Reflection and Analysis

Violet Evergarden Gaiden isn't Queerbaiting (4/20/2020)

MAL Story.

There are those who say it is, but in all honesty I'm left with the feeling they don't know what that actually means. According to Wikipedia, "[i]queerbaiting is a marketing technique and entertainment in which creators hint at, but then do not actually depict, same-sex romance or other forms of LGBTQ representation.[/i]" Except, I don't believe this really describes what queerbaiting actually is.

The trope name is actually . From what I've read online, people jumped all over the white gowns and started crowing that the girls were wearing their wedding gowns - they're actually debutante dresses. Some even crowed that the anime erased Amy/Issabelle's sexual identity because they didn't bring it up, but the worst case scenario is - oh my gosh, the two didn't get together, so it's not LGBT relationship.

I guess I'll start off with the social context and the fact it went way over people's heads that the series takes place during a time when things like sexual identity didn't exist, people weren't free to be out regarding their sexual preference, particularly those of the noble classs. Issabelle's even less choice in who her potential suitors would end up being than other girls her age, yet this is completely ignored because apparently her queerness is erased.

Except, we're talking about a character for whom the light novel managed to - I decided to look into this - address the fact Issabelle is in fact LGBT by being written from her narrative POV, which is not the case with the Anime - only small parts of it are. One thing the Anime didn't do was treat her character as if she isn't into Violet because the scenes can definitely be read that way.

So then, is it because she doesn't get to be with Violet? Doesn't this mean the movie is being picked up by people who've never seen the actual series or who feel the movie could stand on it's own. Her love for the major isn't some small trifling affair, but is definitely a real thing, yet according to some, this should be thrown aside for representation.

Which brings us to the problem - that people think that it is only representation if a romance is going on - which is wrong, or if someone is out, which is again wrong. Does the fact she isn't open with everyone mean she's not into girls? No, it does not, yet I can't help but feel those looking for LGBT content can at times not be looking at the whole picture, yet forget that we don't want a character whose identity is defined only by their sexuality.

The production did two things. It didn't place her sexual identity out there for the viewer to see - which would have been hard to bring into the movie given how her sexuality is presented in the light novel without it feeling like the animation team were trying to suddenly define Issabelle by her sexual identity, but it also never erased it either because the narrative doesn't have to openly state she is so.

Instead, we got a movie focused on Issabelle's life troubles rather than her sexuality, yet for some reason this is queerbaiting? I think not.