You don’t have to get very far in any shounen-ai anime before there’s a scene of sexual assault. In addition to this being an extremely narrow and increasingly incorrect portrayal of gay dynamics, it’s also a very boring way to think about gay characters. He is almost always soft skinned, effeminate, and sometimes even voiced by a woman. It also reinforces the intrinsically misogynistic stereotype that the bottom in a gay relationship is the “woman.” The uke character is frail, too weak to resist the advances of his seme. The term “recruiter” is used to describe older gay men that lure otherwise straight boys into a life of perversion, and the relationships in shounen-ai perpetuate this perceived dynamic.
There’s a damaging and untrue stereotype that gay men are predators, on the prowl for younger boys.
Haru and Ren in 'Super Lovers' have a significant age difference that is noted as taboo in the show. This is often spelled out clearly, that this 16 year old boy looks like a 12 year old. They may technically be an adult, or likely a teen, but they have the body of an early pubescent boy. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this, but in boy love anime the uke character is often presented as VERY young. There is always a distinct seme (top) and uke (bottom) in the relationships, which creates a distinct power dynamic. One of the most obvious and apparent tropes in boy love shows are that the main couple have a substantial age difference. So let’s break down these common themes and why they’re so damaging to queer representation. And in the case of shounen-ai, these tropes become deeply troubling instances that present a warped and dangerous view of gay relationships. Romance anime has its own set of tropes, prevalent in straight and gay stories alike. Oftentimes they’re somewhat problematic fan service, like magical girl costume changes. Īnime tropes can be benign, like high school students running with toast in their mouth. They’re in every anime, from Dragon Ball Z, to My Hero Academia, to Yu-Gi-Oh. Nearly all shounen-ai anime has the same issues and problems, thanks to their reliance on tropes.Īnime fans are well aware of how prevalent tropes are. On the surface, boy love anime are presented as flowery love stories about young men discovering their feelings for one another, but all too quickly these stories take dark turns. Popular shounen-ai titles: Love Stage!!, Super Lovers, World's Greatest First Love
CUTE GAY ANIME HUG FULL
It’s part of a sub genre of anime called shounen-ai or “boy love.” Crunchyroll, and other anime streaming services are full of these shows, and they all have similar names: Love Stage, Super Lovers, World’s Greatest First Love. Nothing in the pink and flowery opening title sequence or key art implies that Love Stage is a story about sexual abuse. It’s an incredibly shocking scene for an anime that promotes itself as a saccharine sweet love story. When he realizes he has feelings for another man, Ryoma goes to Izumi’s house to confront him, forces Izumi to undress… and ultimately tries to rape him. Thanks to a cross dressing mishap, handsome celebrity Ryoma discovers his childhood crush, Izumi, is actually a boy.
These relationships vary in tone and intensity, but all of them make for excellent stories.In the anime Love Stage, Izumi and Ryoma are two star crossed lovers. Mitsuyo Akechi and Michi Inukai of A Centaur's Worries have a much more relaxed approach to love. They're just high school girlfriends who like each other, proving that gay relationships don't have to be dramatic to be worth showcasing. Ymir and Krista of Attack on Titan are forced into roles that don't suit them, but they find meaning and comfort in each other. Yuuri Katsuki and Victor Nikiforov of Yuri!!! on ICE are deeply committed and wholly in love, pushing each other to be their best selves both on and off the ice. That said, there are some awesome LGBTQ+ anime couples that serve as positive representations of their respective communities. When a relationship does blossom, they often follow unhealthy dynamics that aren't reflective of real-world relationships, relying instead on yaoi and yuri tropes. Non-binary anime characters, when they show up at all, often never experience requited love. LGBTQ+ relationships in anime either come across as tender or facetious.