every shounen-ai anime i’ve ever seen, ranked by me (a gay man)
okay i’m actually bisexual but whatever EDIT: i am begging all of y’all to watch Antique Bakery. i need people to be aware of this masterpiece
the good, the bad, and the great. this is just my opinion, i’m not a professional critic. just a queer dude who loves queer anime. minor spoilers! also some of these will have trigger warnings so proceed with caution. this is gonna be a long list, please bear with me:
figure skating Russian legend Viktor moves to Japan to coach struggling skater Yuuri who needs to learn to embrace his bolder side and love himself
honestly, a gem. a lot of folks say it’s not shounen-ai, and i agree. it’s not a romance anime, it’s a sports anime. but does it have queer romance? absolutely. if you don’t think Yuuri and Viktor are in love, then idk what to tell you. yes, their romance is subtle but it so obviously there.
Pros: amazing storytelling. it’s paced so well that their relationship feels so natural and not rushed at all (which is rare in queer animes). there’s also none of that internalised homophobia which you often see. none of that “but we’re both guys!” bullshit. just two people who make each other happy. There’s also nothing that is quite problematic, which is also rare.
Cons: for one, the animation at times looks like it was rushed but it’s forgivable. There’s also no manga and the anime has one season so quite literally, what you see is all that there is. there’s a prequel movie in the works but who knows how queer it’ll be. and if i’m being picky, i wish it was a little more gay.
Antique Bakery (100000/10)
a legendary pâtissier with a sweet tooth for men, his high school crush and shop owner with a complicated childhood, the dictionary definition of a himbo, and an ex boxing champion all working together at a cake shop
if god came to me and said “you have one wish and just one” i would say “give me a remake of Antique Bakery”. it’s so good but so painfully underrated. in terms of positive queer representation, this anime takes the cake (hehe). Like Yuri on Ice, it’s not a romance anime but it does have queer themes in it. The main plot is actually about Tachibana (shop owner) trying to deal with the trauma of being kidnapped as a child. But his friendship with Ono (the pâtissier) is important to that plot. when they were both in high school, Ono confessed his feeling to Tachibana. But he cruelly rejected Ono, who was so traumatised that he forgot all about it. Several years later, Tachibana comes to Ono to hire him for his new cake shop and the two are confronted with their bad past. Tachibana has to deal with the guilt while Ono struggles to forgive him. *spoilers* in the end, it all works out fine.
trigger warnings: implied child abuse. homophobic slurs.
Pros: Out of all the animes I’ve seen, this was the first one where a character actually said they’re gay. usually with shounen-ai, the only mention of queerness is a character saying “homo” (which is a problematic term both in english and japanese). but not Antique: first 5 minutes of the first episode, Ono proudly declares “I’m the gay of demonic charm”. Not only that, Eiji (the feisty ex boxer and now assistant pâtissier) goes out of his way to defend Ono from any slurs thrown at him. Ono feels like a real queer character rather than some caricature whose sexuality is the punchline. There was also actual mentions of real queer culture (though mostly just in the manga), like safe sex practices, Tokyo’s gay district, discrimination, gay history, etc. which is honestly rarely seen in shounen-ai. also, it’s so fucking funny. just…so goddamn funny.
Cons: the animation did the manga so dirty. the manga’s art style is so beautiful but the anime fell short, which is why i wish they would make a remake. everything else, especially the plot, is flawless. Also, the anime has no actual relationships. Ono and Tachibana are never romantically paired. There’s some flirting between Ono and Chikage (the himbo) but *spoilers* they don’t start dating until the manga sequel (which i highly recommend). Not necessarily a con, but just an fyi.
Kusakabe, the guitarist in a band and slacker, suddenly offers to coach Sajou, the school’s smartest but painfully tone-deaf student, for the school’s upcoming music festival. a sweet love story between two high school boys.
you want a heartwarming love story? watch Doukyuusei. Although it’s a movie (and a relatively short one), it’s so good. and if, like me, you couldn’t get enough of the two boys, read the manga. the last volume of the entire series has actually just finished last month and the boys have gone through so much, but have grown a lot, personally and closer together. The CD drama is also very good, and has the original seiyuus.
Pros: it’s such a sweet story. despite being a short movie, their relationship is carefully paced so it doesn’t feel forced. it’s one of those rare animes that wasn’t written purely for fanservice to heterosexual women, but an actual love story between two people who happen to both be guys. it also has a unique art style that resembles watercolors, which I love.
Cons: god i wish the movie wasn’t so short. yes, I’m glad there’s CD dramas for the sequels but i would love to see the entire manga animated. other than that, one of the secondary characters, Hara-sensei (their music teacher) is written as a love rival. and while Sajou never returns his feelings, it was still a bit uncomfy to see an adult infatuated with his student. it’s not too explicit though, and Hara-sen never seriously pursues him. he mostly just teases Kusakabe about it
Saezuru Tori ha Habatakanai: The Clouds Gather (9/10)
Yashiro, a young Yakuza leader who is known as the company’s “human public toilet” for his unapologetic wantonness, meets Doumeki, the newly recruited bodyguard and ex-cop. Can these two flawed characters find love amongst a sea of tragedy?
I usually prefer slice-of-life and comedy animes because I’m a baby when it comes to angst, but Saezuru Tori is good. As of 2020, the manga is still going and in 2016, it became the first BL manga to win the Japan Sugoi Award. personally, I think it absolutely deserves that award. The series will be released as 3 movies, with the first one, “The Clouds Gather,” already out. As a warning, this movie has explicit sex scenes and some nudity, so be careful who you watch it with. use headphones at all times, the seiyuus truly go all out.
trigger warnings: childhood trauma. explicit child abuse. borderline dangerous and reckless sexual activities. homophobic slurs.
Pros: as a Yakuza-themed story, you can expect angst. But my god is the story so good. every single character is so well-written. honestly, I want to give Yashiro’s seiyuu an award because the way he delivered the most painful lines honestly left me in tears. it’s just such an award-worthy story, i can’t even begin to explain. not to mention the visuals are aesthetically beautiful and the soundtrack fits amazingly with each scene. just *chef’s kiss*
Cons: i struggle to call this a love story because it’s more of a tragedy. I can’t say yet that it has a sad ending cuz the manga is not finished yet, but there are a lot of trials and tribulations that i would otherwise avoid if the plot wasn’t so good. you can’t even say that Yashiro and Doumeki are dating because their relationship is so complicated. Yes, Doumeki loves Yashiro but they are both so psychologically damaged that it’s hard for them to have a loving relationship.
the trials and tribulations of 4 guys in an amateur rock band, and the dual romantic relationships that form among them
okay, I’m being a bit harsh with the rating but hear me out. it was hard for me to root for Uenoyama and Mafuyu’s relationship when Mafuyu spends 80% of the anime thinking about his ex-boyfriend. i actually was more intrigued by Akihiko and Haruki’s relationship because they have known each other longer so their romance didn’t feel rushed. other than that, it’s a very funny and lovely story and the music honestly slaps.
trigger warnings: mentions of suicide
Pros: it’s very funny. I also really loved that Akihiko is canonically bisexual, and that he, as the older queer person, gave advice to Uenoyama when he was struggling to come to terms with his feelings for Mafuyu. As for Mafuyu, it was nice to see a young character who was already certain of his sexuality. Him openly talking about his ex-boyfriend was refreshing to see for a shounen-ai
Cons: like I said, Uenoyama and Mafuyu’s relationship felt a bit rushed. it felt like Mafuyu was still in love with his ex-boyfriend when *spoilers* he starts dating Uenoyama. other than that, regarding the manga (and newest movie), I was angry as to how Akihiko treated Haruki. I liked Akihiko because he was openly bisexual but he certainly is flawed.
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