About
Yuri (also known as Girl’s Love or shōjo-ai) is the female counterpart of yaoi. It is a genre that depicts lesbianism in anime/manga. Unlike its male counterpart, yuri is tamer and less popular. However, despite this, it has still managed to gain a decent fanbase. Some yuri anime/manga include Strawberry Panic!, Girlfriends, and Kannazuki No Miko.
History
The first yuri literature was made by Nobuko Yoshiya in the Taishō and Shōwa periods of Japan [1]. Pioneering the genre, Yoshiya depicted yuri as emotionally intense, and believed that yuri was serious business. There hasn’t been much popularity of yuri at that time, though. The 1970s is when yuri (literally meaning lily) started to bloom.
Yuri started popping up in the shōjo genre, keeping some charateristics of early yuri. The first yuri manga was published in 1971 by the name of Shiroi Heya no Futari. At the time, yuri went through a certain formula, almost always following tragedy:
Sophisticated girl meets awkward girl, they fall in love, both deal with family issues, rumors of their relationship spread and lead to scandal, and sophisticated girl dies.
However, by the 1990s, this formula was closer to being broken. Sailor Moon, a highly popular anime and manga series, featured a lesbian couple (Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus) that left a big influence. There was also Revolutionary Girl Utena, which focused mainly on yuri.
The power couple. (Left is Neptune and Right is Uranus)
Fandom
As mentioned in the first section, yuri has a smaller fanbase than yaoi. It does have a decent fanbase, though. Here are two examples of yuri activity on major sites.
Tumblr
Tumblr, for every genre of anime, has a fanbase, including yuri. Ever since Tumblr was created, there have been yuri posts.
There has also been shipping of yuri couples, such as Korra and Asami (Legend of Korra).
Deviant Art
In DeviantArt
The DeviantArt yuri fanbase usually will consist of fan art, since it’s an art-based site. Some pairings include Madoka Magica, K-On, and others.
Notable Memes
Yuri Goggles
Yuri Goggles is a phrase used to note a close relationship between two females that might lead to a future romance. This phrase is often used in anime with such indications.
