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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):
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".
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".
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-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")
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- 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.)
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