2023 is only half way, but everything is ready cartoonbest year for LGBTQ+ represent. While anime still struggles with portraying LGBTQ+, both portraying it positively and portraying it outright, recent years have seen a notable increase in representation. . LGBTQ+ anime like Bloom Into You, Yuri on Ice, Banana Fish, and Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid are all relatively recent hits and have gained huge traction. Gundam even chose a same-sex couple as the lead couple for The Witch from Mercury, and that could play a major role in The Witch from Mercury’s sales reaching the highest level in franchise history. .
LGBTQ+ has slowly become a bigger part of anime, and 2023 is shaping up to be the best year for it. Many yuri and yuri-esque anime will be aired in 2023 or announced in 2023 for a later release than usual, and some of them are even being produced by animation studios and anime studios. very famous talent. It is rare for anime with LGBTQ+ content, explicitly or implicitly, to attract this level of attention, so seeing all of that unfold now makes 2023. It’s been an incredible year for LGBTQ+ representation.
Every Yuri Anime Aired or Revealed in 2023
At the time of this writing, a lot of yuri or yuri-esque anime will either air in 2023 or have revealed their adaptations in 2023. The Magical Revolution of Reincarnated Princess and Heavenly Lady talent, Yuri Is My Job!, and Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury have all aired, and I’m in Love with the Villainess, Hoshikuzu Telepath, and The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess will premiere on Fall 2023. Not only that, Whisper Me a Love Song has been announced to receive an anime for winter 2024, so this trend of representing LGBTQ+ will also continue through 2024.
There are also some anime that, although not particularly yuri, are still very close to the genre. Live love! For example, the Nijigasaki High School Idol Club had a theatrical OVA released in June, and the Ayakashi Triangle, which deals with a variety of LGBTQ+ themes, has aired sporadically throughout the year. Birdie Wing is also back for a second performance, and Lycoris Recoil, the film considered oddball through Chisato and Takina’s relationship, is announced to be taking on a new project of some sort. All of this means there will be a lot of positive representation in 2023 and beyond, and that, naturally, is great to see.
Why 2023 is great for LGBTQ+ representation in Anime
There are a lot of yuri or yuri-esque anime that will air or be announced in 2023, and of course, it’s a great step forward for LGBTQ+ representation in anime. One of the best ways for the media to contribute to LGBTQ+ representation is simply to have a lot of it, as continued exposure helps to normalize that for the general audience. With that in mind, the fact that so many anime have yuri content explicitly linked to 2023 means that that year can be considered a great year for LGBTQ+ representation in anime.
What helps with this is the overall quality of these programs. Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury features some of the franchise’s best art and animation to date, and Diomedéa, Inc. turned every episode of The Reincarnated Princess’ Magical Revolution and the Genius Young Girl into a spectacle. The high production value of these and others has made them one of the most popular shows of their seasons and that has allowed their active performances to reach a wider audience. . That adds even more to what’s on offer just by their numbers, and that certainly helps make 2023 the best year for LGBTQ+ represented in cartoon Not yet.