Yuri!!! on ICE
If you are a big (or even moderate) anime fan, you have probably heard about Yuri!!! on Ice. It is a gay boy anime show about a Japanese figure skater called Yuri. After hitting a low point in his career, Yuri considers retiring, but then a miracle happens. His idol Viktor Nikiforov sees a viral video of Yuri performing Viktor’s figure skating routine. Viktor, who is a Russian world champion in figure skating, thinks that the best part of his career is already behind him, so on a whim decides to move to Japan and become Yuri’s coach. Yuri!!! on ICE is a great romantic show that does a great job of showing a gay relationship, and its beautiful animation, choreography, and music make it even better. If you are interested in sports anime, start here!
Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl© Poster. The poster art copyright is believed to belong to the distributor of the film, the publisher of the film or the graphic artist. Source: TMDb
Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl
Unfortunately, there are not many transgender anime series, but you can still find some amazing LGBTQ anime series with transgender characters. One of them is Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl. At the beginning of the show, we meet Hazumu, who is a shy, heartbroken boy with low self-esteem. But Hazumu’s life changes forever when he’s hit by a spaceship that can only bring him back to life as a woman. Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl is an incredible story of coming to terms with yourself and your gender identity, so it’s a much must watch show for every queer person and ally.
Ouran High School Host Club© Poster. The poster art copyright is believed to belong to the distributor of the film, the publisher of the film or the graphic artist. Source: TMDb
Ouran High School Host Club
Ouran High School Host Club is one of the best anime series of all time. It follows a girl called Haruhi, a scholarship student in a prestigious high school, who ends up “accidentally” becoming a member of the prestigious school’s all-male host club where boys entertain their female classmates. There’s always something going on in the club, and some scenes might make you laugh out loud. While Ouran High School Host Club is not necessarily gay anime or lesbian anime, it has several LGBTQ+ characters and frequently touches on topics like sexual orientation and gender identity. Although the show has 26 episodes, once you get into it, you’ll wish there were many more.
Wandering Son© Poster. The poster art copyright is believed to belong to the distributor of the film, the publisher of the film or the graphic artist. Source: TMDb
Wandering Son
Wandering Son is another great LGBTQ+ anime series with not just one, but two transgender protagonists. Shuuichi is a boy who wishes he were a girl and Shuuichi’s classmate Yoshino is a girl who wishes she were a boy. Alongside each other, they explore their gender identities, come out to people around them, and develop romantic feelings for other people. Both of them are just starting puberty, which makes Wandering Son one of the very few shows that depict what is like to be a transgender teenager in a very accurate and delicate way. For example, two characters are represented as gender nonconforming in the same episode. ⠀⠀
Citrus© Poster. The poster art copyright is believed to belong to the distributor of the film, the publisher of the film or the graphic artist. Source: TMDb
Citrus
Citrus is a lesbian anime series centered around the relationship of two high-school students. After her mom has remarried, Yuzu enrolls in a new school, which turns out to be a conservative all-girls school. To put it mildly, she’s not thrilled about it. She has a confrontation with Mei, the student council president who also happens to be her new step-sister. Yuzu and Mei are very different, so their first impression of each other is not very positive. However, as time passes, their feelings for each other change a lot. Besides being an exciting love story, Citrus has also got beautiful animation and interesting side characters. Warning: it’s so addictive, you might end up buying the manga as well. It’s a great representation of Japan’s popular light novels.
№6© Poster. The poster art copyright is believed to belong to the distributor of the film, the publisher of the film or the graphic artist. Source: TMDb
№6
If gay anime series about high school students are not your cup of tea, don’t worry — we’ve got something for you too. Actually, we bet that yaoi series №6 is like nothing you’ve ever seen before. №6 is the name of a “perfect city” where Shion, a boy from an affluent family, gives shelter to Yazumi, a young boy who turns out to be an escapee from a local prison. Over the years, they get to know each other, become friends, and eventually, develop romantic feelings for each other, so their love story doesn’t feel too rushed or too cheesy. There’s a sci-fi aspect to №6 as well — together, Shion and Yazumi uncover the city’s secrets and realize it’s not so perfect after all.
Bloom Into You© Poster. The poster art copyright is believed to belong to the distributor of the film, the publisher of the film or the graphic artist. Source: TMDb
Bloom Into You
If you’re looking for a heart-warming anime lesbian series, look no further than Bloom Into You. Bloom Into You is a new yuri series that tells the story of two high school students, Touko and Yuu. Yuu is a first-year student and she can’t quite grasp what love is yet. At school, she meets Touko, who is a confident second-year transfer student, and the two girls almost instantly realize how much they have in common. As they grow fonder of each other, Yuu realizes, upon deep self reflection that Touko is not quite the person she seems to be. While it may seem like the plot of Bloom Into You is kind of basic, it’s one of the best lesbian animes out there and one of the most touching love stories we have seen in a while.
Kakegurui© Poster. The poster art copyright is believed to belong to the distributor of the film, the publisher of the film or the graphic artist. Source: TMDb
Kakegurui
While it can be pretty hard to find gay anime shows on Netflix, there are some gay anime Netflix shows with queer characters and anime lesbians. One of the most exciting ones is Kakegurui. While Kakegurui is a show set in a high school, Hyakkaou Private Academy is far from an ordinary high school because gambling is the most important subject for its students. The show follows a group of girls who are exceptionally good at poker. They all have their tricks, and they know how to win, even5 though their methods are quite unconventional, to say the least. While Kakegurui is not necessarily gay anime, girls at Hyakkaou get united by their craziness and eventually develop feelings for each other.
Gravitation© Poster. The poster art copyright is believed to belong to the distributor of the film, the publisher of the film or the graphic artist. Source: TMDb⠀
Gravitation
Gravitation can sometimes work in mysterious ways. It can draw two completely different people to each other and change their lives forever. And that’s exactly what Gravitation is about. Shuuichi is thrilled — his band, where he is the singer and the lyricist, has signed a contract with a record company. They are preparing their first single, but Shuuichi just can’t get the lyrics right. One day, by some twist of fate (and gravitation), Shuuichi meets Eiri Yuki, one of the most prominent Japanese romance writers. The relationship between Eiri and Shuuichi is messy, complicated, and mysterious, but most importantly, it’s full of love.
Revolutionary Girl Utena
Revolutionary Girl Utena is a classic anime originally released in the 1990’s. This series focuses on deconstructing and reconstructing the roles of gender assignment, romance, and sexuality. This makes it one of the most important pieces of classic LGBTQ media.
Revolutionary Girl Utena begins with a young Utena grieving her parents’ deaths. During this brief period, a wandering prince comforts her and hands her a ring with a rose crest on it. Inspired by the compassion of the prince she decides that she will also become a prince charming.
Later on in life she discovers the true meaning of the ring, which makes her a duelist, who is somebody who must participate in a battle to be with the rose bride.
This is just a brief summary of this series, as many of the stories and images are more surreal or allegorical in nature. The messages displayed in the Revolutionary Girl Utena series that revolve around sapphic romances, gender dysphoria, and gender roles, are much better received when the series is watched.
Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon may not be explicitly categorized as a queer anime, but that doesn’t mean that this series doesn’t possess many of the most iconic queer characters. This series follows Usagi, a perfectly normal teenage girl who just wants to live her life. She describes herself as being clumsy and a bit of a crybaby, a very common set of traits of many of the leading ladies in the genre of magical girl anime.
After meeting a black cat with a crescent moon-shaped spot on her forehead Usagi is given a brooch that transforms her into the guardian of love and justice, Sailor Moon. She along with all of the other members of the sailor scouts are tasked with working together to protect their homes and loved ones.
This anime is a favorite among those in the lgbtq community for a variety of reasons. For many, this anime was likely their first time seeing a lesbian couple in the media. Haruka Tenou, and Michiru Kairou, also known as Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, are lovers. Some who read this may argue that this is not true, but that is because you likely watched the American Dub when you were younger. Due to censoring laws in the United States back in the 1990s, they were not allowed to depict the two as lovers. So they opted to depict them as cousins instead.
Despite the confusing messaging from the original American Dub, Sailor Moon is an anime in which the characters work to protect others in the name of love and acceptance. Which is an excellent metaphor for the mission that many of the members of the lgbtq community go through every single day.
Paradise Kiss
Paradise Kiss is an anime series based around one character who is seeking out her purpose in life. She is approached by students from a prestigious school of fashion design and asked to model items from their clothing line. The show has received critical acclaim for it’s thoughtful and realistic portrayals of LGBTQ+ characters, including openly bisexual George.
Yuri is My Job
A relatively new anime in the batch for yuri, “Yuri is My Job” is an anime that follows Hime Shirayaki as she finds herself working at a theatrical maid cafe that showcases the daily lives of girls living in shoujo storylines. Along with her coworkers Mistuki and Kanoko, they are tasked with giving their customers the Liebe Girls Academy Experience. The three girls play the parts of a complicated love triangle for their audience at the school-themed maid cafe, however, there seems to be much more than meets the eye when it comes to their own interests in each other.
Onimai! I’m Now Your Sister!
Whether you have issues with your gender identity or not almost everyone has thought about the scenario of what they would do if they were to wake up as the opposite gender. In this anime, that is exactly what happens to a college shut-in by the name of Mahiro Oyama.
Mahiro Oyama is a 20-year-old college student who becomes a social recluse after a series of events leading him to believe he is a failure. Constantly compared to his genius younger sister Mihari he shuts himself in his room and stops taking care of himself. Mihari, being a self-described mad scientist creates a drug that can change the physical sex and attributes of a person. After tricking her brother into taking the medication he wakes up as a young middle school girl. It is later revealed in the series that her ulterior motive for giving her brother the drug was to help pull him out of his depression and give him another chance to live his life.
Throughout the series, Mahiro gets used to their new body and way of life. They make friends with other girls, begin to think of themselves in both feminine and masculine ways, and even begin to experience instances of gender dysphoria in both masculine and feminine senses. Although you won’t explicitly find a same-sex relationship in the Onimai series this anime serves as an excellent allegory for those who may or may not be trans but are still questioning their identity. Mahiro goes through many of the transgender experiences that many of those who are questioning their gender fluidity tend to go through. Although Mahiro is not exactly a trans woman throughout the series they do go through many of the same emotions that many trans people do go through.
Sasaki and Miyano
Sasaki and Miyano is a Queer Anime that follows the blossoming gay relationship between two high school students who share the name of the anime. Sasaki is a flamboyant, and outgoing delinquent who takes an interest in Miyano, a shy and easily flustered young man who secretly has a love for boys love. As they spend time with each other their friendship morphs into a more romantic relationship. The show very sweetly portrays Sasaki and Miyano as two young people in love.
Banana Fish
While most anime that takes place in the real world tends to take place in Japan there are a few that take place in other parts of the world. Banana Fish is set in 1980s New York and follows the story of Ash Lynx. Haunted by his traumatic past, Ash focuses on trying to find out the truth about a street drug called “Banana Fish” a harsh drug that he believes is the cause of his brother’s death. While trying to find out the truth, he meets Eiji Okumura, a young photographer from Japan who becomes his closest friend. Throughout the series, the two develop a boys love that goes beyond the culture and language barriers that they experience.
Sweet Blue Flowers
This anime follows the the story of Fumi, an introvert who enjoys reading, and Akira a long lost best friend, who she reconnects with. Before starting high school Fumi confesses her love to someone, but is heart broken when she is rejected by them. As the two reconnect they help each other through the issues that romance brings to them and even begin to develop a relationship of their own. Many who watch this anime say that it is one of the most honest stories about lesbian romance as it showcases many of the joys, and pains that come with being a gay or bisexual woman. This is a great yuri anime to watch if you are interested in girls love without a creepy, voyeuristic male gaze.
Princess Jellyfish
Princess Jellyfish is about a socially awkward young woman who is obsessed with jellyfish. After she tries to rescue a jellyfish outside of a pet store, she befriends a stylish princess who is actually a trans lady. They become roommates, and their friendship evolves and they become best friends as Kuranosuke Koibuchi encourages the main character to come out of her shell.
Do It Yua Serufu!
A play on the phrase “Do it yourself” this anime is a relatively short watch with only 12 episodes but worth it. It follows the story of a group of high school girls who are part of a do-it-yourself crafting club. They spend their afternoons creating crafts, teaching each other how to build things, and just spending time with one another. The bonds the girls create with one another are very sapphic, as they all show their love for one another through emotional and physical affection. Because this anime is technically not in the yuri genre it is free from the stereotypical expectations that are formed in the genre, therefore making it a more realistic portrayal of love between girls.
Princess Knight
This is quite possibly one of, if not the oldest lgbtq anime in existence. Airing back in 1967 this was one of the first animes to actively challenge the idea of gender norms, and showcase non binary representation. Princess Sapphire is born with the body of a girl, and an intersex heart in a land where women are not allowed to lead. With this they choose to lean more into their masculine traits as they battle against those who wish to give them the gender reveal they do not wish to have. Throughout the series, Sapphire makes friends, helps the people of their kingdom, and attempts to find their place in the patriarchal society of their kingdom.
Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid
Have you ever wanted a dragon to be your maid? Well, this happened to Miss Kobayashi, a salaried worker who happened to help a dragon who had a sword impaled through her while wandering around drunk. Tohru is so moved by Kobayashi’s compassion that she quickly falls in love with Kobayashi, and convinces to let her stay as her personal maid as a thank you. Throughout the series, Tohru constantly proclaims her love for Kobayashi, and Kobayashi returns that love in her own much more quiet methods.
My New Boss is Goofy
After being abused heavily by his previous boss Kentaro Momose develops severe anxiety that leaves him unable to work due to terrible stress-induced stomach aches. At his new job, he is nervous about his new boss by the name of Shirosaki. However, this nervousness is quickly washed away by the simple fact that his new boss along with being incredibly kind, is actually a complete airhead. This series follows their relationship as friends and coworkers and is guaranteed to lift your spirits after a bad day.
Tokyo Godfathers
This highly acclaimed movie is considered to be one of the best LGBTQ anime movies ever to be made. It follows the story of three homeless people living on the streets of Japan. Gin the alcoholic, Miyuki a teenage runaway, and Hana a former drag queen. On Christmas Eve the three discover a newborn infant in the trash and begin to search for her parents. On the other side of the story, the child’s parents are also desperately searching for them. Although this is not a romance anime this film is so widely acclaimed that we had to put it on the list.
Honorable Mentions
Are you interested in exploring other examples of queer anime. These anime TV shows are great examples of high-quality LGBTQ anime.
Mobile Suit Gundam
This series possesses openly queer characters who end up getting married in later versions of the series. However, the series does not put their relationship in only a minor frame of focus and is easy to miss if you aren’t paying attention.
Steven Universe
Technically not an anime, however, the art stylings and story are heavily influenced by anime. This anime showcases many different lgbt characters, as well as a few same-sex couples. Such as Ruby and Sapphire who fuse to create Garnet. It also explores the more turbulent side of a lesbian relationship by having Jasper and Lapis fuse to create Malachite who becomes an example of a toxic and abusive relationship. This animated series is a strong favorite for many who are lgbt as it showcases nearly every single sexuality in a way that negates harmful stereotypes and is easy to digest.
Junjo Romantica
For many who are Gen Z or Millenial, this is probably the most well-known Yaoi genre anime around. It follows the story of 3 different couples in a romantic comedy. As each of the main characters live their everyday lives they grow closer to the ones that they love. Unfortunately there are many issues with this anime. Due to the time that the series was produced the relationships between each of the male characters are deemed to be an example of a not so healthy relationship. Lack of communication, concerning age differences, harassment, and more.
K-On
Many people dismiss K-On as another example of Japanese anime with shallow but sweet girl characters doing cute things. However, there is strong character development and plot continuity. The main characters in the show join the light music club at their school to ensure it isn’t abolished. The only problem, they are the sole members of the club and none of them have musical experience. The series evolves around their developing talents and the relationships between Yui and the other characters.
A Silent Voice
This film follows a reformed bully who has now become a social outcast. He reconnects with a deaf girl he used to bully because he wants to make amends to people he has hurt before committing suicide. Although it isn’t explicitly a queer movie, it is popular with LGBTQ+ audiences as the themes of bullying, rejection, suicide, and redemption resonate.
Some of The Best Anime Movies And Shows Are Queer at Heart
There’s a reason why there are so many people in the anime fandom who identify as LGBTQ+. This genre is lightyears ahead when it comes to representing members of the queer spectrum. Why not celebrate Pride month by checking out a few of these recommendations.
Share this post:
