The Kiss That Made History
Amidst the chaos of excitement from the most recent episode of Yuri On Ice, I don’t think some understand how important that kiss was. So I think I should explain it to those of you who are unsure of its importance. This is going to be a long post, so bear with me please!
In Japan, they are not as openly accepting of homosexuality as people in the US are. Normally, if you wanted to see two guys, or two girls kiss, you had to either watch hentai/porn or a certain type of genre known as, “Yaoi/Shonen-Ai,” or “Yuri.” (Note: You may still see two guys or two girls kiss in an anime that qualifies for neither of these things, but it will be a mature rating because of it.) This is still standard.
Now, why Katsuki Yuuri and Viktor Nikiforov’s kiss was important, was because it will change the future of the anime industry as a whole. Yes, you read this right. This show is making history in the most brilliant way possible.
Since Japan is strict about censorship laws and is a very conservative culture, they (studio MAPPA and the director) could not show the kiss in it’s entirety. They used Viktor’s arm as a clever censorship, to get around the censorship law.
If they had shown the kiss in its entirety, they would have either had to change their rating or their genre (or both), which is a hassle and will prove to have big problems for them.
The director of the show has always loved putting gay characters in her works, whether it’d be a gay male(s) or a gay female(s). She loves to break typical Japanese stereotypes and tropes in anime and manga that are commonplace for gay characters.
Now in anime, the most typical stereotypes for gay characters are usually as follows (I’m only going to be highlighting four of the most common tropes to avoid this list from getting even longer):
The Weird Foreigner-
This stereotype is common in an anime with foreign characters. These characters are usually from outside countries or something as simple as the neighboring town/city.
This cliche or trope depicts a type of outlandish or sometimes over the top male or female foreigner who are perceived by others as having homosexual tendencies (sometimes towards the main lead(s).)
They dismiss this characters homosexual tendencies as simply being a part of the culture from where they are from, or blaming their homosexuality on their “foreignness.”
The characters will try to avoid him/her and call them strange or weird, typically negatively. They will sometimes show other characters from the same country as acting the same way as the foreigner.
The Confused/Mistaken “Heterosexual”-
This cliche/trope depicts a character, usually a teenager or young adult, who has homosexual tendencies, coming to terms with their sexuality (usually at the beginning or middle of the shows run.)
They are told by the other characters that they’ll grow out of their tendencies, or worse, will attempt to teach them how to be heterosexual because the other characters believe that they are simply “confused,” or “mistaken,” about their sexual orientation. They will attempt to correct it by any means throughout the show.
Another worse stereotype that goes hand in hand with this one, is one I’d like to call:
The Infected/Diseased Homosexual-
This trope goes hand in hand with the previous one, and is sometimes influenced by it.
It depicts a homosexual character who can turn others gay.
Yes, you read this correctly.
This character is avoided like he/she were diseased or infected, hence, the name of the stereotype.
One look or touch, or something as simple as being influenced by them, can turn a character into a homosexual too.
Often times, the other characters will try to help the, “infected,” or “confused,” character by teaching them of their heterosexuality.
But wait, there’s more!
The Homosexual Pervert/Sexual Harasser-
This stereotype is the most common, and it is the most damaging stereotype/trope in anime and manga.
The homosexual character is depicted as extremely perverted and will do absolutely anything to do as they wish to any character of the same sex (typically the main character.)
This character may also touch, grope, or hold onto their desired character without consent and are typically represented as not taking, “no” for an answer.
On an even more damaging scale, these characters may also kiss, or attempt to rape a character of the same sex with no particular order or care for the feelings of the character they are attracted to.
The less serious on this scale, is a homosexual character that has an attraction to a character of the same sex, but they do not force themselves onto the character.
This character’s only purpose get in their desired character’s way, be obscenely annoying, or a nuance to the character or plot and may even be violent to the love interest of the character they are attracted to.
Which is not as bad, but is still a damaging trope nonetheless.
Not only do typical anime and manga use and incorporate these stereotypes into their material on a regular basis, but Yaoi and Shonen-Ai also use these tropes too.
Yes, you read right. The genre that features a gay love story/gay characters in an abundance, also uses these stereotypes just as much as other shows, if not, maybe more.
You might be thinking, “Lyra, how could a genre about gay characters incorporate these negative stereotypes just as much as your typical anime or manga?”
I’ll tell you.
I have seen a lot of Yaoi, I have read a lot of BL, and over time I have noticed a predictable cycle of negative stereotypes and unhealthy romances that, after a while, just become background fodder.
My most recent watch was JunJou Romantica, which was decent enough, but I cannot begin to describe to you just how many times I’ve seen the Homosexual Pervert/Sexual Harasser trope used in Yaoi, Shonen-Ai, and BL as a plot point.
Typically, the main character will be in denial about his sexuality. The main character then meets his love interest. Now at this point in the story, the love interest will either be the aggressor and sexually harass the main character until he gives in, or there will be another character to sexually harass the main character, appointing the love interest to save the main character (usually out of jealousy or selfishness.)
When the main character is out of danger, the love interest will typically do the same thing to the main character as the previous aggressor was just attempting, but it will typically have a different effect because, “it’s you, and you’re different.”
Sound familiar? That’s because this is the exact formula for any BL or Yaoi story. There may be some changes or differences between some, but this is the absolute blue print for any type of unhealthy BL romance out there.
Not only is this extremely disengaging and damaging, but there is another strange and equally damaging stereotype that is typically selective to Yaoi and BL.
The Uke/Seme Mentality-
This trope is everywhere. In every single BL or Yaoi romance.
Now this usually is supposed to display who is more submissive and who is more dominant in the relationship. Nothing inherently wrong there, right?
Except when the uke is portrayed as more emotional, more womanly, and always submissive in the relationship. Especially when the seme is always portrayed as barely emotional, manipulative, and always dominant in the relationship.
This is inherently, imitating heterosexuality and is very inaccurate when it comes to two men or two women who share an equal attraction to one another.
Two men or two women in a relationship are equals, and one should not treat one as being the, “woman,” and the other as being the, “man,” in the relationship. They are both men/both women. They are equals.
Not only are these stereotypes negative towards gay characters in anime and manga, but there a ton of regular romantic stereotypes that are just as unhealthy and forced.
So much so, that any romance with these tropes is just hard to watch or practically unbearable to sit through.
Here’s a brief list of some of these tropes (these should be obvious/self explanatory so I won’t waste your time explaining them):
Attraction is instant/rushed.
Attraction is only valid between a male and female lead.
Characters decide they love each other within the first moments/days of meeting each other.
Conversations between the two characters are rushed with little to no importance.
The romance hinders the plot and/or does not progress it.
The romance does not benefit the plot/is practically meaningless.
The romance is only valid when the characters kiss or have sexual intercourse.
One or both partners say/do things to their significant other without their consent.
One or both partners assume that since they are in a romantic relationship, they can kiss or have sex with their significant other any time they want to, and will ignore when they tell them to stop or that they are not in the mood.
One or both partners will consciously ignore problems within the relationship, instead of addressing them.
One or both partners will not fully trust one another.
One or both partners are consistently jealous of their significant other’s friends, exes, or family members.
One or both partners will not let their significant other have their own space or privacy.
One or both partners often fight or have miscommunications over things that people with healthy relationships would be able to address, discuss, and understand.
Miscommunications are often created to further the plot, and will be resolved haphazardly.
Any romantic attraction between two men or two women is often invalidated and/or ignored entirely.
One or both partners are pressured into relationships because they believe that they could never truly be happy without a significant other.
When one or both partners disregard their significant other’s feelings towards their actions or words.
When one or both partners do not confront their significant other for their wrong doing(s).
When one or both partners will not admit when they’ve done/said something that hurt their significant other and refuse to apologies for it.
When one or both partners are manipulative towards one another.
When a romance is built on lies or false pretenses/expectations.
When one or both partners only show care or affection for their significant other during sexual intercourse.
When one or both partners are not sure of the other’s feelings towards them, even after they’ve had sex or continue to show affection towards one another.
One or both partners do not appear to have any chemistry but will still say that they love each other, even when there is no existing connection between them.
One or both partners will have “crushes” on other characters to create tension between the two love interests, even if they are already in an existing relationship with other characters.
When certain characters are homophobic or disapprove of the relationship just to create high stakes for the plot.
When one or neither of the characters are likable or interesting and yet you are still expected to care about the romance between the two characters.
When one or both partners will pretend to not be in a relationship because they feel like others will disapprove/make fun of them because of it.
When little to no conflicts arise to draw the two characters closer, yet they end up together regardless.
When the two characters end up kissing or having sexual intercourse as a temporary solution to a problem or miscommunication in the relationship, instead of discussing it with one another.
The development of the relationship feels unnatural or off.
One or both partners will not benefit or better each other because of their relationship.
Now seeing as how damaging these stereotypes can be in the anime industry and in romance in general, Yuri On Ice has managed to go above and beyond what any anime, manga, or romance has managed to do.
Yuri On Ice has either avoided or destroyed these tropes entirely, and continues to do so magnificently.
It has created both a healthy, unforced, naturally growing and developing love story that just happens to be between two men, and is also destroying some of the most damaging and commonplace stereotypes for romance and gay characters in the anime industry.
Since Yuri On Ice had the guts to take on these problems head on, instead of turning away from the obvious flaws of the anime industry, it has set the bar high for other anime in the future.
It has given us a much higher expectation for a healthy romance, well portrayed and matured homosexual characters, story, animation, and music. It will leave a mark on the anime industry and it will hopefully encourage other shows to do something like this in the future.
Now, Yuri On Ice has always been iffy for me (not that I didn’t like it, I love this show). The reason it was this way for me was because I was nervous and concerned that they would abandon Viktor and Yuuri’s relationship, or sweep it under the rug and never resolve the feelings these two characters had for one another.
Yet I had always had faith that the director would pull through, and they did so magnificently.
Now since Viktor and Yuuri have kissed, people have began to say that this anime should now be in the Yaoi genre/category. That simply cannot be farther from the truth. If you’re confused as to why this is the case, this post summarizes it perfectly.
When Yuuri and Viktor kissed (on screen, no less) I knew that Japan was changing. This is one of the first sparks, that will lead to a complete change in the anime industry. Now granted, Yuri On Ice was not the first to do something like this.
No.6 was the first to feature a well portrayed homosexual lead and an unforced romance between two men without changing their genre or rating (which is seriously amazing).
Just because Yuri On Ice was the second, does not mean that it has any less impact and importance. Now, a kiss between two male characters on screen, without any change in the rating and genre is astonishing.
Having a show that’s so driven to destroy these damaging stereotypes and tropes that are so common in the anime industry, gives me hope that other shows will do this in the future.
These two shows have set such a high bar for expectation from the media, and I have faith that Yuri On Ice will continue to make history.
