Archive for the Guest Review Category


Asagiiro no Saudade, Volume 1

November 4th, 2026

Two people bundled in winter coats hold hands on a bridge in a nighttime townscape.Content note — this manga deals with serious subjects, including: suicide, depression, transphobia, and domestic abuse.

My name is Lily Fauna, I’m 44, gender fluid, pan, poly, and plural, and I write about anime, manga, and yuri at Deer In The Lilies, as well as on my Bluesky. I often enjoy browsing Japanese bookstores and blogs for new yuri titles to discover. I’m teaching myself Japanese so that I can find titles that don’t — and may not ever — see an English release. I was immediately drawn in by the sharp lines and watercolor tones of the cover art, and was only more intrigued when I read the story summary that hinted at darker subject matters, which I’ve been finding myself drawn to more and more recently. I’m extremely glad I lucked across Sakutarou’s Asagiiro no Saudade (Pale Blue-Green Color Saudade), because I might have missed out on a manga that proved to be very meaningful to me otherwise.

The title comes from a Portuguese word for a profoundly nostalgic longing for something beloved yet absent, and that’s the feeling that pervades the beginning of this book. Fujisawa Ren, who moved from a small country town to Tokyo in hopes of being able to blend in with the crowd — to escape the feelings of not belonging, of isolation, of needing to fit into society’s neat little boxes — find themselves on the railing of a bridge. Before they can jump, though, they get tackled by Matsuri, a friend who Ren hasn’t spoken to since their last year of middle school and a fight that drove them apart.

Taking Ren to her apartment, Matsuri provides food and warmth and company and they reminisce about the last thirteen years. Matsuri reveals that she’s divorced and has been forcibly separated from her daughter back home. Realizing that the last time she felt any purpose in life was when creating a manga together in middle school, she suggests that they try to revive that goal.

And, if they don’t succeed within a year, then they should die, together.

This sword of Damocles hangs over the head of the protagonists as they move in together, grow closer, and support one another. The time limit adds a sense of urgency, but doesn’t overwhelm the tone of the story. Despite its dark start, this manga is actually full of hope and kindness and love.

Sakutarou’s bold line work and intricately detailed backgrounds are some of the best I’ve ever seen. They breathe life into the characters and make you feel like you’re on the streets of Tokyo with them. Expert use of composition also viscerally captures the characters’ emotions; as an example, a large panel features two bathroom entrances in a convention hall, monolith-like and imposing, with Ren facing the impossible decision of which one to use. Earlier, in a two-page spread, the air around Ren is full of words, thick and black and choking. Labels, slurs, harmful remarks and well-intended questions race around in their head — until, on the next page, it’s all dispelled by a hand on the shoulder and kind word from Matsuri. This is Sakutarou’s first major work, though they have a second manga currently in serialization, but their art blows me away with every panel.

Which brings me to one of the things that I love most about this manga — Ren is explicitly and textually nonbinary (At one point they admit that they “have the mind of both a boy and a girl.”). It’s extremely rare to see trans representation in anime and manga, let alone deep, well-developed characters like Ren who are outside the gender binary, so it being so plainly stated feels refreshing. Ren’s queerness drives much of the story, but it’s s not what the story is really about. Self-realization, found family, and the power of creation are the themes that Asagiiro no Saudade is filled with. It’s a story about finding hope — and love — in unlikely places, and it really resonated with me for that.

Asagiiro no Saudade has become one of my all-time favorite manga. It’s beautifully drawn, full of heartwarming moments and twists that had me in tears, and is acutely queer. I hope someday it will see an English release so more people can experience this masterpiece.

Art – 10
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Service (level of salaciousness) – 3 (what nude scenes there are almost feel more like body horror)
Yuri  – does it count if one of the couple is nonbinary? if so, then like a 6
Queerness – 9
Overall – 10





The Lovers

October 14th, 2026

by Burkely Hermann, Guest Reviewer

(This review contains spoilers)

With the animation industry under continued strain and terrifying corporate mergers, such as the recently-approved Paramount-Warner merger, consolidating media in fewer hands, animators, writers, and others have been turning to indie animation to express themselves without executives unfairly restricting their creative expression. One recent example is a 15-minute crowdfunded mature film produced by Studio Heartbreak in the Philippines, entitled The Lovers. Whether it is mermaid yuri, pinoy yuri, sapphic romance, or something else, there is a lot to say about this film, that has over 2.6 million views on YouTube. It has engendered a lot of online chatter, which is overwhelmingly positive.

Stories about merpeople, or even just mermaids, have never been more popular than now. An original anime this year, with yuri undertones, Goodbye, Lara, loosely based on Han Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid, recently ended. It continues the long-standing inclusion of mermaids in Japanese pop culture from picture books and manga to anime. There are a plethora of webcomics, family-friendly films like Julián Is a Mermaid, and mermaid characters in recent animated films and series. There’s even an ongoing “mermaid parade” in Coney Island while an inclusive and body-positive “mermaiding” subculture spreads across the world.

The Lovers differs from other mermaid stories. It begins by focusing on Sara (voiced by Sara Lim Baylon), complimented by colorful and flowing animation. Viewers are soon immersed in the culture. At the film’s beginning, Sara walks through a market in Binondo, filled with fishmongers and other sellers, on her way to her family restaurant. She is a sushi chef preparing for an important event: dinner for the Governor. She hears her mother, and grandmother, who are worried she is not up to the task, making her even more anxious.

Sara is soon fascinated by a sirena, a version of a mermaid in Filipino mythology, in a tank. The sirena (voiced by Dawn M. Bennett) is the only character with any nudity, as her chest is uncovered throughout the film. This is not excessive in a way that resembles gratuitous fan service. In a scene somewhat echoes the horror of This Monster Wants to Eat Me, she is bitten after she climbs up the ladder to see the sea creature up close.

She falls off the ladder, with her arm bleeding everywhere. Through this horror, she is able to understand the sirena. Although the language barrier is broken, Sara is unsure about this non-human creature, even through she is, undoubtedly, attracted to her. They talk through the glass. The sirena tells her that “some of her kind” are “addicted” to human flesh, alluding to the common trope of merfolk biting their human victims.

Sara soon imagines herself nearly touching the sirena’s inside. She doesn’t do so in a sexual way, but in a manner that disgusts her. She doesn’t feel that this creature is awful. Instead, she is terrified of hurting such a beautiful creature, especially when she sees the blood on the floor, blood by her hand.

What follows is one of the film’s best scenes. It has an animation style with only black-and-white coloring. She prays at the altar of her recently-deceased dad. Her family judges her, each one of them fading away, as she descends into despair. Everything seems like it is falling apart. This may be an indication of her injury. I say this because after the sirena bites her, she loses consciousness, causing her grandmother and mother to “prepare” the creature on their own. As the film continues, Sara gets closer to the sirena.

Another great scene is when Sara and the sirena have a heart-to-heart in the meat freezer. It is revealed that the dinner for the governor has a condition: the sirena must be served as a dish! The mer-woman offers up her own life, but Sara refuses to kill her. She explains her personal struggles. When it seems like she is going to cut off the sirena’s tale with her chef’s knife, she cuts the rope, setting her free!

Somehow, likely by carrying her, she brings this mer-woman back to her apartment, and places her in a bathtub. She soon lets the sirena suck the wound on her arm in a sweet, and somewhat sexual way, while intensely blushing. After her wound is magically healed, amazing her. They almost kiss before a phone call interrupts them, and later lie back-to-back in the bathtub. I loved these sweet moments.

The film stands against the parents-are-bad trope used across sapphic media. Often times, in situations based on scary real-life experiences, parents are abusive or otherwise hostile to their children for being queer. Toward the film’s end, Sara and her mother talk. She is completely understanding after Sara tells her that she only returned from school because she thought she was needed after her father’s death. Her mother wants her to be happy. She does not snoop around the apartment or insinuate that Sara is queer. Instead, she lets Sara live the life she wants. That is, honestly, is very refreshing.

The film has a bittersweet ending. Sara carries the sirena to the shoreline and lets her go. At the mer-woman’s invitation, she dives underwater and they kiss. She soon says her goodbye to the sirena. Like the much-debated series finale of Goodbye, Lara when Lara leaves Mari at the train station, Sara looks happy. She isn’t sad. Rather, she is prepared to move forward with the rest of her life and make her own decisions. Like how Lara and Mari will surely reunite, one day, Sara will likely see the sirena again.

Ratings: 
Art — 9
Story — 9
Characters — 9
Service — 3 or 4, the sirena’s chest is often uncovered
Yuri — 8 or 9, with kisses and close intimacy
Music — 8, subdued but poignant

Overall — 9

Burkely Hermann is a writer, researcher, and former metadata librarian. His reviews can be read on Pop Culture Maniacs or his personal WordPress blog. He can be followed on Instagram, Bluesky, or on Mastadon communities such as library.love, glammr.us, genealysis.social, and historians.social.





Grow Up Show: Sunflower Circus Episodes 1 – 4

August 12th, 2026

A bunch of kids come out of a colorful repurposed schoolbus turned into a circus tour bus. A girl in a red jumper dress is held back from running off by a girl in a blue jumper dress. by Tazimonfire, Guest Reviewer

The summer of 2026 season has been jam-packed with yuri, leading me to dub it the summer of yuri. One show that might have flown under the radar for most this season in the sea of fantastic adaptations is Grow Up Show: Sunflower Circus an original production animated by A-1 Pictures streaming on Crunchyroll.

Taking place in 1950’s Japan during the Showa era we follow the story of Mizuka a sixteen year-old raised to live the life of a circus performer by her trapeze artist father at the famous Lotus Circus. In episode 1, we learn that Mizuka never enjoyed the circus life and holds disdain for her father who has run off leaving her penniless. She finds herself collapsed on the road, picked up by members of the Sunflower Circus, a troupe comprised of girls without any family. What begins as a one night stay to recuperate, turns into a much longer endeavor as Mizuka is saddled with paying back an IOU between her father and the ringmaster of the circus Maria. Thus begins Mizuka’s journey to help this struggling circus shine even brighter.

I’m personally a sucker for anything historical so this show piqued my interest immediately. From the first episode, the humor was snappy with a number of recurring gags that never overstay their welcome. The animation is clean, what I would expect from an A-1 production but they do sometimes skimp on the details for the actual performances mostly relying on still shots. The exception being the trapeze sequences which are mostly between Mizuka and the troupe’s ace Ouka. They have an instant connection the first time they perform together with numerous sparkles on screen, the moment slowed down so you really see them making intense eye contact as Ouka flies through the air with Mizuka catching her. It’s obvious that over the course of the show Ouka will show Mizuka a dazzling new world where she can love the circus again, but I very much look forward to the journey.

At it’s core, Grow Up Show is about performance and creating a showstopping spectacle for the audience. It actually reminds me of Revue Starlight in the way that the characters are both inspired by the magic that only a live performance can bring but also in each other as they aim to lift each other higher to make something special. As the main cast is rather large, the show divides them all into pairs to explore their relationships: Mizuka and Ouka, magician Imari and acrobat Isuzu, juggling twins Aoi and Akane, and trapeze artist Shizuku and silk aerialist Svetlana who are all supported by ringmaster Maria and assistant Rin. Time will tell how yurish these pairs will be.

So far, subsequent episodes have chosen a pair to focus on, with episode 2 showing Ouka’s further efforts to get Mizuka to fly with her again while they both bond with a young girl named Kasumi who also dreams of performing in the circus someday which ended up being very sweet. I give kudos to the young actress voicing Kasumi she did excellent work.

Episode 3 shifts the focus to Svetlana and Shizuka and how they ended up at the Sunflower Circus in the first place. To put it plainly these two are a couple, from first glance you can tell they are of the Michiru and Haruka from Sailor Moon variety which I am always happy to see. Shizuka is the masculine flirty type while Svetlana has an air of grace and a bit of a possessive streak. Shizuka proudly proclaims Svetlana as “my honey” and brags that her act is the highlight of the circus. Svetlana is quieter in her affections but they have a very touching scene in the middle of the episode where they simply hold hands in the empty main tent in a moment of quiet contemplation as they relish how happy they are being together in that moment. They clearly hold great affection for one another and I am so pleased to see a relationship between two adults who have been together for a while on screen.

Episode 4 is probably the weakest so far with the conflict between Isuzu and Imari being a typical case of miscommunication but the rest of the cast really pulls everything up and I did enjoy their shenanigans of doing an impromptu magic show on the beach to try and earn money and boost Imari’s confidence. Shizuka and Svetlana are really only there to flirt with each other while presumably working on a new act but who knows for sure. I do feel a bit bad for Ouka, since they’re doing it right in her face as she once again tries to convince Mizuka to partner with her. Shizuka even compares them to a “straight-arrow girlfriend and a good-for-nothing boyfriend” which got a chuckle out of me.

Overall, an excellent start to an original series that I hope will keep up the momentum as the season goes on. A traveling circus allows for nice pacing as we get to see new places and people. I will continue to root for Ouka and look forward to Shizuka and Svetlana being lovey dovey every week. Hopefully in this summer of yuri we will get to see an actual Lily Circus.

Ratings:

Art – 7 Nothing particular to write home about but everything overall looks nice. I give extra points for how cozy their tour bus looks.

Story – 7 Everything happens exactly as you would expect it to, but I am having a nice time.

Characters – 7 For such a large cast I think they do a good job giving everyone some time in the spotlight even if they’re not the focus for the episode. This is a group I will surely miss once the show is over, I love a found family.

Service – 3 There is a beach episode with service stills of some of the characters in swimsuits just because but at least it’s the adults. Mizuka does also spend a lot of time in the bath as it’s her thinking spot but there is minimal service which is appreciated.

Yuri – 5 I can’t describe Ouka’s feelings for Mizuka as anything other than being incredibly smitten and Shizuka and Svetlana are just that couple constantly reminding you that they are very much in love.

Overall – 7





LoveFes 47 Report – Japan’s Biggest Yuri Doujin Festival

July 1st, 2026

Poster for GLFes 47, featuring a girl with very long pink hair dressed vaguely as a vampire, embracing a girl in a pink cardigan. by Bea Baker, Guest Reviewer

I journeyed to Tokyo last week to experience the biggest Yuri-themed doujin festival in Japan–GirlsLoveFestival47, also known as LoveFes. As an avid fan of all things Yuri, I’d been wanting to visit for ages, but arranging a whole weekend trip for it was always infeasible. However, this time, the stars aligned!

I came to Tokyo not only for LoveFes, but also for a special “finale” showing of Cosmic Princess Kaguya in Tachikawa, where the director and voice actors came on stage for a post-screening greeting. Of course… I didn’t actually get tickets for the event, since the site crashed upon tens of thousands of people vying for the same seats… But I still went to Tachikawa with some friends to enjoy the atmosphere and the pancakes.

It’s a really nice area, and probably one of the least-tourist-heavy parts of Tokyo. I’d like to go back

Anyway, with my hopes of seeing the finale screening dashed, all my hopes of a yuriful weekend rested with LoveFes.

On Sunday morning, I headed south to Ota City, the southernmost ward of Tokyo, and met up with my yuri-loving friend. The main convention center near the station, the Ota City Industrial Plaza PiO, is home to a bunch of smaller doujin events; it’s well-placed, unlike the way-out-of-the-way Tokyo Big Sight, and as long as you do good crowd control, it can host a couple hundred vendors.

It was a cloudy day with a high chance of rain, but that wasn’t going to stop us from enjoying the event.

I was under the impression that tickets were essentially randomized–they sold out well in advance online, and so I assumed it’d be a like many pop-up stores where you go that morning, get a randomized entry time, and then chill out around the station until your time. For the earliest entries, there was a more expensive “Fast Pass” ticket already. It wouldn’t be just a straight-up first-come-first serve situation, right?

…Oh, that’s what it was.

So we got in line at 10:30 AM, got our tickets around 11 AM, and… Yep, ended up standing in line for nearly an hour until the general admission opening.

And yep, it did start to sprinkle partway through.

But this massive crowd of hundreds of otaku didn’t give up. No, we braved on, umbrellas against the raindrops, bearing ahead ceaselessly into the future.

And then the gates opened and the frenzy began.

See, the big difference with this LoveFes is that it’s the first one since Cosmic Princess Kaguya released back in January. The first one since that movie released in theaters to a historic 17-week limited run and made over 2.7 billion yen. The fandom is enthusiastic, wild, and ravenous for new content, and fresh off the buzz of that Tachikawa screening on Friday, they descended upon the doujin festival like packs of wolves with cases of 500-yen coins.

Almost instantly, huge lines formed around every single popular Kaguya doujin booth. Some stretched around almost the entire southern half of the venue. Some stretched outside, where it continued to sprinkle, and went on further than I could see. The staff at this event were extremely professional, highly organized, and kept things from descending into chaos.

My friend gladly stood in those thirty-minute lines, but I decided, nah, I’ll just wait and explore the other fandoms. Because while literally over a third of the whole LoveFes was dedicated to just Kaguya, there were still so many other fandoms represented. Everything from classics like Touhou Project and Love Live to newer entries like Girls Band Cry and WataNare all had doujinshi ready to sell.

All these series deserve just as much love! And, importantly, they were way less crowded and stressful to just browse in.

I ended up buying several doujinshi from my old favorite Yuri Yuri, partially to buy presents for an overseas friend, and partially because I was just so glad the series still had a whole row’s worth of creators after over fifteen years. A few of them were, indeed, selling Kaguya doujinshi as back-ups, but they stayed firmly in the Yuri Yuri section out of fandom loyalty.

A few omissions surprised me, though. Hardly any Madoka Magica, despite the next movie releasing on August 28th. I guess people are biding their time until then? I also saw a lot of Lyocris Recoil merchandise on fans’ bags, but not many comics for sale. And I didn’t see any Bloom Into You at all. Was it just the overwhelming force of one franchise crowding everything else out, or is this a sign of the generational shift, with old Yuri fading out as the new Yuri storms in? We’ll have to observe over the next few LoveFes events.

As the crowd leveled out some more, I finally did make my way over to the Cosmic Princess Kaguya section and picked up a few… okay a few dozen… doujinshi. The really popular stuff all sold out immediately, but I did manage to snag some really great stuff!

…And then I went way over budget and forced myself to stop.

While waiting for my friend, still stuck in long line purgatory, I doodled on the poster board…

 

Got a ticket for the after-event raffle…

Talked to some Revue Starlight cosplayers who do fan performances…

And ran into a really cool Thai Yuri fan who I had talked to at a previous event. Actually, I met quite a few people who recognized me–that’s the power of being a foreigner at Yuri events–and it was nice to feel like part of a community, not just a consumer buying things.

At the end of LoveFes, a couple groups came on stage and performed songs and dances, including that Revue Starlight fan group! I didn’t expect a full-on live performance out of all this.

Then, of course, the raffle and rock-paper-scissors tournaments where I proceeded to win absolutely nothing. Many doujin artists contribute sketchboards, leftover posters, uneaten snacks, and I sat there a good thirty minutes honing the worst luck imaginable.

But I already got an incredible collection of cool books, so I’m definitely not bitter at all that I couldn’t win anything. Definitely not bitter.

After the event, I took the night bus home. It’s not exactly a good sleep, but it’s half the price of the Shinkansen, so I put up with it.

And then I got home and poured over my hoard of books.

Here’s a few of the cool books on sale at LoveFes47:

 


A classic Yuri Yuri Kyoyui comic. So many of those.

A whole Kyoyui novel! 


A rare Kill Me Baby doujinshi.

 

A Cosmic Princess Kaguya gag book… in full color!

Gag books are really popular for this series, of course.

But so are more serious ones!

And adorable fluff.

My prized possession is probably this immaculately printed anthology book, with several full-color stories inside, and just look at that gorgeous cover art. With holographic lighting! Geez!

All in all, I had a wonderful time at LoveFes, and I hope to visit again someday. Well, actually, just this morning I signed up to sell my own Yuri doujinshi at LoveFes48 on September 23rd! So I’ll be back in Ota City before I know it.





Introducing Indonesian Yuri Web Series and Their Significance to the Queer Community

May 27th, 2026

by Lena Tama, Guest Writer

Indonesia has no shortage of yuri works created by passionate queer/ally artists, including English-language web comic series that are free and available to read on multiple online platforms. Despite the many struggles and challenges, they continue to produce their crafts in hope of providing comfort and safe space for the queer community, both locally and internationally.

Group of young women in winter coats all huddled together raising red wine in a toast. Everday by Day, art by Magnolia Team
The main cast of Everyday By Day, a yuri webtoon series by Magnolia Team. Image by Magnolia Team, 2025.

On May 16, 2026, Comic Frontier (Comifuro), Indonesia’s biggest doujin & art market for fellow artists to sell and promote their works, held its 22nd event. Among them were three particular groups of artists who also produced their own yuri web series, each with unique themes and upbringings.

Join me as I explain these three yuri web comic series as well as an interview with the people working on these titles!

Everyday By Day

Everyday By Day (EBD) is a slice-of-life yuri series created by Magnolia Team, whose core members are Zaki, Azura, and Marbelous. Started in 2018, EBD is currently one of the longest-running yuri series made by Indonesian artists that is available to read on Webtoon English or Magnolia Team’s social media accounts on Bluesky, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Two women in winter sweaters snuggled under a blanket on a yello sofa. One of the main couples of Everyday By Day, a yuri webtoon series. Characters from left to right: Claire and Ashley. Image by Magnolia Team, 2026.

One of the main couples of Everyday By Day, a yuri webtoon series. Characters from left to right: Claire and Ashley. Image by Magnolia Team, 2026.

Set in the fictional Harbour City, EBD tells the story of five main sapphic couples, each with distinct dynamics and personalities, as they live their romantic life in a city where being queer is normalized and accepted. Azura (she/they) explained the dynamics of the couples as such:

  • Naomi & Hana (low x high cortisol)
  • Nadya & Ann (flirtatious x tough-looking adults)
  • Jean & Sena (airhead x serious)
  • Ashley & Claire (warm x cold)
  • Gisel & Wendy (kink dynamic)

According to Azura, the core value of EBD is to tell a lighthearted sapphic story,regularly published on Monday to provide comfort for the readers during their first day of the week at work. In addition, despite a relatively simple story that’s easy to follow for both newcomers and regular readers, EBD also presents ample character development and drama that each couple frequently faces.

“Being set in a city that welcomes queer people, the story explores the drama and conflicts that emerge among those couples without them having to face additional layers of prejudices and hatred. By laying it bare like that, we want to convey that conflicts among couples are a universal thing regardless of their gender identities and sexual orientations,” said Azura.

“In that sense, love is also a universal thing for everyone, thus we want people to accept queer couples kindly, too.”

 

Doctor and Nurse (unofficial title)

Woman in hot pink, with pal pink hair and woman in black with green hair kiss in modern art image. “Doctor and Nurse” (unofficial title), a yuri series by Iwa. Characters from left to right: Nurse (Elise) and Doctor (Jessica). Image by Iwa, 2026.
“Doctor and Nurse” (unofficial title), a yuri series by Iwa. Characters from left to right: Nurse (Elise) and Doctor (Jessica). Image by Iwa, 2026.

Doctor and Nurse is a new adult yuri series created in 2026 by Iwa (she/her) that revolves around the relationship between a female Doctor and a female Nurse. Currently available on Instagram, Gumroad, and Twitter, Iwa plans to host her own website to upload the series in the future.

The artstyle of Doctor and Nurse is contemporary and raw with uncensored nudity and imagery, particularly the stitch marks all over the Doctor’s body, as parts of the overarching themes of exploring mental health and criticisms toward patriarchy in an industry dominated by cisgender heterosexual men.

Jessica, the illegal doctor working on organ harvesting for debt collectors, is a character designed to show the way mental illness can ruin oneself inside out. The stitch marks on her body are a direct result of her never fully feeling comfortable in her own body, whereas her asymmetry design screams instability.

Iwa elaborated on Jessica’s character, “I want to show the stitch marks all over her body to showcase the self-harm without the romanticization of mental health struggles. I want to show it for what it is: A struggle that people should discuss and overcome without any prejudices.” 

Meanwhile, Elise, the traveling nurse, is inspired by pin-up girls, yet her actions and works defy the stereotypical female nurses that are often sexualized by men and struggling against gender-based violence.

“Female nurses are often subjected to sexualization, sexual violence, and abuse of power relations. However, I want to tell the story of a nurse who travels from place to place to liberate herself from the system and dedicate herself to help people,” said Iwa.

 

To Get HerA woman with orange hair and leather jacket. embraces a woman in demin overalls, yellow blouse with short silver hair. “To Get Her”, a yuri webtoon series by ChamomileTea Studio. Character from the left to right: Ann and Libby. Image by ChamomileTea Studio, 2025.

“To Get Her”, a yuri webtoon series by ChamomileTea Studio. Character from the left to right: Ann and Libby. Image by ChamomileTea Studio, 2025.

To Get Her is a 16+ rated yuri series created by ChamomileTea Studio, whose members are the duo Skeetcha and JasmineTea. Originally created in 2021 as a 4-koma web series on Facebook and Tapas, the studio then shifted to developing the series primarily for Webtoon Canvas in the scrolling comic format in 2023. Later on in 2025, To Get Her became an official Webtoon Original series.

Available on Webtoon, To Get Her tells the story of Ann, a workaholic graphic designer who’s trapped in a lifeless corporate environment which deprives her of life beyond work. Her latest gig with a posh bar near her home leads her to Libby, a bartender whose presence begins to change Ann’s life for the better.

Amid their journey of self-acceptance and loving relationship, Ann and Libby encounter other recurring characters like Libby’s friendly bar manager, Ann’s pesky and friendly female coworker, and a male coworker who seems to be attracted to Ann.

The main characters themselves are inspired by Skeetcha and JasmineTea, with Ann based on Skeetcha’s experiences as a graphic designer and Libby based on Jasmine Tea’s past work in the food & beverage/hospitality industry.

JasmineTea (she/her) further explains the dynamic between Ann and Libby. She said, “We want to convey a story that’s very much relatable to our readers, particularly those who work a corporate job that may be boring and/or full of stress every day.”

“The life of two people whose jobs and personalities contrast one another also makes for an interesting story that’s filled with conflicts and romance. We hope that the journey that Ann and Libby take to love each other and themselves can be inspiring.”

 

The struggles of presenting yuri series in Indonesia

Despite presenting unique premise and backstory that differ from one another, all three titles share similar troubles, in that most of their audience are international readers, and that they are struggling to present their works in the local market due to numerous risks, such as hate speech and many cases of gender-based violence.

One such case occurs with Doctor and Nurse. Iwa observes that most of her readers are lesbians and trans women based in Europe, USA, and a handful of Southeast Asia countries like the Philippines, whereas her Indonesian readers are only a fraction of those.

Iwa explained, “Indonesian readers are still hesitant to engage with my work because of the fear that their friends on social media might discover their likes/comments/shares, and then these readers would be at risk of receiving hate speech. Of course, this also hurts my exposure to the local audiences and the revenue.”

“I’m grateful to my readers who are my intended demographic targets, but I also sometimes receive hate speech from bigots and people that are outside of the demographic targets.”

ChamomileTea Studio also faces a similar issue with their web series, in addition to their other, more personal dilemma. Their lead author, Skeetcha (she/her) said,

“We realize that To Get Her garners more attention and support from the international readers than the local ones because we currently also don’t have enough resources and time management to put more effort into advertising it to the local market.”

Another issue is censorship which further affects the algorithm on the platforms. Due to many platforms’ updated policy which may put more restrictions on R18 works, of which yuri is frequently categorized into, this puts the publication of the series at risk.

EBD in particular was rated as Mature 18+ by Webtoon Canvas due to the intimate scenes that typically conclude many of the chapters. As a result, when the platform published a new policy change that began forbidding partial nudity (bareback & cleavage) in early May 2026,  EBD’s then-latest chapter got censored and deleted on Webtoon.

It took Magnolia Team a number of days before they were able to resolve the issue with Webtoon and the chapter resurfaced on the platform. Even then, the team also feel that the Mature 18+ rating that they received also makes it more challenging to reach new audiences on the platform.

Reflecting on the experience, Azura said, “We’re afraid that something like this may occur on other platforms. Censorship hurts our viewership a lot, which will also affect the algorithm. Because of that, we’re trying to spread the publication to numerous platforms and hoping that they don’t get censored.”

 

Supporting Indonesian yuri artists and works

In a country where  many citizens still demonize the queer community and queer works, local yuri artists continue to produce their works as a passion project and/or one of their sources of income, in hope of providing a safe space for the community and inspiring other people to engage with the media or produce their own works, despite the many challenges.

Magnolia Team themselves hope to maintain stability in their work with EBD as it is one of the ways for them to convey their emotions and desires, as well as to love their own hard work.

Azura added, “We hope that our story inspires other people, whether it’s for them to read our works and the others or for them to create their own GL works.”

The rising number of yuri artists also brings hope that more people would be more open and accepting towards yuri works, in addition to opening new topics for them to explore.

In regard to that, Iwa hoped, “May we find more personal and diverse works that revolve around yuri/GL/lesbian. In that sense, I also hope that people can be more open and accepting of using the label ‘lesbian’ in their works, not seeing it as taboo anymore.”

Last but not least, the yuri/GL/lesbian community hope to continue to support one another in continuing their works and achieving their goals.

Skeetcha and JasmineTea said, “We hope to continue supporting the yuri/GL/lesbian community and foster an environment where everyone can support one another. We also hope to see more fanarts, more original works, and various yuri works made by local artists in the future.”

And of course, to close off the article with a popular motto from the local community…

Dirgahayuri!!*

This article is written by Lena Tama, a contributor and queer journalist from Indonesia. She loves all things yuri and will bake cookies & sweets for you!

*[Dirgahayu] means ‘long live’ in Indonesian language