Now Yuri are not a special tendency of minority fans but are becoming more familiar to many people. Yuri. which literally means “lily” in Japanese, suggests girls who have a special relationship with each other or who just get along well with each other.
Lots of anime fans enjoy watching the female characters flirting with each other with a smirk on their faces. For both beginners and experienced freaks, I’d like to introduce 10 best Yuri anime of all time. This Yuri anime list includes the hottest action anime and the classic magical girl series.
Let’s find out what the world of Yuri is like!
What is a Yuri Anime?
Some anime are categorized as Yuri, which means “lily” in Japanese. Yuri implies a lesbian, homosexual female or girls’ love (GL). The context was being established in the 1970s as the word of Yurizoku (Lily Tribe) was born as an antonym of Barazoku (Rose Tribe), which describes gays or homosexual male.
Yuri anime center on a girl character who has a special relationship with other girls, and some modern anime which features girls who just enjoy each other’s friendship are widely looked on as Yuri anime.
1. Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury
Sunrise released Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury (機動戦士ガンダム 水星の魔女), a modern title of the long-established franchise Gundam released in 2022. It has attracted a broad range of fans who like mecha, action, science fiction and Yuri since the first 12 episodes aired in the autumn of 2022, which are followed by the second part in the spring of 2023. The Witch from Mercury is the first Gundam series that centers on a female protagonist.
Suletta Mercury, the innocent protagonist, meets Miorine Rembran, the strong-willed daughter of the president of the Benerit Group, as soon as she is transferred to the Asticassia School of Technology, which is run by the corporate giant. In order to prevent Miorine from being forced into a political marriage, Suletta herself becomes Miorine’s “fiancée” on the surface. The two trust each other, although they do not exactly show romantic feelings. There is even a point where Miorine gets jealous of Suletta when she hears that Suletta is going on a date with Elan. However, their hearts sometimes drift apart, and the unstable human drama is also a highlight of this anime.
Yuri Level: ★★★★☆
Yuri Pairing: Suletta and Miorine
Aired: 2022
Episodes: 12+
Studio: Sunrise
2. Adachi and Shimamura
As a good casual Yuri anime series, Adachi and Shimamura (安達としまむら) is recommended to both Yuri anime beginners and those who like slice of life and comedy. It is adapted from Hitoma Iruma’s light novel series published since 2012, which has been also made into manga adaptation since 2016. There are 12 episodes in the anime series made by Tezuka Productions.
As the title suggests, Adachi and Shimamura depicts the daily lives of Adachi and Shimamura, two first-year high school girls, and their interactions with their families and friends. Sakura Adachi, with short black hair, rarely attends classes and skips around the school, including the gymnasium. Hogetsu Shimamura, who has long hair dyed chestnut brown, often skips classes because she feels like a chore to attend. Adachi, who has a very negative personality, clearly has a liking for Shimamura. On the other hand, it is doubtful that Shimamura is aware of Adachi’s feelings…
Yuri Level: ★★★★☆
Yuri Pairing: Adachi and Shimamura
Aired: 2020
Episodes: 12
Studio: Tezuka Productions
3. Lycoris Recoil
Lycoris Recoil (リコリス・リコイル), an original action anime series made by A-1 Pictures in 2022, is one of the best Yuri anime in the recent past. Lots of anime fans have been glued to the iconic heroines regarding the anime as a masterpiece of 2022. It is also known as the first anime series directed by Shingo Adachi, who was in charge of character design for the series of Sword Art Online and Working!!.
Lycoris Recoil takes place in Japan, which has a reputation for being the safest country in the world, but that security is protected by a group of girl assassins named Lycoris, who are agents of a secret organization. Ostensibly, Chisato Nishikigi, the strongest Lycoris of all time, works at a coffee shop in Tokyo called Café LycoReco. And then there is Takina Inoue, who has been left behind at Café LycoReco from headquarters. The charm of this anime lies in the change in distance between these two people, who were distant at first, and in the loose comedy scenes that can be seen on a daily basis. In addition to the powerful gun action scenes, you can’t help but feel the preciousness of the relationship of Chisato and Takina in this anime.
Yuri Level: ★★★★☆
Yuri Pairing: Chisato and Takina
Aired: 2022
Episodes: 13
Studio: A-1 Pictures
4. Yuri Is My Job!
Yuri Is My Job! (私の百合はお仕事です！) is a new romantic comedy Yuri anime series airing in 2023, which is adapted from Miman’s manga series that has been serialized on Comic Yuri Hime since 2016. The anime series is produced by Passione, which is also famous for the other popular Yuri anime Citrus, and Studio Lings.
Hime Shirasagi is a high school girl who has always tried to look good to everyone, until one day a trivial incident leads her to work at Café Liebe Girls Academy, a school modeled after an elite mission school. The staff of the café serve the customers as if they were students of the school. The school has a contractual system called Schwestern, which creates a particularly close and special relationship between upperclassmen and underclassmen. The story places an emphasis on Hime and her Schwestern consort, Mitsuki Ayanokoji. It depicts the gap between their sisterly closeness as staff and their everyday distant demeanor.
Yuri Level: ★★★★★
Yuri Pairing: Hime and Mitsuki
Aired: 2023
Episodes: TBA
Studio: Passione/Studio Lings
5. Bloom Into You
Bloom Into You (やがて君になる) is a 2018 anime series that is based on a top-rated romance Yuri manga series written by Nio Nakatani. The original manga series was serialized on a monthly manga magazine Dengeki Daioh from 2015 to 2019.
Bloom Into You revolves around a first-grade high school student Yuu Koito, who does not understand the feeling of liking someone. At the same time, it also follows a second-grade student Touko Nanami, who cannot accept favors from others because she hates herself. Yuu feels sympathy for Touko and confides her problems to her, but then Touko suddenly confesses her feelings for Yuu. Yuu does not have any special feelings for Touko either, but they start dating on the condition that she does not fall in love with Touko.
Yuri Level: ★★★★★
Yuri Pairing: Yuu and Touko
Aired: 2018
Episodes: 13
Studio: Troyca
6. YuruYuri
YuruYuri (ゆるゆり) is a popular slice-of-life and comedy anime series that presents a casual Yuri story of junior high school girls. Based on Namori’s manga serialized on Comic Yuri Hime (firstly on Comic Yuri Hime S) since 2008, the first and second seasons were made by Doga Kobo. They were followed by OVA episodes titled YuruYuri Nachuyachumi! and YuruYuri Nachuyachumi! and the third season made by TYO Animations. There is also an original net animation MiniYuri released in 2019, which is composed of four episodes.
YuruYuri focuses on the four girls who belong to the Amusement Club at Nanamori Junior High School: Akari Akaza, Kyoko Toshino, Yui Funami and Chinatsu Yoshikawa. In addition, the girls of the student council, their families and other people surrounding them, presenting a mellow, funny and sometimes Yuri-like depiction of their daily lives. A little laughter in the all-girls school atmosphere, which can be seen as mildly homosexual, relationships in which unrequited love chains together, and the occasional happenings caused by highly serious Yuri feelings are handled with a gentle air of humor.
Yuri Level: ★★★★★
Yuri Pairing: Chinatsu and Akari/Kyoko and Yui/Ayano and Kyoto etc.
Aired: 2011 (Season 1)/2012 (Season 2)/2015 (Season 3)
Episodes: 12 (Season 1)/12 (Season 2)/12 (Season 3)
Studio: Doga Kobo (Season 1 and 2)/TYO Animations (Season 3)
7. Citrus
Citrus is a popular romance manga and anime series that features a forbidden Yuri pairing. The original manga series written by Saburouta was serialized on Comic Yuri Hime between 2012 and 2018, which was made into the anime adaptation by Passione in the same year that the serialization ended. The following series Citrus Plus began from the end of the year.
The story begins when Yuzu, a pure-hearted girl who looks like a flamboyant gal but has never been in love yet, is transferred to a preppy all-girls high school. Yuzu is disappointed that she has no chance to get a boyfriend because of the girls-only school. Then, she meets Mei, the student body president. Mei chastises Yuzu for not following the school rules, and the two have the worst possible encounter. To Yuzu’s surprise, she discovers that Mei is the daughter of her mother’s second marriage. The two become sisters-in-law and start living under the same roof. Their different personalities repel each other, but gradually they are drawn to each other.
Yuri Level: ★★★★★
Yuri Pairing: Yuzu and Mei
Aired: 2018
Episodes: 12
Studio: Passione
8. A Certain Scientific Railgun
A Certain Scientific Railgun (とある科学の超電磁砲), a popular spin-off series of A Certain Magical Index, is not categorized as Yuri but science fiction and action, but it is dominated by female characters, who are part of the charm of the anime. It is adapted from the same-named manga series written by Kazuma Kamachi and illustrated by Motoi Fuyukawa since 2007. The anime adaptation of A Certain Scientific Railgun is directed by Tatsuyuki Nagai, who is also famous for Toradora! (2008-2009) and Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day (2011).
A Certain Scientific Railgun is set in Academy City, a futuristic world where psychic abilities are an everyday occurrence. All students are divided into six levels, from Level 0 to Level 5, and have developed a variety of abilities. The main character, Mikoto Misaka, is one of only seven Level 5 students in the city, and is known as Railgun for her ability to manipulate electric shocks. She solves various incidents that occur in the school city with members of Judgment, a student-based disciplinary committee. Kuroko Shirai maintains security in the city as a member of Judgment. She is also Mikoto’s roommate, and will not hesitate to act in perverse ways or even risk her life for Mikoto’s sake. The Yuri relationship between these two is the focus of attention.
Yuri Level: ★★★☆☆
Yuri Pairing: Kuroko and Mikoto/Ruiko and Kazari
Aired: 2009-2010 (Season 1)/2013 (Season 2)/2020 (Season 3)
Episodes: 24 (Season 1)/24 (Season 2)/25 (Season 3)
Studio: J.C.Staff
9. Revolutionary Girl Utena
A legendary Yuri anime Revolutionary Girl Utena (少女革命ウテナ) has captivated quite a few classic anime fans and has influenced a lot of anime since it was released in 1997. It was made by J.C.Staff with a director Kunihiko Ikuhara, who was involved in the production of the famous Sailor Moon series, and a Shojo manga artist Chiho Saito. How many people were able to fully appreciate the animation, which was impressive for its bizarre, avant-garde presentation?
Revolutionary Girl Utena concentrates on a female protagonist Utena Tenjou, a young girl who longed for the prince who saved her when she was a child and wished to become a prince herself. She enrolls Ohtori Academy and meets Anthy Himemiya, who is known as the “Rose Bride.” She gets involved in a battle with the Student Council Duelists who are fighting for the “Bride of Roses”. Utena is a dignified girl dressed as a man, who is popular with girls and uses a male first person pronoun “boku”. She fights to protect her “bride,” Anthy. Juri Arisugawa, one of Utena’s rivals, is a clear Yuri character and is in love with a girl she has known since childhood, Shiori Takatsuki.
Yuri Level: ★★★★☆
Yuri Pairing: Utena and Anthy/Juri and Shiori
Aired: 1997
Episodes: 39
Studio: J.C.Staff
10. Bakemonogatari
Bakemonogatari (化物語) is the first title of Monogatari Series, Shaft’s renowned anime series consisting of three seasons airing from 2009 to 2019. Classified into various genres such as fantasy, slice of life, comedy, and mystery, Bakemonogatari is hardly considered a Yuri anime. However, it is also the fact that it presents some interesting Yuri episodes focusing on Suruga Kanbaru. The whole Monogatari Series anime is based on Nisio Isin’s novel series published since 2006.
Set in a rural town in Japan in the early 21st century, Bakemonogatari is about a high school student, Koyomi Araragi, who meets girls involved in a Kaii (apparition) and solves cases related to that apparitions. The sports girl Suruga Kanbara appears as one of the juniors of Hitagi Senjogahara, the girlfriend of Koyomi. Suruga has had special feelings for Hitagi since junior high school. In addition to these girls’ episodes, Suruga also shows interest in other heroines such as Nadeko and Shinobu. What is interesting is that she is also firmly likes Koyomi a lot.
Yuri Level: ★★★☆☆
Yuri Characters: Hitagi and Suruga
Aired: 2009-2010
Episodes: 15
Studio: Shaft
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