10 LGBTQ+ anime couples confirmed in canon

Over the years, many anime have produced many LGBTQ+ couples that fans have celebrated and enjoyed. Although some couples come out only at the end of their series, others last the entire series.

For this LGBTQ+ Pride Month-themed list, the couples chosen must be canon. Canon includes what happens in the anime/manga as well as the creator's word, but the former is preferable over the latter. While there are more than 10 LGBTQ+ anime characters, finding canon LGBTQ+ anime couples tends to be a little more difficult.

Disclaimer: The following article contains spoilers for all the anime discussed. All opinions are exclusive to the author.

10 LGBTQ+ anime couples that were confirmed in their respective canon

1) Sailor Uranus and Neptune (Sailor Moon)

Uranus and Neptune: one of the most iconic LGBTQ+ anime couples (Image via Toei Animation)

One of the most frequently referenced and older examples of LGBTQ+ anime couples is Haruka Tenoh and Michiru Kaioh, also known as Sailor Uranus and Neptune, from Sailor Moon. They are both reincarnated versions of their Sailor Guardian selves from the Silver Millennium, where the old Moon Kingdom stood.

They are a couple, both by word of series creator Naoko Takeuchi, and were revealed as such during the Infinity Arc of Sailor Moon. They flirt, they hold hands, and it's even implied they're intimate in more ways than are visible in the series. Although there's no official art of them kissing, their chemistry and story is written in such a way that they don't need one for their relationship to be valid.

2) Blake Belldadonna and Yang Xiao Long (RWBY)

It should be stated that RWBY, as of the time of writing, has approximately nine LGBTQ+ characters. This entry focuses on two of the titular Team RWBY characters, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long. They are in a romantic relationship as of RWBY Volume 9, complete with a confession and a kiss. They met in volume 1 as strangers: Yang being a self-described "thrill seeker" and Blake being a former White Fang member.

The cast and crew of RWBY have since come out to say that Blake and Yang were always intended to be a couple, and that it was in the making for over 10 years. A plethora of other evidence exists, if crew statements aren't enough: Blake and Yang kill Adam Taurus together, they affectionately refer to each other when they're separated in Volumes 4 and 5, and have a song titled BMBLB on the Volume 4 soundtrack.

3) Shion and Nezumi (No. 6)

Shion and Nezumi (Image via Studio Bones)

No. 6 is proof that love can bloom in the most unlikely of places. A chance encounter between Shion and Nezumi, where the latter threatened to kill the former after sneaking into his house during a hurricane, blossoms into something more after Shion saves Nezumi's life.

Although Nezumi is a wanted criminal and Shion is born into privilege, the two rescue each other: Shion rescues Nezumi from dying from exposure as children, and then four years later, Nezumi saves Shion from being arrested. The two share feelings that culminate in several kisses, though Nezumi has to leave to evade capture. The anime, original novels, and manga all show this front and center.

4) Suletta Mercury and Miorine Rembran (Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury)

Suletta and Mirorine (Image via Studio Sunrise)

Suletta Mercury didn't expect to have to save Miorine Rembran on her way to Asticassia School of Technology; it just happened. Likewise, Suletta wasn't expecting to have to fight for Miorine's hand in marriage on the same day. All of this occurs in episode 1 of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury.

Throughout the entire series, Suletta and Miorine get closer, constantly referring to each other as "wife" and "groom", until they're officially married in the finale with wedding rings visible. Although there was a period when Bandai Namco executives attempted to end the relationship, the ensuing backlash from the cast, creators, and crew behind the show eventually solidified the idea that the two are canon.

The final confirmation came from Hiroshi Kobayashi, the series director and storyboard artist for the series finale. Kobayashi confirmed Suletta and Mironne's marriage in December 2023, in an interview on the final volume of the Witch from Mercury Blu-Ray.

5) Victor Nikiforov & Yuuri Katsuki (Yuri!!! on Ice)

Victor and Yuuri (Image via Studio MAPPA)

A LGBTQ+ anime couple to gain mainstream attention, revolving around men and conclusively canonized in the series itself, is the relationship between Victor Nikiforov and Yuuri Katsuki from Yuri!!! On ice. Though they started as mentor and mentee, with Yuuri being a huge fan of Victor's, their relationship solidified after Victor gave Yuuri engagement rings before the Grand Prix Final in Barcelona.

There is no ambiguity to this relationship in this anime; it's as cut and dry as many others on the list. There's no fanservice; it's a mutual relationship, and it was heralded as a phenomenal mainstream example of an LGBTQ+ anime couple by numerous critics. The two also kiss and get engagement rings as mentioned above.

6) Utena Tenjo & Anthy Himemiya (Revolutionary Girl Utena)

One of the oldest canon LGBTQ+ anime couples to gain mainstream recognition, aside from the aforementioned Uranus and Neptune, are Utena and Anthy from Revolutionary Girl Utena. The duo met in a manner predating and strikingly similar to Suletta and Miorine: Utena showed up at the Ohtori Academy, was drawn into a secret duel, and "married" to Anthy when she won.

The relationship proceeds into official couple territory after Utena fights off multiple prospective suitors. They also hold hands and kiss at several points in the story. While Utena is a very surreal series, Utena and Anthy's relationship isn't subtle or subtextual.

7) Yuu Koito and Touko Nanami (Bloom into You)

What happens when you get a love confession from a classmate and feel absolutely nothing from it? That's the dilemma that Yuu Koito and Touko Nanami, though mostly Koito, are having as Bloom Into You begins. Their relationship progresses from there, going from strangers to friends to eventually lovers.

The two are explicitly canon, in a number of ways shown in the manga and anime, though it takes quite a while for their relationship to develop. It takes around 40 chapters for them to admit they love each other in the manga. Their relationship is the driving force of the story, showcasing how identity and romance bloom in high school and continue afterward as opposed to being a "phase".

8) Shun Hashimoto and Mio Chibana (The Stranger by the Shore)

The Stranger by the Shore is a story about Shun and Mio, two boys whose struggles brought them together. Shun broke off an engagement after being disowned for coming out as gay and Mio's been living on his own since the death of both his parents.

The story first focuses on Mio's struggles, and Shun helps him out when they were younger. Then, years later, when Mio returns and starts helping Shun figure out his feelings. The two develop as a couple, first as a crush and then slowly into more, even as life threatens to get in the way.

9) Christa Lenz/Historia Reiss and Ymir (Attack on Titan)

Ymir and Hisotria (Image via Wit Studio)

Not every canon LGBTQ+ anime couple gets a happy ending, and unfortunately, Historia and Ymir from Attack on Titan aren't the only ones on the list to experience this. The two met as trainees in the 104th Cadet Corps on Paradis Island and began getting closer as a result of saving each other from death via severe training in blizzard conditions.

Although the two separate and Ymir dies offscreen, it's very clear that the two of them have feelings for each other since Ymir is the one to get Christa to reveal her true name as Historia. Ymir explicitly states in her final letter that she regrets not asking Christa to marry her.

The anime's producer, George Wada, confirmed they were a couple, and series creator Hajime Isayama reaffirmed it in an interview in 2014.

10) Roxanne "Roxie" Richter and Romana Flowers (Scott Pilgrim Takes Off)

Roxie and Ramona (Image via Science SARU)

Dealing with one's exes isn't a great experience, especially if one has as many as seven, like Ramona Flowers in Scott Pilgrim. The Scott Pilgrim comics and movie originally established that Roxie and Ramona were a couple. However, the movie was far too hyperbolic and treated the LGBTQ+ relationship like a joke.

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, on the other hand, treated the two like they were an actual couple and more than just college roommates or a "phase" in Ramona's life. There are still very raw wounds there on Roxie's side, and the two fighting and making up kickstart Ramona's character development throughout the story.

Final Thoughts

All of this is to say that there are a lot more than just 10 LGBTQ+ characters in anime and manga, though couples tend to be a bit trickier due to confirmation having to be made half the time. Anime has opened up to the idea of more LGBTQ+ stories being told, such as the ones mentioned above and others like Yuri is my job!

This does not mean that the struggle for inclusivity and acceptance has stopped, given the state of world affairs in 2025. A lot of the LGBTQ+ couples in anime teach the audience that the power of hope, love, understanding, and perseverance in the face of oppression and bigotry is more meaningful and valuable than anyone may realize.