I think what's delighting me about the smorgasboard of yuri we're having this season is just how... casual it is.
Like, don't get me wrong, I love a straightforward yuri romance as much as the next guy. But what we're seeing with titles this season is shows that can feature lesbian character while being about other things as well. Mono is a cute, slapsticky school club comedy about exploring the power of photography... that also happens has two lesbian co-protagonists. Once Upon a Witch's Death is a heartfelt character study about coming to value your life set in a world of magic and wonder... with a flagrant bisexual flirt as the protagonist. Zatsu Tabi is a low-key travelogue show based on a real mangaka's travels, but it finds time to work in a pretty unambiguous gay crush as well. Ninkoro's a pitch-black bad taste comedy that revels in its protagonists' callousness toward human life, but also here's a committed lesbian side couple in case you're impatient waiting for Konoha and Satoko to suck face. Hell, even Rock is a Lady's Modesty isn't content to simply be Gay, but to connect its characters' openly sexual queerness to themes of liberation from social expectation and a rejection of the heteronormative, patriarchal expectations placed on women and girls. And who knows how much GQuuuuuux will commit to following in SuleMio's footsteps when all is said and done?
Any one of these shows on its own would be neat. But five in a single season? Folks, this is genuinely pushing the boundaries of what queerness in anime is allowed to be. Gay characters don't need to be confined strictly to yuri and BL tags. Gay stories can exist in any genre, in any context, as a natural part of this medium's landscape. Because queerness is normal, and it deserves to exist in as many diverse permutations as straight characters exploring straight feelings, not just quarantined in its own private little genre corner. And the more anime casually includes gay characters in stories of all shapes and sizes, the better off we'll all be.
