Archive for the Guest Review Category


Without A Voice

July 9th, 2025

On a diamond shaped background with a tree, blooming with dark red flowers, two young women stand back to back, one a pale skinned dark-haired girl in black, her hand to her chest, the other a dark skinned blonde in red and white. Behind and above them is a brow skinned person with short pale hair with a drawn bow, pointing directly at us.by Pawel Cybula, Guest Writer

Without a Voice is a short visual novel that was originally written in 2016 for Yuri Game Jam. The creators, L³ – Laiska, Lorelei and Laniessa (now known as Adirosa) – missed the deadline but continued developing the project, first making a complete game, then running a successful Kickstarter for physical copies and the enhanced Blooming Edition, and finally bringing it to consoles now. So it was quite a journey, one I was happy to follow as WaV is maybe my most beloved VN, and its recent console release gave me a much-appreciated excuse to commit myself to writing this piece.

The story, loosely based on “The Little Mermaid,” introduces Cassidy – an apparently clueless princess in exile living alone in a small hut in the middle of a forest, her only link with the outside world through correspondence with her twin brother, Alexander (now the king), whom she loves and trusts wholeheartedly. Elowen, a mysterious beauty encountered during daily chores, is the other protagonist and in fact a wisteria tree (which in the language of flowers represents timeless, devoted, even obsessive love) given a human form. Her tragic past hinted at, she does not excel at conveying her emotions (being the title character, the one “without a voice”), but she feels irresistibly drawn to Cassidy… and vice versa.

As their relationship grows, you shape Cassidy’s thoughts and responses, thus affecting three hidden variables – Knowledge, Delusion and Understanding – which determine the final outcome. It is worth mentioning that the VN is very linear and your choices change just a few lines of text until the final chapter, which takes a different form depending on what decisions you have made. And it is not an easy task to ensure Cassidy and Elowen’s happiness as there are six bad endings and only two happy ones.

One interesting thing is the fact that making choices is not about gaining affection points with Elowen but molding Cassidy’s world outlook and consequently her feelings towards the melancholic tree spirit and the absent brother. However, it does not mean that Elowen plays any less important role – she is a powerful and charismatic presence and sometimes truly steals the show. By the way, there is a fantastic boon for those who participated in the Kickstarter campaign and obtained a physical copy: a printed prequel short story that fleshes Elowen out even more.

When it comes to the endings, each of them is very moving and has its own CG. The two good endings and two of the six bad ones also get epilogues with extra art added in the Blooming Edition. On a more personal note, I’ve read many VNs that conclude in a way I love, but “Together, We Are Eternal” is my favorite happy ending ever, period.

Without a Voice looks pretty. It is quite common for sprites and CGs to be of high quality these days, even in smaller games, but WaV can also be praised for its background art, which consists of very cleverly painted over and edited stock photos and shows how to achieve impressive results on a tiny budget. The music adds to the atmosphere and makes for enjoyable listening even separate from the game. However, it is the voice acting that makes the protagonists shine, the contrast between Cassidy’s chirpiness and the languid quality to Elowen’s aura, as well as moments of emotional intensity, skillfully underlined without falling into caricature. To top it all off, the visually appealing UI is well-integrated, reducing the amount of visuals hidden.

Still, it is the story that won my heart. It takes only about an hour to read through the whole thing, but even in such a short time the budding relationship is portrayed so convincingly that you cannot help but root for the girls. Granted, it’s a fairy tale, but as it is the case with all good fairy tales, there is a relevance to it. The undertones of loneliness and alienation (Elowen) and being controlled and rejected for one’s sexuality (Cassidy) add depth to the seemingly simple story and encourage replaying the game and checking out all the possible paths, epilogues and extra material, like for example the hidden poem you may discover after completing all endings.

I have to admit that I am probably one of the most biased people to review this game as I adore it so much. To my excuse, I dare say the developers must have felt similar about their project. It might be a small game but it has a big heart and I only hope more people will have fun accompanying Cassidy and Elowen on their amazing journey.

Ratings:

Art – 8 Low-budget but it is obvious that really talented people worked on it.
Story – 9 It is a beautiful story, hopeful or tragic, depending on your ending. My only complaint is that I would love it to be longer.
Characters – 9 My favorite yuri couple. Again, the length of the VN does not allow to fully flesh them out, hence I have to deduct one point.
Service – 1 Two CGs show kisses, one the protagonists sharing a bed, yet it is all very chaste.

Yuri – 10 From the get-go, you know they are made for each other.

Overall – 9 objectively, 10 subjectively.




A Tithe in Blood

June 25th, 2025

A woman with long silver hair wearing a yellow kimono, holds hands with a woman with long, dark-hair, wearing a blue jacket over a white blouse, as they lay head to head in opposite directions.by Ashley P, Guest Reviewer

As I desperately try to get more of my friends to try out visual novels I often emphasise the ‘novel’ part and not really mentioning or even reducing the ‘visual’ part. This is a bit of a disservice because some of the most affecting visual novels I have read have merged both fantastic prose to the rhythm of matched visual elements such as sprites and artwork to create an experience that matches the fun of any comic or puppet performance. I’m not talking about just having good art or sprites, but using those visual elements to create a feeling unique to the medium.
A Tithe in Blood is a recent new visual novel from Studio Élan and it is easily their most visually appealing game yet. Showing a levelof craft that I wish more games would strive for.

Asakawa Honoka is a Sapporo resident and university student who has tragically lost her family. Her despair and loneliness has led to an obsession with the blood magic writings of actual Renaissance poet Isabella di Morra. As long as she is willing to spill her own blood, Honoka can journey to seemingly Meiji era Sapporo and meet with the kind and graceful performer Yasue.

The withdrawn and depressed Honoka finds herself inexorably drawn to the sociable Yasue who performs whole kabuki plays on her own thanks to her incredible illusion magic. But to visit this alternate Sapporo, Honoka must pay a very literal blood tithe. This frequent bloodletting puts such a strain on her body that Honoka’s life continues to deteriorate even as she falls deeper in love with Yasue.

This enmeshment of both the healing power of connection after grief and the draw of control that self harm can bring is the core of the story and it is what gives Yasue and Honoka’s relationship so much bite. Honoka is so clearly happier when she is with Yasue but the only way to see her is for Honoka to hurt herself.

So often in stories about self harm the reader is not given a way to understand how this fundamentally bad idea can be so seductive. In A Tithe in Blood the whole yuri we are here for comes with a clear cost to our main character.

The high definition artwork and fantastic sprite direction that makes every interaction between Honoka and Yasue so wonderful is also used to show us Honoka’s scared arms. The perfect use of sprites and high definition artwork used to show Honoka and Yasue walking together in a cute scene is used to show the painful magical journey Honoka took to get there.

If that was the full story of this novel then I would have nothing but praise. The only issue is that the above is only about half the story of A Tithe in Blood. This is not bad in of itself. The other part is more of a magical underworld/detective story staring three other characters hired to observe Honoka. We get a beta couple in Tatiana and Kaoru, along with another narrator in Shino. I have no complaints about these characters, in fact, they are so charismatic I hope there is a sequel with more magical detective shenanigans with everyone. The downside is that the theming from this half that is more of an urban fantasy, does not match with Honoka’s story. If anything it reduces Honoka’s pain and it plays up misunderstandings between the two groups in ways that detract from the drama rather than intensify it.

Other than that though this is easily the most beautiful visual novel ever produced by Studio Élan who I hope continue to raise the bar into the sky.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 6
Character – 8
Service – 1
Yuri – 9

Overall – 8

I truly hope we get a sequel or spiritual successor to A Tithe in Blood, so that the team can really show off what they are capable of.

Thank you very much to Studio Élan for the review copy!





LOVE CURSE: FIND YOUR SOULMATE

June 11th, 2025

by Pawel Cybula, Guest Reviewer

Rarely does it happen that I play all the routes in a non-kinetic visual novel. Instead, I usually choose one path and deem it my “canon,” with little need to check the remaining options. Even more so if they lead to bad endings, my main reason for playing being so-called “cheerful escapism.”

So it attests to the strengths of the game Love Curse: Find Your Soulmate by the Chinese developer Xso that I explored its every branch and even returned to some of my favorite parts later. Although not without flaws, it turned out to be both narratively engrossing and of high production value.

The story follows Selene (a default name that can be altered at the start), a college student who miraculously avoids a car crash and discovers that she has only one more year of life left unless she finds a soulmate. As fate decrees it, four women soon appear in her life:

Iris – the student council president.

Veronica – the CEO at the company where Selene interns. 

Eleanor – a twin sister of a lackadaisical fellow student, who often attends classes in her stead.

Nyx Xia – Selene’s childhood friend who’s just moved next door.

There are also non-romanceable but still endearing side characters: Selene’s best friend Megan, her guardian angel Phoenix and the cat demon Bell. In contrast to the love interests, those characters (and Selene herself) are not voiced.   

Without entering the spoiler territory, one thing I find striking is the fact that Iris’s and Veronica’s routes remain perfectly realistic, while Eleanor’s and Nyx’s stories at one point delve into the realm of the fantastical, with themes such as reincarnation, demon-banishing and Daoist cultivation. All routes do a good job portraying the gradual development of a given relationship (through one “date” per month plus text messages) and then sudden complications stemming from family backgrounds (Iris and Veronica) or past lives (Eleanor and Nyx). I found all of them engaging and moving, and not without a pinch of humor. Although I prefer narratives solidly grounded in our reality, I was able to also enjoy the “supernatural” routes, which possess the advantage of having stronger ties to the True Ending, which can be reached after unlocking all the good ones.

The relationships are portrayed through a series of slice-of-life scenes, leaning towards the cute, romantic or dramatic, depending at which point of a particular route you are. The creators mix it up pretty skillfully and for example in Victoria’s rather serious route you may encounter a few hilarious moments, like when Selene gets caught red-handed while drawing Victoria’s chibi portrait during a company meeting. There are also palpable dark undertones, which come to fore if you find yourself on a bad-ending path. And if you do, it becomes full-on toxic, with triggers that include death, imprisonment and forced marriage. As I mentioned, I am not the target audience, but I think the bad endings are done well and if you enjoy this kind of thing, you shouldn’t be disappointed. Obviously, I liked the happy endings more since in each of them Selene finds herself with a partner of her choice in a healthy relationship based on equality and understanding, and the closing moments are inherently sweet and uplifting.

From a technical point of view, this is a well-made product. The sprites are beautiful, with modest but appealing animation, the backgrounds and music foster immersion, the voice-acting is definitely above par. The addition of a simple text messaging section allows pleaders to get a peek into how the relationship develops in the time between Selene’s dates with a chosen partner.

The translation, very often a weak point of Chinese VNs, could be described as being “ok.” Most of the time, it feels natural enough and without any glaring errors. However, there are moments that cause confusion, among them the annoying tendency to use “okay” as a synonym of “yes.” It leads to unintentionally comical situations, like the one in which, when asked if she still has feelings for her love interest, Selene answers with an enthusiastic “Okay!”

Another disadvantage may be the fact that all the most dramatic developments take place during the final part of a route, which makes the endings feel a bit rushed – even more so as the routes are rather short in the first place (around 5 hours to complete). However, facing a choice between a VN that could be longer and the one that outstays its welcome, I’d always go for the first option. Therefore, I don’t consider it a serious drawback – especially as the game was apparently made by a small studio, probably on a limited budget. If this is their first foray into the world of yuri VNs, I’d say it’s a pretty impressive one. 

Ratings:

Art – 8  A pleasure to look at.
Story – 8 Your opinion of each route may vary depending on your taste for the realistic, toxic and fantastical.  
Characters – 7.5 Each character is worth getting to know and the supporting cast is strong.   
Service – 3  All ladies are very pretty, a few CGs show two characters kissing.
Yuri – 8  It takes time for the romance to start burning, but when it does, it burns bright.   

Overall – 8

 




Renai Bakudan

May 7th, 2025

Title card for Renai Bakudan, with a pink neon outline title over a bomb shape, and 6 different characters looking at us. Guest Review by Patricia Baxter.

After spending two long years in prison for protecting her best friend, Juri Kido is at a loss of what to do next. Juri’s older sister, and only remaining family, has made it very clear that she wants nothing to do with her, and her worldly possessions only amount to the clothes on her back and a paltry assortment of personal items. There is only one thing that Juri is sure of, and that’s her best friend Chihiro “Ten” Tenma, the same friend she saved two years ago. Ten has a home in the Japanese coastal town of Akiyama, and has offered Juri a place to stay until she is able to get back up on her feet again. Juri is deeply grateful for her friend’s kindness, but is also understandably worried about her future prospects, as having a criminal record will no doubt make job hunting all the more difficult. But what Juri doesn’t know is that Akiyama is no ordinary town; this is the place where she will meet her soulmate. And in the midst of all of this is the love hotel that will turn Juri’s life around: Hotel Bakudan.

Renai Bakudan is the newest yuri visual novel developed by Noodletub Games, whose previous titles all focus on romantic relationships between sapphic women. It is also a sequel to Love Bakudan, which also takes place in Akiyama, but thankfully knowledge of the previous title is not necessary to play and understand Renai Bakudan. The game is a semi-kinetic visual novel in the sense that there is no way for the player to fail whichever route they choose to play, but there are four segments that are sprinkled throughout each route that allow for some player interactivity: two Hotel Bakudan work shifts and two “Explore Time” interludes. The two hotel shifts have Juri selecting a hotel room for the various quirky clients, and their even quirkier kinks, to best suit their needs, while Explore Time has her explore Akiyama and see how the rest of the cast is spending their free time away from the central narrative. If the player correctly navigates these four sections they will gain four original erotic stories that they can read in the “Extras” menu, and finding all four in the route will unlock a special erotic novel that focuses on different side characters, along with some extra scenes. That being said, you can intentionally fail or skip these sections if you have already gotten a novel or just want to progress, and the game will not punish you. Each romance route takes somewhere between three to four hours to read depending on your reading speed. The types of sexual activities the player can experience are clearly labeled on the game’s Steam and itch store pages, including highlighting which route engages in BDSM, Mirai Mishima’s route, so they can make an informed choice based on interest and comfort level.

Renai Bakudan is a game that was clearly made with a lot of love and passion by the developers, which is evident in the game’s visual presentation. One example of this is how the game displays each of its romance routes in the form of “Beanflix”, a Netflix-inspired “film” lineup where the player chooses their route based on a film poster and description, visual flourishes based on “film genre”, and an opening title sequence. Other notable instances include whenever Ten goes on a livestream a Twitch-inspired chat is visible in the upper corner, Juri’s character arc being bookend by imagery of the cityscape overlaid by VHS scan lines, and one really impressive use of the user interface to showcase a character’s name in one of the routes. While the character designs did not grab my attention as much as other visual novels, I did appreciate that the cast was clearly composed of adult women with visible signs of age on their bodies. Three of Juri’s love interests are women in their thirties or older, which is a nice change of pace for the dating sim genre where women are typically relegated to their teens, twenties, or immortal beings that conveniently look visibly youthful.

Another area the game excels at is the amount of effort given to its large ensemble of characters. The cast, including the non-romanceable secondary characters, are each written with care and feel like genuine friends to Juri in each story route. While I wouldn’t go as far as to say they feel like “real people”, as the character writing leans into tropes those familiar with Japanese media can identify, they certainly remind me of the chaotic shenanigans that friends can get into, and they clearly always have each other’s best interests at heart. There are a couple of really standout characters in the game, especially Hazuki Mishima, who were written with such an impressive amount of depth they felt like they could be the protagonist of their own game. Some of the game’s routes, specifically Ten and Natsuki’s, feel like a perfect blend of romance and character development, where the couple, and their developing relationship, feel perfectly in tandem with the story beats. After completing them I genuinely felt like Juri had undergone a fulfilling character arc and that her love interests were able to showcase their ambitions and skills.

However, despite Renai Bakudan’s many strengths there are a few noticeable stumbling blocks into making it one an exemplary visual novel, particularly in terms of accessibility. At various points in the game I encountered negative visual stimuli that cannot be toggled off, which made it difficult for me to look at the screen. Natsuki’s route has an incidental scene at a karaoke where a disco ball is shown glittering, and while it only lasted a few seconds, it was still so intense for me that I had to put a hand in front of my face while it occurred. Dao’s route also has two back-to-back instances of intense screenshake during the climactic scene at the docks, which was dizzying and unpleasant. Having the ability to toggle off flashing lights and reduce screenshake would have been really beneficial for me, and I highly recommend that Noodletub Games keep these elements in mind when they develop their next game.

Another unsatisfying part of the game is that while there are some character routes that feel like satisfying conclusions to Juri’s character arc, some of them give the impression that Juri is just an incidental character in the story. This is unfortunate, since Juri’s character introduction really makes you want to root for her to turn her life around, so seeing her pushed to the sidelines while her love interest is the only one with meaningful character development is rather disappointing. Additionally, the romance route with Mirai Mishima left a bad taste in my mouth, not because of her professional as a yakuza or her BDSM sex scenes, but because multiple routes, including her own, showcase how constantly abusive she’s been to her younger sister, Hazuki Mishima. While Hazuki is far from a perfect person, like Juri she is shown to be a woman who wants to change her life for the better, and while she is able to do so in some routes, it usually involves leaving behind the little support network she was able to make for herself in Akiyama.

Like many romance games, your enjoyment of certain character routes is highly dependent on your personal interests in your prospective partner, and if you are interested in specific kinks. It will also depend on your willingness to take the game’s hard and fast developments, both in terms of the narrative and the interpersonal relationship between Juri and her partner, in stride. The erotic novels that the character can collect are a mixed bag, with the stories focused on original characters being typically flat and trope-y, while the novels focused on Renai Bakudan’s ensemble can feature some of the best written erotica in the game. There is also a side novel, Tokugawa Blues, that can be unlocked after the player completes their first route, which features a more in-depth look into the backstories of many of the yakuza affiliated characters in the game. While it is extremely impressive to see so much work to turn a work that was originally written as prose into a visual novel engine, complete with visuals and audio, if you are not interested in learning more about the characters, and do not enjoy descriptions of intense violence, I would suggest skipping it. Also, I found it odd that in a game that is entirely composed of sapphic women in both the ensemble cast and erotic novels, that there wasn’t at least one confirmed transgender woman in the game. Including trans women in a narrative that is entirely focused on showcasing the diverse range of stories that queer women can inhabit would have been an extremely welcome addition, and help make Akiyama feel more like the sexually liberated paradise that Juri lovingly extols.

Overall, Renai Bakudan is an extremely ambitious yuri visual novel that, while enjoyable, feels as though it is missing something that could have made it really exemplary. Noodletub Games clearly has the skill to pull off well crafted erotic visual novels, and write some extremely likeable characters, but I feel they could be better executed if their resources were spread across fewer character routes and significantly less extra reading material. If you’re looking for an erotic game, exclusively focused on sapphic characters with a lot of different character dynamics, you most likely won’t be disappointed, but if you’re looking for a title with deeper character development, you will probably find this to be lacking.

Renai Bakudan is available for purchase on Steam and itch.io for $19.99 USD, which equates to $25.99 in CAD.

Ratings:

Art: 9 (visual presentation), 7 (character designs)
Story: 6 – 8 (Varies based on route)
Characters: 5 – 9 (Some characters, like Hazuki Mishima, are extremely well written, while others are rather flat)
Service: Yes (This is an adult only visual novel with explicit sex by default. Mirai Mishima’s route has BDSM sex scenes, Dao Amarin’s route is for those with a mommy kink, one secondary character wears a maid outfit all the time, among many other discussions and depictions of sex)
Yuri: Yes (the entire cast is sapphic women)

Overall: 7

Erica here: Thank you to Noodletub Games, for the review copy of Renai Bakudan. ^_^





Anne Shirley, Streaming on Crunchyroll

April 30th, 2025

In a large field of flowers, two girls make flower crowns. A girl in a green dress and dark hair places a crown of flowers on the head of a red-haired girl in a white jumper dress over a dark read blouse who clutches a flower crown in here hands.Guest Review by Burkely Hermann

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.

Anne Shirley is an eleven-year-old orphan girl who has a troubled childhood and comes to live with her cousins (the Cuthberts) in a house named Green Gables on Prince Edward Island in Canada. While Anne’s cousins were expecting a boy instead of a girl, Matthew quickly warms up to her, taken in by her active imagination. However, Marilla wants to replace her with a boy, at first, but later comes to like Anne. Even so, she attempts to be strict and firm with her, in an attempt to tame Anne’s impulses and occasionally stubborn nature, which are seen as socially unacceptable, like wearing a flower crown to church. Through it all, Anne becomes used to her new life, farmwork at Green Gables, family-of-sorts, and friends, even though she has many insecurities and loses her temper when people make fun of her. Anne Shirley is the newest anime adaptation of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s classic 1908 book Anne of Green Gables. The last time this story had an anime adaptation was in the late 1970s.
The series artistry is colorful and vibrant, thanks to Answer Studio and character designer Kenichi Tsuchiya. He previously worked as the key animator on 37 out of 39 of episodes of the classic yuri anime Dear Brother. Anne Shirley has a nice, charming, and beautiful feel to it. This is complimented by Michiru Ōshima’s wonderful music composition, which sets the mood for series, especially when it comes to Anne, which the series centers around. Ōshima previously composed the music score for Bloom Into You. Series writer Natsuko Takahashi also screenwrote for two series with yuri themes: Blue Drop and Stardust Telepath. Furthermore, some of the series cast have lent their talents to voice characters in Kannazuki no Miko, Fragtime, Blue Drop, Akebi’s Sailor Uniform, and other media with yuri(ish) themes. For instance, Yume Miyamoto, who voices Diana Berry in this series, voiced Rouge Redstar in Metallic Rouge last year. Otherwise, voice acting is one of the strong suits of Anne Shirley.
Vrai Kaiser for Anime Feminist has said that viewers can see traces of protagonist Anne in the “evolution of shoujo and yuri” and stated that Anne’s friendship with Diana fits into the “tradition of Class S” that Yoshiya Nobuka pioneered beginning in the early 20th century. Some years ago, on this very site, it was noted that the scenes, in the original novel, in which Anne and Diana take friendship vows “could be as romantic as anyone could wish.” Otherwise, many years ago, scholar Laura Robinson quibbed that Anne, during the aforementioned novel, “consistently establishes intense relationships with women” and manages, while achieving community social acceptance, to disturb complacent attitudes on everything, including sexuality.
The second episode of Anne Shirley is where the yuri-ish content of the series begins. Anne meets Diana for the first time and they agree to be “very best friend[s].” They solemnly swear to be faithful bosom friends, i.e. very close, cherished, or intimate companions, “as long as the sun and moon may endure,” while holding hands. There’s a certain romantic aura to it, which reminded immediately of the beautiful scene between two protagonists in RWBY‘s most recent volume. Otherwise, Anne gushes about Diana to Marilla, and signals to Diana in Morse code before going to sleep, again showing their connection.
In the episode thereafter, Diana’s painting (that she gifted to Anne) is hung in Anne’s room. Later, at the Sunday school picnic, Diana calls Anne her “dearest friend” and places a flower crown upon her head. For two days in a row, Anne walks to school with Diana and the other neighborhood girls, and all of them have fun together. Diana makes clear her worries about Anne after she hits Gilbert Blythe, a playboy adored by fellow schoolgirls, over the head with her school slate after he makes fun of her red hair. Not long after Anne tells Diana she would do almost anything for her before leaving school. In that same episode, the series opening sequence is shown for the first time. Among many other moments, it features Anne and Diana dancing together, and enjoying one another’s company, leaning against a fence, when both are older, with Diana holding a flower crown in her hands.
The most recent episode had some of the strongest yuri-ish moments, if they can be called that, in Anne Shirley as a whole. Anne expresses her worry that Diana will leave her when she gets married to a man. When it is threatened (by Diana’s mother) that they will never see each other again after Anne accidentally gets Diana drunk, they promise to one another in a manner that makes them sound like lovers. At one point, Diana says “I couldn’t love anybody as [much] I love you” and declares that she will always love Anne devotingly. Anne acknowledges and reciprocates Diana’s love. Following this, she kisses her on the forehead and cuts off a lock of her hair (with Diana’s consent), and promises to remain faithful to her. As they part, tears are shed, especially by Diana. Their separation is short-lived. Anne and Diana writes letters to one another, which fellow students pass to them in the one-room schoolhouse, either declaring that they love each other or will be together until “death do us part.”
Unsurprisingly, Anne and Diana are allowed to be on speaking terms again after Anne helps Diana’s sister Minnie May get better from terrible and deadly cough. The episode ends with Anne reading a letter Diana sent her, with both voice actors reading the last two lines together, including the statement that “nothing but death can part us two,” which foreshadows that something will pull them apart in the future. I am reminded of what Pragya Agarwal wrote in The Conversation about medieval women: that letters gave them the opportunity to “express themselves and wield power, when they had little other means of exerting influence,” while allowing them to express their “forbidden” emotions. The same idea applies here to Diana and Anne. When the former’s mother put a clampdown on their close friendship, this did not stop them from communicating. In fact, their communications became more eloquent and abundantly made clear their deep emotional connection.
While the original novel and previous adaptations have a heterosexual ending, akin to the ending of Dear Brother, or the heterosexuality baked into the Western animated series Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure, which have yuri themes and yuri subtext respectfully, this series is slated for a full run of twenty-four episodes, with nineteen remaining. It will likely end in a heterosexual way with Anne becoming romantically involved with Gilbert (since Anne dances with him in the series opening). Even so, there is no denying that the strong and intimate female friendship between Anne and Diana will remain a key part of the series going forward.
Ratings:
Art – 9
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Service – Maybe 1 or 2? This is pretty tame.
Yuri – 2 or 3
Music – 9
Overall – 8
With four episodes currently aired, I am curious to see where this series goes from here, even though I am fully aware it won’t have yuri themes anywhere close to Marimite nor Rock Is A Lady’s Majesty, both of which have Class S themes. There’s something to be said for intimate female friendship, which seems in vogue for anime these days, and that’s what’s a fundamental part of this series, even if it (more likely than not) has a heterosexual ending.
 
Erica here: for this interested in the making of the original 1979 anime based on Anne of Green Gables, check out ANN’s Richard Eisenbeis talking with the voice of Anne for that anime, Yamada Eiko.