Selenornis's Anime
These are anime that either have openly LBGTQ major characters or otherwise have enough subtext that a queer reading makes more sense than a cis/straight one (and that aren't wildly offensive, of course).
| Queer & Almost Queer▲▼ | Rating▲▼ |
| Blue Drop (TV) | Decent |
| Main characters are a canon lesbian couple. Aliens are all women and so take women for lovers. Treatment is respectful, neither othering nor objectifying its characters. | |
| Bodacious Space Pirates (TV) | So-so |
| Some subtext with the main character, but there is a canon lesbian couple whose relationship is relevant to the plot. Shouldn't be offensive to anyone. | |
| El Cazador de la Bruja (TV) | Good |
| Subtext between the leads, but nothing canon. Gets close with Ellis' jealousy when she thinks Nadie is interested in a guy. | |
| From the New World (TV) | Excellent |
| Pretty much everyone is bi. Saki/Maria and Shun/Satoru are both canon, though it's questionable whether Saki, Maria, or Shun ever truly felt romantic/sexual feelings for their same-gender partners. Overall implies that queerness is a phase, but this is somewhat countered by the frequent references to Satoru's feelings for Shun (and Saki's feelings for Maria, though that's more ambiguous). | |
| Jormungand (TV) | Decent |
| Valmet is openly attracted to Koko, and subtext suggests Koko may have feelings for her in return (if she feels any emotion at all, that is). Valmet's side is typically played for laughs/fanservice, but Koko's isn't, at least not anymore than any other time she displays emotion. | |
| Jormungand Perfect Order (TV) | Decent |
| Last Exile (TV) | Decent |
| Subtext with Dio and Lucciola and Dio and Claus (though only the former is reciprocated). A minor male character also openly expresses interest in Claus. The latter is arguably played for laughs because at that point it seems like half the cast wants Claus. | |
| No. 6 (TV) | Good |
| NezuShi. It's listed as shounen-ai and yaoi, the two get to kiss twice...so yeah, pretty damn canon. Treatment is respectful and realistic. Perhaps a tad problematic in the way it swipes some casual abuse under the rug, but it's roughly on par with Winry hitting Ed over the head with a wrench (i.e. no worse than a typical fictional het couple). | |
| Noir (TV) | Decent |
| Kiss between two female characters, one of whom also has heavy subtext with a third character. These three form the main trio, by the way. A little on the fanservice side, but not so far as to put off this queer female-ish viewer. | |
| Ouran High School Host Club (TV) | Decent |
| Lots of references to people being something other than cishet, but mostly played for laughs, like pretty much everything else in the series. Only canon queer characters are the Lobelia girls, who I personally found offensive. But, YMMV. | |
| Puella Magi Madoka Magica (TV) | Masterpiece |
| Pushes the boundaries between subtext and text. There's just barely enough wiggle room for people to say the girls are "just friends." But really, the writer said Kyoko & Sayaka were soulmates, and the trailer for the third movie references Homura's love for Madoka. Throw in what actually happens on screen, and no one would doubt that these relationships are canon if they were het couples. | |
| (The) Rose of Versailles (TV) | Good |
| Subtext between Rosalie and Oscar. Might also be able to make the case that Oscar isn't cis, but YMMV. The suggestion that Antoinette has had lesbian lovers becomes a huge scandal, but this is more than forgivable given the time period. | |
| Sasameki Koto (TV) | Good |
| Shoujo-ai/Yuri comedy. Although targeted at men, generally the relationship isn't used for fanservice. One character could potentially be read as trans*, but their dressing as a woman is typically played for laughs. | |
| Steins;Gate (TV) | Good |
| Rurako, who, as the show makes sure to remind you repeatedly, is AMAB, wishes to have been born with a typically female body and generally seems to like presenting as female. Played for laughs at first, but when the time comes for the narrative to get serious, zir gender identity is treated with respect. | |
| Wandering Son (TV) | Excellent |
| Features three characters who question their gender, two of them main characters and third a major supporting character. At the end of the anime, all three are portrayed as most likely being trans. One is then implied to be bi. Not only respectful, but also somewhat nuanced and realistic. | |
| xxxHOLiC (TV) | Good |
| Subtext with Watanuki and Doumeki. Treated more or less the same as Watanuki's other relationships. | |