my favourite Yuri couples of recent history

Posted on | April 14, 2009 | 5 Comments |

Hey all,

Hope everyone had a great Easter weekend! I’ve been down in London at our new flat (which I’ll be moving into after/if I pass my exams in two weeks T_T)…

I thought that it had been a long time since I updated people on the yuri couples I’m following in the current and recent anime/manga series that are being translated of late, so I’ll give you the run down.

Thanks to lots of fantastic scanlation groups, such as Horobi no Michi working their collected asses off for the yuri community hungry for their dose of moe girl-girl loving, there’s a whole host of works to choose from and these are just a few of the couples that I’m rooting for at the moment. Some of them are completely off canon and some of them are established couples, but I’ll be explaining why I like them as I discuss each one.

1. Mikoto/Kuroko (To aru kagaku no choudenjibou)

Type: Unrequited

First up is this manga (I think it’s being animatised soon) which is a spin off of To aru majutsu no index focusing on the railgun girl and Judgement. You could go so far as to say it’s basically the moe equivalent of the original series, since it only has one (annoying) male cast member. Why? I don’t know. Token male, I guess.

The relationship that Kuroko and Mikoto share is kouhai to onee-sama (think Mari-mite or Strawberry Panic), though their characters are very different – Kuroko is the level headed sensible one (but not when it comes to matters involving Mikoto) and Mikoto is the hot headed impulsive character. Kuroko is head-over-heels in admiration/love/kill-anyone-who-comes-near-my-oneesama with Mikoto, who in her general dim-witted way ignores it and takes it as over-protective mothering.

You’ll begin to see a common theme as the list unfolds and that is “I like unrequited couples”. Mainly because I feel sorry for the poor girls who are doing everything in their power to get their respective crush to acknowledge them to no avail. So it’s good that I managed to get a picture of Kuroko getting her way for once then… (Translated by yours truly ^^)

2. Yomi/Kagura (Ga-Rei Zero)

Type: Subtext

Yeah, I know this is reeeally subtextual, but since they’re not related I kinda pushed them towards the subtext category instead…

What I really like about these two is the story behind them – two girls driven together by fate who come to love each other like sisters but driven apart again only for their love to be tested in an all-out final conclusion (with no spoilers)

I mean, if that’s not real love, then what is?

3. Yumi/Touko (Maria sama ga Miteru 4th)

Type: Implied

With the screening of Maria sama ga miteru 4th, the fans of Marimite following the anime finally get to see the “Yumi picks an imouto” arc, which sees (at the outset) Kanako and Touko vying for their beloved onee-sama’s affections in their own separate ways. Touko really steals the show with her storyline of “Tsundere with a gasp-worthy secret”. Though the real wonder is how Yumi with her happy-go-lucky attitude and babyish looks has managed to win the admiration and affection of the whole school… Did everyone forget that all the Roses were high-class ladies with great grace and poise?

Everyone knows the real reason why Kanako chose not to become Yumi’s soeur is because with the mismatch in height it would be impossible to 69. She thinks ahead does that one…Oh yes.

4. Julia/Ran (Strawberry Shake Sweet)

Type: Implied/Virginal

I’m still backing these two, even though Shake has been going for absolutely ages and the mangaka has gone onto better things (namely Hayate x Blade), simply because I love the couple – incorrigible block-head idol and similarly stupid innocent newcomer make for hilarious hijinks.

Julia makes a much better nosebleeding yuri than Maria+Holic’s Kanako..

5. Ami/Minori (Toradora!)

Type: (very) Subtextual

These two are so subtextual they’re basically off the radar and somewhere out into the Atlantic Ocean. In true yuri fanboy nature, I have isolated one scene in which the two share a moment and extrapolated this relationship from there.

This scene is in the penultimate episode where, after seeing Taiga and Ryuuji leave Ami’s house, Minori finally breaks down and cries with only Ami there to console her. Somehow, in that awkward moment, I thought – wow, two girls who fell for the same guy and got rejected having a moment – yuri relationship fodder!

And everyone knows that an Ami/Minori relationship would be hilarious.

6. Suzu/Sairi (Transistor Teaset)

Type: Unrequited

Yay, another unrequited couple! This time it’s a younger girl and older onee-san type. Sairi is the grade school girl in question who’s looked after her onee-san Suzu since her Grandfather died and left her his electronics shop in Akiba. And so we have a couple made of impudent yuri-loli who has the hots for a total geek-girl slob (who happens to be in secret love with her childhood friend anyway)

Poor Sairi. She needs a good dose of loliyuri loving to sort her out. As for why I don’t particularly like Midori/Suzu, it’s because I’m a bit tired of the dojikko maid stereotype for now. It’s definitely getting old

7. Mari/Akko (Girlfriends)

Type: ?Unrequited

Yep, these two are still going strong. Now Mari’s even pretending to be straight so she can understand Akko better, while Akko is wrestling with her own feelings after the kiss knocked her for six. Now Akko’s where Mari was at the beginning of the manga, unsure of her own sexuality while Mari is still trying to bury her feelings because she’s convinced herself that they’ll never be returned.

It’s the kind of innocent love story that really hits the spot amongst the magical girls and the lascivious on the spot rape that pretty much sums up the rest of things…Even though Morinaga Milk feels the need to spin it out to eternity.

With every episode, the feeling increases inside that “If the ending is crap, someone’s gonna pay”.

8. Kanade/Sakuya (Candy Boy)

Type: Unrequited/Stalker

Another unrequited one. Sakuya’s stalker ways are made so much cuter by the way that Yukino encourages her by collecting Kanade’s things and selling them to her in exchange for snacks.

But anyway, if Kanade actually did offer herself to Sakuya, chances are that she’d haemorrhage on the spot anyway.

9. Setsuko/Yukino

Type: Overt

The only overt couple in this summary! Octave came out of the blue to be one of my favourite yuri mangas (Even though Tranquil Scans rejected my scanlation application. Grr.) It’s probably the most true to life of all the couples on this list (though that’s not saying much ^^). Yukino is a failed idol who ends up with Setsuko, a musician, almost by accident and exhibits the usual response of running away from her feelings.

What follows is then a touching (but drawn out) story of feelings realised, discovering sexuality and lots of growing up that Yukino missed out on while she was out becoming an idol.

I guess time will tell if there is a point to the drawn-outness and whether Yukino will eventually settle down. She should just realise that she has an awesome girlfriend and have lots of hawt sex like the rest of us.

Awesome.

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Category: Editorials, Shoujo-ai, Top 10s

Comments

5 Responses to “my favourite Yuri couples of recent history”

Patrick
April 14th, 2009 @ 11:41 pm

[Bad frame has disappeared. Cool, I can comment again!]

I’ve always wondered about some of these subtext/implied relationships. Are we reading way too much into these? Or is the writer giving a wink and a nod to the readers, basically saying, “Yeah, it’s there, but we can’t publish it.”
Jaden
April 15th, 2009 @ 5:28 am

@ Patrick: Implied relationships are usually just that. I feel it is mainly for the fans that are invested in the characters that would notice the details. As for subtextual relationships, usually it is just a fan seeing what they want to see. Not that it is wrong in any sense, it is just one person interpreting a piece of art. What may and may not have been the artist’s intent doesn’t matter much.

Also yea for Mari/Akko, it is my favorite romance right now. I have a bad feeling that Akko may move away from Mari if she starts to think Mari just loves her fashionable self. Also I don’t think it is questioning sexuality, although that is there too, as much as losing the few relationships they have. As of Chapter 20 we get to see that Akko’s relationships center mainly around the self she has built up for herself and she (Mari too) are afraid that if they change anything it may all be taken away.
Akakori
April 15th, 2009 @ 2:37 pm

Some great choices. The entire world, including people in the deepest parts of the Amazon who have never even heard of paper let alone manga, are rooting for Mari/Akko! Mikoto/Kuruko is fantastic too, even though I’ve only seen the tamIndex anime, I’m eagerly awaiting Railgun.

Transistor Teaset and Octave are new to me, but they look good – I’ll check them out.

As for Ami/Minori, I really don’t understand everyone. I guess my make of yuri-goggles just aren’t powerful enough.
Yi
April 20th, 2009 @ 6:16 pm

My favorite has to be Yomi x Kagura, even though the yuri is hard to tell from the weak subtext.
The pair from Octave is decent, except I kind of hate how Yukino’s always thinking about men…
Really good other choices as well though.
anonymous_lambda
June 18th, 2009 @ 6:27 pm

Don’t mention the disappointing failure know as Maria+Holic ever again. How did they mess up with that is anybody’s guess.