Yuri Anime

I don't know too many good Yuri Anime's other than Strawberry Panic. I know a few good manga though.

There's a korean manga called Tamen De Gushi which is pretty awesome and full of cute fluff. I highly recommend it.

Another good one is Magan He Danai.

The other one I read is called Citrus. It's not my all time favorite but it's alright.

 

Sakura Trick

utterly adorable

 

Strawberry Panic was great, though I didn't like Shizuma.
The third and fifth seasons of Sailor Moon have a lesbian couple in them. It's not subtle either. There's a joke about "eating too many treats" in an episode!

 

I have a bit of an issue with yuri anime bc honestly, a lot of it is primarily pandering to the male gaze (sakura trick, anything w big tiddies and probably a maid outfit) or in some rare but still there cases, for girls (strawberry panic) Nonetheless, it still has the same recurring weirdness surrounding girls love that is almost sickeningly sweet. As someone who regularly skims through a shit ton of anime and manga every season, a lot of what is in the genre is almost unbearable (for me) to watch as an actual lesbian. Ho ly fu ck .It is as sufferable to watch as I imagine yaoi made for the female gaze is for actual gay men.

It is a wonderfully compiled mess of every romance cliche ever. A good example would be Sakura Trick- what the fuck. I couldn't get over it's gratuitous ass shots, boob bouncing and weird ass kiss scenes. Like, they would kiss constantly, but none of it was fun or flirty, they would just awkwardly forget what they were doing, roll around with their lips stationary at each others, and guaranteed there were flower petals falling somewhere off screen. I couldn't make it past the first three episodes, which isn't unknown for someone who regularly tries new stuff.

With the exception of Strawberry Panic, which as far as I'm concerned is the same but clearly respected and enjoyed in a very niche community and so I have a great deal of respect for it, yuri anime is primarily objectification of lesbians for men in the same way yaoi is the fetishization of gay boys for straight girls (however, yaoi is hugely more varied and popular, and therefor a lot more varied in both subject and quality). Please note that I am not against fanservice or hot girls- I rlly love both, and I could deal with yuri that is much like yaoi, a lot more steamy and gritty and tense. But it's not- the screen's always pink and everyone pecks each other on the lips with blushes and shit and it's mostly insufferable. While the LGBQT+ community most likely loves yuri and yaoi anime, you can't deny shit like junjou romantica was made by a straight women and that stuff like sakura trick was made by a whole bunch of neckbeard anime bros, but I do commend it for it acting as a way for many to explore their sexuality and as representation in a infamously rigid and objectifying industry.

Quite frankly, I have found the best lesbian couples are in either cute girls doing cute things anime where it acts mostly as fanservice but nonetheless gives some tension, or in animes where it is heavily hinted at or included as a normal couple in a mostly hetereosexual cast; such as sailor moon, hibiki whatever the hell with the instruments and a lot of other couples. Weirdly enough, there are still more trans characters in anime and manga than gay and lesbian characters, although I'm not complaining (mutsuki in tg:re, the fascination with the flexibility of gender often explored by manga writers such as togashi of hxh).

There is a lot of wonderfull yuri and yaoi manga that is well represented and isn't fanservice or questionable consensual porno, and I love it, but I really enjoy discussion on such topics.

i want sun jing 2 marry me holy u have no idea

 

I like Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl. ^^

 

OMG me too!! She's so adorable, I want a gf like that <3 That manga makes me squeal like a schoolgirl. So much cuteness.

I agree with this so hard. I loved Strawberry Panic for the art style and I liked the majority of the characters but I haven't found too much else that has lived up to it other than, like you mentioned, in shows such as sailor moon where the cast is mostly hetero with a few side gay couples. Negima had a good couple like that and I like ymir/Christa from Attack on Titan.

But to find a strictly Yuri anime with a good story and decent characters is ridiculously hard. And it's the same thing over and over. Girl likes girl, girl doesn't understand her feelings for liking girls blah blah blah. I think that's why I found Tamen De Gushi so refreshing! Because Sun Jing doesn't question her attraction for Qiu Tong and the fact they're both girls. It just is what it is and she goes with it. It's a normal cute love story where it just happens to be about two girls rather than a straight couple and I love it!! Why isn't there more like this!? Just because it's a lesbian couple doesn't mean the characters always have to be questioning their sexuality and feelings! There can be more plot than that!
And it feels more... I don't even know how to put this. But I feel like that's what it should be like in reality one day. Like one day people should be able to have a crush on someone and not have this big social/emotional crisis because the person is of the same sex. It should just be what it is and it should just be okay that way without fear of being ridiculed because of being gay. I mean, it's one thing if the other person just isn't attracted to the same sex, that's all fine and dandy, but it doesn't have to be a big deal. You know??

 

Yup. We need more good yuri anime.

Someone here, make one.

 

That would be so awesome!!

 

OMG this whole post is just GOLD. You're hilarious I was laughing. Anyway, same, I just can't with typical yuri anime, like.... it's just so bad that even an anime with a hetero lovestory sounds more interesting to watch. And a lot of it is just soooo sloow and effing boring, it's almost painful. Yuri animes consist mostly of "Slice of Life" genres, which usually will put me to sleep. The love scenes are SO subtle, it's either them holding hands, or it's a quick kiss, or one of the girls don't return the same feelings. And yeah, a lot of it is just them trying to figure out their sexuality, and or the relationship doesn't even go anywhere, they end up being "friends", and I'm just left sitting here thinking, "THATS IT??? I WATCH 20 EPISODES AND ALL I GET IS A KISS?". BUT, when there IS lots of love making, it ends up looking fake as fuck/male gazey. I just wished there were better Yuri animes, it's all the same cookie-cutter stuff, it's all pink rose fluff with the same looking pubescent female characters that don't even look like the lesbians I know in real life, hardly any diversity.

Strawberry Panic was probably the best yuri anime I've seen so far, and, I give it a lowish 3 out of 5 stars. It had long drawn out, unnecessary scenes, and the only thing that kept me clicking for the next episode was when they made out, which I loved, but didn't happen very often. I never finished the watching the anime, and probably won't get back to it.

 

I agree with this hardcore, but I also slightly disagree butnotinayourwrongway. Like, if it's a primarily hetero show and you have a gay couple, I want it to be like a totally normal happy crush relationship (also why r the homo relationships healthier than all the hetero ones i fucking love ymir/christina) and like, I super don't want it to be abt them being girls just being in love.

But the thing is, i really really love dealing with the homphobia questioning of feelings trope. I think it's accurate and very compelling, but i absolutely h a te the formula yuri anime uses. They fuck it up real bad.

I hate 2 compare Tamen De Gushi to 19 days bc obv they r always pitted and compared to each other (and 19 days usually wins bc yaoi fangirls) and while I think tamen de gushi is still the highest calibre of yuri manga, very realistic with shock, no big tiddies or ass shots and an actual butch character, u can clearly see the difference in yuri and yaoi when compared. Sure, sun jing and qui tong are confused about their feelings and deal with weirdness and stuff, there is no angst. Yuri anime angst is reduced to "uwu i want 2 kiss girls i love girls is that weird? uwu" and none of it ends up actually mattering in all honesty but, like in 19 days, the dealing with feelings and tension bc neither knows how they feel is more compelling imo. Like, there is tears and actual confusion and angst and worrying about being accepted and ruining their friendship, whereas like, in tamen de gushi, the most they come to that is laughing in the rain about being more than friends. Yuri anime always lacks the tension and uncertainty in a homosexual crush and seeing if you actually do, it jumps right to being in love. There is no issue with that, but i have seen this in every single genre of lesbian romance. I entirely agree with u; i hate a romance between girls being entirely focused on homphobia, but its like they skip over the questioning part and go straight to kissing and if they do develop the crush or question, none of it feels actually angsty and its usually girls in booty shorts rolling on their duvet wondering if their in love hugging a stuffed animal (a weirdly detailed but hilariously recurring scene) i absolutely love tamen de gushi for being cute and not about angst, but like, also the whole yuri genre is schockingly shitty in terms of plot quality and devloping a compelling story

i think while yaoi anime, while absolutely fuckinga nnnoying how long the characters will be in denial (its always the fuck ing bottom) , yuri never bothers to create angst when they're too busy putting falling flower petals in the background and basically assume the viewer will assume there is angst whereas yaoi is usually of a higher calibre bc the girls who watch it r much more critical and thoughtful viewers than the guys who watch yuri for girl on girl and dont want 2 be bothered by things like a n g st and f e e ling and p er so na lity when theyre 2 busy jerking off


on a side note, it is truly remarkable how easy it is to tell the quality of a lesbian relationship by how femme they r. if both are femme, its for male gaze and also will be full of cringey boob touching and weird hesitant kisses. if one or both or butch and therefore makes men uncomfortable, its going to be a decent and actually plot important ship (also i jyst want both ymir and sun jing to marry me. @god when)

omg u fill my small gay heart with happiness

tbh i agree i hate slice of life give me gays in space. gays in the jungle. gays in a post apocalyptic dystopian universe. and even more crazy, canon gays