Thread by @LumRanmaYasha

My next panel, Serving Magical Person Realness feat. @OkazuYuri, @WeekesPrincess, @dezinpub, and @MicheleKiricha1! Another full house, all ready to have a gay old time!

Kiara’s intro to queer anime/manga was Loveless when she was 12!

Princess and Erica’s intros to queer anime/manga was both Sailor Moon!

Michele’s intro to queer anime/manga was Strawberry Panic, which Erica laments most folks don’t understand the joke of the series as a parody! 😂

Erica briefly describes the history of yuri as a genre. Lot of history and influences dating back to early 20th century works like class S novels and Princess Knight.

Utena was the tipping point where queer anime/manga really hit the zeitgeist. Sailor Moon was also a huge tipping point for a lot of 90s kids. US fans watching the dub especially woke up to the idea they were being robbed of queer representation that was originally there.

Erica wants the 21st century rewrite of Sailor Moon so that it’d be so much more and better than the rep than it was. For instance, Minako should be poly and everyone should be in love with Usagi!

For Princess, watching women of color be delicate and strong was really empowering.

Modern musical stage performances also really play up the Haruka/Michiru romance.

Complaints about Fruits Basket’s failings with it comes to its queer-coded characters. Can’t argue with their points. 😅

Queer platonic partners are also valid rep, textual or headcanons. Queer folks will do anything possible to find representation for themselves (hello fanfiction!)

Sailor Moon was amazing precisely because it was a kids show that presented queerness in front of its audience and trusted them to accept and understand it, or at least prod their parents to explain things they don’t understand to them.

Princess is gushing over how much she loves Tomoyo from Cardcaptor Sakura, though lamenting she’s in love with her cousin... Still, lesbian and fashion icon! 🔥💖

Taking about canon rep like Yuri on Ice, Given, Stars Align, etc. Big cheers from the crowd for Yuri and Given! Michele also gives a shout-out to Classmates, No. 6 (a real trailblazer for queer male rep, queer genre fiction).

Princess loves I’m in Love with the Villainess! Princess loves stories where bad bitches hook up! Next stage in representation is stuff with a little bit of cattiness and edge.

Erica shout-outs Our Dreams at Dusk, which, while not every person’s story, feels so true to a lot of queer identities and experiences. Also seconds the love for I’m in Love with the Villainess. Adult and genre yuri are also growing!

Michele likes Bloom Into You, but Erica finds it disappointing and not satisfying representation. It did some great things, like the play and it’s fallout, but not so much the romance. Erica does recommend the Sayaka novels though!

Michele also shout-outs Yuri on Ice as the series that won her heart and laments “where is the damn movie!” Lot of good, diverse representation of different queer and ethnic identities and mental health conversations.

It’s just nice to have a world without homophobia, where we can just watch love being loved without worry. It’s great to imagine worlds that are just better.

Michele points out that we’re getting a lot of better trans and non-binary representation, like Wandering Son, Stars Align, and especially Boys Run the Riot, which is especially great because it’s an own voices work localized by an all-trans team. ❤️

Princess talks about how nice it was to see casual trans and queer rep in shows like Wonder Egg Priority and Magical Girl anime, showing that our media can be inclusive experiences.

We don’t have to disparage what people enjoy, though Princess is not a fan of stuff like Citrus. Even shows without explicitly queer rep like Ranma are really interesting to read and think about through a queer lens. Work has been laid down for modern queer works.

Kiara wants Ouran to be revisited in a modern context to fully explore the non-binary representation so many people found in Haruhi.

Erica points out that the readers (especially women) growing up who noticed and latched onto queer rep in the media they consumed but were unsatisfying have went on to tell there own stories to make the representation they always wanted to see in their youth.

What queer manga should be adapted into anime? Erica recs I’m in Love with the Villainess again! Kiara and Princess are just excited for the future. Queer adaptations are low, they just want to see more be made every em year!

Kiara also did specifically mention a series called “Blue Sky for…” but I didn’t get the full title. 😅

Michele wants to see Our Dreams at Dusk and I Hear the Sunspot adapted!

Q&A time! Princess loves all the Demon Slayer cosplayers she’s seeing!

Thoughts on seeing rep in Japanese media as non-Japanese people? There are cultural differences, and you should take care and be invested in understanding queer culture in Japan.

Thoughts on Nana? Princess says the series would be better if they just dated. I actually led the round of applause for this response. 🤣

First character who sparked your queer awakening? For Princess it was Azusa, Kiara it was Yoruichi, Erica can’t really answer cause she was already married but does appreciate Balalaika from Black Lagoon and evil women in general, Michele related to Yuri from Yuri on Ice.

Thoughts on how some Yuri and Yaoi are thought of as taboo? Depends on the series, but Erica personally likes dark stuff like Murcielago and Gunjou.

Thoughts on them making a Sailor Moon Stars arc movie? Princess would love if they would invest any money if Sailor Moon since even Eternals was disappointing. Shoujo is just too often too underfunded.