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Negative Christian views on homosexuality disseminated throughout the country and public opinion of practices such as nanshoku/wakashudou declined until they were practically criminalized and banned.įor reference, both BL and yuri had their origins more than a century later, Homophobia in Japan has a long history, but one of the most impactful chapters was the Meiji Restoration (1867-68), when Japan’s isolationist foreign policy was abolished and rapid westernization began. Although it has a significant following, it’s definitely not popular enough to change the opinions on gay men of the entire anime fanbase, much less of Japanese society as a whole. So far, BL is published on specific magazines, and most anime adaptations are OVAs that aren’t aired on TV. The word “fujoshi” - used today to mean “female fan of BL” - even has seriously misogynistic origins.
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It’s still frowned upon, both for being gay content and for being mainly romance aimed at women. I’m seeing a worrying number of people not only saying that all BL and fujoshi promote homophobic stereotypes, but that BL is the primary or sole instigator of homophobia in Japanese society (excuse me, I choked on drink there).įor those who don’t know, Boy’s Love (BL) is a niche category of shoujo/josei manga that focuses on M/M relationships (commonly known in the west as “yaoi”, though that is a misnomer).
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Since BL and fujoshi discourse is the hot topic du jour, let’s talk a bit about gay stereotypes in Japanese manga and anime. This article will examine how 20 popular anime approach their queer characters.BL, “Okama”, and gay stereotypes in animanga As the LGBT rights movement picks up steam in Japan, there's thankfully been an increase in more respectful and believable portrayals. There's also the yaoi (boys love) and yuri (girls love) genres which focus on same-sex relationships, but often in a very unrealistic and fetishized manner. Sometimes these stereotypical characters are written well enough to transcend their problematic origins, other times they can be incredibly offensive (let's never speak of "Puri Puri Prisoner" from One Punch Man). Because of this, while including queer characters is less taboo, they're often portrayed as jokey stereotypes. While there isn't the same "think of the children!" panicking as in America, Japan still has a fair deal of cultural stigma around the queer community. There's been anime for adults almost as long as there's been anime, and kids anime have long featured openly queer characters.Īs for the quality of queer representation in anime, it's a mixed bag. In Japan, however, neither of obstacles exist. Thankfully that first obstacle started being challenged in the '90s with shows like The Simpsons and South Park, and the second obstacle's being challenged now thanks to shows like Steven Universe and The Loud House. Until recently, queer representation in American animation has faced two ridiculous obstacles: the idea that cartoons are just for kids, and the idea that it's inappropriate to expose kids to the existence of queer people. In terms of sheer quantity, there are a lot more queer characters in anime than there are in American cartoons.