Could you write something on Jaden/Judai from GX Even as a child I always felt that he was queer And now looking back on it seems near explicit Especially due to the whole dark dimension thing, and the fact that sexuality was actually a huge theme in the original Japanese so much so that even thought it got cut out in the English dub it was still noticeable Could you especially explain his relationship with Jesse/Johan and Aster and his apparent attraction to the other men around him Thanks
First of all I’m incredibly flattered to be asked this!! I love GX so so much and I’m guessing you found me through my Ike post which is also flattering. :)
There was a user I used to follow a couple years ago that had really good posts on this, but I tried to find her via old posts and it seems she’s deactivated. (yuzuhiragay if ur out there…) I don’t have the time or the memory (my last GX rewatch was years ago) to go through specific episodes and look for screencaps like she did, so here’s what I remember from her posts and my own interpretations!
- One thing that stands out is Jaden/Judai’s (I’m gonna call him Jaden bc I grew up on the dub) lack of interest in women. Even when Syrus and Hassleberry are fawning over cute duel monsters or irl women, Jaden seems largely uninterested in any of it (see: the Blair duel, for example). Same with Alexis, she seems to definitely have a crush on him, but Jaden remains oblivious to the point of outright ignoring the fact.
- You could argue that this is the shounen protagonist eschewing romance in favor of “his dream” (ala Luffy from One Piece), but it’s still notable, especially since other boys in the show DO show obvious interest in girls, and there was a very easy choice to pair Jaden up with romantically (Alexis)
- This argument also falls apart bc aside from a disinterest in women, Jaden also seems to have an interest in men. This is made pretty blatant by his interactions with Jesse/Johan, to the point where when I was a closeted 14 year old watching this show, I went on long tangents as to “why didn’t they just make Jesse a woman?!” and how much more sense the show would have made if Jesse had been a woman. I’m not even saying this from a spiritshipping point of view, since I’m largely neutral towards the ship itself. The hugging each other, the sacrifices Jaden made for him, even down to Jesse’s effeminate clothing and voice in the Japanese version.
- Speaking of Jesse/season 3, I think probably the biggest argument for Jaden being gay/queer is Yubel themselves. Again, it would have made exactly as much narrative sense for Yubel to be wholly female–the narrative would’ve played out the same, as it did in the 4kids version. However, why did 4kids censor/change this? They purposefully drew Yubel a second breast and gave her the same voice as Alexis, to give the impression that she was a woman. However, in the Japanese version, they are bigender/intersex/whichever and in the past life with Jaden, they are explicitly a boy. A boy who became a genderfluid monster who is still in love with Jaden, and who Jaden eventually accepts as a part of himself. Hmm. And this is all apart from the fact that Yubel purposefully chose Jesse to possess–so even if you say “well, it’s not Jesse confessing his love, it’s Yubel!” the writers (and Yubel themselves) chose Jesse’s body for a reason.
- But enough about season 3…I really appreciate that you mentioned Aster in this message too because that’s one of my favorite ships (and my fiancee’s all-time fave for GX)! With Aster I think upon first watching it’s easier to interpret it as “Oh, they’re just obsessed with each other because they’re both the chosen ones. And Aster’s jealous. They’re two sides of the same coin, both being played by Sartorius in different ways,” but equipped with all the other subtext (and text!) in GX regarding Jaden’s sexuality, I think it’s very easy to make the case that Jaden had a crush on him, and Aster fell for him eventually as well. Particularly how after Sartorius beats Aster, he collapses into Jaden’s arms and entrusts the fate of the world to him. Then Jaden goes on to be torn about weighing Aster against the keys (fate of the world), and which is more important to him. Then in season 3, we get Aster spying on Jaden from afar and Zane remarking that Aster had grown “soft” (after his encounters with Jaden).
- One other thing that bears mentioning is weighing Jaden against other Yugioh protagonists. With Ike, something that stands out is that even if you say he’s the celibate hero, you have to consider that that is just not a trope Fire Emblem ever employs for its protagonists. Jaden’s predecessor, Yugi, had a crush on Tea/Anzu. His successor, Yusei, I think has a crush on one of those girls (am not well versed in 5Ds)? Yuma was also gay with his alien bf, and Yuya has a crush on Yuzu (and I don’t care about Vrains so idk). So if most of our heroes are not celibate, then why would Jaden be? Just bc his close relationships are with men? Maybe…there’s another reason.
- I’m very proud of myself for saying all these words without even bringing up my ACTUAL favorite ship, rivalshipping (Jaden and Chazz). I could go on forever, but my point is that I think Jaden is gay and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop him!
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