Ask John: Which Yuri Anime Are Worth Watching?

Question:
Which yuri anime do you like the most? Yuri fans complain about how under-appreciated yuri is while yaoi is far more popular in both the U.S. and Japan, so are there any yuri series which you think merit recommending? (I’m using the terms “yuri” and “yaoi” the way they are used in Japan, not necessarily referring to shows with explicit content.)

Answer:
Yaoi has the benefit of appealing to both hardcore anime fans and a broad female audience; however, yuri anime seems to appeal primarily only to hardcore otaku. The sheer amount of yaoi anime and manga compared to the amount of yuri material upholds that theory that yaoi is more popular than yuri. I’m personally not an enthusiastic fan of either genre, but my interest in all types of anime has led me to watch some of both genres. It’s a little bit difficult to cite excellent yuri anime because there just aren’t very many yuri anime.

The best overt yuri anime series I can think of is Kasimasi ~Girl Meets Girl~. This sweet natured drama concentrates on a romantic triangle between three girls, but part of the beauty of the series is that it doesn’t emphasize or sensationalize gender roles or homosexuality. Rather, the girls love each other’s personalities and characters, regardless of physical gender or appearance. It’s that honesty and tenderness that make Kasimasi particularly touching and charming.

The Shoujo Kakumei Utena television series doesn’t overtly seem like yuri anime because it doesn’t concentrate on girl/girl romance, but the concept of a girl becoming connected to a “bride” should be enough to qualify it as yuri. The Utena movie emphasizes the girl with girl romance more prevalently and sensually, but I think that the movie is more effective as a compliment to the television series than as an independent picture. The Utena TV series carefully structures its primary yuri relationship between Tenjho Utena and Himemiya Anthy to downplay the impression of homosexuality, but makes less effort to disguise the unrequited love between Juri and Shiori. The yuri aspects of the Utena anime take second stage to its mythological and adventure themes, but they’re evident enough to be noticeable and worth watching for interested viewers. The Utena anime is worth watching for all devoted anime fans, regardless of their interest in yuri themes, because it’s an ambitious, artistically fascinating, and highly engrossing anime drama.

Maria-sama ga Miteru debatably qualifies as a yuri series because it only briefly deals with one outright girl with girl romance. The remainder of the series and its relationships involve intense platonic adoration, respect, and friendship. These relationships may constitute a type of love, but it’s not conventional romantic love. Regardless of whether or not “MariMite” genuinely constitutes yuri anime, it’s a lushly animated series filled with moving characterizations and relationships. MariMite is a beautiful show, both visually and thematically, that should be considered a priority to watch for any serious anime critic or aficionado.

The 1991 series Oniisama E… may be more familiar to English speaking anime fans as “Brother, Dear Brother.” Similar to MariMite, Oniisama isn’t strictly a yuri anime. Rather, it’s a series set in an all-girls school that deals with intense adoration and respect bordering on worship. The series is intensely gothic and operatic, usually dividing critics into those who love the series and take it very seriously, and those who believe the show is a hysteric, overwrought melodrama. I think the show is worth investigating just for anime fans to get a taste of heavy handed shoujo anime that doesn’t involve magical girls or talking animal mascots.

Finally, we can’t mention yuri without involving sex. Honestly, I can’t think of any erotic yuri anime targeted at female viewers. Virtually all of the erotic girl with girl anime I’m familiar with is fantasy fulfillment for male viewers rather than a frank depiction of lesbian sexuality. There is, however, one strictly yuri themed adult anime that I believe is worth investigating for genre research. The Cream Lemon: Escalation saga consists of three episodes of the original Cream Lemon series, and an independent short series titled “Cream Lemon: Escalation ~Die Liebe~.” The Escalation story is superficially a taboo challenging story about lesbian S&M in a Christian school, but the development of the story turns it into something more. Series protagonist Rie is first introduced as a naive innocent who is forcibly indoctrinated into lesbian sex. But as the series develops, Rie grows older and more self-assured as she evolves from victim into a confident and dominant lesbian. The mere concept sounds scandalous and trite, but in execution Rie’s development is affirming and empowering. The lesbian sexuality in the Escalation series transforms from exploitive rape to sensual and eager sexual expression. Rie’s growth through the series depicts lesbian sexuality as a transition into independence, willful adulthood, and a feeling of self confidence and self-determination free of shame or hesitancy.