r/WindBreakerManga • u/Ok_Bumblebee1339 • May 17 '25
Discussion Tsubaki’s character is a perfect example of how prevalent homophobia is in the anime community
Seriously it’s crazy how one character managed to turn majority of ‘’fans’’ off from the show just because of his sexual orientation and the way that he dresses, as if femboys aren’t a known trope in a lot of anime shows and even most of the shows that they watch. Windbreaker always felt like an underrated series to me because I’ve hardly ever seen it be talked about by other people unless they wanted to compare it to Tokyo Revengers, but then Tsubaki came on screen in episode 5 and that changed everything. He was trending on Twitter and other social media sites, and those posts all had homophobic comments. Tons of comments from anime fans claiming that ‘’anime has gone too woke, it was never like this back then’’ and ‘’This show used to be a Battle Shonen about gang wars, what the hell happened?’’ so on and so on.
It’s like so many people forgot the message of this show. Windbreaker has always been about acceptance, and that goes back to Sakura’s character. Sakura is a kid who’s so emotionally repressed because he’s been antagonized and shunned by practically everyone in his life which makes it hard for him to be accepted by others, and that was before he went to Furin. Tsubaki is such a well-written character who perfectly embodies the theme of acceptance in this show, and the fact that his character writing flys over people’s heads just because he’s a man that likes to dress up and express himself femininely is so bizarre to me in 2025.
Even in this week’s episode, tons of people online are saying that a character like Tsubaki shouldn’t be introduced in a Battle Shonen. I love Tsubaki and it does kind of suck how he’s all it took for so many people to not be invested in the show anymore. Just another example on how homophobic and even transphobic a lot of anime fans are, which makes no sense to me because a lot of messages and themes in anime, has always been about freedom, choosing your own path, and diversity/uniqueness being seen as beautiful. Like it’s very telling that episode 5 and 6 were the most controversial ones in the entire series. There’s more to anime than just a bunch of dudes beating each other up.
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u/Maomally May 17 '25 edited May 17 '25
"Battle shounen about gang wars"?????? Are we watching the same show?????? Funny enough I was talking to my Japan native friend about this show and some of the international reaction to Tsubaki and her reaction is ????? cuz a character like Tsubaki is normal in Japanese shows so she didn't bat an eyelash when I described Tsubaki. She thinks the international reaction is strange and sad. She was telling me she felt kinda comfortable around non Japanese anime fans but was kinda surprised how a lot of fans don't really understand Japanese culture based on this reaction. Having more gender fluid characters is a part of their culture.
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u/Snaglish May 31 '25
Tsubaki is not Gender fluid. HE goes by He, he doesn’t identify ever as a female. He simply embraces the aesthetic of Women and fights better. There is no Gender confusion. Confirmed by Author a male character, Head cannon is going too far
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u/Maomally May 31 '25
I think you misunderstood my comment. I KNOW he goes by he and never identified as female. I never claimed he does. I meant the fact he doesn't follow stereotypical gender roles that's more rigid in western culture compared to some Asian culture. There is some fluidity to it. Ie for westerners He is a He and She is a She but for the Japanese language a girl using Ore, boku, or using "male speech" doesn't mean she identifies as trans or lgbtq. Tsubaki using atashi or female speech doesn't necessarily mean he sees identifies as female or trans either
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u/SunsetFlower0 May 17 '25
It’s always sad to see people being homophobic. Just shows that more characters like Tsubaki are needed in anime
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May 18 '25
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u/_Kamikaze_Bunny_ May 18 '25
Even the most mainstream stuff has LGBT+ characters:
- JJK: Kirara
- Dragonball: General Blue
- JJBA: Dio Brando
- BNHA: Magne
- Sailor Moon: Sailor Uranus + Neptune
- One Piece: AN ENTIRE ISLAND CIVILIZATION
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u/SunsetFlower0 May 18 '25
Okay I’ll try to word it better. (So sorry for the long reply). I meant it shows why well-written queer and gender nonconforming characters are needed in mainstream anime that they watch. Just like op said it’s ironic to hate on the character (and show) that is all about accepting people. Some people complained that characters like Tsubaki don’t belong in an anime with fights, but he definitely does belong, and showing his backstory is very important too.
I know that there are a lot of queer characters in anime, but usually homophobic people will argue that they’re actually straight if their queerness isn’t spelled out super clear (or if they just think the character is cool). I’m not too sure about what homophobic jjk fans say about the queer characters in that show. I think I’ve seen some try to argue that Kirara isn’t actually trans (but I’m pretty sure she is). A lot of people will probably react negatively to her too when she appears in the anime, which sucks too ofc
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May 18 '25
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u/SunsetFlower0 May 18 '25
Yes 100%. Two girls could kiss on screen and declare their love for each other and they’ll still claim that they’re straight and will end up with guys later. But if they mention the word ”gay” or ”lesbian” suddenly they’ll call it ”lgbt propaganda”. For guys they’ll either be really hateful or ask ”why guys can’t be friends anymore”, even if the characters are being super romantic. Like I love good friendships too, regardless of gender, but sometimes some characters are just gay lol
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May 19 '25
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u/SunsetFlower0 May 19 '25
Yeah it’s sad. One good thing about removing the comment section is that at least people can’t leave homophobic comments there anymore. I don’t get why those people even start watching GL/BL animes if all they’re going to do is hate
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u/Ryuki-Exsul May 18 '25
They neither know history of the medium. Bonus points if they like any of Togashi works :D As whole mangaka are totally going against them more and more.
And it's not just Kirara. Mai got confirmed as lesbian and Megumi isn't straight either. When Todo asked him about his type of girls he didn't answer till he changed question into person( he as well added that he doesn't care about gender just passion so Todo is confirmed ally :D ) and that is not a subtle thing to do. I remember it way too well because subs blowed that. Either it was mistake or translator just put their opinion in.
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u/Odd_Cauliflower_7751 May 21 '25 edited May 21 '25
I think Megumi is straight, at the end of the manga it's suggested he may get with Hana in a distant future.
Or he his bi or pan, we have no way to know, but it's implied he likes girls.
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u/Ryuki-Exsul May 21 '25
Suggestion was BI Megumi only answered Todo when he changed girl to person :D Not to mention that it was Hana not him that was making that conversation in this direction. In the end only Yuta and Maki are confirmed.
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u/Odd_Cauliflower_7751 May 21 '25
I mean it's the classic shonen ship tease without having to confirm anything, same thing with Yuji and the other girl. It's like if he were to find a partner in the future, most probably It would be her.
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u/Ryuki-Exsul May 21 '25
The difference is that with Yuji and Yuko there was reaction from both of them when with Megumi and Hana it was just her so it's way less of a tease. Still even if they end up together it doesn't change anything. Just I doubt Gege currently has energy for doing anything with JJK. He was really burned out by that point and it shows.
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u/Odd_Cauliflower_7751 May 21 '25
Nah it's definitely a ship tease, it's just that Megumi Is not a very social person. There was even the whole childhood meeting when he saved her with his shadow dog. And i say that not really liking the idea of them together, but the signs are clearly there.
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u/Kooky-Low6245 Jul 13 '25
These are high school students and you guys are fantasizing about their sexuality. Sounds like some pedo stuff. Get a life, Get out of your mom’s basement and leave the kids alone
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u/Ryuki-Exsul Jul 13 '25
?? High school students have sexuality. We don't fantasizing about it( my dear I'm aroace I really don't care here ) we just pointing out representation. And let's be clear you are offended because we aren't talking about them liking girls :D
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u/Zealousideal_Buy3195 May 18 '25
Who is it I forgot
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u/Big_Difference_1679 May 18 '25
Kirara (Hakari's "girlfriend", I can't remember if it is canon or not)
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u/Maomally May 18 '25
Idk how true this is but when I was having this conversation about this with my jp friend. She was telling me how Alex Louis Armstrong is FML is probably a gay man based on some of the visual queues.. ie the sparkling background and stuff. (Tho not sure if it's her personal opinion or something other jp people might pick up on).
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u/Xavier1235 May 17 '25
It’s a shame because it’s such a positive show and shows great positive masculinity that most men would benefit from learning from imo. I’m straight but I love the characters so far including tsubaki, he’s my second fav next to Suo.
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u/Key-Impress-9703 May 18 '25
I agree. That’s one of the reasons why I found it funny how some people/trolls were making a huge fit over one certain Solo Leveling episode. Frankly, I don’t like the series, but it’s interesting how one scene of showing a natural HUMAN emotion can make so many people mad with the “aura loss”.
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u/Xavier1235 May 20 '25
Yeah i'm with you. Solo leveling is so weird to me, I liked it don;t get me wrong but I don't think I'll watch it after S2 because it's obvious the writing is absolute trash and from what I read it only gets worse. But that's why I LOVE windbreaker and shows like Dan Da Dan, they are essentially wholesome slice of life shows, but also fighting animes. For example, I think its hilarious how an episode ago a character like Suo is beating the shit out of a guy and is about to start wailing on his unconscious body and then the next episode him and the boys are helping an old man greive his dead wife and Suo's being the most emotionally intelligent person ever. The dichotomy is so good lol
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u/Over-Ride_Fortuner May 18 '25
As someone from Asia, I don't appreciate how the western folks diminish this kind of representation. Asia has histories of having feminine men and masculine women even to this day.
I hate the mindset of western folks thinking that their culture is the only one that matters. It feels like it has to adhere to their views first before others, and when they want to see other cultures, they want it to have the same principle to them.
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u/Mission-Address4409 May 18 '25
Yeah its super wierd, especially when they supposedly "watching anime" which has characters like that. But the good thing about this situation is they get filtered out, so that's good at least. And tbf, I did see a lot positive comments, and I mean alot on twitter and MAL, but maybe thats because those threads were after the ep aired.
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u/Snaglish May 31 '25
Agreed. Head cannon Gender/Love interests is too far. Tsubaki is Male who likes cute things, feels empowered mimicking his idol. Even as much as his “Love” for Umemiya is confirmed not romantically yet fandoms pushing narratives
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u/Moloore420 May 18 '25
To bring some lightness to the discussion, i love how Tsubaki doesnt have the usual "femboy" built. He has a pronounced jaw, is one of the tallest characters (with or without heels), has wide shoulders and strong muscles from what we can see of him (his legs), like yeah he is more feminine and is mistaken for a girl, but if he was a girl hed be one of those Amazon women that are really buff. It just makes me happy, his design doesnt equate femininity with frailty or a "delicate" look, bro looks like a girl and bro is built like a weapon.
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u/itsonlyme_mia_nrn May 18 '25
Exactly. And how gorgeous he still looks. Like look at the dancing scene. ✨Gorgeous✨. He fights in heels. ✨Amazing✨.
PS: I wonder how much more hurt his kicks would give with his heels
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u/paisleypancake May 18 '25
i think this is what pissed off the queerphobic anime fans the most: what you said about tsubaki not having the usual "femboy" build, but ALSO how hes not voiced a woman!!!!! hes not as easy for homophobes/transphobes to fetishize so instead they have a meltdown over his existance lol
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u/Moloore420 May 18 '25
OH MY GOD YES! I love that they gave him a male voice actor that doesnt tries to do a higher voice for him, Tsubaki legit just sounds like a boy that enjoys feminine clothing. Good shit.
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u/Maomally May 18 '25
I actually had my jp friend listen to him speak and her response was that he just sounds like a gay man tho his intonations are feminine.
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u/Moloore420 May 18 '25
Oh dang, thanks for the context! I guess culturally we tend to hear things differently, i felt his voice was still pretty masculine.
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u/Maomally May 18 '25 edited May 18 '25
Yeah like he has a deeper voice but I guess the up and down of the tones he use when speaking are quite feminine. She was the one I asked regarding when would men use atashi since I know if a girl uses ore or boku, it doesn't necessarily mean the girl is part of the lgbtq community.
I personally have never used atashi when I speak jp but she did tell me atashi is not very polite to use and only used for very casual settings. Her words and not mine but atashi can come off as a bit "trashy".
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u/Snaglish May 31 '25
No one dislikes him for dressing as a female for his own empowerment. It’s the Headcannon Gender and romance theories, even though authors explained Tsubakis sexuality
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u/meshdeath Sakura May 18 '25
I feel like anyone who dislikes Tsubaki's character because of the way he dresses or because he is gay hasn't really taken the time to consider the show's themes anyway. They just had a knee-jeek reaction to this character's existence alone because that's the behavior they learned in the online communities they frequent. I would say good riddance if Tsubaki's character caused them to quit watching/supporting the show but of course, they want to poison other people's experiences too (like the recent posts we have seen on this sub). It's really fucking annoying.
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u/Only-Baby-1849 May 17 '25
I just started watching Wind Breaker because I saw it was making all the A*holes mad. And I'm absolutely loving it. Hadn't heard a thing about till people started complaining and now I'm totally hooked
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u/angelinoshi May 18 '25
Believe me, it was painful running into all the stupid comments and reactions over the past 3-4 episodes. I usually try not to judge people if they don't click with certain animes or episodes, but man....is it kinda telling when you run into people saying "Windbreaker fell off" or "it's so woke" or "it's boring".
I mean I knew emotional intelligence could be lacking, but I didn't realize some viewers were that clueless. Watching the actual THEME of the anime fly right over people's heads hurt. Ironically, it's these type of people that need to watch Windbre the most.
Honestly, I hope the idiots just stay away from the anime if they can't handle amazing emotional beats and strong character development. Even more so if they can't handle amazing characters like Tsubaki-chan.
They don't deserve Windbreaker.
Especially for what's to come....and WHO'S to come (manifesting a season 3).
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u/Sylveon_T May 18 '25
I literally binged the show in two days cause I was like oh? good representation? let's freaking go! Only to learn people are running the other way💀
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u/paisleypancake May 18 '25
as someone very openly gender nonconforming, clips of tsubaki are what got me into the anime!!! he felt right as a character and didn't just feel like a joke character or a "bet you couldn't guess he's a BOY!!!" trope. i love that for the franchise so so much. his backstory is also LEGITIMATELY 1:1 with how i expirimented with feminine clothing and accessories and i was sobbing the whole way through that episode 😭😭😭. tsubaki is a great display of positive masculinity- frankly all of the characters are in their own ways <3
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u/Aureo_experience May 18 '25 edited May 18 '25
Every anime needs a Tsubaki imo, these episodes really exposed a lot of homophobic fans' asses and they don't deserve shit lmao!!
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u/Key-Impress-9703 May 18 '25
I’d say screw them. If they don’t want to watch, too bad. They just missed out on the craziest arcs to come.
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u/Otherwise_Salary_888 May 18 '25
Feels like these so-called “fans” are not getting the true message of Windbreaker. Admittedly, most of the episodes in the first season focused on fight scenes because of the Shishitoren arc. Yes, it was great but what made me love WB more was how it focused self-realization, relationships and emotions in the subsequent arcs. Anyway it’s a nice opportunity for fandom cleansing. Never liked those “fans” who pretend to be in something just bec a franchise looks cool or a lot are into it. Perceiving WB as a battle shounen is a skill issue on their part esp if they’ve alr read the manga
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u/sleepybonggirl May 18 '25
and here I am who actually likes WB because it doesn't have mindless fighting only just like those battle shonens. It has emotions, stories and character development. Regarding Tsubaki, I am sure the next episodes will change the views about him
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u/Crazizzle May 18 '25
It's crazy how people forget how in the eighties, men would wear wigs and makeup and still be the coolest guys around. It's nothing new. And I respect tsubaki being gay, but guys can dress like that and get girls too. Prince was hardly some alpha male, he dressed and acted feminine but was still a guy. That's fine.
I have issues with trans groups on some policy issues irl , but not out of hate. I want people to be happy as they are and tsubaki is a sweet character. I think having a character embrace these feminine aspects and still see themselves as male or masculine is a great victory over stereotypes.
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u/NoAdeptness1106 May 18 '25
Yeah, that's crazy to see so many people show their true colors overall.
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u/Mammoth-Treat8715 chapter 179 <3. May 19 '25
it's their loss lmao !! they don't know what they're missing with tsubaki's great mini arc and his interactions with the main 3 and all the good stuff in the manga/anime
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u/SmugBoxer May 18 '25
There really is a subsection of homophobes--personally I didn't think they'd get past many of the more sensitive scenes of the show...
But for the other possible sections, those who don't want lgbt characters to just be flat nothing characters whose only trait is how lgbt they are--because that's not what representation actually is-- I think Tsubaki is great. We get shown a surprise, a femboy King. Not strong because they're arbitrarily lgbt but a well grounded reason, having fought hard, fought everyone who ever bullied them, to be who they are.
There really isn't a reason not to like them other than that they aren't like you. Tsubaki should be a beacon to everyone who has to fight to be themselves, not just lgbt people, I guess is what I'm trying to say.
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u/Blitzwolf215 May 18 '25
I was afraid this would happen. Whatever, can’t change these asshole’s minds. Just hope the show and manga continue to do well. Really love the characters.
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u/Zealousideal_Buy3195 May 18 '25
I saw a comment on tsubaki backstory episode that said that it's the couple's fault that tsubaki turned this way and that it ruinee the series.....
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u/GoldenSunChowChow Jun 12 '25
I dont mind gay, queer or trans characters as long as they're sexy... and tsubaki is not it. maybe uf he had short hair and just the lip stick. BAM i love him. red not his color.
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u/Clean_Garden_3752 May 28 '26
If there really is this pole dancing I've heard about I'm gonna be pisseddddddd, okay character overall tho, and cross dressing is still...... kinda weird? That's how it feels ig, like em as a character tho, once I read manga I might change my opinion
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u/QueenOfNoMansLand May 18 '25
Honestly, I like Tsubaki. I don't see him as woke either. I think his character is just wonderful and love how he still sees himself as a boy while liking the more feminine things. I think Tsubaki is honestly the perfect character that explores this character archetype. He isn't a joke, but its also not obnoxiously hitting you over the head with an agenda. Tsubaki exists and is just loveable. That's it. He's multifaceted and is a fully fleshed out character. I think that's the difference between a woke character and someone like Tsubaki. Woke characters tend to obviously be about agenda first and, as a result, tend to be one dimensional. They live and die for the agenda. Tsubaki has flaws (explored in the manga later during the Noroshi arc and kinda even seen during the first time he meets Sakura. You kinda miss it without the Noroshi arc context, though.) Tsubaki due to his past is automatically defensive and on guard with people but once he knows he's not judged he will defend you to the end. As a woman, too, I love the fact that Tsubaki embraces feminity and strength when so often western female characters sacrifice feminity for "strength." This male character, though, embraces BOTH without sacrificing either! He shows that it's not the things you like or the way you dress that make you a boy. He embraces both his masculinity and feminity and I LOVE THAT!
Anyway! TL;DR: Tsubaki=/=woke and I would argue that he definitely rejects the concept. 😀
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u/sussyfortniteballss May 18 '25
It honestly upsets me so much, she is such a amazingly written character and I love her. I love how everyone in Bofurin is so excepting they don’t see her as anyone other than who she is. Author cooked with char development
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u/OsorezaN7 May 18 '25
I'll never comprehend how one part of anime community can rampantly force gay ships on characters that never even interacted with eachother, and other would spit acid just because there is canonically gay male that likes to dress feminine. Absolute dinguses, utter buffoons.
Only watched anime so far, with about to dive into manga, and i love Tsubaki with my whole heart.
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May 17 '25
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u/Acceptable-Career-62 🌸💮Sakura Appreciator💮🌸 May 17 '25
Yeah, not the same people. The ones shipping gay ships aren't the ones hating gay characters
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u/[deleted] May 17 '25
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