Shippou-Sensei
4:1:2.5
Not that long ago I was reading a new manga and it really made me think about how various LGBTQ+ identities were explored by the media we consume.
I thought I might just throw up a few things I have noticed when it comes to anime/manga specifically as well as YouTube.
I'm not trying to claim any expertise in these fields just those are the areas I manly inhabit and it was those that made me think of posting this thread
I might as well start with a bit of history before hitting the thing that properly pushed me to make a comment which is japanese media..
LGBTQ+ representation in the japanese media I consume is.... all over the place to be honest. It has some dogshit terrible stuff but also some of the most nuanced stuff I have experienced. (As a side note I will be using UK terminology rather than trying to translate japanese terms unless I feel it deserves specific attention. If I link a example remember the pronouns and terms used are translations and may not 1 to 1 exact equivalents. For example Japanese doesn't really use gendered pronouns so if the texts says he or she that is a choice by the translator)
I have never really bothered to mention it before as mostly what I experience was mixed at best and depressing at worst.
Some stories did have actually fairly reasonable LGBTQ+ representation even a while back. An old school show I do love is Cardcaptor Sakura a story for girls who manages to be full to the brim of explicitly LG&possiblyT main characters. However this was not always the case.
There doe seem to be a trend of doing anti hero stuff with predatory gay/trans characters who also serve the role of hero. they are both set up as comical in their appearance but also ernest and tolerated sociatally. Depending on the story the balance between the good and the bad stuff is up in the air. At the low end is characters who are all the bad tropes you can imagine who just happen to be aggressive towards the 'bad guy'. On the brighter end you have characters who start off as being somewhat over the top pastiches but quickly become solid characters whose identity is considered and respected.
One early story that I read particularly stuck out. It was a story about a girl who was sold into slavery by her poor parents. raised as a servant (indentured/slave) by a rich family then given up as bounty to bandits in a raid on a convoy. Throughout the series the girl feels betrayed and exploited by those who are supposed to protect her. However one of the bandits starts to take care of her. The bandit is a trans woman who is in the first few moments kinda introduced as comic relief hitting on the main cis male bandit. However within a remarkably short time that bandit becomes a true mother figure to the girl, and after using her body to shield the girl in a monster attack leaves the bandits to raise the girl as her daughter and spends the rest of the story being a great mother (especially compared to her biological parents and her owners) and never having her identity questioned. This transition for the more questionable representation to a positive one gave me some hope. (The turnaround from wince inducing to positive felt like a microcosm of representation)
this was one of the first times I felt that this media was actually doing a better job than mainstream UK TV. not a great bar but hey.
Recently there have been a few series that really stood out to me and I wanted to share them. I'll go roughly in order in which I experienced them.
Otouto no Otto (My brother's husband)
A fairly down to earth story about a Japanese single father who's estranged brother has recently died. All of a sudden he gets visited by Mike his brothers Canadian husband.
This one is fairly down to earth and doesn't shy away from the casual homophobia of a lot of the people in the story. It really shines by feeling like it actually trying to address this.
Available to view here
mangakakalot.com
Umareru Seibetsu wo Machigaeta! (I was born with the wrong gender!)
An autobiographical account of a Japanese trans woman's transition and other issues. Taught me more about bottom surgery than I could Imagine.
Funny and heart worming while also making you frustrated at the hurdles placed in someone's way.
mangakakalot.com
Fukakai na Boku no Subete o (All of the mysterious me)
This is the one that really got me thinking as it looks like it is a generic romance but it actually takes a dive into each characters identities.
The main character is biologically male but presents as female but identifies as non binary.
They are invited to work in a cafe by the other main character (cis male) this cafe is run by n his older (trans)sister and the waitstaff present as female but aren't biologically.
The actual staff have different interpretations on their own identities which are actually quite complicated
This was the one that really made me sit back and wonder about representation in other media
mangakakalot.com
This is by no means a full listing or proper exploration more just a late night ramble linking to some stories I found intresting that you might not have heard of.
I thought I might just throw up a few things I have noticed when it comes to anime/manga specifically as well as YouTube.
I'm not trying to claim any expertise in these fields just those are the areas I manly inhabit and it was those that made me think of posting this thread
I might as well start with a bit of history before hitting the thing that properly pushed me to make a comment which is japanese media..
LGBTQ+ representation in the japanese media I consume is.... all over the place to be honest. It has some dogshit terrible stuff but also some of the most nuanced stuff I have experienced. (As a side note I will be using UK terminology rather than trying to translate japanese terms unless I feel it deserves specific attention. If I link a example remember the pronouns and terms used are translations and may not 1 to 1 exact equivalents. For example Japanese doesn't really use gendered pronouns so if the texts says he or she that is a choice by the translator)
I have never really bothered to mention it before as mostly what I experience was mixed at best and depressing at worst.
Some stories did have actually fairly reasonable LGBTQ+ representation even a while back. An old school show I do love is Cardcaptor Sakura a story for girls who manages to be full to the brim of explicitly LG&possiblyT main characters. However this was not always the case.
There doe seem to be a trend of doing anti hero stuff with predatory gay/trans characters who also serve the role of hero. they are both set up as comical in their appearance but also ernest and tolerated sociatally. Depending on the story the balance between the good and the bad stuff is up in the air. At the low end is characters who are all the bad tropes you can imagine who just happen to be aggressive towards the 'bad guy'. On the brighter end you have characters who start off as being somewhat over the top pastiches but quickly become solid characters whose identity is considered and respected.
One early story that I read particularly stuck out. It was a story about a girl who was sold into slavery by her poor parents. raised as a servant (indentured/slave) by a rich family then given up as bounty to bandits in a raid on a convoy. Throughout the series the girl feels betrayed and exploited by those who are supposed to protect her. However one of the bandits starts to take care of her. The bandit is a trans woman who is in the first few moments kinda introduced as comic relief hitting on the main cis male bandit. However within a remarkably short time that bandit becomes a true mother figure to the girl, and after using her body to shield the girl in a monster attack leaves the bandits to raise the girl as her daughter and spends the rest of the story being a great mother (especially compared to her biological parents and her owners) and never having her identity questioned. This transition for the more questionable representation to a positive one gave me some hope. (The turnaround from wince inducing to positive felt like a microcosm of representation)
this was one of the first times I felt that this media was actually doing a better job than mainstream UK TV. not a great bar but hey.
Recently there have been a few series that really stood out to me and I wanted to share them. I'll go roughly in order in which I experienced them.
Otouto no Otto (My brother's husband)
A fairly down to earth story about a Japanese single father who's estranged brother has recently died. All of a sudden he gets visited by Mike his brothers Canadian husband.
This one is fairly down to earth and doesn't shy away from the casual homophobia of a lot of the people in the story. It really shines by feeling like it actually trying to address this.
Available to view here
Otouto No Otto Chapter 1 : : The Black Ships Have Arrived! - Mangakakalot.com
Ten years ago Yaichi's twin brother moved to Canada and married a man called Mike. A month ago, he died. Now Mike has arrived to Japan to meet Yaichi and his daughter Kana. Yaichi has to face his own preconceptions and come to terms about who his brother really was. - Won the 19th Japan Media...
Umareru Seibetsu wo Machigaeta! (I was born with the wrong gender!)
An autobiographical account of a Japanese trans woman's transition and other issues. Taught me more about bottom surgery than I could Imagine.
Funny and heart worming while also making you frustrated at the hurdles placed in someone's way.
Umareru Seibetsu Wo Machigaeta! Chapter 1 - Mangakakalot.com
Read Umareru Seibetsu wo Machigaeta! Chapter 1 -
Fukakai na Boku no Subete o (All of the mysterious me)
This is the one that really got me thinking as it looks like it is a generic romance but it actually takes a dive into each characters identities.
The main character is biologically male but presents as female but identifies as non binary.
They are invited to work in a cafe by the other main character (cis male) this cafe is run by n his older (trans)sister and the waitstaff present as female but aren't biologically.
The actual staff have different interpretations on their own identities which are actually quite complicated
This was the one that really made me sit back and wonder about representation in other media
Fukakai Na Boku No Subete O Chapter 1 - Mangakakalot.com
High school student Tetsu Iwaoka notices that his classmate Mogumu is always alone at school. Wanting to give Mogumo a chance to make some friends, Tetsu invites Mogumu to work at his family’s maid cafe. Although Mogumo is initially enthusiastic, there is just one problem: this is a girlyboy...
This is by no means a full listing or proper exploration more just a late night ramble linking to some stories I found intresting that you might not have heard of.
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