In today’s world, LGBTQIA+ people are fighting every day for their struggles to be seen and their voices heard. One of the best ways for their issues to be brought to light isby portraying them in media, like anime.
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While anime shows dealing with LGBTQIA+ individuals is not as prominent as other genres, there have been several examples of amazing and endearing shows that greatly portray queer lives. Below, we will list some of the best anime that give the queer community a voice.
10Banana Fish
The streets of New York have been dangerous since the war between Alex Lynx’s gang and Don Dino Golzione’s mafia began. Eiji Okumura is a Japanese journalist that came to the USA to write a story about New York gangs.
Once he arrives, he is introduced to Alex, with whom he immediately connects. The show follows these two young men as they navigate throughthe unforgiving crime worldthat is New York, as well as the feeling they start developing for each other. A beautiful love story between two men who just want to be free and happy.
9Flip Flappers
Cocona is a young girl who lives with her grandmother, looking for a goal to follow in life. She unexpectedly comes in contact with another girl named Papika, who asks for her help with a problem. After Cocona agrees to help, the girls are transported to an alternate dimension, in which they have to fight to find magic crystal shards.
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These shards give the girls the power to transform into magical girls and fight monstrous creatures. As they fight, they encounter another group of magical girls who is much better than them at their job. Determined to surpass their rivals, the two young girls will train to work together, learning about the blooming feelings they have for each other.
8Bloom Into You
Yuu had been obsessed with romance manga since a young age. She dreamed about finding a boy that would captivate her heart and transport her into awholesome and inspiring Shojostory of her own. However, when a male classmate asks her out, she strangely feels nothing.
Once she entered high school, Yuu met the beautiful student council Nanami and witnessed how she turned a male student down with grace and confidence. Yuu believes she could learn how to find her own romance story by talking with Nanami, only for the latter to ask her on a date. Yuu begins to wonder if Nanami is the person that will make her dreams come true.
7Stop!! Hibari-Kun!
At the start of the show, we are introduced to Kosaku, a boy who just lost his mother and was left in the care of the yakuza family, Ozora. After being introduced to the head of the household, Ibari, he is introduced to his four daughters, Tsugumi, Tsubame, Hibari, and Suzume. Kosaku instantly falls in love with Hibari, the only sister close to his age.
As they get to know each other better, the boy discovers that Hibari was born as a male but prefers to be identified and live as a woman. From that point on, Kosaku must deal with the revelation of Hibari’s identity and his conflicting feelings for the girl. Despite its outdated ideas about transgender women, this show still manages to portray Hibari in a respectful light.
On a seemingly normal day, Satou leaves his home carrying his old Gibson guitar with him. The young man decides to take a nap near the gymnasium staircase of his high school, where he is found by Uenoyama. The latter, who is the lead guitarist of a band named The Seasons, gets angry at Satou for letting the strings of his guitar rust.
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Upon learning that Uenoyama knows how to play the guitar, Satou begs him to fix the strings. The former agrees, inviting Satou to his band’s practice session after class. During the session, Uenoyama discovers the beautiful singing voice that Satou possesses and implores him to join The Seasons.A tragic but inspiring storyabout two young men falling in love and learning about loss and grief.
5Wandering Son
Since he was a child, Shuuichi had the feeling that the gender assigned to him at birth was wrong. When his childhood friend, a tomboyish girl named Yoshino, begins talking to him about having similar feelings, they discover that they may be onto something.
This discovery changes their lives forever, as Shuuichi discovers that she can become a girl and Yoshino, a boy. Hailed as one of the most realistic and accurate depictions of the life of transgender teens, Wandering Son is an eye-opening anime about the realities of being a queer youth.
During a training trip to China, martial artist Ranma fell into the Spring of the Drowned Girl. Now cursed to become a woman, every time he is splashed with cold water, Ranma must return to Japan with his father.
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The duo arrived at the Tendo Dojo, the house of Ranma’s father’s old training partner, where they revealed to the boy, as well as Tendo’s three daughters, that Ranma must marry one of the girls. Ranma ½ is a hilarious anime that explores the themes of gender expression, transgender identities, gender roles, and much more while also giving us a romantic story for the ages.
3Sasaki And Miyano
One Summer day, the meek and reserved Miyano crosses paths with Sasaki, a calm and laid-back classmate that Miyano had never noticed before. After Sasaki saves one of Miyano’s friends from a group of bullies, the black-haired boy cannot seem to stop thinking about him.
The situation intensifies when Sasaki begins talking insistently with Miyano, to the point where the latter reveals his secret hobby of reading gay romance stories. Sasaki asks Miyano for one of the mangas he likes so much, to learn more about it, beginning a beautiful friendship, one which could turn into so much more.
Following her mother’s remarriage, Yuzu is forced to move from her home and is transferred to a strict and conservative all-girls school. Her energetic and adventurous nature causes her to get in trouble constantly, in particular with Mei, the student council president. Tragically for Yuzu. Mei is also her new stepsister, with whom she has to share a room every night.
As the girls get to know each other better, Yuzu starts to notice that her feelings of displeasure towards Mei are slowly banishing. After a while, the girls find themselves spending more time with each other, acting much closer than just regular friends. Citrus is a show about the struggles that come with coming to terms with your sexuality and the expectations that society places on queer individuals.
1The Stranger By The Shore
Coming out to your parents is not always an easy experience. The protagonist of this heartwarming story, Shun, knows this better than most. After admitting to his parents that he is a gay man, Shun is kicked out of his house, forcing him to move to Okinawa. While there, he meets Mio, a handsome boy near his age whom Shun immediately falls in love with.
Sadly, at some point, Mio has to journey to the mainland, leaving Shun alone. Three years later, Mio is back in Okinawa, ready to confess his love for Shun. Yet, the latter’s life has changed drastically since Mio left, and he is unsure about returning his feelings. While thisbrilliant anime moviehas many tragic moments, the story will warm the heart of any queer fan that gives it a chance.
