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Anime has been bringing viewers the queer representation they've been craving for a while now!
From fantasy worlds to slice-of-life stories, seeing yourself represented in one of the world's most popular entertainment forms is always a wonderful feeling. The following characters are just a small selection of some of the various people and stories that we've grown to love in anime. Make sure to let us know in the comments and on Twitter if we left any of your top picks out!
Sumika Murasame — Whispered Words
Sumika Murasame, the protagonist of the yuri anime Whispered Words, is a bit of an everygirl when it comes to lesbian stories. Long, tall, lanky, and plain, Sumika repeatedly struggles to gain the attention of her best friend Ushio Kazama. Sometimes funny, sometimes serious, but always a little tongue-in-cheek, Sumika's role in Whispered Words is a much welcome addition to the genre.
Kanji Tatsumi — Persona 4
OK, fair. Persona 4's Kanji Tatsumi is a little up for debate. During the original Atlus video game and its anime adaptation, Kanji is plagued by homoerotic thoughts through his Shadow Self. Whether Kanji truly is gay or not, well, that's not exactly made clear. But the way Persona 4 handles Kanji's struggles with gay sexuality and hypermasculinity is phenomenal all the same, and makes him a great questioning character.
Poison — Street Fighter
Who could forget Poison? Capcom's somewhat-accidental transgender dominatrix, Poison is one of the most interesting and dynamic women in the entire Street Fighter universe. Granted, most of Poison's appearances have been in video games. However, she did get the proper anime treatment in Ultra Street Fighter IV.
Isabella Yamamoto — Paradise Kiss
Isabella Yamamoto might be one of the few positive trans characters around in anime. Hailing from Paradise Kiss, Isabella's life story and struggles with gender dysphoria are shown sympathetically in the series. Not to mention, her backstory is extremely realistic. Take it from a fellow trans woman, she's great.
Ymir and Krista Lenz — Attack on Titan
Attack on Titan saw immense popularity with its 2013 anime reveal, becoming one of the most popular series in the past 5 years. Our personal favorite characters are Ymir and Krista Lenz, a lesbian couple officially confirmed by producer George Wada. Even love can bloom on the battlefield, after all!
Utena Tenjou and Anthy Himemiya — Revolutionary Girl Utena
Revolutionary Girl Utena has always been praised for its subversion of gender roles and sexual expectations in anime. But our favorite part of the series, by far, is the relationship between Utena Tenjou and Anthy Himemiya. The anime series heavily implies Utena and Anthy have feelings for one another, with the movie going in a slightly more explicit direction. Swoon!
Haruka Tenou (Sailor Uranus) and Michiru Kaioh (Sailor Neptune) — Sailor Moon
Famously censored as "cousins" in the North American release, make no mistake about these two: Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus were a couple in the original Japanese version, and very explicitly so. In fact, it wasn't uncommon to see the two flirting with one another openly, much to Usagi's surprise. Check out what we mean with this YouTube video.
