LGBTQ Representation in Anime/Manga

Charlotte and Giselle are transwomen, to be precise (well, Giselle supposedly).

edit: Uuh, Charlotte is described as a guy in the character page, so I guess it's my mistake.

Edited by Lyendith on Aug 24th 2019 at 1:53:08 PM

Fanservice/titillation doesn't have to be mutually exclusive to LGBT relationships with some degree of depth, but it's frustrating Japanese media especially loves to tease and fetishise same-sex attraction. Unless it's a work that's already labeled as such, 9 times out of 10 you get implications or dubiously consensual groping.

Charlotte is a transvestite, while Giselle's sex is deliberately ambiguous for the sake of symbolism. She does 100% identify as a girl though and is treated as girl by the author and most characters. Speaking of gender identity, there might also be Mayuri. He is heavily associated with hermaphroditism, fertility and motherhood. He also has performed a few sex change O Ps, possibly even on himself.

I don't think western media is that different. Male/Male ships are often teased and baited for the fangirls or often treated like, they are kinda in love, but it is only platonic. Female/Female ships on the other hand are likelier to be actually a thing, partially because male writers seem either to be more comfortable to write these ships or still think women are more likely to explore their "bisexual side" than men.

This is a bit off topic, but I noticed that in many queer relationship at least one partner is not just a sexual minority but a minority of another kind. It sometimes feels like writers want to be diverse but don't want to "waste characters" for that.

From skimming through volumes of Bleach at my library, I remember a part where some joes go "You're actually a man aren't you?" at Giselle and she basically responds with "fuck you you pieces of shit". So she definitely looks to be a trans woman.

She's also a sexual sadist, so you know, not great.

Her only response is actually just to be confused and a bit shocked. Outside of Yumichika and Charlotte everyone else treats her as a girl and the next time they meet, Yumichika refrains from any jokes or insults. Word of God is deliberately keeping her sex a secret.

While Giselle is a sadist, it is treated like Giselle being too innocent to realize what she is doing is bad and that some of her acts are attempts to help the person she loves. YMMV on what message that brings across but her bad personality traits are eventually only played for laughs. She joins the protagonists, becomes something of a Token Evil Teammate and her good qualities are shown. According to Word of God, she was created to be popular with the audience, something that was a huge success apparently. Not sure what that tells about Japan, but I think this has less to do with LGBT portrayal and more the severe Values Dissonance that is in Japan regarding abusive relationships.

Yeah it looks like I was misremembering a bit, her response isn't verbal so much as it is to have the offenders bombarded with many explosions, which I think gets the same sentiment across.

Anyway that word of god seems like a pretty transparent dodge. Characters wouldn't be making snide remarks about her genitals if she was a cis woman.

Edit: Wait, according to the wiki there was confirmation.

Edited by Moth13 on Aug 24th 2019 at 2:02:18 PM

I know that the subject right now is trans, but since we are in this subject of LGBT, I'd like to suggest Ao no Flag. It's probably the sweetest and most drama fueled high school story I've seen in a long time. Half of the main cast is gay (a lesbian woman and a gay man) and it deals a lot with the struggle of living as a closeted gay person in a conservative culture.

spoiler for a recent chapter: The most recent chapter has the older brother of the gay character, Touma, give him a lecture about how he might never accept him, but he'll never shun him away or disown him either, and just wants him to be happy, being also wary of the culture he is submerged in.

Worth noting though that said brother doesn't know he's gay, just that he got into a fight and was withdrawing from his friends (after being forcibly outed).

I mean, it feels he does. Or at least suspects it.

It's a real stretch to include Unohana as an example of an LGBT character. Kubo just hamhandedly throwing it in with ambiguous terms on a side material, as well as having her die in an overly-sexualized manner against Kenpachi only heightens he really awful taste of that.

What do you guys feel about the "gay characters that are tragically in love with their straight best friends" trope? This seems to kind of a thing in "serious" romantic dramas. I saw it in Koi to Uso, Hoshino Close Your Eyes, Blue Flag has like two of the bastards.

I suppose the silver lining is that these characters are usually presented as sympathetic, but I'm also getting kind of tired of it. Not saying gay people pining for their straight objects-of-affection isn't something that happens, but I wish romances that weren't explicitly yaoi/yuri would just throw a bone and let their gay characters be happy.

Edited by mrsunshinesprinkles on Aug 26th 2019 at 10:53:01 PM

Hell in fanfic circles at least even explicitly yaoi and yuri can fall into that for drama's sake, even if only at the start if they are going for a childhood friend romance or similar.

Not specifically related to anime, but I'm so personally tired of that trope I went out of my way in my fanfic to specifically avert that. Love triangles aren't fun and leave at least one person miserable, let alone if they're LGBT.

Are there series with the opposite case? A straight character falling for a gay friend?

The closest I've seen is guys falling for the aromantic protagonist in Kiryuu-sensei wa Ren'ai ga Wakaranai…

Edited by Lyendith on Aug 26th 2019 at 5:37:22 PM

Also Blue Flag. Incompatible Orientation is a big theme. Though there has been enough foreshadowing that Taichi might be bi that I wouldn't write off the possibility of Touma getting his happy ending. Itachi's blatantly doomed to eternal loneliness, though.

Edited by IniuriaTalis on Aug 26th 2019 at 11:36:17 AM

In the sense that the gay friend is pretty much their "closet key" or causes them to realize they may not be straight?

Edited by akanesarumara on Aug 26th 2019 at 5:36:25 PM

There's been a lot of mention about how he's been repressing a part of his personality to be more socially acceptable, a recurring significant flashback is him trying to hold his male friend's hand but being told that as boys they can't do that, there have been times where he's ended up blatantly staring at other guys before he catches himself, etc.

Ah, figures. Really have to catch up on that one…

No, I mean the guy/girl is straight but the girl/guy they love can't love them back because they're gay.

Edited by Lyendith on Aug 26th 2019 at 5:43:58 PM

Didn't Sasameki Koto have a male character who had a crush on the lesbian protagonist?

Edited by dragonfire5000 on Aug 26th 2019 at 1:56:18 AM

I haven't read the series so I can't… *reads the trope page* Wait a minute, Sasameki Koto is published in France?! How did I not know that? >.>

Edited by Lyendith on Aug 26th 2019 at 11:16:53 AM

Best way it can turn out is the guy/girl with a crush gets rejected, moves on, and later gets together with another character with compatible orientation.

In Blue Flag/'s case, I've seen people speculating Touma might end up with that one junior from the baseball club.

Ebine Yamaji's works have always stood out to be amongst josei yuri manga. Her character designs are just so different and everyday looking.

(x3) He crossdressed to get the girl's attention, but it didn't work out due to Incompatible Orientation.

Edit:

I remember the mangaka I was looking for: Nishi Uko. I always liked their yuri work.

Edited by Pichu-kun on Sep 8th 2019 at 3:39:56 AM

I didn't notice it until today but Stop Hibari Kun has a trans guy character too: Taiga. He's manga-only character.

I just recently learned there is a lesbian character on Kimagure Orange Road who is OF COURSE downplayed heavily in the anime.

Fukakai na Boku no Subete Wo and Kanojo ni Naritai Kimi to Boku are two trans-focused manga that I would like to see get anime, but they seem too niche (especially the former).