Queer Self-Acceptance in Guilty Gear Strive
Testament, Venom, and Bridget’s growth in their personal plotlines runs parallel to the evolution of LGBTQIA+ representation in games, increasingly offering us a roster of nuanced, happy queer characters.
Testament, Venom, and Bridget’s growth in their personal plotlines runs parallel to the evolution of LGBTQIA+ representation in games, increasingly offering us a roster of nuanced, happy queer characters.
Among the changes that this remake made to its source material, the most personally striking was the radical difference in one character: Ryan Gray, a neurodivergent-coded antagonist originally presented as an unambiguous villain, but reinvented as a nuanced, sympathetic figure.
Leading up to Tears of the Kingdom’s release, many fans of the franchise held out hope that perhaps this game would be the one to break the franchise’s cycle of Link being the only playable character. But, unfortunately, this was not the case.
In a media landscape where there are seldom women who have a body type like mine, seeing two very different series, in terms of genre and presentation, showcase plus-sized sapphic women as people worthy of respect and desire, was so impactful for me.
Both interpretations of Arete’s tale are valuable works rich with feminist themes, and looking at the different ways the different versions play them out gives insight into the potential strengths that different tones and narrative structures can hold.
Japanese animation has found numerous sources of inspiration, from comics and novels to video games and toys, located from both within and outside of its national borders. But when it came to the 90s, few have the unique history, and overwhelming queer vibes , that the anime adaptation of Cybersix does.
I love many things about being a geek: reading or watching different media, researching their histories, and talking to others about it. These activities are viewed as essential to being a geek. But replace the word ‘“geek” with the word “autistic,” and suddenly all the traits that were so readily accepted get read as strange and negative.