In Anime it gets wild – but gay and lesbian marriages are a taboo. So great that a couple is now quickly “de-married” retroactively.
The world of anime is colorful and often quite bizarre. Besides the “beach episode” cliché, the often very similar harem protagonists, questionable tentacle monster attacks, and also the repeatedly alluded incestuous relationships, there is actually nothing that the medium shies away from. Nothing? Almost.
Because with a marriage between homosexual characters, a limit seems to be reached, as Ninotaku explains.
What kind of video is this? German-speaking anime fans are likely to know Nino Kerl as “Ninotaku TV” on YouTube. In his videos, he informs not only about the latest topics related to anime itself but also about the whole surrounding – such as the problems in production or the reasons why many anime never get a second season.
In one of his latest videos, he takes on 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 a taboo: homosexual couples saying ‘I do.’
What happened? In one of the latest Gundam anime (“Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury”), the engagement of the two protagonists, Miorine Rembran and Suletta Mercury, occurs very early on. The relationship between the two is an important element throughout the series, even though this may seem rather unusual for Gundam series.
That this relationship ultimately leads to a marriage is implied at several points. As Ninotaku reports, an interview with the two protagonists’ voice actresses was published in the magazine “Gundam Ace”. The voice actress for Suletta revealed here that the two characters got married after the final battle.
This is confirmed elsewhere: After all, the two characters are each wearing a wedding ring in the anime’s epilogue. A post by the American Gundam account on Twitter also featured the two characters, and in the alt text of the image, it was clearly stated: “Suletta Mercury is sitting on the left side of the image and holding the hand of her wife Miorine Rembran, who is sitting next to her”:
Such alt texts are written so that Google can better assign images. In addition, these texts are read aloud to blind people through assistive devices so they can form an idea of the displayed image.
The “evidence” is therefore quite clear that the two characters got married at the end of the series.
All the more strange it becomes later, because: In the digital version of the magazine “Gundam Ace”, the story was retroactively modified, and the passage regarding the marriage was removed. The change was made because there was “an error in the original interview,” and they want to “leave the interpretation of the relationship of the two ladies to the audience.”
Why was this done? As Ninotaku explains, Japan is the only country in the G7 states where marriage between homosexual partners is still not recognized. The reason for this, in his eyes, is the conservative ruling party, which stands mainly for “traditional marriage,” meaning only between man and woman – even though the majority of the Japanese population supports the legalization of same-sex marriage (71%, according to Kyodo via nzz.ch)
Ninotaku finds it particularly ridiculous that such marriages are denied while much more tasteless topics, like the sexualization of minors or rapes, repeatedly find a place in anime.
The topic is also being discussed vigorously in the comments under the video.
What do you think about it? Does it fit your image of anime, where Yuri and Yaoi series are also very popular?
Why German dubs of anime are always “bad”, we explained here.
