Rewatching Kids on the Slope and that story would have hit so much harder as a queer narrative with Kaoru and Sentaro being gay but desperately trying to comphet themselves into liking the girls and RItsuko as they lesbian friend who just wants everyone to be happy and true to themselves.
I know it's a bit tired to headcanon straight stories as queer when there are so many intentionally queer ones to chose from but there's something about the way they animate the scenes between Kaoru and Sentaro that feels more intimate than any scene they have with either of their canon crushes.




















