodes like "Hazuki" and "Quill."[108] After Hatsumi disappears on her 16th birthday, Hazuki goes world-hopping in hopes of finding Hazuki, which her companions, a bird, and a woman named Lilith, know by the name of "Eve." Her love is deep-rooted, seemingly reciprocated through love letters from Hatsumi while she lived in Japan, and encounters a woman named Fujihime in a feudal Japanese world whom looks almost identical to Hatsumi.[108] In the final episode, "Lilith," they kiss each other, fulfilling Hazumi's wish. Apart from Hzuki and Hatsumi, is Lilith, the guardian of the Great Library. She flirts relentlessly with Hazuki, beginning in the show's third episode, although she is always turned down. Sometimes she goes to absurd lengths to show her love in various book worlds, sometimes even trying to sleep with her, as shown in episodes such as "Quill" and "Layla."[108] Lilith's previous lover was Adam, the library's previous protector, referred to as a male character in the third episode.

Yamibou was not an isolated show on JNN. Fullmetal Alchemist, for example, had a shapeshifting homunculus without a specific gender named Envy[109][110] The series itself generally got good reviews, with some praising the series as "more than a mere anime" and "a powerful weekly drama."[111] Then there was Code Geass which included a character who had a lesbian obsession, Nina Einstein, and yearning for another character, Third Princess of Britannia, Euphemia li Britannia.[112][113]

While Code Geass was said to have "yaoi-buying female fans",[114] the other anime were different. Black Butler would include a trans woman known as Grell Sutcliff, who was a Grim Reaper, and part of the Retrieval Division of the Grim Reaper Dispatch. In their confessional[115] she describes herself as a "self-declared lady," uses she/her pronouns, and she wants gender reassignment surgery. Other manga chapters note her desire to get breasts[116] and show her dedication to a female appearance when she debuts in the manga.[117] With this all being said, there is much fan debate as to whether Grelle is a "drag queen or a problematic portrayal of a trans woman."[51] More cut and dry was Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. It included a skilled automail engineer and the proprietor of Atelier Garfiel, named Garfiel, in the town of Rush Valley who is rather effeminate and appears to prefer the company of men,[118] which results in his acting largely as a source of comic relief in scenes that involve him, including his mentee, Winry.[119]

Representation on TV Asahi, Tokyo MX, TBS, and TV Kanagawa

TV Asahi included a number of LGBTQ characters, like the channels previously mentioned. For instance, Burst Angel included a lesbian character named Megumi "Meg" who is best friends with Jo, who she is a bounty hunters with,[120] and the three-volume manga prequel openly shows that Meg is experiencing a sexual attraction to her friend,[121][122] In that prequel she fantasizes about their sex or even openly trying to seduce Jo.[123] This is also later referenced in the OVA sequel, "Jo and Meg Blues."[124]

Burst Angel was not alone. Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo had a bisexual character named Franz d'Épinay[125] who is traveling with him.[126] and a gay boy named Peppo who enjoys cross-dressing as a girl, leading some reviewers to mistake him as transgender.[125] The series was later described by Theron Martin of Anime News Network as a series with "deliciously intricate revenge schemes and incomparable artistic vision."[127] The director of Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo, Mahiro Maeda would later direct episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion. The same year, Tōka Gettan, an anime with yuri themes, made by the same people involved with Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito. Erica Friedman stated that while the show had yuri, she wouldn't call it a yuri anime because the main relationship was heterosexual, along with crushes which "go nowhere," like the feelings Shouko has for Makoto, and a number of other characters who have some feelings for each other. Even Hatsumi, Hazuki and Lilith from Yamibou, "appear in one cross-over episode."[128]

Two other anime with LGBTQ storylines aired on TV Asahi. Loveless featured Soubi, who has an attraction to young boys, often flirts with Ritsuka, much to his discomfort from the show's first episode.[129] The two slowly grow feelings for each other. Writer and poet T.A. Noonan describes their love affair in the manga as falling into "both orthodox heterosexual and subversive homosexual contexts," as Ritsuka treats Soubi as an adult.[130] In an interview with Yun Kōga, she said that while she doesn't consider the manga yaoi, but her fans do.[131] Also, Akira Nishimori, who had directed the 1994–1995 OVA of Ai no Kusabi, a yaoi series, also directed the 2007 series, Zombie-Loan, airing on TV Asahi. The show featured a genderqueer and bisexual character with a split personality named Koyomi/Yomi Yoimachi.[132] Her normal shy female personality is usually dominant and has feelings for Shito, enough so that she sacrifices her soul to save his life. Her male persona, Yomi, shows up when Michiru is close or kisses her in episodes such as "Dead Man's Tongue." Yomi later takes over Koyomi's body and says they are male. The same themes are expressed in the manga the anime is based on.[133]

Tokyo MX featured LGBTQ characters in some of their anime as well. In Rosario + Vampire, Yukari Sendou was a witchling who has a crush on both Moka (a female vampire) and Tsukune (a male human).[134][135] Later on, A Certain Magical Index and A Certain Scientific Railgun featured Kuroko Shirai. She has an obsessive perverted lesbian crush on Mikoto as shown in the original show and in the A Certain Scientific Railgun spinoff show, where she continues to lust for Mikoto, occasionally leading to punishment.[136] Koihime Musō airing around the same time, included LGBTQ characters too. In the show, Chōryō Bun'en has an obsession and "friendly rivalry" with Kan'u.[137][138] In the same anime, Gien Bunchō is a good-natured and boisterous girl,[139] and she joins Ryūbi on the quest to look for medicine due to her romantic feelings for Ryūbi.[140] At the same time, Monogatari, which aired on Tokyo MX from 2009 to 2014 had a lesbian character. Sugaru Kanbaru self-identifies as a lesbian. However, her character has been criticized for constantly flirting with Arariji and talking about "becoming his lover," because it may imply she is "faking her sexuality," which some described as a harmful lesbian stereotype.[141]

Not all the shows on Tokyo MX had mixed representation, however. The series Canaan featured Canaan and Maria Ōsawa, airing from July to September 2009. Two years before the plotline of this story, Canaan, an elite mercenary with expert combat training, saved Maria from hoodlums during a trip somewhere in the Middle East. During this anime, both show romantic attractions toward each other, while Canaan saves Maria on multiple occasions.[142] Later in the anime, Maria suggests sleeping with Canaan.[143] In the end, both remain close even as they cannot "live side by side in Canaan’s world" or in Maria's world.[144] Theron Martin reviewed the anime, stating that while some elements are typical, it does "break new ground" in the sense that Canaan can "perceive the world differently from an average person," perceiving moods of people as colors, allowing her to find enemies, see her "most beloved person" (Maria), while praising the "fluidity and expansiveness" of the anime's art style, and music score.[145] Luke Carroll, another reviewer, also gave a positive assessment. He wrote about the "possessive love" that Liang Qi has for her sister (and the series antagonist), Alphard, the action scenes met with well put together scores, and noted some plot holes.[146]

TBS had gay, lesbian, and genderqueer characters. For instance, "relentlessly" lesbian Anna Kurauchi appeared in He Is My Master,[147] Macross Frontier included a like a flamboyant gay character named Bobby Margot,[148][149] and Miami Guns which included had two gay lovers and commandos named George and Anthony,[150] Another TBS show, Kämpfer featured a lesbian character named Kaede Sakura who is infatuated with another woman[151] and a genderqueer character named Natsuru Senō who has a crush on Kaede.[151]

Finally, there were two anime on TV Kanagawa which included LGBTQ characters. Sukisho follows the story of a man, Sori Hashiba, who falls off a four-story building, waking up without any of his former memories, and does not remember the man, Sunao Fujimori, who comforts him is one of his dear friends, with both forming "a romantic and passionate bond."[72] Another TV Kangawa show, Tactical Roar, included a bisexual character named Clio Aquanaut. She was confirmed as bisexual by her voice actress, Rio Natsuki.[152] This anime was produced with mix of traditional and computer generated animation. This was an anime produced with cooperation from the Japanese Self-Defense Force (JSDF) during a period that there was no collaboration between anime producers and fandoms of similar types of anime.[153] It was one of the main collaborative efforts between anime producers and the JSDF.[153] The Pascal Magi was based on the Murasame-class destroyer, and the ship in the show was given a designation with the consent of the JSDF, which the producers worked with to create realistic battle scenes and models for the anime.[154][155]

Other LGBTQ characters on Japanese TV

The anime on main Japanese TV channels with LGBTQ characters and storylines were not an isolated case. In 2002, Mirage of Blaze aired on Kids Station, and included a gay couple: Takaya Ougi and Yoshiaki Tachibana. While Takaya is the reincarnation of Kagetora while Yoshiaki is the reincarnation of Nobutsuna Naoe.[156] Around the same time, Inuyasha began airing on YTV, where it continued until 2004. The anime included Jakotsu, a member of a criminal band of seven assassins, and is shown as being flamboyant and having a strong preference for men, complimenting Koga's loincloth, flirting with Inuyasha and Miroku, and complimenting Sesshomaru's appearance as shown in the episode "The Band of Seven, Resurrected!"[157] Apart from those shows, Wolfram von Bielefeld in NHK's Kyo Kara Maoh! became the accidental fiancé of Shibuya Yuuri,[158] while Air Master on Nippon TV featured a lesbian character, Mina Nakanotani, who is hopelessly in love with another character, same to what happened in the manga.[159][160]

Anime on a number of Japanese channels also included LGBTQ characters and storylines as well. Legend of DUO aired on TV Saitama, included a gay couple of Duo and Zeig,[161] The series was widely panned by reviewers.[162][93] At the same time, the TV Aichi show My-Otome and Kagihime, also known as Eternal Alice, which aired on various UHF stations featured lesbian characters. My-Otome featured a character, Tomoe Marguerite, who had a crush on another woman,[163][164][165] while in Kagihime a character, Kisa Misaki, tries to receive an 'indirect kiss' from another woman.[166] In the same vein was Junjo Romantica which aired on TV Hokkaido. It included two gay couples, Hiroki Kamijou and Nowaki Kusama, Misaki Takahashi and Akihiko Usami.[167]

There were three OVAs which featured LGBTQ characters. In 2001, Puni Puni Poemy was released. It had an "over-the-top magical girl premise"[168] and directly lampooned yuri anime. A few years later, in 2004, Re: Cutie Honey featured Cutie Honey and Natsuko Aki, who have crushes on each other. They lie naked together, allowing their hearts to connect, returning her energy in the episode "Earth's Volume."[169] In the final episode, "Humanity's Volume," Natsuko cares for Cutie after a fight with a guardian of the Panther Claw. After she gives Cutie a pep talk, raising her spirits, Cutie embraces her, saying she "loves" her, and they have a tender moment before beginning the major battle.[170] At the close of the episode, Cutie and Natsuko work together in a detective agency, fighting evildoers.

Apart from the above named OVAs, Hyousuke Iwaki and Youji Katou appeared in the yaoi-themed Embracing Love,[171] and Kanade Sakurai and Yukino Sakura, two sisters, were the main characters of Candy Boy, a romantic school comedy.[172] Hetalia: Axis Powers was another well-regarded anime with LGBTQ characters. This included France who is attracted to "everyone regardless of gender," implying they are pansexual, and Sweden who is gay but "only for Finland."[51] Concluding this is Ice, a 2007 anime. It included a few lesbian characters. First was Yuki Ice-T and Hitomi Landsknecht, captain of the Guardswomen, with Yuki trying to kiss her in the show's first episode. While this does not happen, they grow closer by the end of the episode and through the rest of the series.[173] Additionally, Julia commands a large group of girls who are used to test the ICE project as well as serve her needs, be it of a sexual nature or just common chores as shown throughout the show's whole episodes.[173] Some praised this anime as focusing on queer women who have to "decide if they should take on the arduous mission of saving humankind from extinction."[174]

See also

Notes
  1. In Azumanga Daioh: Supplementary Lessons Chapter 3 Page 12, Osaka asks Kaorin whether she is gay, to which she responds "The correct term is Lesbian!" before denying that she is a lesbian.
  2. Nihon Review mentions this by noting there is a "same-sex relationship" in the anime.
  3. Nihon Review notes that the anime has a "female harem cast with tsundere characters."
  4. Feelings for Kana are implied in the official descriptions on the TV Tokyo website and the King Amusement Creative website

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Sources
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