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Stories in anime, animation and manga where queer characters get to be in love, be silly, be brave and just be people. Trailers play right here, straight from the studio or streaming service's own YouTube channel.
17 titles
Yuri!!! on Ice
MAPPA
A Japanese figure skater's comeback, coached by his idol, turns into a love story told with unusual tenderness. Loved for treating a same-sex romance as simply part of the story. The video is the free first episode.
For teens and up.
Video: Crunchyroll, on YouTube
Given
Lerche
A quiet guitarist, a grieving boy and a band, with a tender romance at the heart of a music story.
For older teens. Some scenes deal with grief.
Video: Crunchyroll, on YouTube
Sasaki and Miyano
Studio DEEN
A high-schooler who loves boys' love manga lends a few to a cool classmate, and a sweet friendship slowly becomes more.
For teens and up.
Video: Crunchyroll, on YouTube
Bloom Into You
Troyca
Yuu has never felt what love stories describe, until a senior student council president confesses to her. A thoughtful romance about not feeling what you are supposed to.
For teens and up.
Video: HIDIVE, on YouTube
Adachi and Shimamura
From the novels by Hitoma Iruma
Two girls who skip class on the upper floor of the gym slowly become close, in a quiet story about friendship turning into something else.
For teens and up.
Video: Crunchyroll Dubs, on YouTube
Revolutionary Girl Utena
Directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara
A fairy tale about duels, power and growing up, with a cult-classic love story at its centre. The trailer is for the film, Adolescence of Utena.
For older teens. Strange, symbolic and sometimes unsettling.
Video: GKIDS Films, on YouTube
Sailor Moon
Toei Animation, from Naoko Takeuchi's manga
The magical-girl classic. Its cast includes Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, a couple whose love story has meant a lot to fans for thirty years.
For all ages.
Video: VIZ Media, on YouTube
Ouran High School Host Club
Bones
A scholarship student is mistaken for a boy and ends up in a club of rich boys. Warm, silly, and kind about gender and who we choose to be.
For all ages.
Video: Crunchyroll, on YouTube
Doukyusei (Classmates)
Doga Kobo
Two very different boys in a school music club, a summer and a gentle first love. Short and soft.
For all ages.
Video: Aniplex USA, on YouTube
Heaven Official's Blessing
Bilibili, from the novel by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
A Chinese fantasy about a god who has fallen from heaven and the ghost king who has always been there for him.
For teens and up. Some fantasy violence.
Video: Bilibili, on YouTube
Princess Jellyfish
Brain's Base
A shy woman who loves jellyfish lives in a house of women who love their hobbies, and a stylish young man who dresses as a woman shakes up their lives. Warm and funny.
For teens and up.
Video: Fuji TV, on YouTube
Strange World
Walt Disney Animation Studios
An adventure about three generations of explorers, in which the teenage hero, Ethan, is openly gay, and his crush is part of the story, not the point.
For all ages.
Video: Walt Disney Animation Studios, on YouTube
Lightyear
Pixar
A space adventure about Buzz Lightyear's origins, with a short, warm moment of love between his commander and her wife.
For all ages.
Video: Pixar, on YouTube
Nimona
Annapurna and Netflix, from ND Stevenson's graphic novel
A shapeshifting teenager joins a knight who has been framed, and together they set out to clear his name. Funny, fast and moving, with a love story between two knights.
For all ages. Some peril.
Video: Netflix, on YouTube
The Owl House
Dana Terrace, Disney Channel
Luz, a human teenager, becomes an apprentice witch on the Boiling Isles. Luz is bisexual, and her romance became a landmark for children's television.
For all ages.
Video: Disney Channel Animation, on YouTube
Steven Universe
Rebecca Sugar, Cartoon Network
A boy raised by the Crystal Gems, a family of magical aliens. A show about love in many forms, including a wedding between Ruby and Sapphire.
For all ages.
Video: Cartoon Network, on YouTube
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power
ND Stevenson, Netflix and DreamWorks Animation
A girl finds a sword and a rebellion. Along the way it follows Adora and Catra, and Bow's two dads.
For all ages. Some fantasy action.
Video: Masters of the Universe: He-Man and She-Ra, on YouTube
To read
Books are text only here, because the artwork belongs to the people who drew it. The best way to read them is the way that pays the artists: your library (many lend digital copies through apps like Libby and Hoopla), or an official bookshop or e-book store.
Gengoroh Tagame
A Japanese single dad is startled when his late twin brother's Canadian husband arrives for a visit, and slowly learns to see the world, and his own prejudices, differently. Quiet and kind.
Gentle, for teens and up. Published in English by Pantheon. The author's other books are for adults, so check before you search for more.
Takako Shimura
A group of children and teenagers grow up while exploring gender, told gently and slowly. A landmark manga about trans and gender-questioning young people.
For older teens. Published in English by Fantagraphics.
Takako Shimura
Two childhood friends begin high school at an all-girls school, and love and friendship get complicated.
For older teens. Published in English by VIZ Media.
Nio Nakatani
The story behind the anime: a girl who has never felt crushes meets a student council president who has.
For teens and up. Published in English by Seven Seas.
Yuhki Kamatani
A teenager who has been outed finds a welcoming circle in a small town, and an adult who becomes a kind of chosen family.
Has themes of bullying and outing. Read it when you feel steady. Published in English by Seven Seas.
Hiromi Takashima
A shy gardener and a sporty track runner quietly fall in love. Gentle and sweet.
For teens and up. Published in English by Seven Seas.
Alice Oseman
Charlie and Nick, two British schoolboys, and the slow, kind romance that became the Netflix series. A graphic novel, not manga, and a great place to start.
Feel-good, for teens and up.
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