“You see, I’ve always wanted this. A night just between us, an eternal night in which I conduct the symphony that is you. I don’t want it to end yet… So please stay quiet.”
- Himemiya Chikane, Kannazuki no Miko
I’ve decided against writing impressions of the new season. Other people are doing it better than I would. But I’ll make an exception for A Certain Scientific Railgun, because I’m enjoying it a lot, and also because I can’t help but be very critical of it.
Kuroko's no Ingrid Bergman, but I still loved this scene to death.
There’s a long history of gays in fiction, but we haven’t had much in the way of selection: Generally, homosexual characters are either flamboyant, asexual fops, or they are strange and dangerous people who have become unhinged by their unspeakable desires. And if they aren’t doomed to die, then at least they will spend the rest of their lives alone and unloved. There’s a bit more diversity nowadays, but I don’t think we’ve ever totally moved away from this choice between neutering gays and turning them into monsters.
When we think of the latter trope in context of anime, two shows should come to mind: Kannazuki no Miko and Mai-HiME. The crazy lesbian in one (Fujino Shizuru) is merely a subplot, while the other has its sapphist (Himemiya Chikane) front and center stage, but in other respects these characters are largely the same. Both ladies are elegant, aloof “ojou-sama” types, who end up doing some truly desperate and awful things to be recognized by the women they love. We’re led to believe that abnormal lusts pushed these high society girls to hysteria.
Fun fact: Psychiatrists used to treat homosexuality with electroshock therapy.
So what does any of this have to do with A Certain Scientific Railgun? I’m thinking about Kuroko’s portrayal in the two episodes we’ve seen so far. In a way, our tempestuous twin-tailed teleporter is the inheritor of Chikane and Shizuru’s madness.
Kuroko’s a bit of an ojou-sama herself, at least as far as her delightful speaking style goes. But more importantly, she’s a massively “out” lesbian who expresses herself by stalking and trying to molest her roommate. Her perverse obsession with “Mikoto-oneesama” is a running gag, but sadly, one doesn’t need to be a psychic to know that it’s never going to go anywhere. I would be speechless if we got even a shitty pretext-kiss in the final episode, like Mikoto drowning and needing CPR.
Unlike her predecessors, Kuroko hides absolutely nothing, which ought to be a positive thing. But her hyper-lust is in fact worse than Chikane and Shizuru’s furtiveness, because it neutralizes any hope we might have of seeing a healthy take on alternative sexuality. Kuroko’s desire for women is a joke, nothing more.
In short: The crazy lesbian is denied, the doujinshi circuit finds its new target practice, and the sinister hetero agenda triumphs again.
October 12, 2009 at 1:48 am
I’m not really sure that Railgun is the place to look for honest lesbianism. As a show aimed at males, it would make sense that it follows the “hetero agenda.” Sure it makes for great fun (I thought that Kuroko was bi-sexual?), but the whole show is all fanservice and otaku plays (not that I’m complaining).
I don’t know if yuri shows provide a better take on homosexual characters. From what I have heard, Aoi Hana was a strong show, and depicted the characters and lesbian relationship in a more believable manner. I haven’t seen it so I wouldn’t know for sure.
October 12, 2009 at 10:10 am
Aoi Hana was indeed a strong show; I enjoyed it a lot. But it’s unfortunately one of the few.
I was mostly joking about the “sinister hetero agenda.” I don’t think it’s necessarily wrong to pander to otaku tastes. But it does need to be brought out and discussed as part of a trend. Thanks for reading.
October 12, 2009 at 2:14 am
You’re right in that the yuri component in this show is nothing more than a joke and fanservice. I haven’t seen too many yuri shows but Simoun’s take was as mature and beautiful as Brokeback Mountain.
October 12, 2009 at 10:14 am
Simoun’s a fun one. I wrote a little bit about it in my post about Aoi Hana. It’s an impossible scenario, of course, but you’re right in that it’s very affirming in its presentation.
Sadly, I didn’t enjoy Brokeback Mountain very much. Ang Lee films just tend to make my mind go blank. But I get what you mean. Thanks for reading.
October 12, 2009 at 2:23 am
I agree with your post completely, and my assessment is similar to that of Shadow’s: this show looks like it’s going the way of just otaku servicing.
If you’re gonna spend a whole episode on a lesbian quest that goes nowhere…then hmmm…the show’s not for me.
October 12, 2009 at 10:16 am
It certainly does distance itself from its predecessor, though, I’ll say that much. Instead of a lot of very important information fed to us through endless dialogue (as in episode 2 of Index), this episode was extremely vibrant, visually impressive and about nothing at all. I’m willing to wait it out and see where it goes.
October 12, 2009 at 2:37 am
Yes, this. Anime is filled with shitty portrayals of homosexuality, and this flavor might be the worst. I’d really like to enjoy Railgun because it’s well-animated and set in an interesting universe, but so far it’s just been dominated by Kuroko’s crush. Maybe it’s too early to judge, but I mean by the second episode of Index we had magicians and fire elementals and stuff. If Railgun is gonna grow a plot it needs to hurry the hell up.
October 12, 2009 at 10:20 am
Thanks for responding. Personally, I’m looking forward to the woman in the labcoat with the “crazy character” bags under her eyes (Or makeup, if that’s what it is– Can’t quite tell). If the OP were also made up of nothing but fancy lesbo hijinks, I’d be much less likely to give this a chance.
But I’ll say this much: Unlike Index, I haven’t yawned once.
October 12, 2009 at 3:56 am
I’m very, very sad that you made this post. As I mentioned in my post on episode 2, I’m waiting for the other girls to go ahead and justify Kuroko. Railgun is playing up the idea of ‘two pairs of girls’ as much as it can (see ED), and I am not unconfident that Saten and Uihara could end up together as well. If this is the case, they will balance out Kuroko.
I also think it’s not nearly as unlikely as you think for Kuroko and Misaka to end up together, albeit less likely than the other pair. Ralgun has it’s roots in light novel, and light novels have a tendency to get a lot more risque and surprising than manga – now, railgun itself is a manga side-story, but I don’t think that means it can’t take some of the light-novel flavoring with it.
I think this show wants to push the girl aspect so much that it probably won’t really introduce any male characters, and even if it never explicitly states that all the girls are lesbians, it will heavily imply it. And that’s as much as we get out of even most girl-oriented lesbian stories (Marimite, anyone?)
October 12, 2009 at 10:27 am
Well, having said all I did, I can now admit that I do see a slight ray of hope in Mikoto’s relationship with Saten. Her reaction to Mikoto’s photo album this episode was subtle, but if we turn on our yuri goggles for a moment, it certainly feels like the beginning of a warm fascination with the other person, those first tentative steps toward something more. I can dig it.
October 12, 2009 at 5:52 am
I’ve long given up hope for anime to ever portray realistic or respectable homosexuality. Just give me carnal lesbians -_-;
October 12, 2009 at 10:28 am
And carnal lesbians you shall have, my disgruntled friend. Carnal lesbians in great abundance.
Thanks for reading.
October 12, 2009 at 6:31 am
Railgun isn’t the best place to look for a well plot, but there’s a limit to where Kuroko’s lesbianism and masochism starts to get annoying, and it’s coming to that limit soon.
October 12, 2009 at 10:31 am
The electro-eroticism of the last scene was probably close to my limit. But we have a whole week to wait and steel ourselves for the next bit… Really, though, everything just looks so gorgeous, I couldn’t give it up anyway.
October 12, 2009 at 7:36 am
Because we know that it will never going to go anywhere, Kuroko’s lesbian antics gets old pretty quickly. I personally can do without such antics. It just ruining the anime, imo.
October 12, 2009 at 10:34 am
I think you and I both know that the antics aren’t going to end anytime soon. But thankfully there’s enough being promised in the future that I can deal. Thanks for reading.
October 13, 2009 at 7:36 am
*sighs* they better start with the plot soon or my gayness for Mikoto can’t guarantee that I’m watching this to the end.
October 12, 2009 at 6:36 pm
The anime, of course, doesn’t care about people who have a problem with these antics, though. It’s aimed towards people like me who have been reading VERY EXTREME yuri doujins of Misaka and Kuroko for some time now, and it’s hard to fault the show for knowing its audience.
October 12, 2009 at 10:05 am
One comment moderated. Please practice discretion when discussing issues. Thanks.
October 12, 2009 at 5:57 pm
[...] some Morricone ripoff tunes play and bloggers get all bent out of shape about underage lesbianism that’ll never pay off. The logic to a flagging anime industry is sound: instead of producing a 50-episode series, produce [...]
October 13, 2009 at 6:24 am
Agreed about how the yuri is never going to go anywhere. As a huge yuri fan, I loved Shizuru and Chikane, and love the anguish and desperate actions. It’s a bit unfortunate that Railgun will probably never have this.
Of course, I would not rule out a serious take completely. Even though very very unlikely, it is still faintly possible that Kuroko’s antics are in fact a masquerade for her true, more profound feelings for Mikoto.
Near impossible though, so I just enjoy the yuri in Railgun for what it is. It’s just fanservice and fun to watch.
October 13, 2009 at 7:44 am
Given the comedic way they handled Kuroko’s breakdown in this episode, I’m comfortable with ruling out any kind of serious take. I’d be delighted to be proved wrong, though.
I forgot to mention that partly why I wrote this entry was because of your coverage of the “sequel” to Kannazuki no Miko. That plus watching Railgun was a perfect storm in my brain. So, cheers.
October 14, 2009 at 6:24 am
The “sequel” is Zettai Shoujo Seiiki Amnesian. It’s just mindless yuri though, and lacks the serious intricate aspect of lesbian relationships you described for ShizNat and Kannazuki.
Anyway, love your critiques.
October 14, 2009 at 8:39 am
I just wanted to say I enjoy the captions under the images. Do this more.
October 14, 2009 at 10:30 am
With pleasure. Much appreciated.
October 14, 2009 at 11:56 am
I look at it in another way as “where’s the payoff?”, but I tend not to say that sort of thing often. But it is something that I notice as well in anything that might have a hint of a possible relationship (of course, given how high my glasses are, this sort of thing is more frequent then I’d like to admit). So when shows do have it, like in Kanamemo (first display of a happy, lovey-dovey yuri relationship with kissing and all that I’ve seen in a series as face I can remember), regardless about how much I like the show at the end, it’s a nice surprise.
But in the case of Railgun, I have to wonder: if it ever does get somewhere for Kuroko, what would the response be among the people that watch the show? Would they turn it off as it violates the “hetero agenda”?
October 14, 2009 at 12:07 pm
You’re lucky I decided to neurotically check the ‘Net just before I went to bed.
Hmm… You know, I don’t think anyone would turn it off (unless of course it was done badly), but it would still be complicated. Does the consensus then become “All RIGHT, time for some hot lesbian action”? I think I’d be bothered by that kind of reaction. On the other hand, if people actually rooted for Kuroko’s success, maybe it would be a sign that minds have been changed for the better.
Go much further than that and we’ll just be trying to read peoples’ minds. But it’s a very interesting question you pose, nonetheless. Thanks for your thoughts.
October 15, 2009 at 1:01 am
But I do want Kuroko to be successful too. :3
October 15, 2009 at 5:23 am
Unfortunately, such is the fate of unrequited love. Now, I can also say this on Misaka’s case, but that’ll change on the latter chapters of the Index novel somehow.
So I guess Kuroko’s our only patient for this series?
October 17, 2009 at 6:20 am
[...] What you could be reading about Railgun but aren’t yet. Fix this (2DT 2009/10/12) [...]
October 25, 2009 at 9:08 am
[...] portrayals or what the show represents because I’m enjoying the show solely as light fare. Other bloggers have done a much better job exploring the issue. I also have no idea how Kuroko was shown [...]
December 15, 2009 at 12:50 pm
[...] example, the fact that unrequited love between girls is treated as just unrequited love, and not a gag nor a creepy twist? That’s sort of nice. Also, everything takes place in a rather hum-drum, normal high school, [...]
March 11, 2010 at 8:54 am
[...] the show hasn’t inspired me to write anything about it lately, not like those heady early days of mad lesbians and sexy cheesecake. Fortunately, though, that’s just [...]
April 20, 2010 at 9:38 am
[...] Durarara!!: Party Time in the Heisei Generation 3: On Crazy Lesbians and A Certain Scientific Railgun 2: Anime and the Greek Foot: A Pediaphilic Odyssey 1: Spice and Wolf and the Medieval [...]
May 23, 2010 at 7:17 pm
I personally think Kuroko’s unrequited love for Biribiri makes her moe. She’s destined never to be romantically involved with her, doomed to attempt to stalk and molest Biribiri only to be met with total rejection until the series ends, and that adds a sad and tragic aspect to what would otherwise be a very superficial character.
May 25, 2010 at 10:11 am
Interesting. Never thought of it that way. Thanks!
October 14, 2010 at 9:33 pm
[...] some Morricone ripoff tunes play and bloggers get all bent out of shape about underage lesbianism that’ll never pay off. The logic to a flagging anime industry is sound: instead of producing a 50-episode series, produce [...]
October 16, 2010 at 5:39 am
I’m glad to see some insight on this topic. As far as culture is concerned, I’ve generally heard that Japan is not a homophobic country, so I’ve always wondered, why doesn’t that lack of homophobia translate into anime? Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagaan’s Leeron definitely fit into that “asexual fop” category and it didn’t help that one of the lovable main characters’ initial reaction to his sexual commentary was somewhat homophobic. A great series, yet still a demonstration of the unspoken and underrepresented LGBTQI persons and their ability to have a sound and healthy relationship. Not a “traditional” or “conformed” relationship, as I do not think they should be, however, they can be healthy regardless. Although I’ve only seen a few yuri and or non-categorized female-female relationships in anime (e.g. – some people categorize “Gai-Rei Zero” as yuri, but the main characters, two young women, share a healthy and beautiful relationship). I would definitely recommend Ga Rei Zero if you are looking for a story with a serious and committed relationship between two women. Though there is not too much which is sexual involved, I very much enjoyed the story and the depiction of these characters. Thank you for sharing!
October 17, 2010 at 12:26 am
Ooh, thanks for the comment! It’s been a while, but this is still an entry I’m very proud of, so I’m glad you liked it.
Unfortunately, in my observation, Japan’s homophobia isn’t less, merely different. Nobody’s going to get beaten up or killed for being gay, but at the same time, LGBTQs are quietly excluded from most aspects of public life, and rampant stereotypes (like cross-dressing okama comedians) don’t cause a stir.
But there’s hope, I think. I did like Ga-Rei Zero’s relationship.
November 1, 2010 at 9:03 am
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