And, just like American comics and cartoons, the portrayals of transgender and genderqueer folks are usually nonexistent or offensive. Unfortunately, just like American comics and cartoons, these genres are rife with stereotypes. If you set out to make a list of LGBTQ characters in anime and manga, you might be surprised by the list’s length. These genres have a somewhat deceiving glamour when it comes to the hunt for queer representation. Were we able to see ourselves more in those stories because they contained more queer characters than American TV? Did we already feel like outcasts before we got sucked in? It feels less like coincidence and more like logic that many of the anime and manga lovers I knew as a teen (and have met since!) are also queer.
Even with this history, I can’t quite put my finger on what drew us into the world of anime. I was a total anime geek in high school, the kind that watched anime with friends at every hangout, stayed up late reading manga or sneakily catching bits of FLCL on Adult Swim, and attended anime conventions. Anime and manga hold a strange allure for teens.
