Getting away from the topic of cels here... :P

>I think in the begining he was gay - he didn't show 
>any interest in fixing up Miaka's chest wounds - 
>but became either straight or bi, kinda unclear, 
>after he cut his hair.

SPOILER!!!

I don't think he really became straight before he died.
Sure he loved Miaka, but I see it more as an older
brother than anything really romantic.

Did you see the last OAV? Where you see what happens 
to each character after the storyline ends and how they 
meet up with their loved ones in their next life?

(Mitsukake finds Chouka, Chiriko has a new family, 
Tasuki returns to Kouji and the bandits etc.)

Well in the manga since it was B&W I thought the touching
picture of two children meeting up again as their parents
dragged them through a crowded street was a picture of
Ryuen and Kourin finding each other again.

Then the anime came, and the wonders of colour seemed to
prove me wrong. The little girl had purple hair, true, but
the little boy had greenish-brown hair... :)

So I guess Nuriko ended up straight after all. *lol*

Zoi -indulge me, I thought this was so cute!-