Of everything I do here on Okazu, this list is always the hardest. Even when there is so much amazing stuff I can barely contain myself, it’s hard. On years where there was very little of note, it’s almost impossible.
I’ve commented over the years that Yuri anime is cyclical. We get a lot….then we get none. Then we get a lot….then we get none. This was one of those “none” years. And like most “none” years, we still got some. ^_^
As always, these are my opinions, you’re never obliged to agree and you are most welcome to tell us your Top Yuri Anime in the comments!
5 – Yuru Yuri
I know you know I’m not a fan. For one thing, there’s very little Yuri in this series, mostly in the form of set-ups for fans to pair characters, not any actual mutual feelings between two characters. But this series is appealing to some number of fans, and clearly to the folks at Ichijinsha, so they keep throwing money at it.
2015 included OVAs that received theater releases in Japan and a third season of anime. I think it deserves a little recognition for that, don’t you? Here’s a little recognition.
Yuru Yuri is streaming on Crunchyroll.
4 – Sound Euphonium, Sabagebu and anything else you watched, not explicitly named here, that had a little bit of Yuri.
Yuri as a character trait, or a fetish or an add-on is still plenty common in anime. As anime, specifically, becomes more and more a media for easily influenced lonely guys, there is never a real lack of characters with vastly overstated crushes. Some of these are very good, others are bad, but it’s worth noting them and thanking them for dribbling little crumbs of Yuri on our plates. ^_^
Sound! Euphonium and Sabagebu are streaming on Crunchyroll.
3 – Psycho-Pass 2
The lesbians got to have sex and not die…again. Achievement unlocked!
You can watch Psycho-Pass on Hulu, or buy it on BD/DVD from Funimation in 2016.
2 – Dear Brother and Sailor Moon ‘S’
I watched every last, miserable fucking second of Dear Brother with a HUGE grin on my face (except for when I was sobbing into a handkerchief.) It was, it is and it always will be an awesome story, with amazing characters, a pile of Yuri and one of the most tragic loves ever.
Sailor Moon S is currently streaming and I’m avoiding it like the plague until the BD/DVD disks come out, because I don’t want to touch anything and ruin it. But the episodes sit there, in their oh-so-very gay glory and taunt me. So very, very gay. Squee. Next year this goes up to Number 1 unless we get something amazing. Gosh I hope we get something amazing!
Dear Brother is still available streaming on Viki.com and Sailor Moon can be watched on Viz’s Neon Alley, with BD/DVDs coming for the third season in 2016.
1 – Yuri Kuma Arashi
To be honest, this series had no competition at all this year. It was the only actually Yuri anime made.
Yes, it exploited that with a surreal glee, slapping the word “Yuri” on everything until it made no sense, and it was pandery and kinda creepy and did I mention it made no sense, but who are we to complain? Not me certainly, because above all other things, we got an awesome Evil Psycho Lesbian, we got to watch Ikuhara Kunihiko publicly flail with an obvious love/hate thing for Yuri and we got to see Morishima Akiko’s character designs animated and streaming on Hulu.com. There really was never a question about the number one on this list this year.
The Top Yuri Anime for 2015 is Yuri Kuma Arashi.
uhhhhh you forgot Valkyrie Drive Mermaid. with VD and Yuri Kuma and Yuru Yuri Season 3 there was a lot of yuri to be had this year. VD was a lot of good fun.
I didn’t forget Valkyrie Drive: Mermaid, I’d never heard of it and it looks like it falls clearly under number 4 and would not go any higher, if it made it on at all.
It’s a fun, silly show, and I thought Mirei and Mamori had a nice, geniune affection for one another, but it’s quite the ugly sleazefest at times as well. Mei Fon was best character.
Ugly sleazefest would definitely put it among number 4. If you want to write a review of it, feel free to contact me. As I stated I am no longer doing reviews of things that revolt me.
I just discovered this site, so maybe I missed something, but what did you think of Valkyrie Drive: Mermaid, Erica? I tried to search for it, but it seems it hasn’t been mentioned. Personally, I think it gives yuri a bad name.
As for my favorite, I have a soft spot in my heart for slice of life, so I loved Hello!! Kiniro Mosaic the most. Though, I did enjoy most of the other shows on your list, especially YKA.
Haven’t watched Valkyrie Drive: Mermaid, it sounds dreadful. ^_^ Thanks for writing in. ^_^
its actually a pretty fun series with lots of yuri. hopefully it does well enough for a season 2.
It is neither cute nor fun to have something that treats girls like sexual characterstics with mouths. It falls under my new rule of giving none of my own time to things that disgust me.
Speaking of Sailor Moon S in 2016, not only should we get a Viz Dub but Crystal’s version of the S arch, which I don’t know what the proper Manga title for it is.
At anyrate you might enjoy this post on my Blog where I talk about Magical Girls.
http://jaredmithrandirolorin.blogspot.com/2015/12/is-madoka-magica-deconstruction.html
Follow the Sailor Moon tag and you’ll get a post dedicated to S.
Sailor Moon Crystal Third Season is what it is being called.
I meant like how the first season is called the Dark Kingdom arc and the 2nd the Black Moon arc. I don’t recall the villains as a whole being called anything in S.
It was called the Death Busters arc.
I was very surprised that ‘Yuru Yuri’ season 3 was actually watchable. All the creepy/irritating “gags” the otaku males find so entertaining were almost never present for some reason. If I was to suggest to someone to watch this series season 3 would be the start to save myself embarrassment. “The lesbians…and not die…again.”; my greatest fear in that series and why I will wait until I am able to read the episode summaries/check character status before I will watch it. I passed on Sound Euphonium after episode 1, but I am planning to give ‘Wakaba*girl’, ‘Tari Tari’ and ‘Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka?’ a chance. ‘Non Non Biyori: Repeat’, of course. The second season ‘Hello!! Kiniro Mosaic’ I plan to buy. I did not care for ‘Sabagebu!’. I agree with what you said about Yuri Kuma Arashi. ‘Dear Brother’ and ‘Sailor Moon ‘S’ I adore. I need to buy them if I am given another chance. ‘Valkyrie Drive: Mermaid’ is as close to hentai as they could get I suppose, similar to ‘Seikon No Qwaser’. Yes, there is some yuri feeling, but it is yuri made for that sort, it is not made for us. I hope you are right and we will get some yuri we will very much enjoy this coming year.
Yes, it sounds like Valkyrie would clearly fall under my new rule of not giving time to things that I find revolting.
My feelings toward YuriKuma are as indescribably as the Anime itself.
Was Yki Yuna this year or last year?
It ran from January 5, 2015 – March 30, 2015.
Yuki Yuna aired in 2014 I just looked up. So it was last year.
The plot of YuriKuma is pretty straightforward. I think it’d like it more if the Plot was confusing but the symbolism made sense. At any-rate it was certainly entertaining.
January to March 2015.
Well, YuriKuma Arashi certainly had the most “Yuri” this year. (Still can’t find any “Yuri Milk” -_-) I enjoyed it for what it attempted rather than what it accomplished.
I have watched a lot more Yuri-ish shows than usual, this year. I find it a lot less frustrating if I just take them for what they are (shows about working in a coffee house, club activities, being an idol) rather than watching them for Yuri. If Yuri shows up Yay! If not, at least I was entertained.
Thanks for keeping us up to date Erica. It’s always a pleasure to read your blog. I’m looking forward to next year. ^_^
Thanks for reading!
Lol, poor Erica, belabored by Valkyrie Drive fans. I watched it myself and got a facepalming kind of enjoyment from it (it does have a very few sparks of interest regarding a political/ideological conflict in a Lord of the Flies-like island situation) but I would NEVER suggest you watch it or spend any time on it. You would hate it, absolutely.
As for me, in anime terms there was really nothing truly satisfying this year yuri-wise; I already made my feelings on YKA clear on this blog. I’ve heard a lot of good things about the Locodol OVA, which I haven’t yet watched, but as much as I love that show, it’s still subtext in the end.
I feel much the same way. Anime is has always been a “only the lowest” need apply space, with occasional forays into good for many years, it’s not better or worse than it’s been, I just wish the “worse” wasn’t so infantile. I’ll take Agent Aika over the current style anyday.
Does anyone know of a reliable trader or other source for Oniisama-he (Dear Brother) set 3? Animesols fell apart so fast after the release, and Rightstuf sold out before I even knew it was going away.
I feel cursed to never see the end of the anime, which I’ve been in love with for decades. Technogirls never finished their fansub, and now I missed the boat on the Animesols release too!
I’ve got the original tankoubon, a single volume complete manga, the “anime” manga using shots from the show, posters, soundtrack, and laserdiscs, but I still haven’t seen the bleeding end of the actual show!
You can watch the end of the series on Viki.com legally and for free. That’s your best bet as there are no more disks being pressed of the series. Animesols made the same mistake many crowdfunders do – they press as many disks as there are people giving money upfront and not really setting up a way to continue to sell after the crowdfunding.
Thanks. I’m aware of the Viki stream but I was really holding out hope for a professional-quality sub. It’s such a layered and complex series that I just am very wary of what crowdsourced translation would do to it. I guess you might tell me “beggars can’t be choosers” but I feel like my dream was so close! Just need to keep obsessively checking eBay, or find an understanding soul with the discs to help me out. Plus there’s the fact that I do want to complete my physical collection, since streams can disappear any time.
That said, can anyone vouch for the quality of the Viki script? Is it better/worse than the Animesols release?
Sorry, Anime Sols gave all the rest of their stock to Right Stuf to sell. When that’s gone, all that’s left is used.
FWIW, AnimeSols was a professional translation. No idea why you think it isn’t. They were working with Tezuka Pro closely on all the volumes they put out. A “crowdfunded transaltion” isn’t the same thing at all as an “amateur” group.
I think you misunderstood me. Crowdsourced translation = Viki. I was very much looking forward to the Animesols release ( I bought volumes 1 and 2) as I know they did a great job. I was asking how the crowdsourced Viki streams compared to the professional, detailed work of Animesols and Technogirls
I understand. But as AnimeSols has liquidated it’s stock, there are no non after-market places to get Volume 3. Viki is, at least a legitimate place to watch the series.