The OG-Man’s back with another topic of discussion for yuri fans, with an added voting poll to boot. (An appetizer for those who can’t wait to vote in the 2nd G-Empire Yuri Awards) This time we’ll be talking about several yuri trends that annoy some yuri fans to no end. While our love for animated and drawn (Sometimes live-action) romance between women is unquestionable, there are trends that continue to pop up over and over again that can make our teeth cringe. So I figured, why not take the time to find out which trend is the most annoying…according to MY visitors. Keep in mind these aren’t the only bad yuri trends, but the most frequent ones.
Update: Some comments mention wanting to vote for more than one option. With that in mind, you can now vote for more than one. If it seems you can still only vote for one option, let me know.
Let me explain each of the choices to help those who don’t get some of these with casting their vote.
#1: Bad End. Refers to a show with a horrible or tragic end for the main yuri couple; e.g. death, breakup, Yamibou, man wins, etc.
#2: Typical male nuisance. Speaking of victorious men, this one refers to shows where there’s a guy standing in the way of a lesbian’s one true love. While frequent in harem, there are other non-harem shows where this trend is prevalent. Examples include, Ga-Rei Zero, Maria-Sama ga Miteru, Kyoshiro, Aoi Hana and Gakuen Alice to name a few. Basically it doesn’t have to be a conscious obstacle that the lesbian is aware of, just a guy is in the way of the desired yuri pairing fans crave.
#3: Incest. I’ve mentioned a while back that I have no qualms with sisters having a romantic relationship (In anime and manga) and that I dislike mother x daughter pairings, but there are yuri fans who dislike incestuous relationships altogether.
#4: Excessive fanservice. Think of a show that fellow nation members promoted as to having yuri content but you just couldn’t get yourself to giving it a chance because of the excessive fanservice. You all know which shows I’m talking about; Strike Witches, Gokujo, Koihime Musou, Rinne no Lagrange (Even though this one doesn’t have THAT much) to name a few.
#5: the “Best Friends” Angle. It’s hard to distinguish this one from subtext but the best way I can explain this one is a show where no matter how many intimate moments the girls have together, the writers continue shoving the dreaded “F” word down your throats just to try and mislead or piss you off.
#6: Stereotypes. If you’ve been a yuri fan as long as I have (over a decade), you’re bound to have the same kind of lesbian archetypes over and over again. Name one stereotype and I could probably mention 10 or more stories and one-shots where a girl with the same type of personality appears.
#7: Emo-Lesbians. Imagine Shinji Ikari, Sasuke Uchiha, Justin Bieber or Edward and Jacob as girls. Nuff said.
#8: Butches. No offense to any of my fellow nation members who are actual butches (Really) but this refers to lesbians who are so masculine, you can’t even tell if they’re actually women. To be honest, this is one of those I’m not that familiar with as there aren’t that many butches in anime and manga I know of. I could be wrong though.
#9: Fear of Crossing the line. Short answer, lack of adult lesbians. Long answer, lack of anime and manga where the female protagonists graduated high school (sometimes college), or too many “Gakuen” anime.
#10: Superficial Yuri. Similar to fanservice, except here, there is absolutely no reason whatsoever for there to be yuri on this show. It’s there for the sake of being there.
There you have it. As usual, discuss the ones mentioned here or any I may have missed, but most importantly, help a dood out by voting honestly.
The Yuri Empire 
The “Best Friends” Angle a really close second but Interfering Male Character really pisses me off. should do multi pick then single….
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Maybe I’ll do just that.
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The interfering male character tops my list of annoyances by quite a bit. Feels like those characters are just put there to be annoying and have no real reason to be part of the plot.
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Thankfully this is one of the less frequent annoying trends outside of hetero harem shows.
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Soo… in short the Nanoha series sums up this entire list?
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Good jab, but the fandom crushed all barriers of denial so hard that the Nanoha series can be forgiven for using so many of these trends. However, there are shows where this is unacceptable.
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I voted for #9 and at first I thought you meant crossing the line from subtext to canon. Then I read your explanations, and I felt that #9 is still the choice I want. Even thought I love schoolgirls as much as the next otaku, I do want to watch more adult yuri relationship as well. But I know this particular problem is not unique to us yuri fans, but to all anime/manga fans. It seems to me 99 out of 100 would have teenagers (or younger) — the “ordinary high school student” protagonist who’s anything but — as main characters.
I wonder about one example for #2. I’ve watched all 4 seasons of MariMate but I don’t recall any guy stealing the girls away… Unless you’re talking about other sources like the light novels maybe?
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Yup. I know many animeniacs who are fed up with the majority of anime and manga plots taking place in high school. I know the high school period is considered the definitive life experience period but a lot of interesting stuff happens during adulthood as well.
Well, I only thought of Sachiko’s fiance when adding Marimite as an example, and while he didn’t exactly do much to get in the way of Yumi and Sachiko’s possible love, he’s still in the way. Anyway, you get the point. I’ll try to think of a better example.
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So many choices! Fan service and the F-word top my list. While I’m all for girls being close friends and having fun and sharing hardships, I truly hate when characters have blatantly romantic feelings towards each other yet, never get out of the friend zone.
I’m not saying every girl should pair up with another (although, that would be my ideal world), but dangling the carrot of mutual affection in front of us is insulting to the audience and cruel to the characters.
As for fan, service, nudity in correct context, I have no problem with. Even in erotica like Maka-Maka, most of the nudity and sex comes in intimate settings (and the occasional school club room). The whole manga is about two women communicating through sex, so it’s appropriate for them to, ya know, have sex.
A series like say…QUEEN’S BLADE seems to revel in service for its own sake. Friends keep telling me there is a great story in there, but I can’t for the life of me find it past all the T&A.
In a show like Saki, the service comes at weird times which undercut any dramatic effect of particular scenes. I would love to see Yuri anime and manga stop relaying on these tropes.
::HUGS::
Arca Jeth
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I feel your pain when it comes to BFFs who refuse to go to the next level, even though it’s clear as day they want to. There are so many times where one, or both, girls exhibit some form of romantic or sexual interest in one another, but nope, the writers are too scared to take the next step.
As you said, it doesn’t have to happen with ALL best gal pals but if that isn’t your intention, THEN STOP TEASING YOUR FANS OR GIVING THEM THE WRONG IDEA!
Speaking of Maka-Maka, it’s a shame it got cancelled. Oh well, we can only imagine whether they finally came to their senses or continued being only sex friends, even though they’re still in the BFF zone…sort of.
“Evil grin on my face”, you’re the first person I thought of when writing the ecchi/fanservice description. As for Saki, it’s just another victim of these tropes, as great of a yuri show as Saki really is.
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This list reminds me of the most recent Shinsekai Yori episode… I never thought i`d see the day when i will hate a show for adding yuri.Teasing bastards.
Ah The “Best Friends” i remember that when Madoka said that line to Homura in the last episode i paused the video for a bit to calm myself.WHAT friends?Half of the show was Homura stalking Madoka and episode 11 was almost a love declaration.And they were hugging naked in the sky looking at each other with dreamy faces and doing the Kanazuki no Miko ending pose.Who was the genius who thought that “Best Friends” fits there.
I get that some people are just friends but sometimes is just to damn much friendship.
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The writer supposedly confirmed MadoHomu were gay for each other so you can take the best friend thing with a grain of salt, which is also why I didn’t mention it as an obvious example. Also, unlike other shows that shove the “F” word in your face, Madoka only used it once. Granted, it was a major low blow to the nation and the timing was impeccable, but yeah.
Ah, so Shinsekai Yori could have a subtext pairing? Hopefully the “F” word won’t get shoved in our faces as they snuggle in bed.
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What subtext pairing?In the last episode the two main girls kissed and started having sex and no they didn`t say they were best friends.Shinsekai Yori has no subtext other was the problem.But from your comment i guess you don`t watch it so i better not spoil you just in case.
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Well, now I know. Hey, all is fair in yuri. After all, you didn’t mention who and why. The show’s on my schedule to pick up eventually and now I have a greater incentive to do so.
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If the spoiler I’ve read is true then…
Please, prepare your hate…
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Hmm…I’ll prepare myself for the worst then.
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For me, the male-bad end-superficial yuri…
I can accept the ‘F’ word because I believe ‘best friend is a word invented simply because people need some close relationship other than family yet doesn’t wish to include ‘love’ because ‘love’ is synonymous to lust…
While I would like to scream ‘NO! IT’S DIFFERENT!’, most people still think so…
Thus, for me the term ‘best friend’ is already equal to ‘boy friend’ and ‘girl friend’…
So now to why I hate these 3 stuffs…
I don’t need male in my yuri if they interfere with mah google, and I hate bad end so-so-so very much, however I am a story writer and something fake, unnatural, and simply added to cater a larger fanbase is deserve my harsh word…
Thanks…
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That’s a nice way of seeing past the “F” word, or rather, changing the meaning for the better.
Good explanations for all 3 choices. As much as all nation members support yuri, we don’t like it when shows post yuri content just because it’s hot rather than giving it a meaningful and memorable purpose.
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Interfering Male Character. I’m looking at you, Mahiro from Nyarako San…
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He’s the reason I dropped Nyaruko-san. As awesome as Kuuko is, I couldn’t take seeing her lose or having to succumb to a bland male to stay near her Nyaruko.
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Still desparately hoping for the Tamao route (for Kuuko). That one episode where the alien said she would meet someone new and they would help her and whatever, pretty much implying the next person she meets would be a love interest. And…that was Kuuko. Even during the final scene of the first season, you saw Kuuko and her spending some time together.
But…sadly…the second season has turned it into Mahiro’s harem…I’ll watch just for the tiny hope that Tamao breaks down the harem wall…
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“OG reacts to vampko’s comments about season 2”
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Quite a few characters in Queen’s Blade could actually be count as “butches”. Likewise, it could also be added (obviously) to excessive fanservice too.
An unlikely choice but I voted butches. Masculine women are a no-no..
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Makes sense, yes, but you couldn’t exactly tell with the major cleavage. Either that or their faces were kinda manly. Just leave out Tomoe-sama and some of the other beauties from Rebellion.
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how about reverse traps? How do you feel about those? And I’m not talking the ones that actually should be referred to as reverse traps, I’m talking about the girls who the less seasoned viewer thinks is a trap
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Hmm, you’ll have to give me some examples of this before I can say anything about it.
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I think that many times, the “Lack of Crossing the Line” actually comes from the interfering male or the best friends angle. It’s beyond infuriating to me when there’s so much subtext in a show, but then they drop the f bomb (prime example- Madoka and Homura. Although, the whole naked embracing thing offset this somewhat). Many of us rejoiced when tKannazuki no Miko actually ended with ChiMeko canon, rather than continuing the best friends angle… I actually cried. Although subtext in itself is pretty enjoyable.
Another vexing thing is when one of the obviously gay supporting female characters suddenly falls in love with the male main character. Nevertheless, the world of fanart shall prevail in satisfying our desires to see our favorite couples finally get together.
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Yup. Fans have the power to make stars of subtext and crack pairings.
Thankfully the writers support the yuri nation’s MadoHomu pairing, going so far as to make it canon. Sadly, I don;t have the interview confirming this. Subtext is a good thing, but dropping the f word randomly is still a major bummer.
Ah yes, crying during the greatest romantic confession in anime history. I know how that felt, beautiful.
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Isn’t the interview is in Madoka wiki?
You mean the interview where Gen said that love of same gender is not different from love of opposite gender, right?
http://wiki.puella-magi.net/Shinjidai_no_Mixture_Magazine_BLACK_PAST
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Yup. There it is. Thanks dood.
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Hey, just found this site. Probably won’t be to active, but I think this discussion looks interesting.
For me, bad endings are the worst. It just feels very anti-gay when it happens, like they don’t want to make the romance real. I also hate interfering males and “just friends” for the same reason, but at least those angles leave the possibility of the 2 girls getting together off screen.
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As for the other trends:
Incest: wish I could find more
Fan service: as long as it doesn’t get to silly to be taken seriously. Non-yuri example: High School of the Dead
Yuri Stereotypes: I take a long time to get through animes and mangas, so I’m not quite as “experienced” as you guys, so I can’t say I’m familiar with these stereotypes.
Emo: I actually liked Shinji and Sasuke up to certain points (End of Evangelion and joining the Akatsuki respectively) as long as nothing like that happens, and they have a good reason to be emo, then I can actually like them.
Butch: I have seen a total of ONE butch in anime/manga: the lesbian character from Getter Robo Go. And she was only there for, uh, not sure. Maybe comedy? It’s hard to what exactly the Getter Robo manga is trying to do when it’s not being needlessly violent.
“Crossing the line”: just got outta highschool and into college, it doesn’t bother me that much. But I’d have no problem watching something about adults either.
Superficial yuri: I guess you mean like Chizuru from Bleach? Yeah it’s kinda annoying, especially when it makes a non-yuri anime look like a yuri.
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Hey dood. Thanks a lot for stopping by and posting a comment. Everyone is welcome to post comments whenever they can.
I’m guessing you’re a Shounen fan and just happen to run into yuri every now and then, which is cool.
You’re correct. As much as the “just friends” angle irritates many of us, it gives us plenty to work with when enough material is presented.
HOTD’s a decent show, despite the excessive fanservice.
I agree with your other comments on the other trends.
Yes. Chizuru from Bleach is a perfect example of superficial yuri. She’s there, and for what? Just because it’s hot to have a lesbian on the show? Give me a break. At least Kosame from Girls Bravo’s love for Kirie HAD a purpose.
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Yeah, I do usually go for shonen, but that’s mainly because I like action, and action shonen tend to get a lot more advertisement than action shojou, though I did find and watch Nanoha. I do sometimes go out of my way for yuri though (why I started Nanoha in the first place), but with all the other shows/mangas I want to get into, I just don’t have the time for every yuri series I run into.
I tried watching HSotD, and I did enjoy it, but there were other animes at the time that got in my way (I forget which ones though). But some time later I found this scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7iKbktVS_c and *bursts out in laughter* I just can’t take it seriously anymore, that’s WAY to silly.
But yeah, I think I might lurk around this website some. I just found your list of yuri animes, so I might check those out. Will probably have to wait until I finish Code Geass before starting one of them though (^_^J)
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Ah yes, the now infamous boob-matrix/titty-matrix (Whichever you prefer). The survival aspect were the only serious parts. Everything else was there for laughs and raging ring boners. Still, a fun show. I do feel bad for those who actually got invested in it.
Be warned that I’m not a big shounen guy and if I do happen to watch one it’s purely coincidental.
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I voted for a lack of series “Crossing the Line” as the worst trend mainly because while I have definitely seen vast improvements Yuri over the past decade, we are still largely stuck in the high school setting default dating back to the days of Class S Literature. While I do enjoy high school Yuri, quite a large number of my top series take place largely outside high school or have adult couples. I really hope in 2013 and beyond we will see more series that really do “cross the line.”
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Time to step out of the comfort zone, as they say.
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Male Character hands down!
Because sometimes they even go so far as to turn out lesbians into sudden straight girls that fall for said main character when there is absolute zero chance for them to happen!
UN-FORGIVABLE!
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That is similar to what most people who have replied answered.
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I so should have read those before replying but you are so popular that your harem force scared me away ^^
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If you went to the results page, you’d would notice that Male Interference won.
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You the result when you vote ^^
I guess we think more alike than I though.
All hail the nation!
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I meant my post talking about the results but yes, the Nation had spoken that day. I just left the voting open for others to have a chance of voicing their opinion.
As for being popular…am I?
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Oh, and Interfering male. Worse than any bad end or anything else on the list, mostly because it leads to bad end and friend-zone
I wanna see an interfering female taking the main heroine away from the main character. I think that would be suiting considering how many times it’s happened the other way around
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you don’t see many interfering females who succeed. Such wasted potential to write a story like that.
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What about being yuri blocked ya know you what to see a yuri show or manga but can’t because it has trups or bad ending or lives a WTF with you,as for me they are some yuri i what to see but i can’t because of the same thing of being yuri blocked or blocked yuri AND I HATE MALE INTERFERING
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It is some annoying stuff.
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“Interfering Male Character”
UWAHAAHAHRAGHHHHH MY SEALED MEMORIES OF BASTAD SOUMA IN KANNAZUKI HAVE BROKEN OUT AGAINNN—SZXBBbbbZZZzttzx 0010000010010010001000000000100010010101001010010101
-zap-
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He’s cool but I’ve seen far worse…Tusk.
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Interfering male character. Holy hell, that makes me want to burn my hair off with a pan of hot oil. It’s basically like cheating on your significant other just because he/she is hotter/handsomer.
Considering the whole list, this makes me want a “bible” for yuri showing the basic morals for yuri anime and it’s followers.
Also I hate it when some idiot weeb IRL comes and tries to claim a lesbian as their waifu. And even worse when some idiot guy tries to “convert” a lesbian to heterosexuality IRL.
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There are all kinds of fools in this world. It’s a fact of life that we must unfortunately accept.
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