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Saeryen wrote:

Also, I believe that in side material for Kira Kira Pretty Cure A La Mode, Yukari and Akira were confirmed to be in a romantic relationship; it was heavily implied in the show itself. They're both GREAT characters.

I am new to Pretty Cure, and for the time being only watching new stuff in addition to the large amount of new shows. But I was aware of these two characters, and from what I saw it looked like romance could be the only explanation. A part of why I was curious to check out the new show as it came out was from thinking that it could do things like a same gender couple.

Don’t know how large a gap between posts counts as necroposting, hope this doesn’t.

DuskyPredator wrote:

I did recently watched a longform video about Revolutionary Girl Utena, the series has always come across a bit intimidating, and after watching the video I did get a sense that it is rather dense with a few different themes that I might have been confused over parts. It has things like not conforming to gender roles, possible lesbian attraction, and also maybe certain men controlling women/girls into relationships.

It’s well worth watching (if I understand correctly from that that you haven’t?), I only got to see it recently after subscribing to Funimation and thought it was excellent. Pretty much all the major characters are either subtextually or outright bi, especially after taking the movie’s retelling into account.

(My headcanon is that Nanami’s the token straight, because she would be the one to get stuck in that role.)

Dayraven wrote:

Don’t know how large a gap between posts counts as necroposting, hope this doesn’t.

I do plan to keep this topic going into the future, so performing necromancy on it will probably something I would get accused of first if it ends up somewhat forgotten. I otherwise appreciate the the thoughts on Utena, that the characters are at least subtextually bi. I am beginning to hope that I might be able to put apart some time in the future to dive in, just following current stuff as well as meeting obligations can keep one busy at times.

I might have something to say on the current season even, a few episodes in.

Among Summer 2021, there are a few shows that are almost prominently featuring non-heterosexual characters, and I might be wrong but they are being released I think almost by chance around the same days: Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid S, My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! X, Girlfriend, Girlfriend and a maybe extra one that I might talk about at the end.

The first two are second seasons to shows that I sort of mentioned before.
Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid I sort of mentioned as maybe not something great in all its entirety. You have the titular dragon maid, Tohru, who is certainly in love with the titular Kobayashi, that it kind of plays out like a single target sexuality. Kobayashi on the other hand refutes the advances, and I think at times even implies the problem lies in them both being girls, which is kind of nebulous if is something like internalised homophobia, an excuse for her own lack of self worth, or she is just straight. Kobayashi does kind of dress butch, but there is only so much that dress can be taken, while also tangentially related to her fascination with maids, which the element of furvor in it can play out that she is indeed attracted to women. Mentioning something more obvious would be better.

The most sapphic character in the show would be Saikawa, the human child character. She inelegantly has a crush on child dragon, Kanna, that she often ends up with big dumb grins from being in close contact with her crush. Kanna can be a bit of a hard nut to crack if she returns the feelings, despite often saying that she likes Saikawa and offshoot comments such as it maybe being like between Tohru and Kobayashi, with questions raised if some physical elements are a part of her dragon instincts. They are children though, so there is always the chance that elements can get a bit over the top for someone between 8 or 9 and someone mentally or emotionally that level in dragon. Not that a kid being a lesbian should be any more obscene that one be hetero.

Next, My Next Life as a Villainess, which is kind of nebulous with the main character, Catarina. She is practically a black hole, that is incredibly dense and daws others into her, which is how she manages to not only win over the would be male suitors of the world resembling a game she knew, but the girls too. She won over Mary, who would be attached to the brother of her fiancé as his fiancée, who might even be the most radical, and might be in question if she was likely to even like boys in the start. Sophia was also won over, when she would have just a brother complex to her brother who would be one of the love interests, and kind of fit into a make both happy way, so maybe bi. And then Maria, the would be game heroine, also seems to only have eyes for Catarina, that only forethought that she would have ended up with one of the boys pointing to her not just being gay.

And then Catarina, who also in ways fits into a nebulous area. She kind of seems stuck into an area with the girls especially in that they are off the table, because they are the same gender. At the same time, despite these thoughts of being straight, Catarina has her fair share of thinking that the girls are cute, and that if she was a guy she might have considered something. Which maybe paints a picture that indeed Catarina might be bi, but is affected by ideas of heteronormativity, that she doesn't understand if she is attracted, while equally blind to the attraction of the boys.

And for sort of surprise of the season. Girlfriend, Girlfriend, which follows the almost scandalous set-up of a boyfriend in a relationship with his existing girlfriend, Saki, before getting enamoured by the confession of another girl and touched asks if he can dates both at the same time. It is not quite as gross as it sounds, but the character I want to talk about is Saki, and that she is not even subtly written as bi. She is devoted to her boyfriend, and thus starting out as uncomfortable in the set-up of a poly relationship, while also cluelessly but obviously attracted to Nagisa also. It isn't even just Nagisa either, such as when pointing out the thumbnail of a live streamer she keeps pointing out that she uses her boobs for views, in a sort of doth protest too much sort of way, the first thing when meeting the real person being to take notice of how big her boobs are. It might fit a bit into the could be seen as just teasing way, such as that there seems to be a big chunk of people who somehow still see her as just straight.

And lastly, the sort of funny situation, The Case Study of Vanitas, funny in being released alongside the above shows, but also technically nothing yet officially with a non-heterosexual character. It is just in my head at the moment over what I had seen recently about vampire fiction having a very close relation to queer media. Not saying that all vampire fiction fits into that area, for instance I would not claim that Mars Red quite fit there, but this show just gives me pause while also coming out at the same time that I would not be surprised if elements of especially bisexuality become more prominent. Even if it probably just technically fits into the just bit of BL teasing, that you could find in the creator's other work.

Thought that I would mention a couple shows that recently had some homosexual character representation.

The first is Glenda Carter from I'm Standing on a Million Lives Season 2, which is not an amazing show, being one that I think has stood on a thin line between being a bit edge lord in lines of something that probably appeals to teen audience, and being self aware of certain toxic attitudes. Glenda, or Glen, was introduced as the 6th primary character, in the second half of the second season, and the show was fairly quick to make it clear she would not be interested in the main character, because she is into women. I think that it is primarily put across that her grasp of Japanese is incredibly low, so she is meant to come across as very Western, while perhaps some confusion about Western or English elements by the show's creators shines through. Such as what might come across as grammatical errors in English, and I would say unsure if the show might be unaware that "Glen" is a masculine, or it might be something a lesbian might choose to be called.

How the show represents her is a bit clumsy, such as how she informs the main character and audience that she is a lesbian is by showing a picture of someone who has apparently died, and essentially saying it is a shame because she was her type. And informs another character later by telling her that the little girl might be her type when she gets older, because to not worry as she is not into kids. That is clunky, especially as Glen then semi hits on the teenage girl she told not to worry about not being into underaged girls, while it not feeling like something a lesbian should have to clarify. But at the same time it also gets across this feeling of Glen trying to be true to her identity, and that maybe this is sort of new experiences culturally for Japan, it really shouldn't have to be. That someone can just be a queer, they don't have to be a joke or a fetish.

And the next character showed up in the most recent episode (Episode 10) of D_Cide Traumerei the Animation, a show that I think has been criminally underrated as a CG animated show, connected to a mobile game. It hasn't been perfect either, but I have had good feelings about how it handled some social elements, such as domestic abuse, and a cross section of worship and jealousy, even if some might think it heavy handed, it has been something I have been paying attention to. A spoiler for the episode, has the main male character, Ryuuhei, getting a love letter. Ryuuhei giving me positive thoughts about how he had been characterised around masculinity, such as how he is masculine while never forcing masculinity onto others rather than uses that anyone can blow off steam with some kickboxing, and is platonic friends with girls, and respects. Although a few episodes in the middle did make him feel a bit toxic.

My immediate thought in the episode was that in the fact of Ryuuhei thinking some girl is crushing on him, was that he misunderstood, and it is probably a guy, which normally are warning signs of making a joke of a gay character. The show though lived up to my expectations by introducing Nozaki, a sweet looking boy, who surprises Ryuuhei as the one who had a crush on him, and the show does not at all treat it like it is some joke. The plot kind of takes turns that the girls chew Ryuuhei out because his nice way of turning Nozaki down would give him false hope, and would be best to not leave him hanging on that if he can't imagine himself being into guys. Which he then messes up by turning him down too hard, where he then gets taken advantage of by the show's bad guys, which sort of makes him a temporary villainous force, which might not be good representation, but was contextually forgivable with other good characters, and the show takes nothing away from wanting to protect this boy.

What I thought was cool about this representation, was that although it was a surprise, absolutely no character makes fun of Nozaki for being gay, Ryuuhei getting a confession from a boy, or implying that it is gross or inherently sexual. That is possibly a low bar to pass, but in anime or animation, it kind of stands out, to treat a queer character as just a person. I could see the possible areas for improvement, such as not having just an immediate assumption of Ryuuhei's heterosexuality, I know he was voicing interest in girls, but it could have been an interesting moment of introspection of if he is bi or not. And that a gay character could be included a story beyond just an unrequited confession. But if non-heterosexual characters become more normalised like this, it could be a good change for the medium.

I was sure about 50% were non-heterosexueal

Kuroko Shirai might fit the bill. She's very clingy to Misaka Mikoto that she might be considered as non-heterosexual.

Myrick wrote:

Kuroko Shirai might fit the bill. She's very clingy to Misaka Mikoto that she might be considered as non-heterosexual.

She tried to sexually assault Misaka several times in the Railgun series, so the train has left the station. Maybe questionable of her fitting rather unfortunate tropes of dangerous/unstable homosexual characters, like Yamai Ren from the recent Komi Can't Communicate.

Hey don't be afraid to say gay or lesbian (easier to type). This is why we don't use gay as an insult, so you don't feel shame for referring to queer people for what we are and who we love.

A few quick examples I can think up before I get ready for work...

-Nina Einstein (Code Geass) - Of the Psycho Lesbian variety spoiler[toward Euphemia. A poor table suffered for Nina's lust.]
-George Koizumi (Paradise Kiss) - Bisexual, shown in that he's open to flirting with both men and women.
-Suruga Kanbaru (Monogatari franchise) - She admits she's a lesbian given her interest in Senjougohara. But the franchise plays around with this by adding ambiguity on whether or not she may be bisexual when she starts flirting with series lead Koyomi Araragi following her debut in her story arc from Bakemonogatari.
-Tsukasa and Subaru (.hack/ SIGN) - The first pair of LGBT characters I recall seeing in an anime in that both their real-life players are spoiler[lesbian] and adds some interesting exploration on Tsukasa's character considering spoiler[she took on a male character avatar for the game as a means to escape from the abuse of her real-life father.]
-Shouko Hida and Satou Matsuzaka (Happy Sugar Life) - While both are shown to have been quite active dating and sleeping with guys, the series drops some hints on the two possibly being interested in one another, with the major barrier to such a relationship happening being spoiler[Satou's abduction of Shio].
-Yuki Yuna and Mimori Togo (Yuki Yuna is a Hero) - There's enough close interactions between them throughout the franchise to suggest they may be more than close friends, and the franchise's creators love to play around with this.

Past wrote:

Hey don't be afraid to say gay or lesbian (easier to type). This is why we don't use gay as an insult, so you don't feel shame for referring to queer people for what we are and who we love.

The reason I didn't just call Kuroko a lesbian, is that I think that I have heard that that she had some sort of romance or attraction thing with a male character also, so despite her Misaka specific thirst I think she is officially bisexual.

Having a character come out express being bisexual, feels much more rarer than being gay or lesbian, and often times I can get the feeling that there is some level of writing trying to have its cake and eat it to. Such an example being Suruga Kanbaru, where the series was quite forthcoming with her being a lesbian, and would be more interested to take the main character's love interest than join his harem, but then a lot of the series can't help but tease the idea that maybe she is a part of his harem. At least to me it almost felt like the series said she is a lesbian, but maybe you can pretend she is not if it makes her harder to be fanservice.

Thought that it might be worth mentioning some shows in the current Winter 2022 line-up.

Probably most prominent to mention would be Sasaki and Miyano, with the titular characters being in a cute romantic comedy together. Miyano started off as being just a straight guy who is just really into BL, because it isn't like he is actually into dudes, because he liked a girl once. Sasaki on the other hand has actually quite early realised that he is into Miyano, and also surprisingly early made his feelings known, which put Miyano on a journey to figure out what his actual feelings are. There might be some caveats on this topic, as a lot of the mentions of BL tropes feels like a fetishization of gay men (and maybe even those that are not), and treating it like a commodity that can be sold to presumably straight women. There being mentions of fujoshi girlfriends, that kind of fetishize the guys in ways that make them uncomfortable.

Perhaps not so bad, as I might kind of presume that it actually done on purpose, that these fictional fetishizations don't work so well, especially with the idea of a healthy relationship that could come out of it. Miyano especially, probably is conflicted about letting himself identify as queer, as the way he has kind of be introduced to this part of himself, see things in a rather binary and maybe even dehumanizing way. Even if it probably helped on him finding a part of himself that he might have had a hard time broaching otherwise.

A show releasing on the same day is Requiem of the Rose King, which is kind of complicated on this subject. The main character, Richard, is made clear as intersex , and he is forward that he is a man. The show is kind of twisty, showing Richard's insecurities that he is a freak, and there is an evil woman inside as a part of him, it is not entirely clear if maybe he really is a victim of his setting, made to only see worth in his masculinity, and whether under a different circumstances he might be open to another side. Reason I am putting him here is that he identifies as a man, and his main love interest in the show is also a man, which does give conflicting feelings about whether the show itself is essentialist about his attraction to men and the feminine parts of his body.

I try to be more about characters more explicitly non-heterosexual, but I want to give a quick mention of Marin Kitagawa from My Dress-Up Darling. It isn't really made clear, but I think the hints are there that Marin is probably bisexual, considering her interest in a porn game featuring women, talking about women cosplaying as male characters as attractive, in addition to her attraction to the male main character.

I would love to talk about Akebi's Sailor Uniform, but currently it is just at very friendly girls who have interactions that are totally not romantic, and it is just your imagination that it is like all of these girls are having sapphic awakenings.

And another twisty one, Life with an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout. Twisty by the fact that the attraction that these two male friends have, might only be because one of them was suddenly turned into a female body, who charms everyone that looks at them, and they were hit by a curse specifically to do it to them, because they were a little mean to a goddess. Maybe worth mentioning as the characters themselves, I think act like it might be a hit against their 'heterosexuality' if they admitted to being attracted to the other. I was a little worried, and it probably is still a bit heteronormative, but I might have more to say in the transgender topic.

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