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| Kokkuri-san |
Being a great fan of anime, I cannot help but notice the
number of effeminate male characters in many anime series and films. I am equally
awed by the strong portrayal of these characters. These effeminate males are
not wimpy foils to the heroes, some are the heroes.
In researching the reasons for such characters, I learned
that in life the term for them is bishōnen, and the meaning of bishōnen is beautiful youth or
beautiful boy. Here in American such men are thought of as androgynous. However, people in East Asia think of them as young
men whom beauty and sexual appeal transcends the boundary of gender or sexual
orientation.
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| Griffith |
This in no way means that such men must be homosexuals. Although
some of them are known to be, many more are simply men whose physical beauty
and mannerism ravels those of women.
Below is my list of top ten effeminate anime characters from
some of my favorite anime.
- Kokkuri-san,
Kokkuri-san – Gugure! - a fox spirit
- Griffith, Berserk: The Golden Age Arc - a ruthless Arthurian
character
- Lord Sesshomaru,
Inuyasha - dog demon and brother of
Inuyasha
- Jakotsu, Inuyasha - a villain
in the Band of Seven
- Shunsui Kyōraku, Bleach
- a member of the Soul Society
- Haku, Naruto Shippuden – an
assassin
- Count D, Petshop of
Horrors
- Himura Kenshin, Rurouni
Kenshin, a wandering samurai
- Hijikata
Toshizo, Hakuouki: The Last Samurai, based on the real historical Hijikata
Toshizo
- Soji Okita, Peacemaker
Kurogane, is the first unit captain of the Shinsengumi
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| Shunsui Kyōraku |
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| Jakotsu |
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| Haku |
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| Himura Kenshin |
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| Hijikata Toshizo |
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| Shunsui Kyōraku |
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| Soji Okita |
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Shunsui Kyōraku with Jūshirō Ukitake
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Bonus
- Shunsui Kyōraku with Jūshirō Ukitake,
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- Bleach
- The historical Hijikata Toshizou
was the vice-commander of the Shinsengumi, an independent volunteer unit of
roshi (or ronin) mostly of peasants’ origins. The Shinsengumi faithfully served
their shogun in the tumultuous years (1863-1869), which lead to the Meiji
restoration. However, Hijikata led the Shinsengumi in their final battles
against the new government. He died because he refused to
retreat from the last battle with the Imperial forces. He was 35. Toshizo
Hijikata Museum
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| The historical Hijikata Toshizou |
