#transanime

TransGurodere— when you identify as being a gurodere

TransHajidere— when you identify as being a hajidere

TransErodere— when you idenitify as being an erodere

ONE

Gravitation

For many, this anime, manga series, and OAV collection was the gateway into shounen-ai and yaoi. Shuichi Shindo is a rising vocalist of a rock band who becomes involved with Eiri Yuki, a romance novelist. 

 Gravitation is bright, colorful, hilarious. However, the series has dark undertones of sexual assault, violence, and homophobia and how those experiences shape many of the characters.

TWO

Yuri on ice

Yuri Katsuki is a professional ice skater with little self-esteem and a bad season behind him. Viktor Nikiforov is a Russian skating God whom Yuri idolizes. Yuri runs off to his parents hot spring to wallow in pork cutlet bowls. Viktor shows up naked in said hot spring offering to be Yuri’s coach. And the rest was born to make history.

THREE    

Sasameki Noto       

Sumika Murasame has had a crush on her best friend, Ushio Kazama since middle school. She’s never confessed to her.

The series, which is based off a manga, does a great job of telling the pains of a one-sided love story while also interjecting humor and the overall troubles of going through high school as a lesbian in Japan.

FOUR 

 Hourou Musko

Shuichi Nitori is a transgender girl. Yoshino Takatsuki is a transgender boy. And they’re both going through puberty. The series, which is based on a manga of the same name, follows their lives, friendships, and romantic relationships from junior high school through high school graduation. It’s a realistic, but also uplifting story about how surrounding yourself with people who accept you can help through the tumultuous years as a teenager who also happens to be transgender.

The series deals with such as being transgender, gender dysphoria, relationships, puberty, and the emotional toll that has on its young protagonists.

FIVE

Revolutionary Girl Utena

While not officially billed as a shoujo-ai, there’s little debate that Revolutionary Girl Utena is, in its heart, a love story. If Gravitation introduced many people to boy’s love, it was this show that introduced them to girl’s love. It’s the story of Utena Tenjou, a teenage tomboy who was so impressed by a kind prince in her youth that she decides to become one herself, and Anthy Himemiya, the Rose Bride.

Utena finds out Anthy is in an abusive relationship and protects her, entering a series of duels at Ohtori Academy. Anthy is the “Rose Bride,” and is awarded as a prize to the winner of each duel. Whoever wins the tournament of the Rose Bride will receive what a so-called power to revolutionize the known world. The series features allegory, magic, and psychological warfare, along with some dark aspects, especially in regards to Anthy. Her status as a "prize" subjects her to a lot of abuse, though she's eventually rescued.

Shuuichi Nitori