Josei Ni

A Resource And Guide To Homosexuality, Bisexuality and Transgenderism In Anime

An open letter to gays, lesbians, and bisexuals new to anime

You don't know what anime is? Well, sit there for a few minutes and I'll tell you...

Anime is the Japanese word for animation, and is sometimes referred to as Japanimation. Now, I know what you're thinking...Sailor Moon. Well, forget it, that's only one in a myriad of anime series and stories. There are many different types of anime, from comedy to romance to action, and of all ages from children to adult only anime.

"Adult only? Aren't cartoons only for kids?" I hear you ask. Surely if you're an adult then you're quite well aware of animated films like Shame Of The Jungle, Ralph Bakshi's films Fritz The Cat, Heavy Traffic, and Hey Good Lookin' (forget Grease, this is the best 50's nostalgia movie) or even the earliest cartoons from the 1920's which were very risque and sometimes pornographic. Even World War II propaganda cartoons were clearly directed at adults and used by the military and government for training and recruitment films. Many would not pass with today's political correctness, such as Private SNAFU or many of the Disney Donald Duck and Warner Bros. Daffy Duck cartoons.

It was with the first Disney cartoons such as Fantasia and Steamboat Willy which featured Mortimer Mouse, later renamed Mickey Mouse, that cartoons became entertainment for kids. (Remember in the movie Meatballs where the head counselor said "My name is Morty" and the kids replied "Hi, Mickey!" Well, Disney is where that came from. ^_^) Even until the 1950's, Warner Brothers studios were making cartoons for adults. Many kids grew up watching Bugs Bunny, but the adults were laughing just as hard.

So I ask you to open your mind and accept the idea that cartoons can be adult entertainment, and I'll introduce you to a whole new world of fun. (By adult I do not necessarily mean pornographic, although it can include sexual content.) However, this page's focus will not be just anything and everything in anime, rather, as the title says, it will focus on non-heterosexual relationships in anime. In Japan, homosexuality and bisexuality are not viewed with the same negative eye that they are in the USA and Canada. Japan is Shintoist and Buddhist, not Christian, and the sexual mores of the country are far different than this side of the Pacific, which makes the country far more tolerant of people's sexual practices. That's not to say that being openly gay or bisexual is accepted, but the unwritten attitude can be best summed up as "nobody cares who you sleep with as long as you get married".

So, if you've read this far and I've whetted your appetite to learn more, just go back to the main page to find out what anime is all about.