Bloom Into You is a dramatic yuri anime with complex romantic themes that explore the many ways to love someone. As well as lesbian relationships, the unstated sexual orientation of Yuu Koito, one of the series' co-protagonists, has sparked hot debate among fans for possibly being on the aromantic and/or asexual spectrums. Yuu is never explicitly given a label, but this narrative decision is likely intentional. It spotlights her experiences, which helps the audience further understand her differing feelings on romance and how they affect her interactions with Touko Nanami.
But while Yuu's sexuality is left to audience interpretation in Bloom Into You, Seiji Maki has been confirmed to be aromantic asexual (or aro-ace). Despite his feelings on romance and sex being pretty clear cut, his role is lesser-discussed. His portrayal is done differently than Yuu's but is also positive, providing some much-needed quality ace representation in anime.
In terms associated with the LGBTQ+ community, asexuality is defined as someone who does not feel sexual attraction or experiences it to a lower degree than the average person. Aromanticism is defined as someone who either does not feel romantic attraction or experiences it to a lower degree than the average person.
It is worth noting that both asexuality and aromanticism are spectrums, and are umbrellas for various subcategories of ace and aro terms. Someone who identifies as being ace and/or aro can experience sexual and romantic attraction differently than someone else who identifies as the same. And while a person can be asexual and aromantic, these orientations are not exclusive to each other.
In Bloom Into You, Maki is a supporting character who often provides important advice to Yuu and acts as a crucial sounding board as she tries to navigate her own confused feelings. But while Yuu is in the stage of still trying to figure herself out, Maki has long since reached that point and openly admits to never feeling attracted to anyone. In Episode 9 "On Your Marks / The Unheard Start Signal," Maki expresses that he can't fall in love. Instead, he prefers to watch others from an outside perspective and is fully content in doing so.
What makes Maki such an important character to the aro/ace community is the fact that he is not portrayed as being sad or lonely, but rather happy, confident and comfortable with who he is and his role in the show. He thrives in life, accomplishing what he wants to do while having meaningful friendships with others. Maki does enjoy romance -- but through books, movies and spectating the lives of those around him, with absolutely no desire to take part in it himself. His sexuality is not a hindrance or an obstacle, but simply a part of who he is and something he takes pride in.
While Maki isn't the main protagonist in Bloom Into You, the portrayal of him being aro/ace is a positive and healthy one. It's refreshing not only to see a character in this role but to see that he has long since accepted this part of himself. Unfortunately, his orientation is incredibly scarce to find in media, which, consequentially, garners a lot of doubt and misinformation about asexuality and aromanticism.
Having more characters like Maki who are open to talking about never -- or rarely -- feeling romantic or sexual attraction is important in spreading awareness and the acceptance of people who may identify as being aro and/or ace. Moving forward, we can only hope that characters like Maki are just the beginning in increasing asexual and aromantic representation as Bloom Into You is a step in the right direction.
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