there's a lot of reasons tbh. for one, i see a lot of myself in anthy - visually and storywise. it's also rare to see a character who is very obviously south asian in anime, and i love that her character isn't a racist caricature. the victims in the story aren't villainized for being victims, they're complicated and they're messy and their actions are difficult to initially understand or empathize with because they're not perfect victims. obvious and casual lesbian representation done RIGHT is so rare in media as a whole and the way rgu handled both sexuality and gender speaks to me as someone who struggled with their identity for years. i love that utena is proudly a butch, she is genuinely so loving and kind, i love that her friendship with wakaba isn't treated less than, and i love that rgu hammers in the importance of female friendships and the comfort of being yourself with a good friend.
it's so hard to fully put into words, which is why i took a while to answer this (sorry about that ;;;). the short answer would be that it revolutionized my world, really (it really helped me understand that i was a lesbian struggling with comphet). there's something so beautiful about this media that makes it seem like it was made for me, and maybe that's why i like it so much.

i'm so sorry for thinking you had bad intentions 😭 it's not your fault !!
also this is going to get very long, sorry for in advance to that !

on the / anime /, i genuinely believe it aged poorly. it has its comedic moments and i do like how the club genuinely felt like a found family. their interactions felt natural, just kids goofing around, and each of them play into (and subvert their tropes) well so they come off as distinct characters. the show had its entertaining moments ! i remember liking it when i initially watched it, but the beach episode (you know the one) completely shifted my enjoyment. i don't like that haruhi was blamed and made to apologize and the takeaway was 'she had to learn to ask for help' - as their friend, you CAN step in without need their approval and i stand by that.
also pretending to SA someone to show that they shouldn't trust anyone, not even their own friend, what a great way to send a message /sarc. i don't like SA/attempted SA being used as a plot device and as a scare tactic in stories, it's cheap and ultimately served zero purpose except to increase my dislike for the character and show.

there's nazi imagery to refer to 'radical feminism' (the zuka club), which is an odd choice. i doubt it's related but the zuka club states that they're ok with same-sex relationships and having a 'he*l h*tler' moment with that just personally irritates me. does the show also make them predatory and reinforces negative lesbian stereotypes ? yes (re: episode 19, where a female character's entire goal was to steal haruhi's first kiss). can the zuka club be seen as TERFs ? to a certain extent, yes - they keep reiterating that haruhi is a girl, basically just transphobic drivel. it kind of hurts to see the show have a positive queer outlook until it comes to lesbians.

my least favorite character is tamaki and it is because of that one episode (plus i just think he's VERY annoying in the anime, he keeps trying to reinforce the 'haruhi is girl, and girl wears skirt and long hair' drivel all throughout the entire show. it was annoying when i was first watching as a kid in the closet, and it's still annoying to me as a trans masc lesbian.

there's also the transmisogyny with how the characters refer to haruhi's dad as the T slur. i think that just aged poorly and i know it's been debated if that word was used because it wasn't deemed a slur then. i do like ranka and mizusa's portrayals and how kind the show is to them. one of the best aspects of ouran is how positive the trans representation is (if you can ignore certain comments from the side cast and just focus on haruhi tbh).

i genuinely think haruhi is the best character in the entire series. they're true to their beliefs, they're since, and they seem like a good person to enjoy a rgu watching with. they're personally my favorite character and i personally would've just preferred haruhi to come out single by the end of the anime series. kasanoda had like 2 minutes of screentime but i also liked him a lot as well. he was just an awkward loser and gingers >>>> blondes lol /lh

overall, my thoughts on the show are very negative. i do think there are funny moments in it, but i def can't rewatch the show in its entirety. the fanbase is VERY protective of their fave media and i respect it, but they're hostile if you have any kind of different opinion on it, even when you specify you're talking about the anime.
i would love to hear your thoughts though, even if you disagree (or agree) with mine ^^

hi !!
aslfua ending genuinely makes me so sad, i saw the news right before i had to go to work so i basically was going through it my entire shift 😭
i feel like there are going to be a lot of things that are going to be rushed and may not be resolved properly, but i still trust the author to handle it well.

it's controversial, but i genuinely think cheol WILL return to the countryside. but instead of him leaving with bad thoughts and memories, this time he and miae will exchange letters and they'll be doing a long distance relationship. when they meet up again (time skip) to idk maybe college ? it'll be similar to how they met in the beginning of the story - they both look vastly different from how they last remembered but instead of the two of them walking past each other, they'll smile in recognition and run to meet each other again. i'm hoping for 50 episodes 😭🤞🏾 but even if the author is only able to do 3, i'm ok with that - her health comes first.

i genuinely don't think she ever meant to. even after the act, she shows guilt and remembers it as a shameful act, not of something she's proud of. when the only person in the family that seems to care for your wellbeing and actually values you starts focusing on another, i think what she felt is normally, especially since she was so young.

i think it's a good point you brought up the box, because i agree with everything you said. just throwing the kitten into the water would mean immediate death and i'm sure even nanami knew the cat would drown. but the box, to me, indicates she never wanted to kill it or wanted it to die, she may have just wanted the cat to be physically away from her brother. she's not evil, she's just five 😭

i do agree with the first part to a certain extent; a lot of queer spaces are designated for adults only, but there aren't enough queer spaces where children can also join, which is an issue. by extension of that, there aren't also a lot of spaces where queer people with children can join that caters to both them and their kids. i personally dont agree with your second half, but it's an interesting point. i think it depends on the area and the community; the big city that is queer friendly where i live has a lot of queer people who are friendly towards children and queer people with children and there is a sense of community built on the idea of protecting the kids.

but i def do agree with the lack of empathy to a certain degree. there aren't enough spaces that are kid friendly so it excludes them and their parents, unfortunately. i'd say that queer parents go through the same struggles as their cishet counterparts go through but worse, since they're alienated by the only community they should be feeling comfortable in.