Jun 22, 2017
I wrote my first Review of Patalliro in 2017. At that time I greatly enjoyed the show and would recommend it to anyone under the sun. A little over four years later I still enjoy it, but I've certainly become a bit more critical towards it.
If I had to describe Patalliro in just one word, it would be queer. It is queer not only in the sense that it featured relationships between homosexual men, but because it strays as far away from the norm as it can, with absurd story and over the top situations one moment and uncharacteristic yet not entirely out of place
...
seriousness, all packed in aesthetic, shoujo-like visuals.
The story is pretty simple: Patalliro is the eight year old king of a small nation, Malynera. Said nation is very rich in diamonds, making Patalliro the target of the Diamond Syndicate, an evil organization that tries to control the entire diamond supply of the world. Major Jack Bancoran, a prolific MI5 agent and an openly gay man, is tasked with keeping Patalliro safe during his stay in London. A few assassination attempts later, Bancoran more or less becomes the king's bodyguard for hire.
Seems pretty straight forward, right? It isn't. Patalliro often stray away from the main narrative and from Bancoran in favor of dwelling with magical beings, time travelling, making robots, uncovering family secrets, trying to get even richer, going to space and so on and so forth.
But what about the gay, you ask? Well, Patalliro is queer in that way too. Most of the cast is represented by feminine gay men, and there is next to no shying around the subject; the homosexual characters of Patalliro are unapologetically so. There is hardly any moment in which gay love is treated as completely out of the ordinary and perverse. It's just there. When a character that takes interest in Jack or Maraich appears, the only reactions he gets from the rest of the ensemble is a fleeting 'So you're like that too.' If anything, heterosexuality seems to be out of the ordinary, as straight love, while not entirely absent from the narrative, is often overlooked or played for laughs (tropes such as the nagging wife are prevalent.)
Does that make Patalliro an extremely progressive, LGBT0friendly anime that stood the test of time and is still enjoyable to queer audiences? Well, yes and no. Whether Maya Mineo genuinely wanted to tell a queer story that featured queer people as characters or simply added the queer text in order to advance the absurdity of the show is unclear to me. Because Patalliro is a very absurd and satiric show. It doesn't shy away from making fun of culture, entertainment and religion, and sometimes it even makes fun of itself too. The thing is that the homosexuality of the characters is never used as a comedic device in itself. Nobody laughs at Jack because he wears makeup and likes men, but because of infidelity and just how aloof he is most of the time. The characters have flaws. but the flaws are never their sexual orientation
In this regard, Patalliro does a good job at queer representation. In others, however, it falls short and suffers from the problems most Boys Love media does. It perpetuates harmful stereotypes about gay men, presenting them as inherently abusive and corrupting young boys. It is mostly the villains that are presented as such, but not only. Jack is a homosexual because he was raped when he was young and Maraich is hinted as being one for the same exact reason. Rape and abuse are, like in too many BL stories, a prelude to love. Jack assaults Maraich when he wants to get information from him and as a result of that assault Maraich falls in love with him and decides to change sides. Later in the story, when Maraich needs to persuade another boy to do something for him, he uses the same techniques as his boyfriend and essentially assaults Thomas.
So should you watch Patalliro? If you feel like you can overlook the harmful stereotypes aforementioned, sure, give it a go. At the end of the day, it is a light hearted comedy made to poke fun at anything and everything, and while the humour is specifically related to Japanese culture, you might find it amusing. However, if you are looking for genuine and respectful queer representation, chances are you will not find it in Patalliro. Heck, you might not find it in anime at all!
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
