Anime is wild, but gay and lesbian marriages are taboo. So big that a married couple is now quickly “unmarried” afterwards.
The world of anime is colorful and often quite wacky. Aside from the “beach consequences” cliché, the often very similar harem protagonists, questionable tentacle monster attacks and the incestuous relationships that are more than just hinted at, there is actually nothing that the medium shies away from. Nothing? Nearly.
Because in a marriage between homosexual characters, a limit has apparently been reached, as Ninotaku explains.
what is this video German-speaking anime fans may already know Nino Kerl as “Ninotaku TV” on YouTube. In his videos, he not only informs about the latest topics about anime itself, but also about everything that goes with it – such as the problems with production or the reasons why many anime never get a second season.
In one of his latest videos, he dares to tackle a topic that is particularly important to him. Because while anime hardly shy away from depicting even the most questionable things, one thing seems to be taboo: homosexual couples saying yes.
what happened In one of the latest Gundam anime (“Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury”), the two protagonists, Miorine Rembran and Suletta Mercury, get engaged quite early. The relationship between the two is an important element throughout the series, although it may seem unusual for a Gundam series.
That this relationship ultimately leads to marriage is implied in several places. As reported by Ninotaku, an interview with the voice actors of the two protagonists was published in Gundam Ace magazine. Suletta’s voice actress revealed here that the two characters got married after the final fight.
This is also confirmed elsewhere: After all, the two characters in the anime’s epilogue each wear a wedding ring. A post by the American Gundam account on Twitter also featured the two characters, and the image’s alt text clearly read: “Suletta Mercury is seated on the left side of the image, holding the hand of her wife, Miorine Remnrab, who is seated next to her.” :
Such alt texts are written so that google can better assign the images. In addition, these texts are read to blind people using auxiliary devices so that they have an idea of the image shown.
So the “evidence” is pretty clear that the two characters got married by the end of the series.
It gets all the stranger afterwards, because: In the digital version of the magazine “Gundam Ace”, the story was subsequently changed and the passage with the marriage was deleted. The change was made because “there was a mistake in the original interview” and they want to “leave the viewer’s interpretation of the relationship between the two ladies”.
Why was it done this way? As Ninotaku explains, Japan is the only country in the G7 countries where marriage between same-sex partners is not yet recognized. In his eyes, the reason for this is the conservative governing party, which is primarily in favor of “traditional marriage”, i.e. only between a man and a woman – even if the majority of the Japanese population supports the legalization of gay marriage (71%, according to Kyodo via nzz.ch)
Above all, Ninotaku finds it ridiculous that such marriages are denied, while much more tasteless topics such as the sexualization of minors or rape have a place in anime again and again.
The topic is also discussed in the comments below the video.
What do you think? Does that fit with your image of anime, given that yuri and yaoi series are also very popular?
We have explained here why German synchros are always “bad” in anime.