Steady Beat

An Animesque series written and drawn by Rivkah. May be a Comic Book, a Manga or a Graphic Novel, depending on your perspective. That aside, Steady Beat is something of a Coming Out Story; differs in several ways from the cliche, as it tells from the perspective of the straight character.

Steady Beat tells the story of an Ordinary High School Student Leah Winters, who grew up in the shadow of her Cool Big Sis Sarai. One afternoon, during soccer, Leah finds a letter addressed to her sister, and quickly opens it to find that it's a love letter adressed to her sister, only to find out to things: a) It's very melodramatic and cheesy, and b)that it's signed "Love, Jessica".

This becomes a big deal for Leah, who spends the next few hours unable to concentrate, wondering how to ask Sarai regarding her sexuality. In her own words: "How do ask your sister something like that? "Hey, sis...are you gay?"" She makes several failed attempts to ask her sister; only to find red roses sent to her sister from "a friend". Also, did we mention that a mysterious, unnamed man has been watching Leah read the letter and wondering about it? Thus the story goes. Better Than It Sounds.

The series is notable for it's use of humour and Super-Deformed characters, also for being, essentially, one of the more realistic coming out stories out there. In the end, it's more about two sisters dealing with their acceptance of each other then just about lesbians.

The series has currently two volumes out, published by Tokyo Pop, (who also did a few other series similairly Animesque), with the third volume getting released on an unknown date.

This series provides examples of:
 * Animesque
 * Ambiguously Jewish: Elijah. Turns out he is in fact half-Jewish from his mother's side.
 * Camp Gay: Paul may be a vetenarian, but is just gay in personality. Even Elijah points out: "You've never met a gayer man. 'Happy' doesn't describe him."
 * Coming Out Story: And a well-done one at that.
 * Dramedy
 * Dysfunction Junction: Possibly.
 * Flat Character: Parodied. "Then who am I? The beautiful (But untouchable) best friend who does nothing to actually advance the plot? Who's only purpose is a sounding board for the main character? You?"
 * Happily Married: Paul and Simon.
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: This, Elijah explains, are his father's feelings towards mother.
 * Lampshade Hanging: The beginning of Volume 2. Parodies with, "Come on, Leah. Life isn't an angsty teen novel."
 * Schoolgirl Lesbians : Jessica and Sarai.
 * Schrodingers Cat: Literally, Leah is seen doing an experiment involving shoving a cat covered in wires into a box. She even named the cat "Schrodinger".
 * Invisible to Gaydar: Simon, Elijah's father. Also, Sarai, who isn't too butch nor feminine.
 * Super-Deformed: The series loves this trope, justified in the fact that it's a comedy series.
 * Yaoi Guys: Possibly, Paul and Simon, who are married and happily living together.