Summary
Sinceanimeencompasses all of Japanese animation, there’s a large span of genres and thousands of different character types. That means there are subsections ofanime dedicated to telling LGBTQ stories and prominently featuring queer characters.But even in other genres, where you might not expect to see as much representation, like shonen, there are still quite a few examples.
While you may know some of them, or several more popular examples not included, like Revolutionary Girl Utena, there’s probably at least one character that will be a surprise to you. All of these characters are confirmed either by official sources related to the source material or by the canon itself.
8Dio Brando
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure
This one is for anyone who has seenJojo’s Bizarre Adventureand wondered if any of those guys were gay: yes, and it’s Dio Brando. The primary antagonist was confirmed to be bisexual in an interview with series creator Araki. To fans of the show, the confirmation probably came as no surprise considering his close relationship with Enrico Pucci (though that relationship being gay isn’t canon).
Other than being bisexual, Dio Brando is best known for his cruelty, ambition, and convoluted methods for staying alive. Like everyone else in the show, he has a high sense of drama and flair that, while it doesn’t make up for his actions, means he’s a welcome addition to the queer villains' club.
7Chatora Yawara: “Tiger”
My Hero Academia
His character page confirms that Tiger was “formerly female” before transitioning. Otherwise, he’s not treated any differently than the rest of his team for his identity, nor did that all-female team reject him. He still wears the same uniform just as easily: he’s truly a man comfortable with his masculinity.
My Hero Academia also featured a trans woman in the League of Villians, Big Sis Magne, whose misgendering was corrected by other characters. It’s nice to see trans representation in such a big series, especially when it’s treated as just a casual fact of the world.
6Motoko Kusanagi
Ghost In The Shell
Despite being an older series, Ghost in the Shell had a bisexual protagonist. In the manga, she’s intimate with both men and women throughout the course of the story. That aspect isn’t as explicit in the anime, but it’s still noticeable for those who know the source material.
The openness of her identity makes sense with the story’s themes of what it means to have an inhuman body that can be completely changed. All in all, Motoko is a fully formed and explored character whose sexuality is as much a part of her as that inhuman body, and this makes her representation stand up to time.
5Uraume
Jujutsu Kaisen
Anime fans will be less familiar with this character than the manga fans, but both will have seen Sukuna’s right hand at this point in the story. The original Japanese uses they/them for Urame, and the official Jujutsu Kaisen fanbook has their pronouns also listed as they/them. While the official English translation has the character using gendered pronouns, it’s likely that the characters in the story don’t know either way, since they have an androgynous appearance.
Overall, the fanbook is the best source for this character’s gender being non-binary. Since they’re so old, gender is probably something they stopped paying attention to anyway.
4Kiara And Hakari
Anime fans can look forward to the relationship between Kiara and Hakari, two former students of Jujutsu High who, after being suspended, started running an underground fight club. (Hakari is quickly climbingthe manga’s popularity ranks.) Though it isn’t stated directly anywhere that the two of them are dating, they are very intimate: Kiara takes issue with Hakari bringing up his ex-girfriend, and it’s also implied that they may have been suspended because of their relationship.
What we do know for sure is that Panda initially called Kiara a male student before we see her presenting female, and the art of her when she was in Jujutsu Kaisen backs this up. So, even if they’re only very,veryclose friends, Kiara is still trans representation in the series.
3Suma
Demon Slayer
One of the wives of Tengen Uzui, Suma has a dramatic personality, reacting to almost everything with exaggerated emotion. She stood out by arguing with her co-wives during the Entertainment District arc, and she isn’t only breaking relationship norms in her polyamorous relationship; she’s also canonically bisexual.
The second official fanbook stated that the character said she preferred both men and women. It was an admission that she made when crashing her younger sister’s marriage interview, wanting to be married to Tengen herself instead. Clearly, he did not disapprove of her sexuality, as he went on to choose her.
2Alluka Zoldyck
Hunter x Hunter
Alluka is undeniably a female character in the manga, but she has a little bit more than that going on (and no, we’re not just talking about her ability). The official databook has Alluka’s sex listed as male. And two of her brothers, as well as the Zoldyck servants, refer to her as masculine at different points. With all of these canon sources stacking up, Alluka is confirmed to identify as a woman and live as one, despite her male sex.
What’s important is that the people around her respect her, especially her older brother Killua. And she’s a great character with a powerful ability all in her own right.
1Hange Zoë
Attack On Titan
One of the most popular characters inAttack On Titan,Hange was characterized by some translations as a woman, but this was never the original vision for the character. In fact, they are canonically neither a woman nor a man.
The series author, Hajime Isayama, left Hange’s gender ambiguous on purpose, stating that either was fine and never giving the character a gendered context. Whether this makes them non-binary, or a similar identity, isn’t clarified, but other charactersarespecified within the gender binary, so we know that Hange’s identity is confirmed to be outside of it because of this treatment.
