As society progresses, so does its media; an obvious fact when looking at LGBTQ representation in anime and how it has evolved over the past few years. While works such as Revolutionary Girl Utena, Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura were earlier works featuring same-gender pairings, the casual acceptance of queer characters and their relationships has blossomed with hit works such as Yuri!!! on Ice and Doukyuusei - Classmates. LGBTQ characters are also beginning to appear as casual side characters where their sexuality has nothing to do with their function, such as Shion and Yayoi in Psycho-Pass.
With all this new representation, perhaps it's time that a certain few LGBTQ manga got their turn in the spotlight. Here are six manga featuring same-gender couples that could make amazing anime series or movies.
Yuri Is My Job!
Yuri Is My Job! focuses on self-centered Hime when she begins to work at a cafe, where all the waitresses pretend to belong to an all-girls academy. A coworker puts on a show of being attracted to Hime while in front of customers, but the facade slips into hatred the moment they're out of the public eye. Hime's relationship with the cold and distant Mitsuki evolves as the past comes to light and the two begin to understand each other.
Yuri Is My Job!, which has eight volumes currently, is comedic but with a definite drama surrounding the romance, making it a possible replacement for Citrus, where issues of consent left many viewers unsatisfied. Where many manga on this list focus on sweet and simple love, Yuri Is My Job! could provide the drama that many viewers enjoy.
Stranger in the Spring Breeze
Stranger in the Spring Breeze is the direct follow-up to the manga Stranger by the Shore, which was adapted into the 2020 movie of the same name. The ongoing sequel manga follows couple Shun and Mio as they return to Shun's hometown, where he is forced to reconcile with the homophobia he faced there as a younger man. Stranger in the Spring Breeze is refreshing for its take on older characters -- Shun is now in his 30s -- still struggling with self-acceptance. The gentle love between Shun and Mio is also wonderful to see, as it's stable and relatively drama-free. They worry about not going on enough dates and about fixing broken bracelets.
For a slightly older LGBTQ audience, seeing Shun and Mio graduate from their 20s to their 30s and still have moments of doubt is reassurance that these feelings are normal -- that it's okay to still be hurt by your past but that love is also able to come at any age. This alone makes Stranger in the Spring Breeze a wonderful work to transform into anime, with an audience who wants and perhaps needs that message of validation and hope.
Kase-san
Kase-san and the Morning Glories is a delightful OVA featuring a sweet love story between two high school girls. However, the Kase-san manga series is a full five volumes, and an ongoing sequel manga, Kase-san and Yamada, would provide plenty of material for an anime series to compliment the OVA. Kase-san has an interesting history of being adapted into a music video first, but strong positive feedback to the music video gave the production crew the drive to complete the OVA.
Kase-san has already proven it has passionate fans, so an anime adaptation of the sequel series would likely be met with plenty of enthusiasm. The title is a wonderfully honest take on first love that treats Kase and Yamada no differently than any other young couple. For young girls, it could be invaluable in showing how normal and precious their feelings are, and which are nothing to be ashamed of.
Our Wonderful Days
Our Wonderful Days is similar to Kase-san in that it focuses on the sweet budding relationships between high school girls, both romantic and platonic. It's only three volumes, so would be perfect for a short series adaptation. What could set this potential anime apart is the secondary focus on small-town life that creates a slice-of-life feel, full of nostalgia for the simple parts of everyday life like train rides and the picking out vegetables.
In such a tumultuous time, a series about buying groceries while falling gently in love could resonate with audiences, and an anime that focuses once more on showing young viewers that their love is natural and good is always a welcome addition to LGBTQ anime as a whole.
Our Dining Table
Our Dining Table is a story of families -- a cruel family that spat out a son crippled with social anxiety, a family still trying to pick up the pieces from losing a loved one, and a new family created when the first two collide. The love story builds in a gradual, believable way based on time spent together, shared secrets, and learning how to love even though there's the possibility of loss. Our Dining Table is a single-volume manga that would make an ideal movie with romantic leads Yutaka and Minoru and the adorable, rambunctious toddler Tane, who is forever a third wheel in his older brother's eyes.
This manga would have strength as an anime by playing to a slightly older demographic of viewers in their young 20s, as well as telling a story that pays no heed to homophobia, either external or internal. It is simply a love story unhindered by societal expectations, and while this might be unrealistic for now, it's a lovely escape into a better world where a found family cooks good food together.
Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon
Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon is a manga for those who have ever wondered if they'll find a place to belong. Uno is trying everything to appear normal to those around her, fussing with makeup, attempting to keep up with fashion and utterly failing in her romantic endeavors with men. At the point of giving up, Uno meets Asahi, a coworker who presents a new stability in Uno's life that becomes something much more.
Even for those not seeking out an LGBTQ-specific title, Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon is a story of discovering who you are at an age when people already expect you to know the answer to that question. It speaks to anyone seeking their place in the world, granting hope in the small gesture of sharing food. The audience is there, waiting to be spoken to, and this manga could become the anime that finally reaches out.
With more and more studios taking on LGBTQ representation, it will be exciting to see if any of the above manga are eventually chosen for an anime adaptation. The genre is only growing, and we can look forward to what the industry has to offer in the years ahead, expecting variety, sincerity and acceptance of love in all its forms so that anime may continue pushing forward with progressive representation.
