Do You Have Any Realistically Portrayed Lgbt Manga/anime Recommendations?

Do you have any realistically portrayed lgbt manga/anime recommendations?

Sure! I’ll put stars next to my favorites.

L

★ Aoi Hana (manga/partial anime adaptation) By the same author as Wandering Son. While on the surface there’s not much that sets it apart from other yuri series, I love Shimura Takako’s writing style, and for the most part it feels really believable, and deals a lot with struggling to understand your sexuality and doubting yourself. One of my favorite yuri series.

Bloom into You (manga/partial anime adaptation) I’ve only watched the recent anime, and plan to read the manga sometime soon, but it’s pretty good. If you want something a little more melodramatic, this is a good pick

★ Flip Flappers (anime) A surreal magical girl show with great animation using an alternate world to metaphorically portray the characters’ emotions and insecurities, and tell the story of a girl struggling with internalized homophobia, and with becoming an adult who doesn’t know what to do with her life. One of my all time favorites.

Kase-san series (manga/anime ova) Honestly think this one is kinda overrated, but if you want something super sweet it’ll probably be up your alley, and it goes beyond high school so that’s nice too.

★ Kobayashi-san chi no Maid Dragon (anime) I’m not sure I’d call this realistic, but it’s still one of my all time favorites. While Kobayashi and Tohru have yet to officially get together, Tohru is head over heels for Kobayashi and they basically form a family and adopt a young dragon girl named Kanna. It’s really sweet, and deals with themes of found family and the anxieties of being different and facing prejudice. There’s also a manga but I really wouldn’t recommend it. There’s a lot of gross stuff in it that the anime tones down considerably, and the anime is infinitely better at hitting its emotional moments and focuses a lot more on that.

Liz and the Blue Bird (anime) This film is a spinoff of Hibike Euphonium, but you don’t need to have seen that to enjoy it (I haven’t.) It’s a beautifully directed and animated coming of age story. Similar to Euphonium (from what I’ve heard) it doesn’t technically ever move beyond subtext but it is VERY heavy subtext and very emotional.

My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness (manga) An autobiographical manga about the author’s struggles with depression, sexuality, and loneliness. If you’re a depressed lesbian, or just depressed, or have ever been depressed, it’ll be pretty relatable. 

★ Revolutionary Girl Utena (anime) The magnum opus of an absolute titan of lgbt anime, Kunihiko Ikuhara. While it’s not super explicit until later on in the series, and in the film, the series is queer to it’s core. It’s very surreal and metaphorical and deals a lot with themes of gender expression, prejudice, and compulsory heteronormativity.

Yuri Kuma Arashi (anime) Another yuri anime by Ikuhara. While not as long and dense with themes as Utena, it still shows off Ikuhara’s brilliant directing style with a more compact story about lesbian love and facing prejudice.

G 

(unfortunately, given that most m/m manga/anime is made by and for straight women, and are pretty problematic, there isn’t nearly as much worth recommending, but I know a handful of really good ones.)

Ganbare! Nakamura-kun!! (manga) Short and sweet. Just a cute good time.

★ Otouto no Otto (manga)This is a story about a Japanese man and his daughter meeting his dead brother’s Canadian husband when he comes over and stays at their house for a few weeks. It’s largely about the main character’s growth, as he learns to become more accepting of gay people, and realizes that he had distanced himself from his brother when he came out to him. 

★ Sarazanmai (anime) Another anime by Ikuhara, and possibly his weirdest, though also possibly his most straight forward. Again, while not as dense with themes as Utena, it’s a blast and features three well handled gay male characters in its main cast.

★ Shimanami Tasogare (manga) One of my all time favorites. This manga is about a gay teenage boy who is suicidal at the beginning of the story, after being outed to his class, but finds support in a local building restoration group full of lgbt people. This manga has the most diverse cast of lgbt characters I’ve ever seen in a manga, featuring multiple in addition to a gay protagonist, it also features an older lesbian couple, an elderly gay couple, a kid questioning their gender, and an agender/ace character. It’s all handled incredibly well too. 

B

(It’s also kind of hard to categorize many manga/anime as bisexual, as it’s rare for romance stories to focus on a protagonist in multiple relationships, much less multiple relationships with people of more than one gender. Also many manga/anime that do feature bisexual characters seem to fit better in other categories, as that’s what they focus on more) 

★ Ohana Holoholo (manga) Another favorite. This one is about a pair of ex girlfriends (both of whom are bi) living together and raising one of their kids. I’m a sucker for stories about parenting, and it’s always nice to see a manga about older queer women.

★ Himegoto: Juukyuusai no Seifuku (manga) This one is a little hard to categorize, it’s been a while since I read it but I think the main character was bi, so I’m putting it here. Anyway this manga features a tomboy who wants to be more feminine and a trans girl, both in college. What really drew me in to it was how they support each other in their goals, and I really enjoyed it. However as a warning this manga does feature some darker themes. There’s another main character who is a woman who sells her body while passing herself off as a 15 year old girl, as an unhealthy coping mechanism to deal with trauma. Obviously this aspect of the manga can be pretty upsetting and I wouldn’t read it if you can’t handle that.

★ Revolutionary Girl Utena (anime) Utena is a yuri anime, however it’s hard to tell if Utena is bi or if her interest in men was only a result of compulsory heterosexuality. Regardless, I’m putting it here too depending on how you view her sexuality, and there’s a few other characters who could very likely be considered bi too.

T

★ Bokura no Hentai (manga) This is a story about a young trans girl, named Marika, meeting and becoming friends with two crossdressing boys. Marika is actually handled really well, I absolutely love her, and watching her growth was the main appeal of the manga for me. However the two crossdressing boys aren’t handled nearly as well, both fitting into the cliche of crossdressing as a result of a tragic backstory. However one of them is also gay though, so that’s cool. 

The Bride was a Boy (manga) This is an autobiographical manga about a trans woman, her transition, her relationship, and her marriage. It’s really cute and sweet, and is also meant to be educational for non trans readers.

Claudine…! (manga) The first ever manga to focus on a trans protagonist, created by the same author as the shoujo classic, Rose of Versailles. It’s about a trans man fighting to be seen as a man, his relationships with women, and his time in therapy. For the time it’s handled surprisingly well, however, unfortunately it ends tragically, and I’m not sure if that was due to pressure from the publishers/editors, or the author’s original intent influenced by other lgbt literature of the time.

★ Fukakai na Boku no Subete wo (manga) Another favorite. This manga is about a boy inviting a nonbinary classmate to work at the Otokonoko maid cafe that his trans sister runs, and before long, a relationship blooms between the two. It features a diverse cast of trans and gender nonconforming characters, all of which is handled really well, and it shows how establishments like Otokonoko cafes can serve as a form of empowerment and community for lgbt people.

★ Hourou Musuko (manga/partial anime adaptation) Another one of my all time favorites. Hourou Musuko, or Wandering Son, is about a pair of trans kids, one a trans girl, and one a trans boy, growing up and supporting each other, from elementary school through high school. While there are certainly some problematic aspects, this is generally regarded as one of if not the best trans manga out there. It does an incredibly good job of endearing you to the characters and showing their struggles. It was the first time that I had ever found myself relating so hard to a character’s experience with gender, and it does an excellent job of portraying dysphoria. However as a warning, the ending of the manga kinda fucks up the trans boy character by having him detransition, and imo the manga kinda goes downhill in the high school arc in general. If you think the ending will upset you too much, maybe only read through the middle school arc, or just watch the anime.

Kanojo ni Naritai Kimi to Boku (manga) This is a pretty new manga, but really promising. It’s about a trans girl transitioning in a new high school, with the help of her childhood best friend, who is secretly in love with her. When she immediately faces prejudice and bullying, the best friend, in order to support her, decides to don the male uniform, and protect her.

QIA+

IS: Otoko demo Onna demo Nai Sei (manga) Honestly I don’t think this one is very good, but I wanted to include it because as far as I know it’s the only manga to ever focus on intersex issues. The start of the manga was actually pretty good, but it goes downhill in the highschool arc which if I remember right, covers about 2/3 of the series.

Otokonoko Doushi Renaichuu (manga) Another autobiographical manga, this time about a former crossdressing, otokonoko porn star and his trans girlfriend. If you like The Bride was a Boy, you might like this too, although it’s definitely lewder. 

10 camping tips

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