Queer and LGBTIA Anime

While anime has existed for decades and spans various genres, the genre of queer anime remains a rather untouched area. As anime has continued to grow it has explored various notions and themes of gender relations, but very few anime have expanded into the full spectrum of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender, as well as other gender identities. In media, around the world queer stories are usually depicted as tragedies with very few happy or good parts. As queer anime continues to grow as a genre and tell queer stories, representation and acceptance of queer people will grow. 

A spectrum of sexualities and gender identities existed throughout Japanese history. Unlike many Western nations, Japan had no religious or moral offense to homosexual relationships. However, there was one thing that Japan continues to have is the belief that one has a duty to their family and society to follow the rules and later create their own family. This belief has permeated Japanese society, not only forcing LGBTIA people into conforming in the culture, but also forcing any relationship against that belief as taboo. As time has continued that idea has loosened, but it continues to color the relationships of many people in Japan. 

Gender expression has existed in Japan for centuries, mostly in the realms of the arts. In Kabuki theater, historically women have been barred from participating, thus making all the roles, male and female, played by men. On the other side, since women were barred from Kabuki and other traditional theater, Takarazuka was formed in the early 20th century. Takarazuka featured women playing all the roles, both male and female. These two forms of entertainment have inspired decades of media including anime. Some people who have participated in either Kabuki or Takarazuka have been LGBTIA, some have not, but both allow for a amount of gender expression that is not wide spread in Japanese society. These art forms may have influenced how people think about gender and gender performance for many other things. Kabuki and Takarazuka aid in creating characters that are not bound by their circumstance, but through talent. 

The beginnings of LGBTIA themes may have risen with the popularity of Class S literature. Class S was literature style the at was based on the importance of female-female relationships. Class S rose out of the rise of all girls schools during the Meiji and Taisho eras. The rise of these schools was an product of vast, rapid modernization that Japan underwent to repel the colonization that it saw its neighboring nations undergo. Thus to prepare its young women for the world, many upper class parents sent their daughters to all girls school to train them to the perfect wives and mothers. At this point, the idea of school girl was beginning to develop culturally. However, while in these schools, most girls did not concern themselves with romantic relationships with boys or men. These girls were to married in arranged marriages to men they had never met. Thus in many girls magazines encouraged young girls to see the value in their friendship with each other. These strong, passionate friendships could have been seen as romantic, but not by society. These relationships were to enjoyed in youth and eventually grown out by the time of marriage. The literature based on these friendships and relationships between girls was predecessor to yuri manga and anime. 

Yuri and yaoi are two genres of anime and manga that have gained popularity in the last few decades. Yuri is defined as genre of anime and manga that explore the relationships between two female characters. This genre has grown to be very popular among many different audiences. Yaoi is genre that explores relationships between tow male characters. Yaoi is usually enjoyed by a female audience, but it does have fans across various spectrums. While yuri and yaoi both show homosexual relationships, they are not usually made for or enjoyed by homosexual audiences. There is a sub-genre of gay manga that is made for gay men, that is different from yaoi. Yaoi usually features characters that are slender, somewhat waif-like, these character design may be to popular to attract a female audience. Also, one critique about yaoi  about is the power dynamic between characters. In some, there are power dynamics based on a age or seniority that are rather damaging to watch or read. However, the story may the aspect that leads many people to read it. Though it could be difficult to see yuri and yaoi as progressive representation since many use comedy to ridicule relationships or the fetishization of homosexual relationships. 

One of the first yuri anime as “Maria-sama ga miteru” or The Virgin Mary is watching over us. The anime explored the close friendships and romantic relationships between a group of school girls at all girls school. This series seems to span from the Class S genre and the other anime and manga that came before it. However, this may be considered the first modern yuri anime. The genre of shojo manga has influenced by yuri and  yaoi to foster them into the genres that they are today. The Rose of Versailles, which the story of young woman who dresses like a man to be royal guard, may have infleuenced the yuri genre. While the main character, lives as man, while being a woman, many other female characters pin over Oscar. This drama and relationships may have helped the expansion of the yuri genre and possibly queer anime in general, since Oscar is believed to be bisexual. 

While homosexual relationships appear in yuri and yaoi, it can be difficult to see gender identity in anime. In the past, a few gender variant anime characters have appeared. Takahashi Rumiko’s Ranma 1/2 has the character Ranma who switches genders when drenched in either cold or hot water. Also in Takeuchi Naoko’s Sailor Moon, the Sailor Starlights, are male when in disguise on Earth, when they transform, they return to their female form. Sailor Moon is also famous for having a lesbian couple, Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune. This relationship was later erased when the Sailor Moon was brought to America. These are two of the most mainstream anime to showcase LGBTIA characters in their narratives. Another company that added more about queer couples is CLAMP, who made the Cardcaptor Sakura manga and anime. In Cardcaptor Sakura, the main character’ s older brother has a strong friendship with a classmate. Throughout the series, the two always answer that they have someone that they already like, with many people assuming that the two are a couple. While this relationship is left somewhat ambiguous in the anime and manga, there is the belief that two are a romantic couple. While there have been some mainstream characters that were LGBTIA, many times that fact is never said out loud but rather thought by fans or hinted at by the creator of the series. 

However, in the recent year, new anime and manga that discuss queer issues have been gaining popularity. Shimura Takako’s work’s of Aoi Hana or Blue Flower and Hourou Musuko  or Wandering Son both explore queer stories and queer characters. Shimura’s works have explored yuri relationships in Aoi Hana and the struggle of transgender children in Hourou Musuko. While Shimura’s work can be stereotypical of how LGBTIA live their lives, it does offer an amount of representation that is somewhat unheard of in most anime. 

Aoi Hana is the story of two girls who were friends in elementary school, and eventually meet again in high school. One of the main characters, Fumi is a lesbian, while her childhood best friend, Akira, eventually comes out. The story is based in a all girls school with the friendship of Fumi and Akira taking the center. Eventually through their friendship and relationships with other people, they end up together. The anime tells a good coming-of-age story for any person, but for especially for lesbians. The show is rather honest about it’s feelings and the portrayal of Fumi and Akira is not based on stereotypes, but allows the characters to grow with the story. 

Shimura’s other work, Hourou Musuko is about two children in elementary. Nitori Shuichi wants to be girl, while Takatsuki Yoshino feels that he is boy in a girls body. Their friendship and story beings in elementary, but story moves into middle school. The anime begins in middle school with the characters , starting to truly feel the harsh gender roles fall upon them. The boys and girls now have uniforms, which now further complicate the feelings that Shuichi and Yoshino have about their gender identities. Throughout the series, many other characters appear such as such as other trans children, a transwoman who acts a mentor to the main characters, and many others. The characters endure many of the struggles that all adolescents must deal with. The story looks a the internal struggle of the characters and yet how they interact with their adolescence, their friends, and their family. This anime explores the struggles of growing up and being pushed further away from the things that one may want most in life. However, the anime does fall in tropes that many other media that depicted LGBTIA characters has, which is never ending struggle and a very depressing life. The struggle that the characters endure never seems to end, sometimes a good thing will occur, but soon after the another bad thing will occur. 

Since there is a large amount of gender performance in Japan, where does cross-dressing and androgyny appear in Japan? Androgyny and cross-dressing do appear quite a bit in anime and manga, however it is speculative over whether it should be included in queer or LGBTIA anime and manga.  The cross-dressing and androgyny could be performative and part of any gender identity, but it is unclear if it is part of the LGBTIA anime or not. However, the fact that many anime explore the worlds of androgyny and cross-dressing may allow for more discussion about gender identity and gender performance. While that sentiment is hopeful, many anime use gender perform, such as cross-dressing as a comedic device to ridicule or critique the rigid gender roles in society. This fact could make more discussion or make the notion of gender performance and androgyny as a joke to be laughed at. Androgyny can occur in different gender expressions and performance, but it is debatable about whether it is needs to be characterized as LGBTIA anime. This is question that could be debated for a many years, so it will be interesting to continue to observe how anime use gender performance and androgyny. 

While there have been new developments in representation for queer anime, it is still lacking. However, it should be known that anime and manga seem to be a safer place for queer characters and the their presence in society. The advancements in representation are slowly arriving, but it is important to remember that one should not only look forward, but also look back. Part of the academic theory of queer studies to look back at the past and reclaim the forgotten aspects of queerness or LGBTIA that was erased or fell behind. Thus looking back, one could see how Takahashi Rumiko’s Ranma 1/2 may have influenced other animators and mangaka to create interesting stories about gender variant people. It is also important to look how some anime tackle the problems that many people still deal with day to day, such as Hourou Musuko. It is now an interesting time to look at the future of anime and see if more representation is created and awarded. While many times in the media, queer or LGBTIA people may be mocked, anime is possibly one of the places where people will learn about ideas that they have never heard of before. Thus hopefully more stories will be made and more stories with a happy endings rather than tragedy and acceptance rather than ridicule. With anime, the possibilities are already endless, which means that anything is possible, which allows for new perspectives and ideas to be released. 

References

http://hesomagazine.com/2009/01/the-second-coming-of-shojo/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_S_(genre)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takarazuka_Revue

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria-sama_ga_Miteru

Anime and I

When I was child I most watched the children-oriented channels. Many of those channels showed American -produced animated shows. Thus when I first saw anime, I did not realize that it was anime. My interest in Japanese first appeared when I was in elementary school, where it was mandatory for all students to take four foreign languages. Through these language classes, I began to realize that the shows that I could not distinguish from American cartoons was anime. My history with anime has been a wax and wane cycle, with it leaving and entering my life rather sporadically. 

Similar to may other people in my generation, the earliest memory of anime is tied to Pokemon. I received my first Pokemon game in elementary school and was immediately taken by appeal of it. The games appeal spread to the card game and later the anime. Later in the elementary school, I became obsessed with the Toonami programming block, that showed anime and anime-esque shows in the hours following school. I remember being enthralled by Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, and Yuyu Hakusho. I also developed the habit of waking up at around 5:00am to watch the anime, Hamtaro. The cuteness and the fantasy of anime was very thrilling to me. 

My interest in anime was also shaped by my growing interest in manga. When I around nine years old, I received my first manga. “Cardcaptor Sakura” told the story of ten year old, Kinomoto Sakura who after releasing the Clow Cards, must capture them all. The story was intriguing and cute like many other magical girl series, but reading it I was fascinated by the art and the story. I felt a connection to the the young characters that were portrayed. Today, I still enjoy the series and the genre, that shows was in; the magical girl genre. The average nature of the Cardcaptor Sakura did have an anime adaptation that I did watch the part of, but for most part I did not watch it. 

Cardcaptor Sakura

In middle school the appeal of anime remained, however the stigma began to rise. Many of my classmates may have still enjoyed anime, but the numbers started to get fewer and fewer. The societal expectations of race became a factor as well. When people found out I like anime or Japan, it was perceived as being not becoming of my race. Since I am black, it was not thought that I should enjoy anime or things not stereotypically black, or else I was trying to be ‘white’ or reject my own race. In a society where enjoying society is considered ‘weird’, as a racial minority who is already categorized as ‘other’ to even further oneself from the mainstream can difficult. I was also wary of being called a ‘weaboo’ by the people around me.Thus while my enjoyment of anime did continue, the scrutiny of it began to grow. I continued to read manga and watch anime through middle school. I mostly watched Naruto, since I felt the action was interesting and fun, but also the connection to the Naruto’s character. The tenacity of Naruto was inspiring to me, since middle school is a time of uncertainty. All the adventures were exciting and friendships formed in those adventures. 

However, when I moved to high school, my consumption of anime and manga began to drop. I continued to enjoy manga since it was something that could enjoyed privately, however my consumption of anime dropped. Also the social stigma of watching anime or reading manga had grown even more since middle school and thus I stopped talking about it in public. When I entered my third year of high school, I no longer had time to watch anime or read manga. I stopped reading manga, and began to focus more on American television and my studies. The break with anime and manga arose out of the need to focus on my studies, but also possible feelings that manga and anime were childish or immature. The concern about being called a ‘weaboo’ or being seen as other may have contributed to my break from anime.  I did not start watching anime again until I entered college. 

As I entered college, I found that watching anime could be useful and enjoyable to me. First, I could use it as listening practice since I study Japanese language. Also I found that watching anime or reading anime did not make me seem immature, they were purely hobbies. Also through learning about Japan and Japanese culture, I did not have to worry about being consider a ‘weaboo’ since I was studying the culture in academic sense rather than only thinking about the culture through anime or manga. Around the time that I entered college, I found anime that interested me and easier avenues for watching anime. I began to watch more anime, for  the educational value, but also because I enjoyed more. The variety of anime was more than I had as a child and now I have my choice of what I want to watch. Recently, I have been watching more light-hearted anime, mostly in the genres of slice-of-life and comedy. I find these light anime enjoyable since they tend to explore the relationships between people and the world around them. Anime and I have had a long and interesting journey, but now I accept it as part of educational and recreational identity. 

Anime I have enjoyed recently: 

Gekkan Shojo Nozaki-kun

Barakamon

Anime Introduction: K-On! (けいおん）

Based on the four panel  manga by Kakifly, K-On! tells on the story of four high school girls (later five girls) who make up their school’s 軽音部 or light music club. The manga appeared in print in Houbousha’s seinen manga magazine Manga Time Kirara Carat between 2007 to 2010, eventually becoming a full anime with thirteen episodes in 2009. The first season was later followed  by a second season with 26 episodes and a feature film all produced by Kyoto Animation. (Wikipedia) The shows was broadcasted weekly on television. The show focuses on the friendship between the girls and the everyday lives between classes, club meetings, and any other situation that they get themselves into. With the light-hearted nature of the show and focus on the daily lives of the characters, this anime would be described as a slice-of-life anime. 

The anime focuses on four girls all entering Sakuragoka Girls’ High School. The first character revealed is Hirasawa Yui. Yui is shown to be a sweet girl who enjoys eating, sleeping, and cute things. Yui is shown to be the ‘normal girl’ of the series since she shares the characterization of many other ‘average’ girls in anime. This includes waking up late, having an affinity for sweets and cute things. Yui learns the guitar throughout the series and becomes a rather accomplished guitarist. Another main character in the series is Tainaka Ritsu, the self-proclaimed leader of the group and president of the club.  Ritsu is very spirited and excited character. Ritsu plays the drums which match her loud personality. Ritsu’s drive to play in a band lead her to keep the club together as it was disbanding. Akiyama Mio was the other character who saved the club as it was disbanding. Mio is portrayed as mature and cool, but yet she has an immature side, especially when she interacts with Ritsu. Mio’s calm demeanor is shown in her choice of instrument: the bass. Mio also acts as the vocalist in many performances, despite her shy personality. The final character that makes up the group is Kotobuki Tsumugi. Tsumugi is portrayed as an upper-class girl with a gentle personality, affectionately called ‘Mugi’ she becomes close friends with the others. She is plays the piano and joined the club because of the close friendship of Ritsu and Mio and her desire to have such close friends. In the second season, the character of Nakano Azusa is introduced. When the Yui, Ritsu, Mio, and Tsumugi are second years, Azusa joins the group. Azusa is shown to be quite serious, but still gets along well with the rest of the group. These five individuals together make up the group called　放課後テイータイム (Houkago Tea Time) or After School Tea Time. 

 Hirasawa Yui

 Kotobuki Tsumugi

 Tainaka Ritsu

Akiyama Mio

The first episode opens with a picture of girls at a junior high school graduation, a stuffed animal above the bed, a school uniform hanging from a book shelf, a school bag on the desk, and tights on the desk chair. These items are shown to portray the owner of the room as an ‘average’ high school girl. The various items may show how relatable the character is to a potential audience. Soon after, an alarm is heard and a young girl who is wearing the school uniform shown the first picture is seen. She calls to her older sister who is in bed. The older sister wakes up and distresses over how late she is. The next scene we see the girl leap from the stairs and slip on the floor beneath her until she falls. She runs past a breakfast on the table 

and the next scene is her running out the door with a piece of toast in her mouth. This trope is widely used in many anime, a student usually a girl runs out of the her home with a piece of toast, too late to enjoy the breakfast that has been prepared for them. As the girl runs, she greets an older woman, on the street who calls to her. The girl continues running, but constantly gets distracted by a cat, an old woman, among other things. She finally arrives at school, but realizes that she has made a mistake about the time. She is next shown anxiously sitting in pews with other girls. There is the voice over with her voice announcing that she in now a high school student. Later the girl, Hirasawa Yui, is seen walking among blooming cherry blossoms. She then is bombarded by a group of students who ask her to join their club. She is walking among the cherry blossoms. However, this time the blossoms are beginning to fall. The Japanese school year begins in the April when the cherry blossoms are in bloom, and as Yui is a new student should be recruited to join many of the clubs on campus. In the next scene, Yui is at her desk attempting to decide on which club to join. Her friend Nodoka, comes to her and is shocked to discover that Yui has not decided yet. Yui feels the need to join a club, but has no idea which club to join. 

In the next scene, a yell for Mio is heard. Ritsu runs to Mio and asks Mio to come see the club with her. However, Mio has already decided to join the literature club  and shows the Ritsu her form to join the literature club. Ritsu then rips the form in half. Ritsu and Mio are shown running down the hall, with Ritsu leading Mio. Later Ritsu and Mio are in the teachers’ office when they discover that the light music club will soon be disbanding due to lack of members. Yui enters the office and calls for the teacher that Ritsu and Mio are speaking to. Yui notices Ritsu and Mio, only to drop the papers that she was given by the teacher. As Yui and the teacher walk to class, Yui muses what is light music. Later Mio and Ritsu are waiting for potential members to join the light music club. After while, someone does arrive, expect to observe the chorus club. Mio expresses the concerns about the club and tries to leave. Ritsu attempts to guilt Mio into staying with a promise that Mio made to Ritsu. Mio reminds Ritsu that the promise never occurred. The exchange shows a closeness between Mio and Ritsu, hat making a band was deep promise that they share. Watching this exchange between Mio and Ritsu, the girl that arrived earlier, decides to join the club. With the new member of Tsumugi, the light music club has a planning meeting at a fast food restaurant, where Tsumugi expresses her happiness over being offered fries. Tsumugi reveals that is her first time in a fast food restaurant which further characterizes her as an outlier among the group. The club makes posters for new members to join, and Yui sees the poster and misunderstands what light music is. Yui attends the club anyway, and when it discovered that she cannot play the guitar, she asks to leave the club. However, before leaving the club she listens to the a short performance of 翼を下さい (Give me Wings) by the club members. She is so inspired by their performance, that she decides to stay in the club and learn how to play guitar. 

The style of K-On! is similar to many anime that have appeared recently. The larger heads with large eyes show emphasis the cuteness of the characters. Also the characters in general seem soft rather than hard. The soft, cute style of animation made be used to engage a larger audience. While the anime has an overtly cute style, there is some aspects of realism. Many viewers may connect with plight of Yui, over not knowing which club to pick, or the scene where she is asked to join the various clubs. These scenes were most likely based on the everyday experiences of new high school students. The soundtrack of the series was made for the anime, since it is about a band. These songs would later be sold to fans of the anime.

The anime delivers various messages to it’s audience. The foremost may the friendship that is evident between the girls. The whole series is spent on how close these characters become through music and spending time together. However, there is an amount of fan service which appears for fans as well. While the anime is enjoyable, it may not be that significant in the anime world, but it may be the beginnings of the school-idol genre that is slowly growing. K-On! does reflect well on the genre of slice-of-life, the episodes are light and enjoyable. The chemistry between the characters is well done and it flows nicely, with the only criticism may be there may not be enough music. K-On!’s success did reflect well on the production company, Kyoto Animation. Soon after completion of the anime, the team that created K-On! went on to make another anime, Tamako Market. I would recommend this anime to anyone that enjoys cute slice-of-life anime with some enjoyable music. 

Citations

Wikipedia,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K-On!, last updated September 16, 2014

Link for K-On!: http://www.animefreak.tv/watch/kon-episode-1-english-dubbed-online-free