A Yuri storyline Classification System – Part 1
Posted on | July 19, 2009 | 5 Comments |
Here it is then – the first draft of my Yuri Storyline Classification System. This will probably be spread over a few posts just so I get a little time to breathe!
- Chase/Getting together
- Relationship
- Breaking up
Like I said in the introduction post, the major divisions of the storyline types I have decided are to be in terms of when the story takes place within the relationship – Before, during or after the relationship, in other words. We’ll start with the first category – Chase/Getting Together storylines.
As you can imagine, this is the most popular thing to write about, and I would estimate that around 95% of all yuri manga drawn is of this ilk.
I’ve divided this category up into 7 major types, all of which have “Variations on a theme”, some more than others. Let’s start with the most familiar one, shall we?
1. Chase/Getting together
- A: Storylines involving initially unrequited relationships
Surely this is the most popular storyline.
Here is a synopsis of storylines of this genre – Girl meets girl (or has met girl sometime in the past). Girl develops feelings for girl but is too scared to show her feelings/shows them and gets rejected/shows them and despite rejection keeps on truckin’. Hijinks ensue in which other girl realises that these feelings she has had for men are in fact lies implanted by alien government spies, whisks other girl up in her arms and carries her off into the sunset. The End
I think that sums it up pretty well.
Category 1A probably fits a lot of the most popular yuri storylines (and a lot of the fanfiction and anime canon/non-canon pairings). Is there a reason why we like seeing the angst of one person when faced with a seemingly unrequited love? Well, it’s probably something to do with the fact that we can all empathise inside with the protagonist – I’m sure all of us have had some one-sided crushes in our lifetimes. What would have happened had that crush been fulfilled? Would you two be married with two kids and a mortgage by now? Or would she have tired of you after you prematurely ejaculated over her best prom dress? Probably the latter. But then we can always rely on the world of fantasy to pull the rose coloured wool over our eyes.
Another reason is that audiences love the “Will they/won’t they” dynamic of a seemingly one-sided relationship – evidenced by pretty much every soap and sitcom/drama known to man (and woman). Will the other girl discover accidentally that her best friend is in love with her? Will the basketball team captain realise that her sweatbands that have gone missing have ended up in someone else’s laundry basket smelling mildly of fish? Will the bookish quiet girl finally gather the courage to yurirape the beautiful ojousama behind the bikesheds? If cliffhangers like these didn’t exist, then what would make someone buy the next episode?
Let’s take a look at some of the variations on the “Unrequited” theme that you can see around…
- A girl falls for her best friend
Probably best evidenced by my favourite (read: most frustrating) yuri manga to date: Morinaga Milk’s Girlfriends. (Though this theme runs pretty much through all of Morinaga-sensei’s work).
I’ve never fallen in love with any of my best friends, so I cannot vouch for the real-lifeability of this particular concept. It’s an interesting concept, since in heterosexual relationships when two people become friends it’s natural for them to become lovers if they are interested in each other – any dallying generally results in a state of “being good friends and not being able to imagine being with the other person”. However, with a homosexual relationship there is no pressure to be together sexually at the beginning of a friendship, so perhaps this allows feelings greater than friendship to blossom slowly over time. And if the other person is open minded, then who knows what hijinks may ensue.
- A girl falls for someone of a different social standing
This includes sempais falling for kouhais, kouhais falling for sempais, ojousamas falling for commoners, club members falling for captains, girls falling for popular girls, girls falling for student council presidents, oneesamas falling for imoutos (a la Maria sama ga miteru). A currently running example of this is Hatsukoi Shimai by Shionome Mizuo – an example of kouhai/sempai (centred around the commonly used “Female-only world” concept – see category 4E)
I think this is probably the most Japanese storyline, since it seems to be fairly common for girls to develop crushes on their seniors in school, just because of their coolness. I am not amazingly aware of the same thing happening in England, but I’m happy to be proved wrong…
- A player courts an unwilling/submissive girl
Yuri players (Termed “Vamps” in my Fanservice terminology guide) are fairly common fare throughout yuriland. Usually patrolling upper class girls-only schools, they make a living out of being awesome at absolutely everything, laughing “ohhohohoho” like a rich ojousama and holding the world record for groping as many breasts as humanly possible in under 1 minute. Currently being scanlated by Wings of Yuri, the manga Gokujou Drops by Mikuni Hadzime is an example of general Ojousama pursuing bemused transfer student.
The most common permutation of this storyline is what I call “A player tamed” in which a Vamp who used to jump from girlfriend to girlfriend without settling down meets a new girl (generally a transfer student) and falls heavily in love, causing her to pursue her relentlessly despite mild protestation on the part of the other bemused party. Good examples of this include the Shizuma/Nagisa arc in Strawberry Panic and the mange HEN by Hiroya Oku.
- Over The Top sempai adoration
Fodder for every token yuri couple known, this could be considered an extension of the second category – “Girl falls for someone of a different social standing”. However, the differences here are that: The interaction is more stalkerish adoration rather than one-sided love, the feelings are much less likely to be requited and on the rare occasion that it is requited, one of two things occur. Either the girl gets so overwhelmed/scared by the very concept of bedding her idol that she passes out/nosebleeds into oblivion or the sempai in question gets left with a feeling of being raped, even though it was consensual…
Examples of this include the Sakuya/Kanade relationship in Candy Boy (I have to admit I’m on Saku-chan’s side ^^) and Chocolate Melancholy by Shimamoto Harumi, the latter of which is an interesting read, to say the least…
- A long term unrequited love resurfaces
I rather like this one, since it tends to eschew the high-school setting for a more adult one. There are many ways in which this one may be scripted – A girl meets the girl she had a crush on and never told her; A girl meets a girl she was rejected by a long time ago; A girl discovers (belatedly) that her best friend has loved her for a long time (usually just before she’s about to get married).
The one example of this that I can currently think of is Otsu Hiyori’s one shot The Proof of her Love in Yuri Hime. I have to say that this one is a lot more romantic and wishful than the others. It’s one thing to write about a one sided crush being realised, but wholly another if this happens a long time later in life when those feelings have matured and both girls have become more jaded and worn around the edges. I guess that’s why I like it and why if it is done well then this kind of relationship can really stimulate a reader’s reminiscences of relationships past and opportunities lost.
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5 Responses to “A Yuri storyline Classification System – Part 1”
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July 19th, 2009 @ 11:30 pm
i also like the long term unrequited love realized category because rather than just a thought of premature love confusion in most high school love mangas, it gives the feeling that the relationship will last… and i like that feeling.
July 20th, 2009 @ 4:17 am
Why are there two of this post on the blog? Are they different?
Anyway, I read one of them and it was very interesting. I cant wait for more on the classification system.
July 20th, 2009 @ 4:56 pm
Please keep writing! This is def a refreshing read! Thanks for bringing up ‘The Proof of her Love’ – I’ve read it before and was meant to recommend it to others but forgot! Just re-read it. *warm & fuzzy feeling inside*
July 20th, 2009 @ 8:33 pm
It’s on twice because I was having huge trouble posting it via 3g with no reception, so some of it mustve got through…
Delete time…
July 21st, 2009 @ 4:21 am
Ah, OK. Thanks.