IT WAS THE GREATEST COMIC BOOK EVER: It Had Crossdressing and Same-Sex Marriage (Adaeze)

I started out with Japanese manga and anime when I was in 5th grade, I watched Sailor Moon on Cartoon Network. I did not know it was called anime or was Japanese at the time. All I knew was that it was better than the other cartoons on TV. I moved on to watch Yu Yu Hakyusho, Dragon Ball, and Dragon Ball Z on the same channel and watched them uncensored on Adult Swim.

I read my first graphic novel which I thought was the greatest thing ever and read it several times. I still have it and I noticed it had some gay undertones with male crossdressing and male-male marriage. I read my first offical manga in high school, freshmen year. It was called Fake and was a yaoi which is really funny now that I think about it. My first straight anime was Fruits Basket. Manga and Anime really influenced my love for Japan and Japanese culture. It was a major reason why I took Japanese in high school instead of Spanish or French.

I did not find out about yuri until one of my friends told me about it. This was at the time I was struggling with my sexuality and reading yuri, in a way, helped me come to a realization that I'm bisexual. Though I prefer yuri over yaoi because yuri most of the time is drawn to please straight men's fantasy of two women together. There are a few yuri that I have read that actually has a good plotline and goes in-
depth with the relationship instead of straight sex. I prefer shojo-ai ("girl love") instead of yuri ("girl sex") because of that reason but I have read a yuri with a well written plot.

Yaoi and shonen-ai are better written and have developing relationships and multiple situations, it's still written for women because some of the sex scenes are unrealistic, like virgins being penetrated without preparation and saying it felt good when in reality, it hurts like hell.

Overall I love anime and manga because it goes beyond what comics and cartoons offer here. There is even manga about inter-sexed people and lovers with disabilities (they are so cute!). Bascially, there is a genre of manga and anime for everyone but never read shoutacon or lolicon because it has pedophilic content *shudders*