I realize I never officially made an announcement about this, and I figured this was as good a time as any.
As a man who enjoys stereotypical feminine things, I like seeing cross-dressers and femboys portrayed well in my media. I especially love seeing it in animation, since that's my favorite medium. Yet, the sad truth is that you don't see that much in Western animation. You'll get an episode with it here and there, like in Steven Universe and Star vs, but overall, it's pretty rare.
That's why I tend to rely on anime for this kind of thing. That being said, there are so many significant shows I've never seen. Since this is so important to me, I decided to fix that as part of my blog. There's a lot of good and bad to talk about, so the plan is to talk about what many call "traps." (I prefer "josou," which is a Japanese term that essentially refers to acting or dressing as a woman.)
Before I get much farther, though, I should make it clear what I'm not including as part of this. This might not cover everything, but this should help explain why I'll be skipping over some shows.
For this series, I won't be watching shows that only include the following:
⦁ Characters who are considered feminine by the audience, but not by the characters. Anime character designs can often look androgynous merely because of the art style, and that's not what I'm covering. Some examples of this could include Yunoki Azuma from La Corda d'Oro or Michel from Mermaid Melody. Sure, they're pretty, but as far as I know, their masculinity isn't ever a subject of debate in-universe.
⦁ Stereotypical okama characters, such as the okama in One Piece.
⦁ Gender-bending caused by magic or sci-fi, such as with Ranma in Ranma 1/2 or Hazumu from Kashimashi. That's a different subject entirely.
⦁ Characters who use a female avatar in a game, since that's not the same thing. Tetra from Log Horizon could be considered this, though she could also count as gender-bending.
⦁ Josou as a minor element. This can be a character cross-dressing for one story arc (such as Keima in The World God Only Knows), or it can be a cross-dresser who plays a pretty minor role (such as Sakuragaoka in D-Frag).
⦁ Hentai or anything else that would be at home on pornhub. I don't care if No Money doesn't show any naughty bits.
⦁ Characters of unspecified/unknown gender or genderless characters such as Crona from Soul Eater or Rimiru from That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime.
⦁ Things from the source material that were left out of the anime, such as the twins from Utawarerumono.
⦁ Shows based on material from other Asian countries like Reikenzan. Different cultures view these things differently, and it would take much more research to include things from China or South Korea.
⦁ Anime with multiple full (24+ episode) seasons, with a few exceptions. It would take way too long to watch several 50+ episode shows for this, unless the characters are really important.
⦁ Manga or games. This is just anime for now. Manga and games are a bit harder to come by legally. Maybe someday I'll be able to talk about Bridget, but it is not this day.
There are also a few other shows that don't exactly fit into the previous categories, but that I won't be watching for other reasons (mostly personal ones).
⦁ Sukisyo, because it doesn't really count in a world with only men
⦁ Seikon no Qwaser
⦁ Super Lovers
⦁ Vinland Saga
⦁ Black Butler
⦁ Tokyo Ghoul
⦁ 30-sai no Hoken Taiiku
⦁ Anything with Watsuki Nobuhiro attached to it. He will never recieve any support from me ever.
⦁ Shows I've already seen, though I will most likely talk about them eventually.
⦁ Kamen no Maid Guy
Except I might watch Kamen no Maid Guy after all because it looks incredible. Basically, though, those are the things I won't be watching. Everything else is fair game. I hope this will interest some people, even if this is mostly for me.