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INTEREST: Boruto Writer Ukyō Kodachi Shares Support For LGBTQ Representation in Fiction

That is the case. On the subject of Kishimoto, I’ve heard that he originally wanted Naruto and Sasuke to hold hands after their final battle, but Jump didn’t approve of it, so he had them losing their arms with their blood loss simulating them holding hands.

I'm not expert but I think that explicit lgbt characters in kids show would bring backslash from parents in most countries.

Gemnist wrote:

That is the case. On the subject of Kishimoto, I’ve heard that he originally wanted Naruto and Sasuke to hold hands after their final battle, but Jump didn’t approve of it, so he had them losing their arms with their blood loss simulating them holding hands.

The idea of holding hands is a concept the series uses when two ninjas finish having a fight something that was foreshadowed a lot in the manga like in the end of Part 1 and when Naruto remembers the first time he saw Sasuke and the two got simply angy and refused to hold fans. On the other hand, Shikamaru and Choji simply held hands because they didn't wanna fight.

I don't think Waver is gay unless there is some side material I am not familiar with. Broskander seems much more like a father figure, and Waver gets really flustered / embarrassed when the girls flirt with and tease him. I see them much more like father and son like I see Shishigo/Mordred as father and daughter. Also Waver's friend seems to be an example of the anime stereotypical gay character trope I was talking about in my previous post where the character has nothing to them but that trope, and Waver has a completely different reaction to his flirting / teasing which make it seems like he just considers it a nuisance.

That's great of him to say and all but can someone name ONE character of his that is OPENLY LGBT?! because I sure can't.

If Urobuchi has said anything concrete on it, I haven't seen it, but he certainly isn't a stranger to same-sex attracted characters such as Homura, who also didn't seem to need to say 'I am a lesbian' out loud for it to be obvious to anyone watching the show. Characters shouldn't have to say this out loud when their actions and speech patterns reveal plenty. (There's also the fact that a lot of the Waver content ended up cut from the original novels because it made it seem too much like he was the main character instead of Kiritsugu, so he was already getting disproportionate attention without Urobuchi spelling out every single thing about him. The cut content also was about him and Rider becoming the dads of a baby Assassin...I mean come on.)

Meanwhile theres no evidence that he's straight, other than 'straight is the default, so unless this character literally turns to the camera and says 'god DAMN i love the same gender as me', they're definitely straight.' It's a double standard I've grown pretty tired of, because no one would even be doubting this if Waver was female, his attraction would just be accepted as fact(and given Sensha Otoko, it kinda..is)

Ironically that kind of double standard seems to be exactly what Kodachi is trying to address with his statements, at least thats how I read them.

[quote="KPK10"

I hear that, but I also hear that not explicitly confirming authorial intent with regards to characters’ sexual orientation is queer baiting, and, frankly, cowardly. It’s so much easier to present characters as subject to fans’ interpretation, so that fans who would be uncomfortable with an LGBTQ+ character/romance have the staff’s plausible deniability on their side. “Subject to interpretation (but if you read creator interviews, wink-wink, nudge-nudge)” is getting frustrating, and leads to situations like “Yuri and Victor can’t kiss on screen.” (Yuri on Ice). If the creators see a character as falling in love with a same gendered character, make it clear and be proud of it!

(Where can I read more about Waver and Rider being gay dads to baby Assassin?)

I don't really consider him responsible for Orochimaru since he's only involved in a continuation. Not that I consider the character good rep. If anything, it feels like it's meant to contribute to Orochimaru being somewhat inhuman. So taking this into account, it kiiinda feels like Kodachi is making a statement while doing nothing concrete to back it up.

I'm not sure if this is the same interview Yurigasaki is talking about but wink-nudge comments about Waver and Rider in interviews were all over the place while the show was airing. I'm not actually sure where this one is from (its a bunch of peoples thoughts on episode 13), but it got passed around a lot back when F/Z was airing.
https://imgur.com/bGb4G
It contains this line from Makoto Sanda: 'No matter how you look at it, that face Waver has waking up is a 'morning after' face, isn't it? It's like looking at a couple that ended up becoming intimate after always being together.' （この寝起きのウェイバーの顔は、どう見ても「事後」ですよね。なんだが、いつも一緒にいるうちにいつの間にかくっついてしまったカップルを見ているかのような」
In the second paragraph they say Team Rider is becoming like a shojo manga (with Waver as 'heroine'), and then later 'Rider and Waver have a lover's quarrel in the sunset...they're clearly lovers already!' (もう明らかに恋人同士！), compares Waver to a heroine in a dating sim with Rider as the protag, etc. Sure you could argue its just them joking around, but the fact is they did this -a lot-,. There was even that official AU Sensha Otoko that was literally a love story between Rider and a genderbent Waver.

(Also I don't remember Waver ever showing interest in any woman, in fact in Zero Iskandar tried to set him up with Taiga, but he was totally uninterested/annoyed, and in one Drama CD Medusa only manages to catch his interest when she starts talking about about Iskandar lol)

Jin_Uzuki wrote:

(Also I don't remember Waver ever showing interest in any woman, in fact in Zero Iskandar tried to set him up with Taiga, but he was totally uninterested/annoyed, and in one Drama CD Medusa only manages to catch his interest when she starts talking about about Iskandar lol)

Maybe this is getting too pedantic, but sorry, a drama CD where Medusa talks about Iskandar and Waver overhears? What?

^
I agree with that. People act like actual confirmation must be shoe-horned and awkward. If we're using the Waver example, Fate Zero never had them reference having sex, visually show them amorously embracing or kissing, none of that. Shows with male-female couples allow them to refer to a spouse or a boy/girlfriend, which is not the case with alleged queer couples built on subtext. Subtext itself can be difficult to parse, and I often dislike how it's steeped in amatonormativity. Like, I agree that Homura held romantic feelings for Madoka, but I was never fond of people arguing that it must be the case because "why would she do so much for someone she just sees as a friend."

I don't know if anyone else is really paying anymore attention to this little game of inside baseball regarding "what is the sexuality of Waver Velvet" (), but I still wanted to say several thinsg, in light of what's been written since I last posted... if only to lend some support to the notion that one can interpret a Waver/Iskandar relationship as something that's not a sexual romance.

(As for the serious scene with Waver's "You are my King".... well, it's personally hard to fathom addresses of "anata" only, 100% being limited to expressions of traditionally romanctic love in general.)

There may be aspects to these statements of 'Waver is like a heroine to Iskandar's hero' that ring true, but that doesn't necessarily amount to *the* truth at the core. And we only have so much access to this "truth", if the word of the author ("word of God") is to be considered the truth; we don't talk with the writers and know every thought that goes into creating a character. In fact, this "truth" can be quite malleable, thanks to the lack knowledge we may have, and therefore the truth can be formed in part at the hands of the audience. So regarding Waver's close bond with Iskandar... I think it's subject to varying interpretations as far as its degree or kind of romanticism is concerned.

And what have I personally seen at the core of Waver's character as it pertains to Iskandar, thus far? A true affection and spirtual longing, a platonic deep love between men as both friends and mentor/student, but not one with a firm promise or hope of sexual intimacy. That's how it resonated with me during all my viewings of Fate/Zero... well, that, and how I get bothered by the apparent notion that a male (like myself) can't have a notably close bond/friendship with another male without there being a sexual undercurrent. Again, my interpretation-- and it may be such that it is a minority viewpoint-- but still one with some validity, I think.

(If one absolutely has to bring language of sexuality into it, though.... maybe Waver could be thought of as being asexual? He doesn't seem particularly interested in having a love life with anyone...)

I hear that, but I also hear that not explicitly confirming authorial intent with regards to characters’ sexual orientation is queer baiting, and, frankly, cowardly. It’s so much easier to present characters as subject to fans’ interpretation, so that fans who would be uncomfortable with an LGBTQ+ character/romance have the staff’s plausible deniability on their side. “Subject to interpretation (but if you read creator interviews, wink-wink, nudge-nudge)” is getting frustrating, and leads to situations like “Yuri and Victor can’t kiss on screen.” (Yuri on Ice). If the creators see a character as falling in love with a same gendered character, make it clear and be proud of it!

First of all, this has already been mentioned, but the Fate/Zero light novel (the origin of Fate/Zero written by Urobuchi) describes Waver "nearly jizzing his pants" after summoning Iskandar and seeing him for the first time. The original Japanese text uses a vulgar term instead of something more clinical like "ejaculate" to get the point across. It's not just a silly throwaway line implying that he wet his pants in surprise. It's supposed to be sexual. If you think there's something inherently funny about a gay man being sexually attracted to another man, I don't know what to tell you. There's also an official 4koma comic about Iskandar and Waver getting ready to engage in the sexual sort of mana transfer. If you don't know about how sexual mana transfer works in the Fate/series, it basically relies on any kind of sex that involves the transfer of bodily fluids. There are ALSO a couple of panels in the second volume of the Fate/Zero manga that show Waver lying in bed with the horniest face fantasizing about Iskandar intimidating the people who mocked him at the Clock Tower. Waver is a surprisingly horny character in spite of his youthful experience. Taiga even jokes about looking forward to the sexy doujins of them in one of the Einzbern Consultation Room OVAs.

But just as you say, one can argue that a lot of what gets said is done so in jest. Going to the source material, Team Rider is oftentimes shown to be F/Z's comedic duo, so Waver coming into his pants thanks to excitement at summoning Iskandar can work outside the paradigm of "oh that's gay alright" because *it's just funny*, and is in character with his previously established youthful excitability and arrogance.

That being said, it's somewhat homophobic to have such a double standard with heterosexual relationships versus homosexual ones. If fictional men "like yourself" being attracted to other men makes you uncomfortable, that's a you problem, and projecting won't solve it. [...]