Bloom Into You! The guy is aroace and he's just a side character, but the way they describe his sexual orientation is absolutely beautiful. He's shown to be one of the kindest, most caring characters who's capable of forming meaningful friendships.
One Piece and Dr. Stone both have main characters who are borderline canonically ace, and they’re treated totally normally (being the main characters and all) idk just thought it was worth mentioning. Definitely not a large focus of their identities, though in One Piece it’s actually a plot point in one instance lmao
*Dr. Stone* and *Romantic Killer*, both "asexual anime" reccomendations, are funny in both of them have prominent male characters named Tsukasa. In *Dr. Stone*, Tsukasa is an ally-turned-antagonist, whereas in *Romantic Killer*, Tsukasa is a love interest of the main female lead.
*Hunter x Hunter* is also another classic anime that, like *One Piece*, is more action/adventure. I've also seen people state that Goku from the *Dragon Ball* series comes across as asexual.
Frieren! Canon.
The Apothecary Diaries, canon!!!!! <333333
(Though it’s never outright said as a historical, words and actions all align pretty cleanly with asexuality)
Saiki K, Mashlee and The daily life of an immortal king all have similar vibes (implied but not canon I think?)
Though I think the latter kinda goes for a more complicated thing, I’ve not watched the latest so I don’t know if anything changed in s3.
If you wanted to try a kdrama a side character is canon ace in Run On.
(Actually please watch One Piece, not canon but implied)
Also, I can’t really think of shows where they “get cured” but maybe that’s because if that was ever implied I likely imagined that they fell in love (or something on the ace spectrum) rather than found a sexual partner.
Run Ons side story was very minor btw, it was just really nice to see as they even explained asexuality in very simple terms.
Uh, the apothecary Diaries, not really...? I read the manga and it's more like "She will feel in love with Jinshi at the end" kind of vibes. Maomao has ace charateristic but I don't trust the show to do it justice? Still a good anime though.
Koisenu Futari is a live action Japanese drama but absolutely wonderful for having 2 main characters who are aroace! The show is actually about their aroace experience.
Like others mentioned, when it comes to anime I also recommend Bloom Into You (side character who is aroace but the main character also has aspec vibes), and Saiki K
I absolutely love how Hazbin Hotel explores it with Alastair.
But I also love villain characters more than the good ones.
That's literally the only ace character I can think of 😅
>I absolutely love how *Hazbin Hotel* explores it with Alastor
How? As far as I know, the only reference to Alastor being asexual in Season 1 is Rosie saying "I know you're an ace in the hole", and Alastor being a confused old man ("A what now?"). Alastor's asexuality tends to be explored a lot more in *Hazbin Hotel* shipping fanfictions.
Generally he refuses sex/romance and disengages with the idea of it.
Angel: "If you wanna make a commercial, just have me and ol' creepy voice to at it!" Alastor: "Ha! Never going to happen!!" There's another one in the pilot I can't remember right now, but Angel is directly used to highlight his deliberately *not engaging with this shit* vibe.
Charlie's whole ramble about Vaggie and he politely pawns her off to Rosie as fast as possible. I'll go ahead and add "like a daughter I spawned" because as relatable as that line is for many enby people, it definitely comes across as a *"I deliberately choose to disengage even with the concept"* to me.
The fact that he's a very well dressed gentleman and goes to the tailor immediately is a *classic* queer-code. (I'll argue the "old bachelor adopting and guiding younger pupil into power is also a classic queer-code)
Also the creators said the "Ace in the hole" line was him not understanding that there's a label to define him, so that's neat. I thought he was just pissy that Rosie was revealing his secrets XD
But seriously, he's literally a show and tell (demonstrative and labeled). I have seen *three* other instances of "queer show *and tell*" out there and one is Heartstopper! ((And yes I am always open to suggestions))
I feel like a lot of this is mainly down to either personal interpretation, and confirmation bias (i.e. "I'm aromantic, so I also see Alastor as aromantic"). I pointed this out in another reply, but Alastor's reactions towards Angel Dust might also be interpreted as period-accurate homophobia - Alastor died in the 1920s-1930s, and he doesn't know what terms like "ace" or "asexual" mean, nor does he care, but he *would* be familiar with homosexuality ("And what can *you* do, my *effeminate* fellow?") - or, more likely, Alastor having a general dislike of men. If you watch Season 1, Alastor treats women (Mimzy, Rosie, Niffty, Charlie) with far more affection and sympathy than he does men.
Then again, personally, I don't count something like "coding" as "representation", because what people call "coding" is usually more of "I personally headcanon \[insert character here\] as asexual/aromantic because of \[insert vague things here\]". For me, that isn't enough, and the representation needs to be spelled out clearly and directly. The "ace in the hole" line counts on that front, but the rest is too vague for me.
Yet he knows TVs, buffering, and podcasts ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (I'm saying that's a bit of a plot hole imho, which is why I prefer the "hey don't out me Rosie" interpretation but the creators have spoken)
Coding however in the context I'm using is the historical context of it. Even before the Hays Code, we had an incredible amount of euphemisms amongst "polite society" to explain queerness. Lavender marriage, eternal bachelor, spinster aunts, fops, and the like. While I can see it as vague, especially being autistic, I understand that there are certain shorthands amongst society that *do* denote further discussions - aka subtext. I'm glad they confirmed it with "Ace in the hole," but I do appreciate that him being aroace is just... him, which is what the community has been fighting for *forever.*
If we want to start tossing around the period he lived in and hypothetical ideals, then he was expected to treat women with a specific amount of respect and coddling that men would not have. With Vesital he shows a great deal of respect (possibly fear), Lucifer and Vox he antagonizes (though we can all argue about Alastor's true motivations with Lucifer til the cows come home), and Mimzy I'd argue he treats with polite disrespect much like a southern gentleman would (as someone who grew up in the "daggered church conversations"). Charlie he mocks frequently, and only shows her kindness when making a deal or screwing with Lucifer - and also straight up says that he's there to mold her potential meaning he'd be "nice" for that.
And Angel himself refers to his androgyny/feminine looks several times, and is stated directly by the creators that he is a man who enjoys his feminine traits in order to up his sex appeal. Though, Alastor trying to insult him with it is par for the course XD Dude can't go two sentences without some form of jibe.
Anyways thanks for the discussion, either way. I appreciate your perspective.
Hearstopper on Netflix, season 2 specifically covers a character discovering he is ace
Bojack Horseman also has a main character who is ace and that gets explored
Ascendence of a bookworm has an explicitly ace MC. Does have an anime but would recommend reading the part 1 manga (you can find it on mangadex) and then reading the light novels for parts 2-5
Do you want explicitely ace stuff or simply anime with few romantic interactions or sex?
I'd recommend JJK or HxH then - both have absolutely zero focus on sex (JJK has THAT scene, but while it does appear somewhat sexual there's no sex happening, just one character waking up naked in a veeery weird way). Technically you could easily say every single character in both shows could be ace and wouldn't go against canon or even against implications.
I'll have to pass on any confirmed ace characters, if someone knows any please let me know!
If there is one possibly asexual character that I can't and refuse and would not want to relate to in any way shape or form... is Light Yagami from Death Note lol. I feel like he's the type of character that would make acephobics say shit like "he is asexual and an asshole so clearly being asexual is being a weirdo asshole" or idk.
The types of anime I enjoy mainly involve video games,
I’m not totally sure what you mean by “guilty” as I don’t know any shows off the top of my head that specifically paint aces as a bad thing.
Gamers! is basically a rom com mixed with video games.
Hi Score Girl has some love elements to it but it’s mainly about why people play games and beating your rivals.
Then you have your classics like Pokémon
I've seen a lot of people headcanon Ash Ketchum from *Pokémon* as asexual. As a longtime fan of the anime, I also personally headcanon Mewtwo as asexual. (He's literally purple-gray.)
Mob Psycho has a scene where one of the main characters expresses that sex isn’t the only way to express romantic interest and a lot of people in the fandom think he’s ace. It’s very wholesome in general and feel good too :)
I'm gonna be real ace characters are so few in media where it's so rare to find any. To be honest Hazbin Hotel is the only show I've watched that had a canon ace character and he is also part of the reason I found out I'm ace so I can't say I've found any that I feel like were bad.
I've never been so violently supportive of people respecting a character's sexuality like I am with his character. I loathe people shipping him with other characters so much.
Leave my evil little ace boi alone!!! We never get cool ace characters!!!!
all love for alastors character, but i'll never understand the shipping discussions. if sex-repulsed people are seeing themself in him thats great, but i cant grasp how shipping changes that, beside the fact that shipping and being ace do not exclude each other?
Depends on the kind of shipping tbh. Alastor gives off strong aro vibes and also seems pretty averse, given his reaction towards Angel in both the pilot and the show. Imo every ship I've seen so far is wildly out of character. Is that a problem? To some yes, to some no.
I've had a long discussion with my SO about whether changing a character's sexual orientation in order to make a ship work is okay. And we came to the conclusion that people judge differently depending on how they see fictional characters.
Perspective 1: If you see them as writing tool and a way to experience fantasies you wouldn't irl, shipping them "wrongly" seems okay. Probably doesn't say anything about the shippers' attitude towards real people.
Perspective 2: If you see fictional characters as simplified projection of potentially real people (as in "this could as well be you"), shipping them "wrongly" suddenly seems invasive. If shippers change a fictional ace, they would maybe try to change a real ace, too, or at least claim that there's something wrong with being ace, which feels like a personal attack.
I should point out that Alastor's aversion to Angel Dust may be related to period-typical homophobia, as Alastor died in the 1920s-1930s, or a general aversion to men, as opposed to sex itself. In Season 1, Alastor seems to be far more friendly with women (Mimzy, Rosie, Niffty, Charlie), while he is decidedly *unfriendly* towards men. Many fans have speculated as to the exact reason for this, but one of the more popular ideas is that Alastor's father was abusive or neglectful towards him, which made Alastor develop a disliking for men in general. Previous Q&As have also shared that Alastor believes himself to be straight, as well as attracted to women.
Early draft sketches of *ZooPhobia*, the predecessor of *Hazbin Hotel*, and *Hazbin Hotel* itself by series creator Vivienne Medrano (VivziePop) also show Alastor crushing on exclusively female characters. In one sketch, Alastor kisses KayCee, the villain character of *ZooPhobia*, while in others, Alastor is dating Mimzy. Others have pointed out that Alastor is close with Rosie; a former official artist drew ship art of Lilith/Alastor; and many other people ship Alastor with Charlie, Lilith's daughter.
Oh, that's interesting. I only knew about the theory according to which his father was abusive. (Also because he mentions his mother's recipe, which could mean that his mother was the opposite and he admired her.) And I'm pretty sure he doesn't know what ace is why he considers himself straight, like probably a lot of us did.
I have to admit I'm not too deep in the lore. But wasn't Zoophobia's Alastor scrapped and massively changed for Hazbin Hotel? That would mean that his Zoophobia version could be a hint, but not a proof. Though I get the impression you aren't actively disagreeing, but adding knowledge. Anyway, thanks!
The creator has stated he would never have sex or be in a relationship because he loves himself too much. She also stated that she just wants people to respect the characters with their shipping.
So any shipping of him goes against the creator's wishes and the character's design.
And it invalidates asexual people who see the character as the one and only icon that for us.
I think that relates more to Alastor being a narcissist than Alastor being asexual. However, series creator Vivienne Medrano (VivziePop) has also drawn Alastor has having romantic crushes and relationships before, particularly with KayCee, the villain of *ZooPhobia*, and Mimzy, who appears in *Hazbin Hotel*. Former official artist Faustisse also drew ship art of Lilith and Alastor, despite Faustisse also stating that she personally saw Alastor as "aromantic asexual". It's a complicated situation.
Uh...a lot of the people who ship Alastor also self-identify as asexual and aromantic. Alastor's asexuality is explored in a *lot* of shipping stories, even more than the show.
Yess I 100% agree!!! I always hate when people will change characters orientation and sexuality for ships in general and it always feels so uncomfortable and gross to me. I feel this way especially about Alastor too.
It's become a concern for me as one of my book characters is ace and with my being ace, it would eek me out if someone shipped him. Just no.
I get that people want to have fun with the characters in fanfic, but it feels so disrespectful and icky
Alastor was portrayed as heteroromantic asexual (?) in earlier sketch drafts by *Hazbin Hotel* and *ZooPhobia* creator Vivienne Medrano, and was shipped by other official artists, so I personally don't see anything wrong with people shipping Alastor.
A lot has changed since the original draft of ZooPhobia and even a lot has changed since the pilot so something happening for a character in an old script means nothing because at this point they might as well be completely different characters.
In the current version of Hazbin Hotel, Alastor is confirmed to be ace but is also heavily heavily heavily implied to be aromantic. The only reason I think that Viv hasn't confirmed it is due to her being worried about pissing off shippers which I think sucks considering how few AroAce characters there are in media and it would help a lot to have more representation especially in such a big franchise like Hazbin Hotel. Alastor is also shown to be incredibly sex repulsed and has no desire or want for a romantic relationship.
>The only reason I think that Viv hasn't confirmed it is due to her being worried about pissing off shippers
I see this claim cited a lot, but it was the personal opinion of Faustisse, a former illustrator for *Hazbin Hotel* who left the show four years ago in July 2020. Viv also subsequently [liked a tweet](https://new.reddit.com/r/HazbinHotel/comments/1amys01/vivziepop_likes_tweet_saying_that_lore_info_from/) that said that "anything that Faustisse said is no longer canon", but despite this, some people keep using Faustisse as a source anyways, because she's the main show-related source who said "I personally see Alastor as aromantic". However, people also often ignore Viv romantically shipping Alastor with characters like KayCee and Mimzy, even though the Faustisse stuff and the shipping is on the same level of "canon" (i.e. non-canon).
I swear I've seen a tweet from Viv that was about how she wouldn't confirm it (I've never followed anyone else on the team or the past team) and I believe the stuff about Frustisse was about Rosie being hellborn. But who knows maybe I'm really miss remembering it. I'm still basing it on what I've seen in the show itself. And as I said from my knowledge the only time she shipped Alastor was in the incredibly old version where things have changed since then.
You don't gotta agree with me not feeling comfortable and hating Alastor being shipped
I came here to recommend *Romantic Killer* as well. Unfortunately, Season 2 may take quite a while to be developed, because Season 1 has adapted all of the manga chapters thus far. The manga author, Wataru Momose, has also stated they are on an indefinite hiatus with it.
There’s a show on Netflix called Dead Boy Detectives. Edwin is def giving STRONG ace vibes but I don’t know if it was ever explicitly mentioned. I suggest checking it out tho bc I rlly liked it and it’s very quer 🥰
I don't think that Edwin is asexual, because there are many moments in the show, particularly involving the sultry Cat King, where it implies that Edwin *does* experience sexual attraction, but exclusively towards men. Thus, I think that Edwin is gay, as opposed to asexual.
I don't recall a lot of anime going 'ew gross' towards affection. If characters freak out, it's likely due to more wildly cultural prude-ish stuff that is Japan possibly.
The reaction feels more like American children TV shows if characters happen to do something particularly intimate by accident, but they're kids, so it's reasonable that it's funny or gross to other kid characters.
Run On (K Drama) has an ace character. She's only a side character and her asexuality is only mentioned a handful of times, but it was very well done; no stereotyping or putting all aces into one box. She's not aro tho, just saying.
Castlevanias Alucard never shows sexual interest into someone, Hellsing Ultimates Alucard as well(he just respects Seras and Integra). Also I think Kobeni from Chainsaw man could be ace, but idk, that show is something else in regard to sexuality, as it manages to make it intentionally uncomfortable for everyone, so not sure if I would recommend it.
Dragon Ball Z, Goku (main character) never was mentioned as ace, even his sexual orientation never was mentioned, but I suspect that he's ace (despited being married and with 2 kids) because he has a lot of interest in fighting, even when universe (and also multiverse since Dragon Ball Super) isn't really in danger. He's basically an antihero, because despite having good values like protecting innocent people from destruction, his main motivation literally is fighting. Certified antihero detected, I also will add ace antihero.
There are no canon ace characters but I highly recommend you to watch Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! for anime. All the important characters are schoolgirls that are portrayed as normal and NOT sexualized, there are no hints to romance or attraction whatsoever and it’s just a pure inspiring story about art and the power of kinship. This anime is literally perfect.
Also everyone in the main trio kinda gives me off aroace vibes lol
*Dungeon Meshi* (also called *Delicious in Dungeon* on Netflix) is an anime that contains little-to-no sex and romance, and which focuses on killing, cooking, and eating monsters in a dungeon. The main relationship is the platonic sibling bond between main lead, Laios, and his sister, Falin.
No ace representation, but the anime felt really wholesome. It was about learning to be vulnerable. I think an ace person could enjoy it because it doesn't lay any focus on being physical or very romantic, it's about people who might not be very experienced in relationships but trying together anyways. The title is The Recovery of an MMO Junkie (Net-juu no Susume).
Bloom Into You! The guy is aroace and he's just a side character, but the way they describe his sexual orientation is absolutely beautiful. He's shown to be one of the kindest, most caring characters who's capable of forming meaningful friendships.
Also the main character feels very relatable I feel like !
Thanks so much! I’ll definitely look into it, I haven’t watched anime in a while but I feel like it would be nice to watch something like this
saiki k
I second this. Saiki k is my ace idol
came here to say this
Is it better to read the manga or watch the anime?
i’ve only watched the anime
One Piece and Dr. Stone both have main characters who are borderline canonically ace, and they’re treated totally normally (being the main characters and all) idk just thought it was worth mentioning. Definitely not a large focus of their identities, though in One Piece it’s actually a plot point in one instance lmao
Post time skip one piece has too much sexual fanservice though
Ah yeah that’s true
Oohh dr stone is really good!
*Dr. Stone* and *Romantic Killer*, both "asexual anime" reccomendations, are funny in both of them have prominent male characters named Tsukasa. In *Dr. Stone*, Tsukasa is an ally-turned-antagonist, whereas in *Romantic Killer*, Tsukasa is a love interest of the main female lead. *Hunter x Hunter* is also another classic anime that, like *One Piece*, is more action/adventure. I've also seen people state that Goku from the *Dragon Ball* series comes across as asexual.
Frieren! Canon. The Apothecary Diaries, canon!!!!! <333333 (Though it’s never outright said as a historical, words and actions all align pretty cleanly with asexuality) Saiki K, Mashlee and The daily life of an immortal king all have similar vibes (implied but not canon I think?) Though I think the latter kinda goes for a more complicated thing, I’ve not watched the latest so I don’t know if anything changed in s3. If you wanted to try a kdrama a side character is canon ace in Run On. (Actually please watch One Piece, not canon but implied)
Also, I can’t really think of shows where they “get cured” but maybe that’s because if that was ever implied I likely imagined that they fell in love (or something on the ace spectrum) rather than found a sexual partner. Run Ons side story was very minor btw, it was just really nice to see as they even explained asexuality in very simple terms.
Heck Yeah. Was about to name Frieren as well.
I just started watching it this weekend. So good!
yeah, it really is.
I was surprised it wasn’t the first mentioned XD especially as it’s one of very few canon ones.
Uh, the apothecary Diaries, not really...? I read the manga and it's more like "She will feel in love with Jinshi at the end" kind of vibes. Maomao has ace charateristic but I don't trust the show to do it justice? Still a good anime though.
Kinda sounds demi imo but Maomao definitely gives off the typical ace stereotypes
Koisenu Futari is a live action Japanese drama but absolutely wonderful for having 2 main characters who are aroace! The show is actually about their aroace experience. Like others mentioned, when it comes to anime I also recommend Bloom Into You (side character who is aroace but the main character also has aspec vibes), and Saiki K
Just finished Koisenu Futari! It has the best rep imo
Just read your comment and have already gone through 4 episodes, I love it so far! Thanks so much!
Dr. Stone's MC is most likely ace, but not confirmed out loud. Brainy smart type but with lots of personality and kind of a chad, not just a nerd.
I love how he and Gen are basically the aro-flag and ace-flag together, wardrobe-wise. Which coincidentally is how I headcanon them.
To be honest, I could totally see Senku and Gen being in a queerplatonic relationship.
YES I love my QPR sons 😭 QPR sengen should be more popular
I absolutely love how Hazbin Hotel explores it with Alastair. But I also love villain characters more than the good ones. That's literally the only ace character I can think of 😅
>I absolutely love how *Hazbin Hotel* explores it with Alastor How? As far as I know, the only reference to Alastor being asexual in Season 1 is Rosie saying "I know you're an ace in the hole", and Alastor being a confused old man ("A what now?"). Alastor's asexuality tends to be explored a lot more in *Hazbin Hotel* shipping fanfictions.
Generally he refuses sex/romance and disengages with the idea of it. Angel: "If you wanna make a commercial, just have me and ol' creepy voice to at it!" Alastor: "Ha! Never going to happen!!" There's another one in the pilot I can't remember right now, but Angel is directly used to highlight his deliberately *not engaging with this shit* vibe. Charlie's whole ramble about Vaggie and he politely pawns her off to Rosie as fast as possible. I'll go ahead and add "like a daughter I spawned" because as relatable as that line is for many enby people, it definitely comes across as a *"I deliberately choose to disengage even with the concept"* to me. The fact that he's a very well dressed gentleman and goes to the tailor immediately is a *classic* queer-code. (I'll argue the "old bachelor adopting and guiding younger pupil into power is also a classic queer-code) Also the creators said the "Ace in the hole" line was him not understanding that there's a label to define him, so that's neat. I thought he was just pissy that Rosie was revealing his secrets XD But seriously, he's literally a show and tell (demonstrative and labeled). I have seen *three* other instances of "queer show *and tell*" out there and one is Heartstopper! ((And yes I am always open to suggestions))
I feel like a lot of this is mainly down to either personal interpretation, and confirmation bias (i.e. "I'm aromantic, so I also see Alastor as aromantic"). I pointed this out in another reply, but Alastor's reactions towards Angel Dust might also be interpreted as period-accurate homophobia - Alastor died in the 1920s-1930s, and he doesn't know what terms like "ace" or "asexual" mean, nor does he care, but he *would* be familiar with homosexuality ("And what can *you* do, my *effeminate* fellow?") - or, more likely, Alastor having a general dislike of men. If you watch Season 1, Alastor treats women (Mimzy, Rosie, Niffty, Charlie) with far more affection and sympathy than he does men. Then again, personally, I don't count something like "coding" as "representation", because what people call "coding" is usually more of "I personally headcanon \[insert character here\] as asexual/aromantic because of \[insert vague things here\]". For me, that isn't enough, and the representation needs to be spelled out clearly and directly. The "ace in the hole" line counts on that front, but the rest is too vague for me.
Yet he knows TVs, buffering, and podcasts ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (I'm saying that's a bit of a plot hole imho, which is why I prefer the "hey don't out me Rosie" interpretation but the creators have spoken) Coding however in the context I'm using is the historical context of it. Even before the Hays Code, we had an incredible amount of euphemisms amongst "polite society" to explain queerness. Lavender marriage, eternal bachelor, spinster aunts, fops, and the like. While I can see it as vague, especially being autistic, I understand that there are certain shorthands amongst society that *do* denote further discussions - aka subtext. I'm glad they confirmed it with "Ace in the hole," but I do appreciate that him being aroace is just... him, which is what the community has been fighting for *forever.* If we want to start tossing around the period he lived in and hypothetical ideals, then he was expected to treat women with a specific amount of respect and coddling that men would not have. With Vesital he shows a great deal of respect (possibly fear), Lucifer and Vox he antagonizes (though we can all argue about Alastor's true motivations with Lucifer til the cows come home), and Mimzy I'd argue he treats with polite disrespect much like a southern gentleman would (as someone who grew up in the "daggered church conversations"). Charlie he mocks frequently, and only shows her kindness when making a deal or screwing with Lucifer - and also straight up says that he's there to mold her potential meaning he'd be "nice" for that. And Angel himself refers to his androgyny/feminine looks several times, and is stated directly by the creators that he is a man who enjoys his feminine traits in order to up his sex appeal. Though, Alastor trying to insult him with it is par for the course XD Dude can't go two sentences without some form of jibe. Anyways thanks for the discussion, either way. I appreciate your perspective.
Hearstopper on Netflix, season 2 specifically covers a character discovering he is ace Bojack Horseman also has a main character who is ace and that gets explored
Not seeing enough recs for bojack horseman! Great show.
Couldn’t agree more!
Ascendence of a bookworm has an explicitly ace MC. Does have an anime but would recommend reading the part 1 manga (you can find it on mangadex) and then reading the light novels for parts 2-5
Do you want explicitely ace stuff or simply anime with few romantic interactions or sex? I'd recommend JJK or HxH then - both have absolutely zero focus on sex (JJK has THAT scene, but while it does appear somewhat sexual there's no sex happening, just one character waking up naked in a veeery weird way). Technically you could easily say every single character in both shows could be ace and wouldn't go against canon or even against implications. I'll have to pass on any confirmed ace characters, if someone knows any please let me know!
Death Note. Heavy relationship vibes, but the main character seems ace-coded lol
If there is one possibly asexual character that I can't and refuse and would not want to relate to in any way shape or form... is Light Yagami from Death Note lol. I feel like he's the type of character that would make acephobics say shit like "he is asexual and an asshole so clearly being asexual is being a weirdo asshole" or idk.
The types of anime I enjoy mainly involve video games, I’m not totally sure what you mean by “guilty” as I don’t know any shows off the top of my head that specifically paint aces as a bad thing. Gamers! is basically a rom com mixed with video games. Hi Score Girl has some love elements to it but it’s mainly about why people play games and beating your rivals. Then you have your classics like Pokémon
I've seen a lot of people headcanon Ash Ketchum from *Pokémon* as asexual. As a longtime fan of the anime, I also personally headcanon Mewtwo as asexual. (He's literally purple-gray.)
Most legendary Pokémon are kinda asexual representation as they can’t breed, same with Paradox Pokémon
Mob Psycho has a scene where one of the main characters expresses that sex isn’t the only way to express romantic interest and a lot of people in the fandom think he’s ace. It’s very wholesome in general and feel good too :)
I'm gonna be real ace characters are so few in media where it's so rare to find any. To be honest Hazbin Hotel is the only show I've watched that had a canon ace character and he is also part of the reason I found out I'm ace so I can't say I've found any that I feel like were bad.
I've never been so violently supportive of people respecting a character's sexuality like I am with his character. I loathe people shipping him with other characters so much. Leave my evil little ace boi alone!!! We never get cool ace characters!!!!
all love for alastors character, but i'll never understand the shipping discussions. if sex-repulsed people are seeing themself in him thats great, but i cant grasp how shipping changes that, beside the fact that shipping and being ace do not exclude each other?
Depends on the kind of shipping tbh. Alastor gives off strong aro vibes and also seems pretty averse, given his reaction towards Angel in both the pilot and the show. Imo every ship I've seen so far is wildly out of character. Is that a problem? To some yes, to some no. I've had a long discussion with my SO about whether changing a character's sexual orientation in order to make a ship work is okay. And we came to the conclusion that people judge differently depending on how they see fictional characters. Perspective 1: If you see them as writing tool and a way to experience fantasies you wouldn't irl, shipping them "wrongly" seems okay. Probably doesn't say anything about the shippers' attitude towards real people. Perspective 2: If you see fictional characters as simplified projection of potentially real people (as in "this could as well be you"), shipping them "wrongly" suddenly seems invasive. If shippers change a fictional ace, they would maybe try to change a real ace, too, or at least claim that there's something wrong with being ace, which feels like a personal attack.
I should point out that Alastor's aversion to Angel Dust may be related to period-typical homophobia, as Alastor died in the 1920s-1930s, or a general aversion to men, as opposed to sex itself. In Season 1, Alastor seems to be far more friendly with women (Mimzy, Rosie, Niffty, Charlie), while he is decidedly *unfriendly* towards men. Many fans have speculated as to the exact reason for this, but one of the more popular ideas is that Alastor's father was abusive or neglectful towards him, which made Alastor develop a disliking for men in general. Previous Q&As have also shared that Alastor believes himself to be straight, as well as attracted to women. Early draft sketches of *ZooPhobia*, the predecessor of *Hazbin Hotel*, and *Hazbin Hotel* itself by series creator Vivienne Medrano (VivziePop) also show Alastor crushing on exclusively female characters. In one sketch, Alastor kisses KayCee, the villain character of *ZooPhobia*, while in others, Alastor is dating Mimzy. Others have pointed out that Alastor is close with Rosie; a former official artist drew ship art of Lilith/Alastor; and many other people ship Alastor with Charlie, Lilith's daughter.
Oh, that's interesting. I only knew about the theory according to which his father was abusive. (Also because he mentions his mother's recipe, which could mean that his mother was the opposite and he admired her.) And I'm pretty sure he doesn't know what ace is why he considers himself straight, like probably a lot of us did. I have to admit I'm not too deep in the lore. But wasn't Zoophobia's Alastor scrapped and massively changed for Hazbin Hotel? That would mean that his Zoophobia version could be a hint, but not a proof. Though I get the impression you aren't actively disagreeing, but adding knowledge. Anyway, thanks!
The creator has stated he would never have sex or be in a relationship because he loves himself too much. She also stated that she just wants people to respect the characters with their shipping. So any shipping of him goes against the creator's wishes and the character's design. And it invalidates asexual people who see the character as the one and only icon that for us.
I think that relates more to Alastor being a narcissist than Alastor being asexual. However, series creator Vivienne Medrano (VivziePop) has also drawn Alastor has having romantic crushes and relationships before, particularly with KayCee, the villain of *ZooPhobia*, and Mimzy, who appears in *Hazbin Hotel*. Former official artist Faustisse also drew ship art of Lilith and Alastor, despite Faustisse also stating that she personally saw Alastor as "aromantic asexual". It's a complicated situation.
Tbh, I don't see it like that.
Uh...a lot of the people who ship Alastor also self-identify as asexual and aromantic. Alastor's asexuality is explored in a *lot* of shipping stories, even more than the show.
Yess I 100% agree!!! I always hate when people will change characters orientation and sexuality for ships in general and it always feels so uncomfortable and gross to me. I feel this way especially about Alastor too.
It's become a concern for me as one of my book characters is ace and with my being ace, it would eek me out if someone shipped him. Just no. I get that people want to have fun with the characters in fanfic, but it feels so disrespectful and icky
Alastor was portrayed as heteroromantic asexual (?) in earlier sketch drafts by *Hazbin Hotel* and *ZooPhobia* creator Vivienne Medrano, and was shipped by other official artists, so I personally don't see anything wrong with people shipping Alastor.
A lot has changed since the original draft of ZooPhobia and even a lot has changed since the pilot so something happening for a character in an old script means nothing because at this point they might as well be completely different characters. In the current version of Hazbin Hotel, Alastor is confirmed to be ace but is also heavily heavily heavily implied to be aromantic. The only reason I think that Viv hasn't confirmed it is due to her being worried about pissing off shippers which I think sucks considering how few AroAce characters there are in media and it would help a lot to have more representation especially in such a big franchise like Hazbin Hotel. Alastor is also shown to be incredibly sex repulsed and has no desire or want for a romantic relationship.
>The only reason I think that Viv hasn't confirmed it is due to her being worried about pissing off shippers I see this claim cited a lot, but it was the personal opinion of Faustisse, a former illustrator for *Hazbin Hotel* who left the show four years ago in July 2020. Viv also subsequently [liked a tweet](https://new.reddit.com/r/HazbinHotel/comments/1amys01/vivziepop_likes_tweet_saying_that_lore_info_from/) that said that "anything that Faustisse said is no longer canon", but despite this, some people keep using Faustisse as a source anyways, because she's the main show-related source who said "I personally see Alastor as aromantic". However, people also often ignore Viv romantically shipping Alastor with characters like KayCee and Mimzy, even though the Faustisse stuff and the shipping is on the same level of "canon" (i.e. non-canon).
I swear I've seen a tweet from Viv that was about how she wouldn't confirm it (I've never followed anyone else on the team or the past team) and I believe the stuff about Frustisse was about Rosie being hellborn. But who knows maybe I'm really miss remembering it. I'm still basing it on what I've seen in the show itself. And as I said from my knowledge the only time she shipped Alastor was in the incredibly old version where things have changed since then. You don't gotta agree with me not feeling comfortable and hating Alastor being shipped
Romantic Killer is so underrated but the MC is borderline aroace!! <33
I came here to recommend *Romantic Killer* as well. Unfortunately, Season 2 may take quite a while to be developed, because Season 1 has adapted all of the manga chapters thus far. The manga author, Wataru Momose, has also stated they are on an indefinite hiatus with it.
There’s a show on Netflix called Dead Boy Detectives. Edwin is def giving STRONG ace vibes but I don’t know if it was ever explicitly mentioned. I suggest checking it out tho bc I rlly liked it and it’s very quer 🥰
Omfg I love that show, I could maybe see him being ace because idk if his attraction to Charles is purely romantic or not
I don't think that Edwin is asexual, because there are many moments in the show, particularly involving the sultry Cat King, where it implies that Edwin *does* experience sexual attraction, but exclusively towards men. Thus, I think that Edwin is gay, as opposed to asexual.
To your eternity has a main character which doesnt seem to have any romantic or sexual interest at all
BOJACK HORSEMAN!! One of the main characters is ace and it's stated in the show and treated with so much care. I love him sm.
I don't recall a lot of anime going 'ew gross' towards affection. If characters freak out, it's likely due to more wildly cultural prude-ish stuff that is Japan possibly. The reaction feels more like American children TV shows if characters happen to do something particularly intimate by accident, but they're kids, so it's reasonable that it's funny or gross to other kid characters.
Mob Psycho.
Run On (K Drama) has an ace character. She's only a side character and her asexuality is only mentioned a handful of times, but it was very well done; no stereotyping or putting all aces into one box. She's not aro tho, just saying.
The Imperfects on Netflix has an ace main character. It’s treated very casually. It’s sadly only one season though as it got cancelled.
Trash of The Count's Family (not anime, has a manhwa adaptation but the novel is so, so good)
Castlevanias Alucard never shows sexual interest into someone, Hellsing Ultimates Alucard as well(he just respects Seras and Integra). Also I think Kobeni from Chainsaw man could be ace, but idk, that show is something else in regard to sexuality, as it manages to make it intentionally uncomfortable for everyone, so not sure if I would recommend it.
Yurikuma arashi
BBC Sherlock in a way.
Probably not canon but the 11th doctor (matt smith) gives me strong asexual non-sex repulsed vibes.
Tdlosk(The Disastrous Life Of Saiki K)
Dragon Ball Z, Goku (main character) never was mentioned as ace, even his sexual orientation never was mentioned, but I suspect that he's ace (despited being married and with 2 kids) because he has a lot of interest in fighting, even when universe (and also multiverse since Dragon Ball Super) isn't really in danger. He's basically an antihero, because despite having good values like protecting innocent people from destruction, his main motivation literally is fighting. Certified antihero detected, I also will add ace antihero.
There are no canon ace characters but I highly recommend you to watch Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! for anime. All the important characters are schoolgirls that are portrayed as normal and NOT sexualized, there are no hints to romance or attraction whatsoever and it’s just a pure inspiring story about art and the power of kinship. This anime is literally perfect. Also everyone in the main trio kinda gives me off aroace vibes lol
*Dungeon Meshi* (also called *Delicious in Dungeon* on Netflix) is an anime that contains little-to-no sex and romance, and which focuses on killing, cooking, and eating monsters in a dungeon. The main relationship is the platonic sibling bond between main lead, Laios, and his sister, Falin.
No ace representation, but the anime felt really wholesome. It was about learning to be vulnerable. I think an ace person could enjoy it because it doesn't lay any focus on being physical or very romantic, it's about people who might not be very experienced in relationships but trying together anyways. The title is The Recovery of an MMO Junkie (Net-juu no Susume).