Boruto: Naruto Next Generations writer Ukyo Kodachi has shed some light on his stance regarding LGBTQ characters in manga.

"I think it's natural to love someone, and I don't necessarily need a reason to go around to draw that natural thing," he tweeted. "Wouldn't it be awkward if you were told, 'Don't put a hetero for no reason?' I'm in trouble. There are other things that have to be done regardless of sexual orientation. Oh, [and] this isn't the case that I randomly determine the character's sexual orientation in my work. However, even if it is not the subject of the story, it is a story that makes the character hetero or gay. That is [how] I think the world will live naturally."

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The subject came up when a fan asked Kodachi about the notable lack of LGBTQ representation in modern anime and manga, to which the writer said, "It doesn’t explain anything. If that’s the case, then it doesn’t exist if there is no reason to be heterosexual. When I look at my own work, 'Especially in the story’s flow, I can’t really touch it, but, I can do LGBTQ (where I touch upon it often) yet it' becomes basically the same as 'I can’t touch because I’m hetero.'"

Boruto #37 will be released on Aug. 20.

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(via ComicBook.com)