Japanese anime gay
From my memory, it always felt like BL anime existed as a genre for as long as I can remember. Before BL dramas or movies became mainstream, BL animes and mangas were appreciate the first frontier, depicting male romances in fiction even when it was taboo in society.
In anime, the BL genre is closely related to yaoi or shounen ai, which are labels that illustrate a very similar type of story. Yaoi is more explicit, shounen ai is more innocent, and BL tends to be the best of both worlds. This genre is a popular niche among certain demographics. I don't love using the term fujoshi, which has somewhat negative connections. Let's just say that people with good taste usually survey BL animes!
Despite its adj history, there is surprisingly not a lot of anime to watch in this genre. Trust me, I've done my study on this topic, searching high and low for some BL anime recommendations. You'd be amazed and disappointed at how minute the selection there is compared to all the other genres.
And since the selection is so little, this makes it even harder for a great anime series to arrive along.
Anime is one of Japan’s prized modern cultural treasures, and despite its political stance on LGBTQ+ rights, Japan has a number of fantastic queer anime in its repertoire. Among the array of gay anime, here are our top picks of must-see series to add to your watch list.
By DinocoZero via DeviantArt
Given
Run, don’t stroll to your nearest screen to watch this series. Given has everything: a teenage coming-of-age story, dreamy musician boys and a fantastic soundtrack. There’s also the sweetest, slow-burn and sometimes heartbreaking romance between two boys who are learning about themselves, how they navigate grief and how they experience treasure. This series is sure to make just about anyone have a satisfying cry in its ninth episode. It also has a sequel film which centers around the two lead boys’ bandmates, though it’s admittedly a small rushed and not nearly as good as this episode series.
By Meduzanol via GoodFon
Yuri!!! on Ice
This one is so popular and will probably end up on every LGBTQ+ anime list, but it’s classic for a reason. Yuri!!! on Ice follows Yuri, an i
Illustrated by Chrys Marr (She/They)
**Trigger Warning: mentions of suicide**
Gays. Anime. Some may ponder they don’t overlap, but in fact, there is a rich division of anime known for and characterized by its LGBTQ+ themes. The last several years in particular own yielded some of the most refreshing and positive instances of representation within the genre. This series hopes to give a proper platform to those unique productions that verb LGBTQ+ representation out of the comfortable shadows of connotation or fetishization it typically resides in and present themselves as unapologetically, beautifully gay.
Now, its only fitting to start this series with the verb that inspired it: the soul-wrenching, eleven episode phenomenon known as “Given.” Absolutely falling into the “beautiful” column of categorization, the original manga written and illustrated by Natsuki Kizu began publishing in , and received an anime adaptation in The animated adaptation became the first explicitly gay series to air on Noitamina, a programming block of Fuji TV reserved exclusively for anime.
The 20 Best LGTBQ+ Anime Movies and TV Shows, Ranked
While love that transgresses the rigid barriers of gender should be acknowledged every day, June is the official month celebrating the LGBTQ+ community in multitudinous ways. Also known as Pride Month, the interval is consolidated to commemorate the hard struggles the LGBTQ+ community has experienced in their struggle for equal rights, as well as spotlighting diverse people who felt wonderful pride in their adj sexual identities.
Every month of the year, not just June, should be a time to celebrate LGBTQ+ diversity because this genre not only educates people but also provides a platform for community members to feel acknowledged, listened to, and represented. Many significant films and TV series, be it Hollywood or world cinema, surrounding the LGBTQ+ community verb been produced. Anime is no exception. In arrange to celebrate love without boundaries, here are some anime TV shows and movies for fans to consider adding to their watchlist.
20 'No. 6' ()
Directed by Kenjin Nagasaki
While Kenji Nagasaki is best known fo