Yuri

Yuri (sometimes known as shōjo-ai) a jargon term amongst otaku for lesbian content, possibly sexually explicit, in anime and manga, or in fan fiction based on such. In Western media the term femmeslash would be used.

Definition and semantic drift

Much like the term otaku, yuri, although originally a Japanese loanword, has undergone significant semantic drift. The precise difference between "yuri" and "shōjo-ai"' — or even whether or not there is a precise difference, or any difference at all — can vary greatly depending on the speaker. One reason for the use of the term shōjo-ai is simply that "yuri" produces too much unrelated material in search engines.

In Japanese, the term is typically used to mean any lesbian content in entertainment media, whether sexual or romantic, explicit or implied (notably, Futaba Channel's yuri board is not separated into hentai and non-hentai content). The term shōjo-ai is not usually found in this context outside of Western fandom. Neither term is generally used by Japanese lesbians describing themselves.

American use of yuri has broadened in recent years, picking up connotations from the Japanese use, but the historical usage differed: in America, yuri has typically been used to denote only the most explicit end of the spectrum, being effectively a variety of hentai; while shōjo-ai — an independently-coined term, following the logical connection to shōnen-ai) — described anything without explicit sex. The term likely stayed popular because many fans wanted to remove the direct connotation of pure pornography, which is still often associated with anime as a whole in some circles.

Etymology

Another suggested derivation is that the lily was associated poetically with female-female relationships, and that the poetic use of the term gradually drifted into common use. (The lily is indeed used in such a fashion, although it is not certain whether such use predates the term.)

A third is ascribed to Barazoku, a gay men's magazine whose name means "rose group," which in 1971 termed lesbians yurizoku, or "lily group." The -zoku portion of the term was subsequently dropped, according to this theory.

Yuri as story

Many fans enjoy yuri for its skewing of the classic gender roles in anime, which are often quite stereotyped in nature and sometimes have a female character take a slightly more 'submissive' role if a significant other is introduced or appears. Conversely, yuri content is often criticized as never going anywhere, with the majority of the more dramatic stories ending tragically (even by comparison with the melodrama of romance in manga in general).

Young same-sex affection experimentation is considered natural in real-life Japan, but generally regarded as something girls grow out of. Because of this the Japanese concept of lesbianism and thus of yuri is slightly different from in the West. It often has less to do with a character's sexual identity and more to do with the current interactions with other characters (shōjo in particular is known for its frequently 'bisexual' characters who would never feel the need to use that term).

Other yuri stories may involve characters with no previous romantic experience or who are otherwise depicted as straight, but are attracted to a single particular female, such as Yoshida Chizuru of HEN or Tenjō Utena of Revolutionary Girl Utena.

Many archetypical stories exist, such as the schoolyard not-quite-romances between sempai and kouhai (senior and junior), where the former is an older looking, more sophisticated woman and the latter is her younger, more awkward admirer. This is famously depicted in Marimite, which has a large yuri fandom. In other stories, some characters have bifauxnen characteristics and are (relatively speaking) handsome rather than beautiful. Lady Oscar of The Rose of Versailles and Tenjō Utena of Revolutionary Girl Utena are famous examples, though the most famous is Ten'ō Haruka/Sailor Uranus of Sailor Moon fame.

Yuri in shōnen is stereotyped as more blunt or explicitly sexual in depiction than it is in shōjo, although some argue this is more according to males' tastes in relationships in general than to simple fanservice. Many critics of the sometimes evasive nature of shōjo in regards to sex suggest that yuri is more easily found in shōnen because it is depicted in a healthy, sexual manner. Generally, relationships are still depicted as between a junior and a senior, but these roles are often related to the age or maturity of a character rather than the appearance of the character. However, many of the design archetypes as in shōjo are used; most often, one character appeals to the bijin aspect, and the other to the moé aspect. This sometimes causes couplings from different series to strongly resemble each other. In recent times, the most notable example of this is the stunning similarities between Himemiya Chikane and Kurusugawa Himeko of Kannazuki no Miko and Azuma Hazuki and Azuma Hatsumi (no relation) of Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito; Chikane and Hazuki in particular look and act almost exactly alike, and would indeed be identical if both series had the same artist.

Famous Yuri Pairings

Another famous couple is Utena Tenjou and Anthy Himemiya of Revolutionary Girl Utena. Similarly to Haruka and Michiru, Utena appears to be the more "masculine" of the two, also insisting on wearing the boys' uniform and participating in the surrealist duels at Ohtori Academy. However, she is naive and overly pure-hearted at times; Anthy's jaded, cynical worldview stands in sharp contrast to Utena, and, like Michiru to Haruka, serves as a moderating and calming influence over her. It can be argued that Utena/Anthy shows more of the dom/sub pattern, since it is in Anthy's character (superficially, at least) to be submissive.

Unrequited love also features heavily in shōjo-ai and yuri. One of the most well-known (and controversial) examples is Sakura Kinomoto and Tomoyo Daidouji of Cardcaptor Sakura. In this case, there is what appears to be a one-sided love, that of Tomoyo for Sakura. What makes this controversial is that the characters are still in grade school, and one wonders how much children that age can know of romantic love, much less sexual orientation. An interesting point is that the two girls' mothers were in love with one another in the past; anime clichês being what they are, it's not implausible to think that this had something to do with the present situation, in a "history repeats itself" kind of way.

In recent years, the trend has been toward yuri being more out in the open. Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito was the most notable example of this in 2003; the main characters, Hazuki and Hatsumi, were quite obviously in love, and the story centers around Hazuki's journey through time and space to find Hatsumi after the latter disappears in a flash of green light on midnight of her sixteenth birthday. What follows is surreal, confusing, non-linear (think Quantum Leap or Legend of Mana), and downright depressing at times. The series can be thought of as an attempt to bridge the gap between shōjo and shōnen anime; on one hand, its story is very deep and nearly entirely character-driven, but on the other, it is rampant with fanservice. Throw in the fact that this is based on an H-game — and with a minor character as the new protagonist at that — and it's a wonder that anything coherent came out of it at all. Despite its flaws, YamiBou's influence can be keenly felt in what many consider to be its spiritual successor: Kannazuki no Miko. Another attempt to cross genres, Kannazuki no Miko features a plot-driven storyline that makes heavy use of mecha (giant robots). The truth of the matter is, the mecha and even the ostensible plot itself (saving the planet from the Orochi) is just a backdrop to the real story: the love between Himemiya Chikane and Kurusagawa Himeko, reincarnations of the Lunar Miko and Solar Miko respectively (hence Kannazuki no Miko: "Priestesses-in-Training of The Godless Month") whose job it is to combat the Orochi. Chikane and Himeko resemble Hazuki and Hatsumi extremely closely, though Himeko is much more outgoing than the spooky, selectively-mute Hatsumi. Kannazuki no Miko is almost torturous to watch for a shōjo-ai fan; no concrete conclusion is reached until after the end credits of the last episode, and even that is somewhat ethereal.

Of course, no mention of shōjo-ai and yuri would be complete without Maria-sama ga Miteru. Unlike YamiBou and Kannazuki no Miko, Marimite makes no attempt whatsoever to reach out to the male demographic; this is industrial-strength shōjo anime, love it or leave it. It is entirely character-driven, with no real plot to speak of, and follows the students at Lillian Jogakuen, an all-girls Catholic school somewhere in Japan. It focuses on the relationships between the girls, set against the backdrop of the Student Council, known as the Yamayurikai. While most of the shōjo-ai is subtext, Satō Sei (Rosa Gigantea) is quite obviously a lesbian and two entire episodes of the first season are devoted to the story of her and a former lover, Kubō Shiori. Shimazu Yoshino and Hasekura Rei act in many ways as if they are already married, having known one another since early childhood and being distant cousins. Tōdō Shimako, mysterious and aloof, seems to be growing a relationship with the small but fiery new first-year Noriko in the second season as well. Ironically, the most popular pairing in the fandom (Sachiko/Yumi) is still at the subtext level at this point and may never progress beyond that. It is unknown at this time whether there will be a third season of Marimite, but since Hosokawa Kanako has yet to be introduced, odds are good that there will be.

Non-hentai anime which contain yuri or shōjo-ai