There is a great divide between what is acceptable in anime and what is acceptable in real life. However, Funimation, another major anime streaming service continues to use gendered pronouns for non-binary characters in English dub and sub.ĭespite the queer themes in anime, Japan is still a very conservative country especially with regards to the LGBTQ+ community. Similarly, Nanachi from Made in Abyss (2017) also used they/them pronouns. More recently, when creating the English subtitles for Land of the Lustrous (2017), the translation team in Crunchyroll consulted the original manga author Haruko Ichikawa and decided to use they/them pronouns for the whole cast of genderless gem people. In Attack on Titan (2013), Hange was assigned she/her pronouns in the first season, but that translation was revoked after creator Hajime Isayama made it clear that Hange did not have a canon gender. Until the early 2010s, it was the default to assign a binary gender to characters whose genders were ambiguous, a tradition now overcome. Though there have been fewer cases of queer relationship censoring, pronoun usage has become the new battlefield. Since I have always considered the United States to be one of the most liberal and LGBTQ+ friendly countries in the world, these facts are quite ironic. But in 2019, Netflix received backlash for its re-translation of Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995) that erased potential romantic feelings between Shinji and Kaworu. In 2014, when Sailor Moon was re-dubbed, the translation team corrected and acknowledged the previous censorship. In recent years, things have been getting better. In Cardcaptor Sakura (1999), Nelvana Enterprises, the company that produced the first English adaptation, removed entire scenes from the show to disguise Tomoyo’s feelings towards Sakura and a romantic subplot between Yukito and Toya. Zoisite, another character from Sailor Moon, was changed to be female in order to heteronormalize his relationship with Kunzite. In Sailor Moon, dubbing company Optimum Productions censored the lesbian couple Neptune and Uranus and turned into cousins in the original English audio translations (dubs) and subtitles (subs). audiences, LGBTQ+ relationships in anime have been straight-washed. Some American queer-friendly cartoons like Steven Universe and She-Ra: Princess of Power were heavily influenced by the Japanese shōjo, or more specifically the magical girl genre, such as Sailor Moon (1992) and Revolutionary Girl Utena. Princess Knight (1967), for example, depicts a princess who possesses two hearts, one of a boy and one of a girl, and disguises herself as a prince who goes on adventures. Since the beginning of anime history in the mid-twentieth century, anime has played around with fluid gender expressions and queer relationships.
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media, queer characters in anime sometimes fall into the problematic tropes of the queer-coded villain or an “alien” non-binary identity. Do note that I use the phrase “relatively unproblematic” because there is no perfect representation of queer communities. This article hopes to shed light on queer representation in anime and its effects on western and eastern cultures.įirst off, let’s make it super straightforward: there are canon, relatively unproblematic queer characters and relationships in anime, and anyone who tells you otherwise is an ignorant moron. With such stark influence, many have come to criticize themes within popular anime/manga concerning gender and sexuality. With its extravagant colors and styles, anime/manga has shifted cultures across the world and defined identities and relationships. Additionally, if you find yourself distressed by any details, please seek confidential help at the National Sexual Assault Hotline: (800) 656-4673.ĭedication: I dedicate this article to my friends Katelyn, Jade, Alinne, and Gamze who helped me flesh out my ideas, and to Nico, Ly, Astrid, Luke, and Diana for making me fall in love with anime.
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To access these resources, please refer to the Exeter website’s “Contacts and Resources” page. Phillips Exeter has a number of resources for survivors in the Exeter community.
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Content warning: This article mentions queerphobia, sexual assault, and fetishization.