Anime with canon same sex relationships

[sqbr]

This isn't a deep post. just an off topic tangent from this discussion.

So, ones I can think of off the top of my head (my brain has of course gone blank):

• Revolutionary Girl Utena
  
• Card Captor Sakura
  
• Sailor Moon? (I haven't seen it)
  
• Check the comments for many more!
  

It doesn't have to be the main characters, my point was that sometimes in anime (unlike mainstream western tv) you can think "Those two have such good chemistry, wouldn't it be great if they got together!" and they do.

EDIT: Obviously I'm not the best judge of this myself but the aim is stories one can enjoy as representations of queerness not unrealistic yaoi etc, and relatively mainstream anime that a typical sff geek might easily encounter and enjoy.

There's also lots where the subtext never quite becomes text but isn't actively contradicted either, like (as I recall) "Read or Die".

Comments

[bunny_m]

There's same-sex relationships in CCS? Huh. I thought it was all just creepy subtext.

As for Sailor Moon, there is indeed a clearly mentioned relationship between Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus.

[sqbr]

I'm pretty sure Yuki/Toya is canon. Plus Syaoran has a crush on Yuki for a bit.

Also: creepy subtext? Which of it is creepy? *is possibly unable to see any other creepy due to squick at the two teacher/student m/f relationships*

[bunny_m]

I haven't seen more than an episode or so of either the sub or the dub of CCS, but he way Sakura's friend and fashion designer was constantly creating new revealing costumes and then taking heaps of photos focusing on certain parts of Sakura was downright disturbing.

Of course, CCS was done by CLAMP, who have a long history of being very odd at best and seriously worrisome at times is well documented. (See especially Chobits.)

[sqbr]

Oh yeah, that. For some reason it didn't bother me but I can see how it might bother someone else.

But oh, indeed, Chobits. Guh.

[ex_pippin880]

Mai Otome. Has lots. Also has "their magical nanobots are destroyed if they have heterosexual intercourse" so, you know. (Also one of the canon couples in Mai Otome is an AU version of two characters from Mai Hime who had a very questionable relationship...)

I've heard Simoun has, but I haven't seen it so can't confirm. Also... Please Save My Earth, I think it is?

[bunny_m]

I'd forgotten how dodgy Mai-HiME was. ;)

I've had Mai-Otome for ages but haven't gotten to watch it. I'm thinking that now might be a good time. 0 =)

[ex_pippin880]

M-O isn't as good as M-H, sadly, but I did enjoy it! Also the first thing that let me understand the concept of fanfiction.

HOWEVER do not touch Mai-Otome Zwei or Mai-Otome Sifr (sequel and prequel respectively) they are REALLY TERRIBLE. D:

[sqbr]

Thanks! Yeah, the premise of that always sounded a bit..odd to me.

[ex_pippin880]

The only other ones I can think of are hentai. :p

[sqbr]

Yeah, thanks but no thanks :)

[hl]

Uhm, there was one that I can remember in GetBackers, though I'm not sure it would be a good representation of queernes (to be honest, I don't remember enough of that anime except that it was pretty bad, if fun).

[sqbr]

Somehow thinking about your comment reminded me of "El Hazard", not sure how I feel about that one either.

Journal hopping thanks to metafandom

[sugarbar]

GetBackers is, yeah, kind of just a silly shounen anime, although I think Kazuki/Juubei is about as close to text as you can get without an actual kiss involved. Although strangely enough*, the manga featured a m/m kiss (not between lovers, and there were Circumstances, but it wasn't painted as "disgusting" if I recall correctly... which I probably don't).

*I say this because it's a shounen anime, and there is so much fanservice a la girls-getting-clothes-ripped that it's not something I would have expected to come across.

[velithya]

only thing I can remember off the top of my head to add is Noir.

If you're going with manga too, then also FAKE.

[sqbr]

I really should get around to watching Noir.

[polyserena]

There are whole entire genres devoted to this for animanga (just yesterday I bought a regular anthology devoted to comics involving girls who like girls but aimed at (presumedly) straight women). It's huge big business and it's usually much more comparable to shows like Queer As Folk where the main audience knows exactly what they're getting into from the start. Or... some kind of category that doesn't exist that isn't focused on gay relationships but where gay relationships are perfectly normal and expected. I guess viewing it from a perspective outside of the target fandoms it must be nice to see subtext and then have it made text, but the audience it was designed for were already expecting it. And it doesn't cross over to real life tolerance at all.

I'm not saying it's not a good thing, cause it is, I think it's an improvement on mainstream western TV and it's really nice to have entire genres to pick from if I want to read something not heteronormative. It just seems a bit pointless to start listing them when there are hundreds (thousands?) of relevant titles.

[sqbr]

Fair enough. I didn't think through what I meant by this post super deeply. Hmm..

I guess..that I'm talking about relatively mainstream anime that a typical sff geek might encounter and enjoy. But I didn't say that!

[sugarbar]

I was building a list of recs, but then I realized I have no idea what constitutes as a "representation of queerness."

-I can think of three fantasy manga where there is extreme subtext between the male characters (sometimes ending in outright text)... but does this fall into that fanservice/bromance category?

-How much subtext does it have to be? One of my favorite manga has yakuza and guns and weird-as-hell drugs, and the two main characters are implied to be deeply in love (or something, it's kind of messed up) with each other, but nobody has come out and said it, and there's been no kissing or anything (unless that's happened in the past year, haven't been keeping up)

- How much realism is required? I can think of a couple non-offensive* yaoi manga (slow romances, no rape**) but they don't necessarily make an issue out of being gay. And, of course, these will always focus on the romance aspect of things.

I honestly want to know, because I don't want to rec something and then be told later that it's actually quite offensive.

*(to me, a straight woman)
**(god I hate that the default in yaoi is "rape")

[sqbr]

I am also straight so can't say! I have a really nebulous idea of what I'm looking for which doesn't help.

[sugarbar]

Well, at the risk of... whatever! (Feel free to tell me if I'm completely me wrong in my assessment...)

- Wild Adapter: yakuza, guns, and drugs. And well, two male characters who are kind of very heavily implied to be in love with each other, even if neither of them is willing to admit it (each for different reasons)

- Tactics: fantasy manga about a folklorist who meets a Tengu (humanoid crow demon) and names him. Heavily implied that the folklorist is in love with the tengu, although the main focus of the manga is the fantasy aspect. (all revolving around traditional Japanese demons)

- Tokaido Hisame: fantasy manga about a demon hunter and a priest. The priest is very much in love/lust with the demon hunter; the demon hunter... is unwilling? doesn't reciprocate? Not sure. Focuses on their demon-hunting adventures. (For what it's worth, one of my gay friends really liked this manga, but he's just one person)

- Lovers and Souls: yaoi manga, so ymmv on this, but I thought it was nice. Art student falls in love with his model, but never tells him... and the model sort of takes him for granted. Until.... stuff happens that is spoilery. Obviously romance, take with a grain of salt, etc. etc. I think if you read ONLY one story by Miyamoto Kano, it's okay; if you read every story by her, then you start noticing patterns in her storytelling and characters and it gets more boring. It also seems to me that she tries a little bit harder to portray "accurate" Japanese queer life, but I am not sure how well she succeeds -- in the very least, it avoids some of the nastier tropes of yaoi manga.

- Hitomi ni Ounowa/Dear Green: I admit that I love love love this story, so I'm probably biased and don't see issues in it. Two best friends who have known each other since high school; they've both moved to tokyo and rarely see each other. But slowly, they start realizing that maybe they mean more to each other than they originally thought. And I like that it's slow; I like that there are chapters where they just hang out together and it doesn't always end in a sex scene. When they fight, they're both on equal footing. But again, I'm a hopeless romantic, and I know that this manga glosses over a lot of issues so I don't know whether this is an appropriate rec. (The gay friend who liked Tokaido also liked this one, but again, he's just one person.)

[sqbr]

Thanks! I hadn't even heard of any of those :)

[miss_prince]

Yes, Sailor Moon has a canonical lesbian couple in the later seasons (Haruka [Sailor Uranus] and Michiru [Sailor Neptune]). There's also Zoicite/Kunzite in the first season for m/m.

Noir is awesome and everyone should watch it.

Maria-sama ga Miteru has a lot of overt subtext without QUITE going there, with the notable exception of the tragic past relationship between Sei and Shiori (Shiori transferred away, intending to become a nun).

Strawberry Panic is not very deep or particularly engaging, imo, but it has three all-female love triangles.

Kannazuki no Miko is one I haven't seen myself, but it has canon f/f.

Um... Oh! Battle Athletes Victory! A strange anime about an all-girl sports competition... in space. With canon f/f.

I haven't seen Simoun yet, but I've seen people gush about its f/f content.

And I'm sure there are many, many more.

[sqbr]

*nods*

Thankyou.