LGBT+ anime- any recommendations?

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School Idol
Hi everyone!

I am looking for recommendations for anime films/shows that portray LGBT+ characters well, does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks!
 
I recently watched the CoMix Wave short 'This Boy Caught a Merman' which sure has a silly plot but I thought it was good for the 30 mins or so it is.

Only other recommendation I think I could give is for a Manga but not one too many people know of... 'Family Compo' by Tsukasa Hojo (Cat's Eye and City Hunter) is a really fun heartfelt comedy with LGBT themes (pretty much all of them in fact) as a guy called Masahiko moves in with his only family left only to discover not all is what it seems in the Wakanae household.

It doesn’t truly go that deep into it’s LGBT themes as some may have liked but this series isn’t really about the struggle or life and times of someone who is LGBT but more the journey of someone, in this case Masahiko, discovering there is more to people than simply a defined gender (what’s on the inside that counts etc) and what that means to himself and especially how he feels about those around him. At least that’s my rough take on it :p

Read it, The story is heartfelt and Hojo’s art is beautiful.
 
Haven't seen it personally, but I know Wandering Son was much acclaimed for its portrayal of two transgendered pre-teens.

I have read quite a bit of Family Compo though. It's a fun manga, although I did think at times it felt like Hojo kind of wanted to be back doing action stories instead.
 
Blaize said:
I recently watched the CoMix Wave short 'This Boy Caught a Merman' which sure has a silly plot but I thought it was good for the 30 mins or so it is.

Only other recommendation I think I could give is for a Manga but not one too many people know of... 'Family Compo' by Tsukasa Hojo (Cat's Eye and City Hunter) is a really fun heartfelt comedy with LGBT themes (pretty much all of them in fact) as a guy called Masahiko moves in with his only family left only to discover not all is what it seems in the Wakanae household.

It doesn’t truly go that deep into it’s LGBT themes as some may have liked but this series isn’t really about the struggle or life and times of someone who is LGBT but more the journey of someone, in this case Masahiko, discovering there is more to people than simply a defined gender (what’s on the inside that counts etc) and what that means to himself and especially how he feels about those around him. At least that’s my rough take on it :p

Read it, The story is heartfelt and Hojo’s art is beautiful.
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Thanks a lot for the suggestion, I got lucky and managed to pick up a few of the 'this boy' short films at a very reasonable price from Zoverstocks, I'll let you know what I think :)
 
I'd definitely recommend Genshiken 2 as well - I think it's still on CR at the moment? And then you can follow on from there into the manga.
 
I came in to recommend Wandering Son but was beaten to the punch. Paradise Kiss has some good representation (I'm sure some people will gripe but I found all of the applicable characters extremely relatable and sympathetic).

Genshiken 2 actually really wound me up but your mileage is likely to vary depending on your perspective.

I also feel as though I should give Revolutionary Girl Utena a mention. It's not exactly what you want, and it's not realistic at all. And there's frankly so much that's left deliberately open to interpretation that I'm not sure whether half of the cast's preferences can even be definitively stated. But nonetheless, there are a lot of characters who eschew traditional gender norms and sexuality, and it certainly speaks to me.

R
 
Professor Irony said:
Haven't seen it personally, but I know Wandering Son was much acclaimed for its portrayal of two transgendered pre-teens.
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Funny didn't we talk about this earlier. Yet I'd certainly concur with the others how good a show it is. Though what's not pointed out is there's no relationship involved, otherwise you looking for shows like Sakura Trick, Strawberry Panic or Gravition. I've not seen any of these, though least that's some that come under the scope your looking for.
 
To add to Rui's Utena mention you could also check out YuriKuma Arashi. Same creator of Utena so that may give you an idea of what to expect? There is a definite LGBT message within, if you can get beneath all the absurdity.
 
Tokyo Godfathers is my Christmas movie now, after a day visiting all the family house to house (we live all pretty close together) I eventually sit down around 8pm with some Christimas chocolate and watch this Satoshi Kon masterpiece. A tradition two years running so far and I have every intention of repeating this year and beyond.
 
Just Passing Through said:
Sweet Blue Flowers a.k.a Aoi Hana is good.
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I'm very fond of Sweet Blue Flowers / Aoi Hana, it's probably the yuri anime I'd be most likely to recommend to people who have no interest in yuri anime since it has some really interesting characters and relationships and doesn't rely on the yuri aspect for it's appeal. I do think some people might hesitate to watch any show listed as Yuri, BL or anything along those lines because they worry they'll just be full of fanservice but there are shows like this that just have great stories and characters and they're probably not that uncommon (at least as a proportion of shows that include these kinds of themes).

I wonder if Ouran High School Host Club would qualify, it is a comedy but there's some heartfelt stuff in there and gender issues do come up fairly often. It doesn't necessarily have the deepest or most thorough examination of the issues but it has the advantage of being fun and accessible.

Probably even further from the sort of thing you're looking for, but I'm quite fond of the way that Hidamari Sketch handles it's lesbian couple (at least as far as I've seen). It's understated and matter of fact, in a way that's probably at least partly driven by being non-committal but feels somewhat clever in the way it manages to also feel more like a real relationship. That's just one part of the show, so it's maybe not something to watch exclusively for, but there's plenty of other good stuff to enjoy with a great cast of characters.

I should probably stop before I end up suggesting Non Non Biyori...
 
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