Summary
Since its early days,animehas never been a stranger to havingLGBTQ+ contentas a focal point. The genres ofyaoiandyuriare ones that explicitly revolve around same-sex relationships between men and women, and even anime that aren’t explicitly part of either genre sometimes explore LGBTQ+ themes, especially in recent years.
While far from perfect, anime has improved its handling of LGBTQ+ representation over the years, and 2024 has been no exception. Most of the anime that either aired or will air in 2024 are ones with typical romance dynamics, but amid all that,2024 has many greatLGBTQ+ animeeither airing at the time of writing or set to air later in the year.
All of that makes for great LGBTQ+ representation in anime, and with all of them having some combination of great stories and visuals, there are plenty of reasons to watch every one of them.
This article is subject to change based on future announcements and how certain anime might develop over their runs.
Cherry Magic Got a Lot Of Mileage Out of a Classic Internet Joke
Anime series by Satelight; Based on the manga by Yuu Toyota
Satelight’sCherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!plays into the joke that a person becomes a wizard if they’re still a virgin when they turn 30, which is exactly what happens to Kiyoshi Adachi. Adachi developed the power to read minds, and that caused him to learn that his co-worker, popular ladies man Yuichi Kurosawa, was secretly in love with him, their relationship slowly changing as a result of his newfound knowledge.
Given the ridiculous source of its premise,Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!always does a great job of having fun with its comedy, and the heartwarming nature of the story and the cast dynamics add even more to its overarching entertainment value. Overall, it’s a series with an entertaining take on same-sex relationships between men, and it was a great watch during its winter run.
Gushing Over Magical Girls Was Far Better than Anyone Expected
Anime series by Asahi Production; Based on the manga by Akihiro Ononaka
Asahi Production’sGushing over Magical Girlsstars Utena Hiiragi, a massive fan of the magical girl team Tres Magia who immediately jumps at the chance to become a magical girl just like them. Utena, however, was recruited into Enormeeta, the evil magical girls who oppose Tres Magia, and whenever Utena fights as Magia Baiser, she can’t stop herself from giving into her sadistic urges and subjecting Tres Magia to various BDSM-style tortures.
Despite the incredibly inappropriate nature of its story,Gushing over Magical Girlshas a surprisingly thoughtful exploration of BDSM culture and sex positivity, two areas rarely ever discussed in media, and doing that through same-sex relationships added an extra layer of uniqueness to it all. Add in its stellar comedy and fight scenes, andGushing over Magical Girlswas the breakout hit of the winter 2024 season of anime that’s sure not to be forgotten anytime soon.
Whisper Me A Love Song’s Take on Romance Is a Breath Of Fresh Air
Anime series by Cloud Hearts & Yokohama Animation Laboratory; Based on the manga by Eku Takeshima
Cloud Hearts and Yokohama Animation Laboratory’sWhisper Me a Love Songis a new rock band animethat stars Himari Kino, a girl who falls in love with the singing voice of Yori Asanagi after watching her perform with her band. Yori, however, misunderstood that as a genuine confession of love and fell in love with Himari because of it, and while the misunderstanding was cleared up, Yori still wanted to make Himari fall in love with her for real.
Thanks to its incorporation of music into the story and how Yori and Himari get together before the end of the story,Whisper Me a Love Songstands out fromyuristories and romance anime, in general, in all the best ways. Massive production issues, unfortunately, leave it lacking from a visual standpoint, but the excellent cast and story more than make up for it, so it’s still a great watch for fans of LGBTQ+ anime.
Tadaima, Okaeri Makes a Divisive Writing Trope Surprisingly Wholesome
Anime by Studio Deen; Based on the manga by Ichi Ichikawa
Studio Deen’sTadaima, Okaeriis an Omegaverse story about the couple of Hiromu, an Alpha, and Masaki, an Omega, who have married and had children despite society’s views on mating with other classes. Not wanting their children to deal with the harassment from their peers, Hiromu and Masaki move to a new neighborhood that’s more accepting of them, finally allowing them to raise their children in a loving community.
While the Omegaverse is a very controversial topic in fiction, both professional and amateur,Tadaima, Okaeriuses the Omegaverse as a basis for a touching story of same-sex relationships and how people in one start a family, all of which is a subject that’s great to see being discussed in media. Even if someone isn’t a fan of the Omegaverse, if they’re looking for an overall heartwarming story of an unconventional family,Tadaima, Okaerimakes for a great watch.
Girls Band Cry Is Groundbreaking in Both Romance & Visuals
Anime series by Toei Animation; Directed by Kazuo Sakai
Toei Animation’sGirls Band Cryis centered around Nina Iseri, a high school dropout who moved to Tokyo to escape her past and pursue a music career. There, Nina meets four other girls with similarly hard lives, and as they all bond together over their various circumstances, they form the band Togenashi Togeari as a means of fighting back against everything that’s been keeping them down.
Girls Band Cryquickly establishes its LGBTQ+ content with its discussion of homosexuality in episode #1, and it all builds up to Nina confessing her love for Momoka, later in the series. That’s surprisingly straightforward for an anime not explicitly marketed asyuri, and even more than that,Girls Band Cryoffers a great story of music and challenging societal norms with surprisingly great CGI, so even those who aren’t looking for LGBTQ+ anime are sure to get a lot out of it.
Jellyfish Can’t Swim In The Night Is One of Spring 2024’s Best Anime
Anime series by Doga Kobo; Directed by Ryohei Takeshita
Doga Kobo’sJellyfish Can’t Swim in the Nightis an impressive slice-of-life animestarring Mahiru Kozuki, a former artist who retired after her friends made fun of her work. One day, Mahiru meets Kano Yamanouchi, a former pop idol and avid fan of Mahiru’s art, and after Kano inspired Mahiru to get back into art, the two of them, along with a genius pianist and popular VTuber, come together to form the anonymous artist group JELEE and quickly take social media by storm.
WhileJellyfish Can’t Swim in the Nightseemed like another anime where the female characters are simply overly affectionate with each other, everything following Kano kissing Mahiru in episode #5 made it clear thatJellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night’s main relationship is explicitly romantic. Beyond that, the series boasts strong character writing and creative visuals, and it’s easily one of the best anime of the spring 2024 season.
Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night
Cast
Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night revolves around four young women in Shibuya who form JELEE, an anonymous artist group. Through their collaboration, an artist, a retired idol, a V-tuber, and a composer explore self-expression and embark on a journey of self-discovery.
SHY Is Coming Back With More Great Action & Drama in Season 2
Anime series by 8bit; Based on the manga by Bukimi Miki
The summer 2024 season of anime will see the return of 8bit’s superhero animeSHY.SHYseason 2will pick up where season 1 left off with Shy and other heroes fighting against the villainous members of Amarariruku, and the bulk of the story will center around Shy’s relationship with Ai Tennoji, a young ninja with a mysterious connection to Amarariruku’s Utsuro.
SHYstarts off being rather light on LGBTQ+ content, mostly just teasing it through some of the character dynamics, but as the series goes on, it gets far more explicit with that sort of content later on, some of which will be seen in season 2. Aside from that,SHY’s creative direction and unique take on the superhero genre made it a tragically underrated anime in 2023, and season 2 will hopefully take things even further.
Twilight Out Of Focus Finally Brings a Great Yaoi Anime to Life
Anime series by Studio Deen; Based on the manga by Jyanome
Studio Deen’sTwilight Out of Focusstars Mao Tsuchiya, an aspiring film student whose roommate, Hisashi Otomo, is cast as the lead in his film club’s latest project. The problem is that as Hisashi immerses himself in the role, Mao finds himself falling in love with Hisashi, even though Hisashi has a boyfriend and Mao promised not to fall in love with him.
Twilight Out of Focushas made a name for itself for its great art style and writingthat blends heartwarming character work with sensual romance, and based on its promotional material, the anime is going to do a great job of bringing that to life with stellar visuals and overall direction. Some of the subject matter gets to be too risqué for casual viewing, but even with that, the anime is sure to be a great watch once it premieres in the summer of 2024.
Senpai Is An Otokonoko Will Have a Truly Unique Take on Gender Identity
Anime series by Project No. 9; Based on the manga by Pom
In Project No. 9’sSenpai Is an Otokonoko, Saki Aoi falls in love with her upperclassman Makoto Hanaoka, only to find out that Makoto isn’t a woman, but anotokonokoi.e. a male crossdresser. Saki still wants to pursue a relationship with Makoto, but Makoto’s gender identity makes him feel insecure about the idea, and things are further complicated by Makoto’s male friend falling in love with him, as well.
With its unique exploration into sexuality and gender identity,Senpai Is an Otokonokohas one of the most developed handlings of LGBTQ+ themes of any manga in recent years, and the direction shown off in the trailers suggests the anime will do a spectacular job of bringing it to life.Senpai Is an Otokonokoperfectly shows how much variety there is toLGBTQ+ anime in 2024, and it and its contemporaries are all sure to be great to watch.
