can I just get a magical girl anime that:
-IS hopeful?
-IS cute?
-IS queer?
-ISN'T queerbait?
-ISN'T depressing?
Just one. Please? I can't think of a single one that does this :<
@Draekos Is sailormoon/sailormoon crystal too depressing, or like, why doesn't that fit ?
I'm guessing you're counting stuff like Precure a la Mode and Pripara as queerbaiting because the gay couples don't miss onscreen?
@Draekos Flip Flappers was a recent explicitly queer show, although it's targeted towards adults.
A big reason you're not going to find explicitly queer magical girl anime is that most magical girl anime is made for a younger audience to sell toys, and toy manufacturers are nervous; comics are much more diverse and often include queer characters and themes that the more conservative (and expensive) anime version glosses over
@atinyfairy Sailor Moon more hit the queerbaiting angle for me, but hey, 'Cousins'.
Twitter actually had a beautiful example in Kill La Kill. Think I may actually sit down and rewatch that at some point.
Flip Flappers looks interesting, although admittedly the Idol angle of PriPara really throws me off.
I realize I'm asking for a niche genre that doesn't have much appeal in japanese markets though.
@atinyfairy Yeah, sorry. I've had a shitty night, made me a bit snappy there.
@Draekos KLK isn't magical girl, but yes, it's explicitly queer
Depending on your definition of "depressing" there's always Utena, which is a rather dark look at abuse and patriarchy
If you relax your definition of queerbaiting (there are multiple explicitly canon queer relationships in Sailormoon for example, which you've written off for some reason), most seasons of Precure have queer relationships in the wink-and-a-nod-for-older-viewers sense