OG’s Top 10 Favorite Yuri Anime Couples of 2022

Welcome to Part 2 of my look back at 2022. A good year for yuri as we will soon see. In Part 1 I talked about my 10 favorite anime of the year along with a bonus show and movie. This time as the title suggests I will name my favorite couples of the year. No honorable mentions this time. The only rule is I can only pick one couple per anime. There is one show that had more than one installment that year. Viewers can guess which. It still counts because they are different entries. Also there is a only a #1, meaning the other nine are not ranked.

WARNING: Potential spoilers ahead!

Before anyone asks this is a yuri ANIME list meaning no Western couples like LuMity and HarIvy though both were once again excellent and worth checking out their journeys or finishing them depending on when readers find this post.

This is from the anime. The movie has far better screen grab material.

Quick mention for Claudine X Tendou Maya in the Revue Starlight Movie. They were my favorite couple in the anime and their performance in the movie was again my favorite.

On with the list.

Let us kick things off with the Three Gay Momos of ’22. First up are Momo X Ashuna from The Executioner and Her Way of Life. While the main pair of Menou X Akari are delightful in a genki x strong girl dynamic Ashuna X Momo fascinate me. They are a bickering couple in the sense that Ashuna is cool, suave and enjoys teasing the cute pink babe thanks to her being a pretty good fighter and playmate much to Momo’s dismay. Despite Momo’s undying love and devotion to Menou and knowing her chances of being Menou’s soul mate are slim part of her cannot help but be intrigued by the gorgeous warrior princess who she repeatedly crosses paths with no matter how many times she tries to evade her. It is like those cartoons with the woman trying in vain to escape her horny pursuer only here it is a badass princess who just wants to hang out with a badass grumpy girl she cannot get enough of. Also let us not forget the fact “Pink Hulk” pumped her up/kinda turned her on. Pink Hulk lives rent free in my head.

Next are Momo X Shamiko from Machikado Mazoku Season 2. Viewers wondering why Shamiko 2 was only an honorable mention for me will now get their answer. Season 2 was a lot of fun but I would not as a whole it made me bust a guy as often as other yuri comedies. No. What I enjoyed most was Shamiko X Momo’s ongoing relationship development. While their old dynamic of “Shamiko trying to outdo Momo and Momo partially fighting back but mostly humoring the shadow mistress” was still there progress was made. For Shamiko her feelings toward the pink peach strengthened little by little now that they were allies whereas Momo had a harder time holding back her love for the stacked short cutie. As they grew closer Momo expressed herself more freely, sounding less monotone more often. Shamiko meanwhile reached “the heart knows” stage of a romantic comedy. That and a growing need to rub that yummy tummy as the peach tried her hardest to hold back her bliss.

The last gay Momo is from Vampire in the Garden and her love interest is Finé the Vampire Queen. A mix of “Romeo and Juliet” where two ladies from different races at war are drawn to each other along with a dash of “Beauty and the Beast” as Momo distrusts the dashing, beautiful and feral beast yet over time discovers her soft underbelly and is drawn toward her. Finé too has a reason for her desire to be with the human cutie. Unfortunately the trailer and main cover of the anime gave me dark Finé X Izetta vibes which is exactly what I got. Even so their story had me hooked from start to finish. Wish it were longer but since it aired on Netflix, who are notoriously trigger happy with the “cancellation button” (especially with lesbian shows) we are lucky the main story had a conclusion and not end on a cliffhanger. Wish it got more time to properly reach that point but it got there so there is that. Regardless the human girl X vampire queen romance had my undivided attention all the way through.

Mei X Dr Shiki from Love Live! Superstar!! Season 2. Regardless of how viewers felt about Liella’s second season one thing yuri fans cannot, for the most part, deny was the established couples and overall yuri were pretty good. As mentioned in the Top 10 Anime list Love Live! becomes openly gayer with each new season or entry in the franchise being less vague each time. Liella 2 was no exception as veteran couples all got their time to shine or further develop their relationships. All great but as mentioned only one couple per show so my favorites were two of the four newcomers Mei and Dr Shiki. As soon as their bios were translated and it’s revealed one of the doctor’s “Likes” was the redhead along with said redhead having a hard to explain at the time connection with the mad scientist I was pumped for their debut. They did not disappoint. One is a genius inventor, the other a cutie who unintentionally looked upset when she was not. Besides her eyebrows there was a simple reason for her early grumpy expressions. As for their relationship it is a classic “filling each other’s loneliness”. That and Mei knowingly or unknowingly knowing the good doctor’s weak spot, making her heart beat uncontrollably more than once.

Suletta X Miorine from Gundam: The Witch From Mercury. This one has an asterisk because as of this writing the first half of their show ended, meaning their story is not over yet. This being a Gundam show, a franchise notorious for its “free for all” games of life and death, anything can happen. THAT BEING SAID the first half of SuleMio’s journey was MUST SEE TELEVISION. Discussing their relationship would require an editorial/Yuri Talk post which I may do depending on how their story ends. Without giving away too much they are a shy tanuki girl x tsundere fox/bird couple who got engaged via Utena rules. However, deep diving just a bit reveals two girls with plenty of emotional and familial baggage weighing them down along with one hardship after another. This is one of the original yuri couples of the year that best exemplified two ladies that best complimented or filled the empty parts of the other, meaning time and again when one fell behind or had trouble the other stepped in to motivate and empower them to become strong. Granted it was not always successful but they usually found comfort and support in each other. Again understanding their relationship requires a post all their own but that may come after the show officially ends and them having an acceptable conclusion. Point being they made the list because their journey and relationship are truly fascinating.

Kita X Hitori from BOCCHI THE ROCK! This next couple have enough material to write a Yuri Talk post about them too but it their story so far is easier to understand. This one requires a spoiler to explain. Hitori is a loner with deep social anxiety whose idea to overcome it is becoming a famous musician earning the adulation of many. Easier said than done for someone who cannot utter a sentence outside of home without freezing like a statue or collapsing. Enter Kita, the complete opposite of Hitori. You know what they say about opposites in media. Kita used to be part of a band but ran away because she felt her skills were not up to par. What drew her to the band in the first place was a handsome enigmatic devil girl. However, thanks to Hitori’s guidance she grew stronger and worthy of being part of the band she left. Then something happened within the two. Through their training and interactions it was as though they were drawn to each other beyond a mere “opposites attract” trope. It is as if they were attracted to one another’s growth and the need to continue helping each other succeed. A need that surpasses the support they have and give their band mates. A need only the two share though Kita is more aware of said need while Hitori knows there is something there but does not fully understand it yet. This is the gist of it but as mentioned there is enough material for an editorial.

Ayumu X Yu from Love Live! Nijigasaki Season 2. Like Liella’s 2nd adventure NijiGaku’s also featured growth of established couples and introduced a new one though because the cast was massive some couples did not get as much snuggle time as fans would have liked. That being said my favorite did. I am of course talking about the main duo of Ayumu and Yu. Childhood besties who did stick together and were not torn apart by the childhood friend curse. I thought Ayumu’s development last season meant her love for Yu mellowed down to focus on being a better role model…

I was happily proven wrong. Her feelings for one of the best yuri harem protagonists ever did not wane AT ALL. She still loves her adorable bestie very much. To Yu’s credit she shares her feelings but does not express them as strongly. How they worked around the dreaded “overseas” tradition of the franchise was nice too, meaning distance was not an issue for them. They barely beat my second favorite couple by the way who also had an excellent showing of their love.

Chisato X Takina from Lycoris Recoil. Cannot have a list of my favorite Yuri couples of 2022 without the “IT” couple for many. Think of ChisaTaki like a less complicated SuleMio. They have a lot of emotional luggage weighing them down too. They also complete each other by patching up the holes in their hearts (Hearts play a major role in this show). They are the perfect team and give each other purpose beyond what they originally thought it was. Like SuleMio they have a simple dynamic, in ChisaTaki’s case it is cool genki x ice princess and have enough material to write a Yuri Talk post but as mentioned their personal demons do not make their relationship as complicated as the Gundam Girls’. They have all the parts needed to become mainstream sweethearts and are the second yuri couple to break through the Anime Original glass ceiling since Meduka Meguca. The right combination of cute, sexy, badassery, coolness, romantic potential and material for more in the future which I would be shocked if we do not get more from them. So why are they not my #1? Because their journey feels like it has just begun while the next couple have reached a close enough conclusion ala HibiMiku’s tale.

My #1 couple of 2022 are Pecorine X Karyl from Princess Connect Re:Dive Season 2. Great couples came and went after Winter 2022 but through it all PecoKaryl remained at the top of my list. Technically they already had an advantage. What I said ChisaTaki were missing? PecoKaryl already had a beginning to establish and strengthen their relationship. As mentioned in my Top 10 picks I worried that because the mobile game starred Yuuki the Boy (who is a cool guy in the anime but still a male protagonist) it would mean cater to fans of the game they would lessen what was already established between the genki warrior princess and her tsundere kitty love interest. Like NijiGaku S2 I was happily proven wrong. They not only kept their relationship going but it was the second or arguably most important story of the show. To me the world building and twists all felt secondary compared to PecoKaryl’s love story. Without giving too much think of them as a less heavy CatraDora with LycoReco’s balance of comedy, action and drama. They hit just the right amount of genki x tsundere antics. Karyl pined for Pecorine and did a poor job denying it while Pecorine was super cheerful and loving toward her cat girl but not a dummy. Their dramatic moments, while arguably not as strong as that of the heavy hitters of the year were still very effective and their sweet moments filled my kokoro like you would not believe. I replayed the piggyback ride as many times as SuleMio’s zero gravity embrace and Chisato giving Takina a Belly to Belly Suplex. That and Pecorine pointing her sword like a badass queen and be all like “I won’t stop until you give me back my kitty (and let my people go) you bitch!”. They basically have almost everything I want from one of my all-time favorite yuri couples. Yes. I love them that much. The missing ingredient, as usual for most anime yuri couples whose writers can only get away with showing so much, is “crossing the line”. Apart from that they fulfilled me in every other category I look for. Season 1 was a great start and Season 2 was a magical wrap up to their lives together going forward.