#Boku ga Otto ni Deau Made

[mangafantastic]

[sleepy-monochrome-prince]

[day-dreamer-2018]

What is your favorite bl?

That would be "Until I Meet My Husband " (Boku ga Otto ni Deau made)🥰. This is actually based on real-life story. I appreciate this manga the most for showing how hard it is to be gay in this society, the dilemma, how the mc stand firm and finally being married. Mind you, they are the first same sex to be recognized as religiously married couple in Japan. The MCs journey is a wild ride and gave me a lot of emotions. Cried a lot. But mostly tears of joy when MC finally found his happiness. 🤧

[mangajams]

From: Boku ga Otto ni Deau made

[tanenigiri]

Review #22 - Until I Meet My Husband

Japanese title: 僕が夫に出会うまで (Boku ga Otto ni Deau Made)

Story: Ryousuke Nanasaki

Art: Yoshi Tsukizuki

English publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment

Number of volumes: 1 (complete)

The peaks and valleys of finding true love.

(This review contains story spoilers.)

I’ve covered a number of series in this project that stray away from its genre focus - slice-of-life BL - in one way or the other. While Our Dreams at Dusk and I Think Our Son Is Gay both feature a man pining for another man, they don’t necessarily follow the typical BL plotline, and I like calling them “BL-adjacent” or simply LGBT manga instead. On the other hand, Cherry Magic isn’t technically slice-of-life as it revolves around a main character with a magical ability. I still chose to cover these series for this project because I wanted to write about them, and even if they didn’t fit into the mold of all the other series I’m covering, I still thought they were very good reads.

Until I Meet My Husband is another one of the titles that deviate from this project’s norm, though in a different way from the three series I mentioned above - this is the first (and only) manga I’m covering here that isn’t classified as fiction. This is based on a series of essays from Ryousuke Nanasaki that recounts his experiences as a gay man, all culminating into his wedding - which the book helpfully tells us is “the first religiously recognized same-sex marriage in Japan.” I mentioned the partnership system in my review of Restart After Growing Hungry, and I believe this is a variation that involves a Buddhist ceremony.

And indeed, the manga opens with this scene, with Ryousuke getting happily married to his husband - who coincidentally is also named Ryousuke, so I’ll be calling him Ryou when I talk about him later. While we already know going into the story that Ryousuke would be getting a happy ending - if the title doesn’t give it away, the cover and blurb definitely will - framing the main story with this wedding at the very start does set a much different tone compared to if it immediately began with his experiences as a kid. All of these flashbacks show a lot of challenging and often uncomfortable experiences that Ryousuke goes through, but knowing that they’re working towards a happy ending makes it a lot easier to root for him.

Of course, Ryousuke doesn’t have the benefit of knowing he’ll get a happy ending when he goes through these events, and indeed, it’s a sentiment that comes up quite often as he grows up and comes to terms with his sexuality. Each of the chapters of this manga roughly revolves around one of the men that Ryousuke either pines for or gets together with, and it’s through these unrequited loves and relationships that he comes to learn things about himself and his identity. I think this is the story’s strongest aspect, as the way it explores this identity development is very comprehensive, and it reaches many highs and lows that really gives Ryousuke’s situation a lot of depth. While part of this is because of the story’s context - this is a memoir, after all - the author still deserves a lot of credit for being able to convey all of this very effectively.

Take the first two men that Ryousuke falls for while he’s still in school - Tsukasa and Hase. In both cases, not once did Ryousuke entertain the idea of being gay; rather, he worded his frustrations as wishing he were a girl instead so that Tsukasa and Hase would be able to fall in love with him. At first, I thought this was going to lead into a discussion about dysphoria, but the story later says that this is simply Ryousuke being unable to accept the notion of a man falling for another man. Much of this rejection comes from how the people around Ryousuke treated him - he was bullied for acting “girly,” and seeing both of his unrequited crushes get girlfriends took a toll on him - and we even get a chapter ending where he resolves to fall in love with a girl instead.

But his experiences living together with Hase during their college years and dating around with other men to no avail do lead him to slowly accept his truth - he was gay, and he wanted a long-term relationship with another man. This leads to my favorite scene of the entire story, where he’s out for drinks with two friends, Eri and Asami, to console the latter for breaking up with her boyfriend. Ryousuke has a really interesting internal monologue here where he admits to himself that he doesn’t sympathize with Asami because she had the privilege of having a true relationship with the person she loved. With this scene being presented right after Ryousuke’s experiences with Hase, he surmises that while both of them were heartbroken, their heartbreaks were not the same at all.

Ryousuke ends up vocalizing all of these thoughts to his friends instead of keeping them bottled in, which leads to him coming out for the first time. Eri and Asami, being the fantastic friends they are, sympathizes with Ryousuke and gives him the long overdue opportunity to vent and share all of his feelings. A scene much later in the story shows Ryousuke being incredibly grateful that his first time coming out was to people who didn’t reject him, and he believes that if that conversation went sour, he might not have been able to reach his happy ending. I thought the way this scene was handled was really great, and it’s no surprise that it ends up being a turning point not just for Ryousuke’s character, but for the story as a whole.

He becomes a lot more open about his sexuality after this pivotal moment, coming out to more people close to him as well as joining gay communities online and attending their public events. It’s in one of these events where he meets Takuma, and the two are seen to hit it off right away. This ends up being Ryousuke’s first serious relationship, and it even culminates in a mock wedding ceremony organized by Eri and Asami, which the story says was one of the things Ryousuke revealed to them when he came out to them - once again proving that they’re 10/10 friends. (It’s also revealed later on that this event was the spark that pushes Ryousuke and Eri to start a wedding planning business focused on LGBT couples.)

But I found it interesting how the story bookended this mock wedding with two very grave pitfalls in their relationship. Right before this scene, it’s revealed that Takuma has a lot of trust issues, going as far as hiding near their house to see if Ryousuke would bring another man home. The story does attribute this to his personal demons, and while Ryousuke admits that they fought a lot because of this, they did work together to overcome their issues little by little.

In the scene following the mock wedding, which takes place a year after the ceremony, it’s revealed that Takuma was unwillingly outed to his friends. Unlike Ryousuke, Takuma hadn’t come out to anyone yet by that point, and this is seen to destroy him inside as his friends ended up pushing him out of their group because of it. While Ryousuke tries to talk to him and help him go through it, Takuma ultimately decides that he doesn’t want to be seen as different and resolves to pursue a “normal” relationship with a girl.

This, of course, hits quite close to home for Ryousuke, as he had the same thoughts about wanting to be in a “normal” relationship many years prior. He’s seen to handle this breakup quite heavily, feeling very alone in the three months following the breakup, and only finding the strength to move on after what looks like a breakdown while he’s in a bus. This arc is definitely the most complex out of all the conflicts that Ryousuke faces throughout the manga, and I quite like how his previous experiences with Tsukasa and Hase almost built up to this relationship with Takuma. Ryousuke is said to have dated quite a number of guys between Takuma and his future husband, but I definitely understand why the author chose to highlight this relationship in particular for his memoir - it seemed very game-changing in more ways than one.

Thankfully, this is the last major hurdle that Ryousuke the manga character has to overcome before he finally meets Ryou. Funnily enough, their first meeting ends up being a one night stand, and they only reconnect a year later as Ryou was in a relationship back then. They end up getting together shortly after reconnecting, and soon enough, Ryou is proposing to Ryousuke in Tokyo’s pride parade.

The final chapter features the continuation of the wedding shown in the first few pages of the book, but right before these scenes, the story shows the two Ryousukes attempting to apply for marriage registration but unfortunately failing to do so. At first, I thought this was simply highlighting how Japan has a long way to go in terms of being LGBT-friendly, and while I think that’s still a factor, I’m surprised that the couple doesn’t react entirely negatively to this rejection. Instead, Ryousuke points out that their application was rejected because same-sex marriages weren’t legal “for now” - giving him hope that it was only a temporary no.

It’s with this hopeful message that Until I Meet My Husband closes with, and I think it’s a very fitting note to end on. Ryousuke went through a lot of hardships both in terms of accepting himself and in terms of finding love, but he knows that it’s because of these hardships that he was able to reach his happy ending. I think the story does a great job in conveying that, and despite being quite heartbreaking all throughout, I left the story with my heart full.

Random thoughts that I couldn’t fit elsewhere:

I also wanted to mention that the story does a good job in painting Ryousuke’s character in a realistic light, in that he himself has his own flaws that he had to work through. While the story could’ve framed Hase as the bad guy for being completely oblivious of what his friend was going through, it doesn’t fall into that trap and instead shows that Ryousuke is also making it hard for Hase because of how the former is reacting to the latter’s girlfriend. There were a few moments in the story where I found myself agreeing with the other party instead of Ryousuke, but I think that’s a good thing - this story isn’t meant to portray Ryousuke as the perfect example of a gay man, but as someone who had to overcome a lot of challeges both externally and internally.

The first bonus chapter shows Ryousuke coming out to his mom, which unfortunately doesn’t go as well as it did with Eri and Asami. She immediately thinks about where she went wrong in raising her son and urges him not to tell his father for fear of being disowned. She even goes as far as warning Ryousuke to take this “secret” to his grave. This is unfortunately a very realistic reaction, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if the story left it at that. Fortunately, this bonus chapter goes in a more positive direction when Ryousuke talks to his mom about his wedding seven years after that incident. While his mom had kept her word to not tell her father all this time, the wedding does mean that she had to inform him about it, and to both of their surprise, the dad doesn’t think much of his son being gay and simply accepts it. I’m not sure if this is the catalyst that turns the mother’s opinion around or just the last of many steps that she took in those seven years to accept her son’s sexuality, but it’s nice to see her come around.

The second bonus chapter is a lot more light-hearted, as it gives us a glimpse of Ryou’s point of view of the story. It’s revealed that his talk with Ryousuke at the bar was as much of a game-changer for him as it was for Ryousuke, as he had already given up on the idea of marriage once he realized he was gay. We also get a clearer idea of why that one night stand they shared (on New Year’s Day no less) was unforgettable for both of them, and it does a great job of showing that they really hit it off from the start.

Thanks for reading! Until I Meet My Husband was a change of pace for this project in more ways than one, and I really liked how upfront it was about these experiences as well as its underlying statements about LGBT rights in Japanese society. I have yet to read the memoir that this is based on, and I hear that there’s a lot more covered in the set of essays than what’s in this manga, so I can’t wait to grab a copy of that!

[pin-yao]

[nonexistentcreature]

[lunar-mist]

based on a famous essay by a Japanese gay activist, this manga tells the story of his life leading from his childhood up to his marriage to his husband.

~ highly recommend this ~

[mangafantastic]

[feativen]

oh my god - oh my god - OMGG ! ! y’all have to read " until i meet my husband "  oof it’s just so beautiful (｡T ω T｡)  

[blueraimo]

[queerographies]

[Until I meet my husband][Ryosuke Nanasaki]

Il bullismo subito da bambino, il primo amore ai tempi delle medie e la prima conseguente delusione, l'insopprimibile gelosia e infine il coming out… Il manga, il romanzo e un esclusivo box da collezione di "Until I meet my husband" di Ryosuke Nanasaki

Titolo: Until I meet my husbandScritto da: Ryosuke NanasakiIllustrato da: Yoshi TsukizukiTradotto da: Loris UsaiEdito da: Star ComicsAnno: 2022Pagine: 196ISBN: 9788822632791 «Sei un uomo, non posso fidanzarmi con te»: la cruda verità arriva come uno schiaffo per il protagonista di queste vicende, un ragazzo come tanti in cerca dell’anima gemella, alle prese con il primo amore sui banchi di…

[i-read-shitty-comics]

Boku ga Otto ni Deau Made

Genre:

Autobiography

Average Rating: 8.18

Synopsis:

On October 10, 2016, Ryousuke Nanasaki married the love of his life, Ryousuke. But the time leading up to this day was anything but easy. Feeling self-hatred, heart-wrenching breakups, and coming out to his family - it was all an uphill battle.

Based on the autobiographical web essay of the same title, Boku ga Otto ni Deau Made follows Nanasaki's life and his journey to discover a happy ending together with his husband.

My Rating: 7

My Opinion:

Seriously, what is it with gay autobiographies and being so relatable? Going into it I didn't know that the author and his husband were the first gay marriage in their country but it definitly ads a lot to the story, going into it with that knowledge. I just would have loved exploring the feelings of the author in a lot of situations more or go more into a cute and fluffy romance direction but it was still really fun to read.

Recommended to:

Queer people who want to read something relatable and LGBTQ+ allies who want to educate themselves on the struggles of growing up as queer in a heteronormative society.

[ill337erate]

OK SO HERE’S MY CURRENT LIST OF LGBT MANGA THAT I READ THIS YEAR (+ spiciness indicator for sexy scenes)

EDIT: I will be adding recommendations to this list as I encounter them! Today I am adding Raiatea!

My absolute favorites:

I Hear The Sunspot - this BL has a romance that I really enjoy. A lot of characters are involved in the deaf/hard of hearing communities which is really unique and interesting; I really enjoy manga where I feel like I’ve been immersed not just in the characters’ relationships, but in the world they inhabit. No presence of LGBT community as of yet, so it is a little bit “yaoi-ish” in that way, where a M/M couple just kinda. Exists. But I love this to bits and Taichi is just a delight to watch. A goofball with a heart of gold. The more intimate moments between Taichi and Kouhei never fail to make me turn into goo. I think the fact that the author didn’t realize she was writing a story for a BL magazine until late into the first volume (YEA H) is actually part of what made this so great. Nothing TOO spicy (yet) but they try 🤣

Love Me For Who I Am (FukaBoku) - the artstyle is misleadingly moe/loli, so I recommend giving it a try for at least a few chapters even if the art style is off-putting to you. A very thoughtful story about several LGBT youths with a nonbinary lead finding their identities and learning to respect each other, all of which more or less revolve around this maid café that employs AMAB individuals as waiters/waitresses. There’s a really scary gender dysphoria scene later in the series that haunts me but worry not as the ending is happy and hopeful. Mogu is wonderful and Tetsu is SUCH a good boy. There’s a lot of wholesome moments with the friend group! One could easily imagine a sequel about Mogu and Tetsu or several spin off series based on any of the major side characters, still a lot of untapped potential here despite the satisfying ending. Nothing TOO spicy.

Our Dreams at Dusk - this one is probably the artsiest and easily the most acclaimed of my recommendations, and is written by an x-gender mangaka! (X-gender being the term used for nonbinary people in Japan). I need to reread this one to refresh my memory to be honest but similar to FukaBoku it features a diverse cast of LGBT people, with a gay teen lead. Really good, maybe a bit heavy? But it ends well and had a lot of realism. It isn’t my favorite and I do have a few small nitpicks. But I can’t overstate the value of this as a manga that’s not trying to be yaoi/BL or yuri/GL, and actually talks about realistic LGBT experiences. Nothing spicy!

The Boy Was A Bride - adorable and flawless. This is a bit of an educational manga (both about the LGBT community at large and the situation of LGBT, specifically teans people in Japan) but it’s so wholesome and cute that I think I will read it again and again. An autobiographical manga by a trans woman about her transition and her relationship with the person who would become her husband! Nothing spicy!

Boku ga Otto ni Deau made - this one hasn’t been translated officially yet. It’s a manga adaptation of an autobiographical essay written by Ryosuke Nanasaki, Japanese gay activist who owns a company that helps LGBT people organize Buddhist wedding ceremonies (even though they can’t legally get married in Japan… yet!) I would recommend reading the essay if you can read Japanese (or if you find a full translation, PLEASE tell me). The characters are so prettyyyyy in this art style, I can’t 😭 CONTAINS SPICINESS

How do We Relationship? - I tried, lord KNOWS I have tried to find a wlw romance manga that I enjoyed. I have had very little luck (I’m not super patient so if the characters feel in any way off in the beginning or if things feel shallow I drop what I’m reading/watching like a hot potato… could not get into the Bloom Into You anime because of that damn kiss. ANYWAY). This one finally hit the spot! The art style is SO GOOD, the main’s love interest is spunky and fun, and it just feels very true to life. The weakest point is the main character who I honestly find to be a bit of a bore but let me tell you, everything else vastly makes up for her lukewarm presence. I don’t even necessarily enjoy this because of the relationship, it’s just a good college slice of life story. CONTAINS SPICINESS

Harukaze no Étranger (and the one-shot prequel, Umibe no Étranger) (manga, although Umibe has a movie. Still recommend the manga more) - I’ve been thinking about this series and I think my main take away is the atmosphere. The feeling of having a life in a place, surrounded by loved ones. What I love isn’t the sequence of events so much as the feeling that time is passing… seasons are changing, years are passing by, household dynamics are shifting as circumstances change… people make mistakes, argue, make up. It’s a slice of life about a gay novelist reconnecting with his parents while bringing his boyfriend along. Their relationship feels so real, and the art style is absolutely beautiful to me. The mains are definitely adults in Harukaze despite how young they look. My one complaint is that, despite the perfection of basically everything else, Mio says he’s not gay. Like. Dude. Come on. At some point in your life you will have come across some mention of bisexuality. Right??? It doesn’t bother me too much because everything else is so realistic, but that is precisely why this is jarring. I choose to interpret it as Mio just being ignorant lol he clearly is into his boyfriend and is also into girls. Also, Fumi, Shun’s new younger brother, is adorable. CONTAINS SPICINESS

Umareru Seibetsu wo Machigaeta! (I was born the wrong sex!) - This is another autobiographical manga! It follow a Japanese trans woman as she travels to Thailand for SRS with Dr Suporn. Besides being very informative, the manga is HILARIOUS, which is a feat considering how honest it is about the pain and struggles of recovery. I have to note that this is already the second story I read where the spouse of a trans woman doesn’t accompany her to Thailand for SRS (the first one being The Bride Was A Boy). Japanese couples…….. what are you doing!!!! Doesn’t contain spiciness per se but it IS about genital surgery, so, yeah. The more anatomical illustrations are very simple schematics, nothing graphic.

Blue Flag: Listen. I know what you think. High school romance? Love triangles? Don’t make the same mistake I did and avoid it for those reasons. Blue Flag fucking SLAPS. The first thing that struck me was the wonderful, crisp art style that molds itself to perfectly captures the mood of the scene. The facial expressions are flawless. And then it just kept getting better and better. The characterization is so clear and strong, and several scenes blew me away. This manga delves into some interesting discussions about interpersonal relationships and how gender affects them. I won’t spoil anything because going in clueless is the best way to go but I will say the story really rewards reading into the little things; it’s one of those series that gains new meanings on re-read. (Currently in the process of re-reading it myself!) Nothing spicy!

I Think My Son Is Gay: This one is just pure and wholesome. This series feels like a warm hug. It’s about a mother observing her eldest son being super transparently gay by accident, thinking about his struggles, and wishing him happiness just the way he is. The younger brother is an absolute king and we stan. This one was written by a gay mangaka who eventually had to came out to his own mom because he was publishing this manga. Nothing spicy!

Runner ups:

Our Dining Table - incredibly cute and fluffy and wholesome BL, I just needed MORE. The story doesn’t branch out into other characters and barely changes setting, and I kinda need that for a story to feel truly great. Does not contain spiciness!

What Did You Eat Yesterday - I haven’t finished this but it’s fun. More of a recipe book than a manga?? The food looks so good and makes me ashamed of my eating habits. Anyway the leads are two middle-aged-ish gay men. I don’t know if it contains spiciness but a few chapters in and it hasn’t. Doesn’t seem like it would.

Don’t Call Me Dirty - BL again. I really like the main character and the gaggle of children that impart harsh truths makes me laugh. The resolution is very, like,,, naïvely idealistic. Serious societal issues just get fixed because someone cared. Buuut other than that it’s cute I guess. CONTAINS SPICINESS

My Husband’s Brother - Manga by a gay author about a man meeting his deceased brother’s husband for the first time. I like this one a lot, actually. It just hasn’t yet had that SPARK for me, but it’s enjoyable nonetheless. Very much a bara artstyle which is neat! I want to read more manga with art similar to this, would love some recommendations. Does not contain spiciness!

Raiatea - I’m definitely going to read more works by this mangaka, Tetsuzou Okadaya. This one of the first times I’ve seen work by a Japanese author that captures a different cultural experience so convincingly. It’s in part about a man from the titular Raiatea, an island in French Polynesia. I can’t say if this is an accurate portrayal, but it definitely doesn’t feel “Japan-washed” the way portrayals of other cultures in media from over there usually feel. An extension of that is that the world feels so real, and the people feel truly rooted in it, with multifaceted lives and experiences. CONTAINS SPICYNESS.

Things with LGBT content that I didn’t read/watch this year but love:

Yuri on Ice! - it was so funny rewatching Yuri on Ice! a couple of years ago because I remembered all the back and forth in the western fanbase about whether or not Yuuri and Victor were in a relationship. I went into the rewatch fully expecting to feel disappointed by the “ambiguity.” Good lord it could not be more obvious that they’re a couple 🤣 I have a lot of affection for this series, it’s so clearly a passion project and the characters are so loveable. I became interested in ice skating as a sport because of it! Does not contain spiciness but there is that one nude scene lol. And one character in particular behaves very suggestively, for laughs.

Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu (anime) - So I’m cheating and including based on subtext only. But if you’re like me and the gay subtext is everything, this will shake you. It’s an incredible story about a man’s life as a rakugo artist and the new generation that is by him as he grows old. Please please watch it. There is a manga which I have only started, but I hear that the anime adaptation surpasses the original. Does not contain spiciness although iirc some of the rakugo that is partially performed in passing might be erotic in nature.

My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness - Autobiographical manga. I loved this . I read the next 3 volumes the author has written thus far (My Solo Exchange Diary 1 and 2 and My Alcoholic Escape From Reality) and honestly, it was painful for me to get through. Girl has serious issues and I just want her to be ok. It’s surreal reading people write comments like “I loved this! Can’t wait for the next one!” like did you not notice she is in a self-destructive downward spiral. You can literally see the art becoming simpler in her worst moments as she describes her terrible state of mind. You are allowed to enjoy the manga but at least try to sound like you care about the person baring her life and soul in these volumes, geez. CONTAINS SPICINESS

Wandering Son (anime) - I am currently watching the anime and loving how delicate it is. The story of a trans girl and trans boy discovering themselves in a middle school setting. I binge-read the manga years ago and felt the same shock and disappointment as everyone else did about Takatsuki’s ending. A goddamn tragedy. Like, HOW. Everything else was so well-done up until that point. The manga suffers quite a bit from same-face syndrome which is helped immensely by the colors in the anime. These two reasons are why, despite not having finished the anime yet, I still feel fairly confident recommending the anime over the manga—the anime only covers a middle portion of the manga which thankfully leaves out the horrible and, frankly, puzzling ending of one of the main characters. Does not contain spiciness!

Stars Align (anime) - The fact that this series was cut short will haunt me to my grave. I need a proper continuation. I need a resolution. This is here because one of the characters is having a gender identity/sexuality self-discovery moment which is cut SHORT because the anime ended abruptly HALFWAY THROUGH. This show is heavy and I can’t recommend it unless you don’t mind that there’s no proper conclusion to anything. I still love it though 😭 Does not contain spiciness! (But big trigger warning for abuse)

[lmanberg]

A good mlm manga is until i meet my husband/boku ga otto ni deau made. It's an autobiography of a Japanese man growing up in Japan and the societal expectations he has to overcome along his love life. It also talks about gay marriage in Japan or lack thereof, since it's not legalized (though it's not talked about as much as the fear of dating a same sex partner).

My favorite parts were the translation notes at the end of some of the chapters. The translators got the author's autobiographical novel that was written beforehand and went more in depth about some of the protagonist's partners that weren't drawn in the manga. Highly recommend. It's not as romantic, but it is entertaining and educational.

That actually sounds really good I’ll check it out

[translationandbetrayals]

LGBT+ representation in anime and manga

Queer (queer will be used as an umbrella term for non-heterosexual nor cisgender identities) people have always been present throughout human history, which obviously includes Japan’s. As a matter of fact, there are a lot of literary works that include queer characters through its history, for instance, during the Edo period Ihara Saikaku wrote The Life of An Amorous Man (1682) which has a bisexual person as the main character. Moreover, at the time Ihara Saikaku also wrote The Great Mirror of Male Love (1687) which was intended to represent the different ways men of that period’s society loved other men, and apparently it was also expected to be the best-seller of the year when it was released. Therefore, to understand queer representation in anime and manga we must keep in mind examples as the above-stated that show how Japan have always had some kind of LGBT+ content throughout its history in their works even though the country is not very developed in terms of rights for their LGBT+ community.

Starting from the 50s there are a handful of characters that are said to be some kind of representation for the LGBT+ community due to things that might be implied or might be more direct about it. To illustrate the former we can name General Blue a character from Dragon Ball (by Akira Toriyama, 1984) whose homosexuality it is not expressed explicitly but implied through subtle actions or scenes. In the latter's case where the representation is more explicit, there is Shiroi Heya No Futari (by Ryoko Yamagishi, 1971), that is considered to be the first manga of the yuri genre (girl’s love) and tells the story two girls that fall in love in a catholic school and suffer from being rejected by others because of them being lesbians.

What’s more, towards the 90s we can see real same-sex couple that are canon and were not from the yaoi or yuri genres, for example: Sailor Moon (by Naoko Takeuchi, 1991) & Tokio Babylon (by CLAMP, 1990). Sailor Moon had the famous lesbian couple of Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune. Likewise Tokio Babylon had a gay couple between Seishiro Sakurazuka and Subaru Sumeragi. CLAMP not only made one manga with queer representation, afterwards they published Card Captor Sakura (1996) which show us the obvious love feelings that Tomoyo Daidouji has for her best friend Sakura Kinomoto (the main character), moreover it also includes one of the most iconic gay relationships in the history of manga an anime, Touya Kinomoto and Yukito Tsukishiro.

Starting from 2000 the number of anime and manga in the yaoi and yuri genres increased, a well-known example of one of these genres is Junjou Romantica (by Shungiku Nakamura, 2002) which portraits gay relationships but way more sexualized and a plot less romantically driven. Like that we can also see a development in the fandom culture, and for that reason what we know nowadays as fanservice increased alongside with fake queer representation in both anime and manga, but especially in anime. Hence the creation of a concept like Queerbaiting, a concept that refers to some kind of marketing technique that creates romantic or sexual tension between characters of the same-sex to attract queer viewers, however relationship never becomes canon nor evolves into something more (Urbandictionary).

Henceforth we began to see way more supposedly “queer” characters in anime and manga, however we should ask ourselves “How many of those queer characters are a real representation of the LGBT+ community?”. Thankfully, these days we have some very good LGBT+ representation in manga like Shimanami Tasogare (by Yūki Kamatani, 2015) and Boku ga Otto ni Deau made/Until I Meet My Husband (by Nanasaki Ryousuke).

In conclusion, it must be said that even though Japan is still a pretty patriarchal and hetero-normative society, that has yet to develop in terms of LGBT+ rights, it’s pretty interesting how daring were some Japanese people in the past to write stories about queer characters. Hopefully, these days we can get to see a more accurate queer representation in manga and anime that could help someone who can relate to these stories or give the courage to some others to live their life more freely and be themselves.

by Francisco Vásquez Gatica