Ten Must-Watch Animes to Celebrate Pride Month
June is Pride Month, and if you’re looking for a few animes to watch to celebrate with the rest of your LBGTQ+ community, here are a few to start with.
No matter what genre of anime you prefer, there’s a representative and inclusive anime out there for you. You’ve probably seen at least a few on this list. But it’s never a bad time for a re-watch or to add the rest to your Crunchyroll queue.
Revolutionary Girl Utena
Utena Tenjou is a teenage girl whose aspirations to be a prince bring her to Ohtori Academy. Here she finds herself engaged to “Rose Bride” Anthy Himemiya after winning a duel. The plot gets weirder and queerer from there.
While Revolutionary Girl Utena doesn’t go out of its way to state that Utena and Anthy’s relationship is romantic, it’s one of those stories where the subtext and the text are separated by a paper-thin line. And Utena wants to be a prince. C’mon. If you want to watch a modern classic anime with a beautiful art style where women love and support each other with very sapphic overtones, spend a little while on Revolutionary Girl Utena.
Yuri on Ice
Yuri Katsuki is a competitive ice skater feeling the end of his career rapidly approaching when his idol, Victor, shows up seemingly out of nowhere and offers to be his new coach. The show is full of beautifully animated skating, international travel, and of course a building romance between the two main characters.
I was late to the party on this one, and if you’re somehow even later than me, I seriously cannot recommend this show enough. It’s funny, it’s pretty, and it’s so, so sweet. One day we’re supposed to be getting more Yuri On Ice!!! in the form of a movie. But information on that has been limited.
Sailor Moon
You know Sailor Moon. Everybody knows Sailor Moon. Pretty much the quintessential shoujo anime that even my grandparents are familiar with, Sailor Moon is almost impossible to have no knowledge of.
So you probably know that Sailors Neptune and Uranus have been in a relationship since their first appearance in 1994. But you may not be familiar with Haruka’s gender nonconformity, the gay relationship between Kunzite and Zoisite in the first season before the dub recast Zoisite as a woman, or the Sailor Starlights switching between male or female presentation at will. Sailor Moon is a show full of representation that almost never gets spoken about within the dialog because none of the characters care and all of the characters love and support their friends and fellow senshi no matter what.
The original is great, and a true classic and Sailor Moon Crystal has done such a lovely job of sticking faithfully to the manga. The final arc is was announced to be coming out as feature length films. The time of Sailor Moon is back.
Wandering Son
Wandering Son follows the friendship of Shuichi Nitori and Yoshino Takatsuki, who happen to be a trans girl and boy respectively. It’s a slow-paced and realistic story about relationships, acceptance, and the weirdness of puberty. Wandering Son gives voice to kids who may never see their stories told in popular media, and does so with kindness. This is a little slice of life, a little drama, and all beautifully soft and dream-like art.
Tokyo Godfathers
This one is a feature length film. Satoshi Kon directs anime of found family, love, determination, and optimism. One of the main cast, Hana, is a trans woman and honestly one of the highlights and most delightful parts of the entire movie.
That said, while the main characters and story overall believe in kindness, not all of the supporting characters do, so if you’re looking for a chance to pretend that transphobia doesn’t exist for two hours, this may not be it. If that realism isn’t a turn off though, this movie has so much heart and love to share with you.
Antique Bakery
A little more slice-of-life than some of the other animes featured today, Antique Bakery follows four men working in a patisserie. The LBGTQ+ relationships are a part of the story, but not often the main focus, making parts of this show feel very real and relatable. It’s one of those calming slice of life shows where things happen slowly as characters focus on their next bake and allow their friendships to evolve naturally, but it’s sweet and enjoyable. Like The Great British Baking Show with romantic plotlines.
Princess Knight
Before Utena or even Rose of Versailles (there’s a bonus recommendation for you; picture Utena but in 1790s France) there was Princess Knight. This 1967 series is a true classic, and I would have had a hard time recommending it before Ranking of Kings reminded us of how wonderful cutesy animation can be.
Sapphire is the princess of a kingdom that desperately wanted a prince. Luckily, Sapphire doesn’t see a great need to pick between feminine and masculine interests. Between a razor thin budget and the fact that this series is from the 1960s, it’s not always the easiest watch. But overall Princess Knight is lovely. Not to mention fascinating if you’re interested in the history of queer media.
Whispered Words
Sumika Murasame has a crush on her best friend and classmate Ushio Kazama, but is too afraid to confess her feelings because Ushio’s type is girls who are “cute and small” while Sumika is tall and outgoing. This is your average teen romance anime full of unrequited love, awkwardness, and friendship. But with the added twist of unpacking homophobia and being openly lesbian in Japan. Whispered Words is relatable and sweet and tackles a common story from an uncommon perspective.
Paradise Kiss
Yukari “Caroline” Hayasaka is a studious but bored high school senior who strikes up an unlikely friendship with fashion design students when she begins modeling for them. It’s a fun show with a lot of heart and a diverse cast of characters. Paradise Kiss features openly bisexual George Koizumi and trans Isabella Yamamoto. Stories about finding yourself and your identity as you approach adulthood are almost always relatable, and this one is no exception. Caroline struggles to find her identity with the support of her new friends who are all pretty comfortable on their own.
Princess Jellyfish
Princess Jellyfish is primarily a story of female friendships, special interests, and personal comfort. A group of “otaku” women live together with no men in a place of found family and personal growth. The characters are allowed to be unabashedly themselves, and all attempts to change them are entirely ignored. There is a romantic subplot. But perhaps the greatest issue with Princess Jellyfish is that they don’t do enough with it. Still, this is a show that can’t be recommended enough as part of your Pride Month watch list. You, your presentation, and your fashion are all wonderful the way they are. Celebrate them.
Which animes will you be tuning in for or re-watching this June? What else would you like to have seen on the list? Which anime has your favorite example of LGBT representation? Let us know in the comments!
Ja ne, adventurers!
