Тэр бас тэр ч бас санаатай, тэнэг хүүхэд, тэр нь түүнийг илүү сэтгэл татам болгодог.
© Mokumokuren/KADOKAWA/The Зуны Хикару нас баржээ. Хөвгүүд, гараад өгөөч. Энэ нь таны эзэмшдэг, хайртай хүмүүстээ хамгийн их тааламжтай, хайртай гэдгээ илэрхийлэхийг хүсч буй махны багануудтай, eldritch mannholk-ийг төсөөлөөд үз дээ. That’s just part of growing up.
© Mokumokuren/KADOKAWA/The Summer Hikaru Died Partners
© Mokumokuren/KADOKAWA/The Summer Hikaru Died Partners
Seriously, though, the adaptation is scarily good at depicting how suffocating Yoshiki finds almost everything in town besides Hikaru, who is a different, more inviting kind of suffocating.
© Mokumokuren/KADOKAWA/The Summer Hikaru Died Partners
© Mokumokuren/KADOKAWA/The Summer Hikaru Died Partners
It so appropriately shows how and why someone would seek love and validation from an outside individual, even one labeled a”monster,”after feeling rejection from all other facets of their life. 
© Mokumokuren/KADOKAWA/The Summer Hikaru Died Partners
It’s not just”showing”either, I have to praise the sound design in this adaptation. The discordant noise levels sell the oppressive atmosphere of the town in this fateful summer. Not to mention all the good goops and squelches. And the drum and bass that accompanies this week’s gay chest sex scene. More horror anime should sound like a Venetian Snares album.
© Mokumokuren/KADOKAWA/The Summer Hikaru Died Partners
© Mokumokuren/KADOKAWA/The Summer Hikaru Died Partners
I gotta say I lucked out big time with streaming reviews assignments this season. Between Call of the Night and The Summer Hikaru Died, I have an embarrassment of horror-tinged queer riches to write about each week. That’s my happy place. It also speaks to the overall smorgasbord of queer anime on display this season that those two nickels are both airing at the same time! Like we said at the start, there’s a surprising amount of variety and inclusions popping up where we might not have expected. Even horny satire Nukitashi has a lesbian character, and this week’s CITY just revealed that Niikura was keeping a locket with a picture of her crush/roommate in it. 
© Qruppo/Seiran Island Tourism Association
© あらゐけいいち・講談社／CITY THE ANIMATION 製作委員会
I was, admittedly, dubious when I heard that Nukitashi featured a lesbian who lusts after her brother, but the show doesn’t mince words in its defense of sexual minorities, so I think its heart is in the right place. Other body parts notwithstanding.
© Qruppo/Seiran Island Tourism Association
© Qruppo/Seiran Island Tourism Association
© Qruppo/Seiran Island Tourism Association
© Qruppo/Seiran Island Tourism Association
I also have it on good authority (i.e., one guy) that not only is there a Nukitashi 2 sequel visual novel, it is vociferously pro-trans rights. This kind of inclusion was already significantly more than I would have expected from a series like Nukitashi, so it’s heartening to know it maintained that quality. While still being (appropriately enough) extremely true to its whole raison d’être. Live your truth. 
© Qruppo/Seiran Island Tourism Association
Similarly, and on the complete opposite side of the target age demographics, I was also alerted by someone else, our editor Rebecca, who’s kept up with Pretty Cure, that the latest entry, You and Idol Precure♪, had introduced its own queer elements this season. 
© ABC-A・東映アニメーション
© ABC-A・東映アニメーション
Now, Pretty Cure is no stranger to queer overtones. Still, it is amusing in its own way to see the trademark marketable fairies of the franchise engaging in a jealous all-girl love triangle involving the lead heroine. Also, not for nothing, but Cure Kiss and Cure Zukyoon’s transformed attacks embody the yuri-baiting on-stage chemistry I’ve come to expect from my idol media. 
© ABC-A・東映アニメーション
© ABC-A・東映アニメーション
I’m no Precure expert myself, so for clarity, I have to ask: do the mascots usually transform into lesbian lovers?
Gay animals are a surprising recurrence in the franchise, yeah. 
© ABC・Toei Animation
© ABC-A・東映アニメーション
Awesome.
A finger on the pulse of queer little furries everywhere, no wonder it’s endured. 
© ABC-A・東映アニメーション
Now, the other series this season I’d heard tell from others of queer theming before going through it for this column was Studio Orange’s Leviathan anime. Being able to binge the whole thing helped in this case to see how that bore out, but honestly, I don’t know if it was all the way there? 
© Orange, Qubic Pictures
Yeah, my understanding is that it was more of a Mulan-type situation. Which still has queer undertones, of course, but perhaps not on the level of these other examples.
© Orange, Qubic Pictures
© Orange, Qubic Pictures
I will say that Sharp’s story is still dipping its toes into the gender of it all, but it never gets as far as, say, straight-boy lead Alek wondering about his attraction to the character regardless of gender. Though it admittedly does play with the presentation in other ways. 
© Orange, Qubic Pictures
© Orange, Qubic Pictures
And there are gestures at what Sharp may be feeling, presentation-wise, in the last arc, including a pretty great moment where they opt for a suit instead of a dress when they need to infiltrate a banquet. 
© Orange, Qubic Pictures
© Orange, Qubic Pictures
I put this one in the”questioning”column, which, to be clear, is still absolutely valid, just not quite as gay as advertised to me, especially compared to the rest of this season’s rainbow of offerings. I at least respect Leviathan’s recognition that every good war story requires some fancy crossdressing subterfuge.
© SOTSU・SUNRISE
© SOTSU・SUNRISE
Sharp’s no Loran/Laura, but they were still my favorite part of Leviathan anyway. 
© Orange, Qubic Pictures
And I suppose if we want to be exhaustive, My Melody and Kuromi are dating.
© Sanrio, Netflix
© Sanrio, Netflix
Gay mascots aplenty in this column, the season really is covering all the bases!
And, again, I think that’s the cool thing here. There’s a wide swathe of representation this summer, and for me, that variety encompasses both the universality and specificity of the queer experience. Speaking as someone who wouldn’t be writing here if not for Revolutionary Girl Utena, queer stuff in anime is so important, and it’s clearly not going anywhere. Agreed! It can feel like a scary time for queer people of all stripes in the real world nowadays. So it’s important to see stories that don’t just reflect and validate the worry of that experience, but also celebrate their joy. And even the simple, petty silliness of their everydays. 
© 2024 成家慎一郎/KADOKAWA/フードコートで、また明日。製作委員会
Or to put it in another parlance, fans of queer anime are eating good this season! 
© Mokumokuren/KADOKAWA/The Summer Hikaru Died Partners
