Nicholas Bennett

Hi Michele, thanks for reading. There are a few series I wish I had delved deeper into when I did this piece, SNK being one of them. Ymir and Christa have been acknowledged in many other publications since, so I hope that helps.

Hi Apollo, thanks for reading and for reaching out. I found myself in the same predicament when I chose to study this subject – research in this area is scarce. At least it was in 2018 when I published this piece and was developing my thesis. Hopefully these resources can help you out in your quest.

NY Public Library has a great section on LGBT+ manga: www.nypl.org/blog/2019/06/17/beginners-guide-lgbtq-manga.

If you can do the eBook, I would look at Jen A. Blue’s “Animated Discussions: Critical Essays on Anime” https://a.co/d/7Q8AxU8 published under Jen’s deadname. I’ve seen Jen speak on the subject of queer anime and I took a lot of inspiration from her in doing my research.

Michael Lee published an article very similar to my own at Paste Magazine in 2022, so you could check his piece here (the page has a lot of ads, so be careful): www.pastemagazine.com/tv/lgbtq-anime-what-to-watch/

Check out the articles at www.animefeminist.com/writing, too.

Hi Ren,

Your point regarding the erasure of female authors’ contributions to the early days of anime/manga sci-fi is a big one and I see how I overlooked such crucial information in an attempt to streamline the introduction of anime as a whole. I apologize for this and appreciate you pointing it out to me. I would hope; however, that the analysis of No.6, a modern sci-fi series written by a woman, might show that such contributions to the genre are valued in this essay.

I appreciate the namedrops of other titles that have provided positive representation and made an impact on you. It was impossible to mention every queer or queer-coded manga or anime in this analysis. And there are always exceptions. Works I chose to focus on for this analysis were series that had been challenged by censorship and showed change in the industry or audience. These works have a bit of controversy surrounding them for the mere fact of them being queer, which is why I wanted to write about them.

I will also add that some of the titles you have shared seem to be yuri and yaoi, which, as I mentioned in the essay, were not major subjects of my research due to the marketing and audience attached to such. They’re still good titles, but don’t quite work for this analysis.

Thanks for reading and for the thoughtful comment!

Thank you for your comment, Raevenn!

Interestingly enough, I published this article about two months before the reboot Banana Fish series aired last year. I did watch it in full and I wish I could have included a point about the series in this article, especially since I discovered later that the Banana Fish manga was an influence for No.6.

I agree with your analysis of Banana Fish, and mine is very similar. I feel the 2018 reboot of Banana Fish is in the same realm of representation as Yuri!!! on Ice, as in, the MLM relationship is written mostly as a queerbait and as you say, can be read as “very good friends” because the creator(s) refuse to allow explicitly authentic romance play out on screen. However, that is not to deter anyone from reading the relationship between Ash and Eiji as romantic, nor to deter anyone from feeling represented by them or any other queer-coded characters in the series. Those readings of the series are all fine, but I urge fans to look critically at it, as well.

As for the genre and dark topics of Banana Fish, I agree that it can be taken too far at times and is definitely not something I would recommend to everyone. The plot and structure of the narrative itself is very strong. It is good to see topics such as rape, trauma, PTSD, and a corrupt government dealt with in a mostly respectful way, but the tragic ending of the series (and even more so in the manga) spell out a very bleak message for queer identifying folks. Because of the ending of this series and the constant trauma inflicted on a queer-coded character (similar to what occurs in Revolutionary Girl Utena to Anthy), I do not find the series very positive in its representations of queerness.

Finally, not to repeat what was already said in the article, but anime fans looking for an explicitly queer relationship in a series with dark/adult themes handled respectfully may wish to try No.6 before braving Banana Fish territory.

Excellent points, zin! I do mention the West’s influence on Japan’s views of homosexuality and queer existence — so I assure you, I did not forget.

You’re right that the anime and manga realms are shifting to more positivity, though more work still needs to be done (as is the case with many medias).

I am fairly well aware of the differences between queerness in the US, where I am, as opposed to in Japan, which I felt were addressed in the article. It’s a great topic to unpack: the expectations we have from a different culture when looking on from our own. However, I did not feel I dismissed the headway being made in the anime and manga industry, in fact, I felt the takeway here was uplifting and hopeful for LGBT+ representation. I certainly hope perhaps with a closer read, it would be clear that I am not dismissing progress, I am celebrating it and merely challenging the industry to keep improving.

Thank you for your in depth comment; you are not a bother at all!

Revolutionary Girl Utena was not a main focus of this article, hence why I only wrote about two lines on the series. Regardless of the symbolism of maturity in the anime and film, these works are centered around abuse and enslavement — that is the core of Anthy’s character from start to finish, and it is very unsettling for an entire series to treat a woman of color as such, so consistently, without granting her decent happiness in the end. I am aware of the realities of this experience existing in real life, and I do not intend to discount the anime’s powerful messages and relevance particularly to survivors of abuse and the queer community, but Revolutionary Girl Utena falls into the unfortunate category of a tragic queer story, thus not providing positive representation — in my opinion.

I feel your point about Kaworu in The End of Evangelion is totally fair, as well! I believe any time Kaworu is included in the series (anime or films), he is doing something to validate Shinji’s love of him.

Okay John, you’re right about the father in the manga, he is not gay. I misspoke, sorry if this somehow offended you. If one were actually to follow my recommendation and look up this manga, they would surely figure it out without needing your conceited comment as clarification.

You clearly care a lot about this series, John, so I commend your passion for it. The anime’s portrayal of Kumiko’s relationship with Shuichi is drastically different than how it was written in the original. The choice to eliminate evidence of her attraction for him, with more emphasis made on Kumiko’s attraction to Reina and even Asuka (whether it be “shinyu” or not) can be seen as queer. Who is to say that these Japanese cultural phenomenons are not queer? Or that queer individuals do not experience them?

Regardless, I wrote one whole sentence about this series in my article and you felt the need to flaunt your arrogance just to have the gratification of being “right” on the internet. I feel that you could stand to work on your critical thinking, John, and hopefully you will come to learn that your perspective is not the only one in the universe.