Episode 10: The Beautiful and the Damned | 美しく呪われし者
“Beautiful” and “damned” don’t even begin to describe Ash “Fucking Up Your Shit” Lynx. If last episode was Rambo explosions and machine guns, Ash has gone full Light Yagami now, and you’d better believe he’s fully armed with military-grade cleverness, and baby, he’s gonna make it hurt.
The High School Life of a Fudanshi | 腐男子高校生活
Release: 2016
Ah, the elusive fudanshi – that is, men who like yaoi. Some say they are nothing but the stuff of myths. Sightings are rare, contained to cousin’s-friend’s-brothers and online message boards. Or so we thought, until one brave anime debuted to share their story. To bring solidarity to real fudanshi everywhere. To change the world forever.
That anime is The High School Life of a Fudanshi, which chronicles the everyday happenings of male BL-lover Ryō Sakaguchi. This very solid premise for an anime runs a full 12 episodes (though, as a teeny microscopic little footnote, each episode is only 4 minutes long, and that includes the end credits song.)
It’s a series about BL, but is it gay?
Episode 10: Babylon Revisited | バビロンに帰る
“A wounded tiger is the most dangerous beast of all,” remarks Yut-Lung. Presumably that’s proverb for “Man, those dudes are fucked.” Ash Lynx has got bullets to pop and bodies to drop, and boy ain’t taking prisoners.
Citrus | シトラス
Release: 2018
It was the probably the most anticipated yuri anime this year. Based on Saburouta’s popular yuri manga running from 2012 and concluding just last month. I’m going out on a limb here and guessing that the 12-episode anime doesn’t cover the full story, but we’ll go with what we have.
Our leading ladies are Yuzu Aihara, a blonde and outspoken gyaru fashionista, and Mei Aihara, a beautiful but stone cold bitch. Yes, they have the same last name, and no, it’s not a coincidence, but don’t worry: they aren’t sisters. Sort of.
There’s no point in a drum roll when the opening credits are comfortably explicit, but for the sake of thematic uniformity: is it gay?
Episode 9: Save Me the Waltz | ワルツは私と
Well, goddamn. The cards are in Dino Golzine’s hands now, and his favorite card game is torture-dungeon-murder. (Guess how you play.) This episode was so brutal, it transcends snarky commentary. Luckily, two can play at the game of being an asshole, so I’ll try my best.
Revolutionary Girl Utena | 少女革命ウテナ (ANIME VERSION)
Release: 1997
The 39-episode animated masterpiece about the girl-prince and her Rose Bride is not only ground-breaking as a yuri anime, as a 90’s shoujo it is virtually unrivaled. Ostensibly a magical girl anime (that isn’t), or a romantic fairy tale (not quite), it burrows into a dark juxtaposition between fantasy and reality, tearing apart the motives and ambitions of its cast while the unknown actuality of the setting looms ominously over them, swaying between purgatorial and theatrical.
To review Utena with any modicum of authenticity is a heavy project for which I am unworthy. When engaging any media, I adore picking out parallels, meaningful transitions, reoccurring symbols and themes, and emphasizing the significance of the details. But Utena is so overwhelming on all accounts that a analysis of that sort would better be a thesis in format. Its wicked surrealism makes the whole experience metaphysical to the point that you’ll have no idea if the plot is what it is, or something else entirely, and its intricacies would be impossible to describe exhaustively.
So first, let’s take a step back and focus on what’s really important: is it gay?
Episode 8: Banal Story | 陳腐のストーリー
I love the sassy title of this episode, but don’t believe it for a second. Sure, things don’t exactly go as planned for some, and for others, things go as planned but still suck. But the game is on, and the players have upped the ante. We aren’t quite finished with our Banana Fish sleuthing this episode, but we’re also rolling in a range of baddies who, for the record, are probably all out to kill one another in addition to our team of heroes, so no one’s safe and things are getting charmingly nasty.
Summer is coming to an end. We are in the last throes of what could have been the perfect relationship: at first, it was sweet. Coy. Full of ambition and teasing dreams of what we could accomplish. The weeks flew by in a lazy haze, until we sat up in July with the dreadful sense of momento mori. In late August, it slips away from our grasp, losing interest in us day by day, and we are left older. Deader. Alone.
But you’re not alone in the fall. Not really. You’ll never be alone as long as there is gay anime to look forward to.
Cheer up! Here’s two upcoming anime to watch out for, on the house.
The #1 Huggable Man Is Threatening Me (Dakaretai Otoko 1-i ni Odosarete Imasu |抱かれたい男1位に脅されています):
An anime adaptation of Hashigo Sakurabi’s popular BL series. Protagonist Saijou Takato is an idol the reigning champion of the competitive “Most Huggable Man” title. But everything changes when new actor Azumaya steals the crown. How will Saijou reclaim his throne?
This sounds so shamelessly dumb, which could make it awesome in the best ways. Let’s watch it together in October 2018.
BLOOM INTO YOU (Yagate Kimi ni Naru | やがて君になる):
Based on Nio Nakatani’s GL manga series. Shoujo lover Yuu Koito wants to experience love like in the comics, but feels nothing when a male classmate offers her his love confession. She consults student council president Touko Nanami for romance advice, and bonding with her over their mutual lack of interest in boys leads Yuu to realize she may be falling for Nanami instead.
What is it with yuri stories and student council presidents? Join me in researching this very important question October 2018.
In other words, your run-of-the-mill saccharine yuri and delightfully depraved yaoi. Or not. I have no idea, I haven’t read either manga, but these two seem to be the vanguard of this fall’s gay battalions. And if they suck, at least we’ll still have more Banana Fish to look forward to!
Tales of Zestiria | テイルズ オブ ゼスティリア
Bandai/Namco’s Tales series has always been quite the collection. Lovely little anime games that bounce between cute and silly and darkly epic – though most of it will waiver in the awkward in-between. They are solid games without quite ascending to masterpieces, but usually embedded with little gems of plot conceptualization and character dynamics that raise them overhead simply mediocre.
At any rate, I had been a few years away from the series, but the siren’s call of alleged gayness in a more recent installment drew me back.
A Steam sale later, and I finally got my hands on Tales of Zestiria. I met Sorey, our upbeat protagonist, and Mikleo, his closest friend. Perfect, they’ll do. I’m youthful, optimistic. Ambitious. Ready for yaoi.
Episode 7: The Rich Boy | リッチ・ボーイ
Welcome to California! Not only has the game board expanded, so have the number of players. The most important introduction is the titular “Rich Boy”, but a few more side characters popping in to say hello make this a relatively chill episode. The cogs are definitely moving in the background, but first thing’s first: detective work and gay jokes.
Ah, going to California. Rookie mistake.
Gay Anime Symposium 