Japanese culture differs in everything with America and Europe, so the LGBTQ+ landscape also has substantial differences, both in terms of consideration by society and the terminology used in the environment.
The book “His lips were red, red as the flames…” by Camil Ristè, published by La Torre Publishing Company, specifically analyzes the trends in manga and anime, starting from the Togukawa historical period with the kabuki theater and Takarazuka to reach the present day and the evolution of pop culture, thus allowing us to see the LGBTQ+ Japanese world under a different lens.
The author, in addition to presenting the various terms within specific contexts, analyzes both male and female homoaffective manga and anime works such as “Boy’s Love” and “Yuri”, as there are many titles that deal with the topic of queer people maybe not quite directly like Sailor Moon, with the ability to change gender through magical abilities or spells.
Other series such as Utena, Host Club, Il Poema del Vento e degli Alberi, Fake,… present the homosexual element in different ways with dramatic, humorous, fantastic or real aspects.
An accurate book that allows the reader, perhaps not familiar with this topic, to have a more in-depth view, especially the discovery of anime and manga that deal with the topic and find themselves reading or seeing titles of great artistic and cultural scope. In all of this we also analyze the evolution of the movement within society and the birth of specialized magazines, all situations that have brought the LGBTQ+ community out of the shadows.