Gay anime guy

But while Fire Emblem fits some stereotypes (they're "flaming", literally), they're as strong and upstanding a hero as any, and the main message of the plot in the sequel movie basically amounts to "queer people are the best!"

James

From: Pokemon

Anime fans, being a ship-happy bunch, have probably theorized that EVERY anime character is secretly gay at some point or another.

They’re caring, mature, innovative, and often serve as the voice of reason despite having such a playful disposition.

Criticism may be leveled at Leeron being a bit stereotypical.

But Gurren Lagann’s characters are all drawn in bold strokes. Elsewhere, Hiroki Kamijou, a university teacher of classical literature and Akihiko's friend, is grieving a failed romance.

Yuzu Aihara

Anime: Citrus

Not every character has to take a deep look into some aspect of the LGBTQ+ experience. Hana

Anime: Tokyo Godfathers

Satoshi Kon’s Tokyo Godfathers takes a hard look at some of the ugliest aspects of modern society, while also telling an endearing story about an unorthodox reconstituted family.

One of the most interesting characters is Hana, a former drag queen down on her luck.

We do know that Kino is a "they" and that they were raised as a girl, but abandoned their old life and their old name, taking their new name from a male traveler they made a connection with.

It’s the Japanese ideal of a perfect woman – except he’s a guy.

Luka goes as far as to send a message to his mom’s pager in the past so that he’d be born a girl – all so she could get closer to the main character.

In the West, homosexuality has historically been considered sinful, and for much of the 20th century, mainstream film and TV avoided directly addressing the existence of non-heterosexual identities. Some of the listed characters' genders and sexual identities are left more ambiguous than others, so in such cases I explain why these characters are commonly read as so.

Shion and Nezumi

From: No.6

GuardianEnzo has already written about how quietly revolutionary No.6's casual integration of a gay romance into a sci-fi thriller series aimed at general audiences is.

Shinji Ikari and Kaworu Nagisa

From: Neon Genesis Evangelion

Though as far as including same-sex romance in popular sci-fi anime goes, you can't get more popular than Evangelion!

Tiziano & Squalo

Anime: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure

Tiziano & Squalo don’t get that much screen-time.

But every second they get, they spend it in PDA mode. Leeron Littner

Anime: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

You wouldn’t expect to find a particularly good gay character on a show where 50% of the plot hinges on the power of hypermasculinity – but TTGL is all about exceeding your expectations.

With an androgynous look and a campy drag queen personality, Leeron serves as Team Gurren’s main mechanic since very early on in the series.

At the very least, the guy sure loves to crossdress, and the dub writers, typically heavily restricted by censorship, loved tosneak indouble-entendres.

Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune

From: Sailor Moon

More typically, dub writers for '90s childrens' TV censored out gay references rather than enhancing them, which led to the stupid decision to make the Sailor Stars' power couple "cousins." Sailor Moon was one of the first mainstream anime series to feature lesbian heroes (OnnaKawaii wrote more about homosexuality in Sailor Moon here), and director Kunihiko Ikuhara would go on to further explore queer themes in anime.

Tomoyo Daidouji, Touya Kinomoto and Yukito Tsukishiro

From: Cardcaptor Sakura

CLAMP started off writing yaoi doujinshi, and have continued to include gay characters in their stories as they've become manga superstars.

It’s almost like the only straight character is Sakura herself!

Let’s start with Tomoyo.

Despite living a life of wealth, she doesn’t seem to care much for the pleasures her money could bring her.

So the show is a total queer classic.

2. Even so, You does not feel the same way and attempts to scare him off.

At first, she just rolls with it in pursuit of love and happiness.

She faltered for a bit when it became evident that not everyone in Japan finds lesbian relationships appropriate. Yuri Katsuki and Victor Nikiforov of Yuri!!! She’s a force to be reckoned with – a flawed but inspiring character just doing her best.

In addition to Utena, most other characters in the story are either gay or bisexual.

Thanks George, but the longing looks these two gave each other were all the confirmation I needed.

 

17.