After coming across some rather harsh comments some people left on various manga and doujinshi on the Dynasty Reader, I started to wonder whether I myself enjoy watching shows/reading manga that other yuri fans would look down on me for.
Within our yuri community, and especially manga and doujinshi in particular, there are so many different genres and themes to chose from that it’s impossible to not come to dislike at least some of them. But this post will not be about some kind of, let’s say, questionable or controversial themes, such as incest, or even age gap or loli stuff. I just want to talk about my own guilty pleasures when it comes to anything yuri.
So let’s start with anime and manga. I guess you can say that I’m quite easy to please, especially when it comes to anime. Give me some yuri, and I’ll watch the show and most likely enjoy it too. So my first guilty pleasure is a show called Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora. I bet many of you have already watched it or have at least heard about it. In short, it has Chikane and Himeko, my two favorite anime lesbians in it. Well, they have different names, and their story is also not the same, but without a doubt, we can say that these two are like alter egos of Chikane and Himeko.
So why is that a guilty pleasure then? That’s easy to explain, too. The anime sucked, and not just a little. I mean, Kannazuki no Miko’s story was not a masterpiece to begin with, but this one looks like a cheap rip-off of Kannazuki no Miko with even bigger plot holes, more random mecha fights, and some characters so unpleasant to watch that I only survived through the show thanks to Kaon and Himiko. But despite all of this, I still enjoyed it….
Speaking of Himeko and Chikane, let’s stay with them for a little longer and come to my next guilty pleasure. This time it’s a manga, and it features Himeko and Chikane in yet another universe. The manga is called Himegami no Miko, and it’s by far the worst setting Kaishaku came up with for the two.
I guess seeing them in Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora was still kind of nice, but with this manga, Kaishaku definitely went a little too far. Chikane, for example, grew some humongous, balloon-like breasts, while Himeko looks like a loli. And best of all, Chikane transformed into quite the pervert, who likes to take advantage of Himeko whenever she senses an opportunity. Sounds bad right? And yet, I enjoyed it…. Hell, I wouldn’t even mind another story for the two. Feel free to judge me for that.
Ah well, let’s come to the next one. This one is probably more like a personal guilty pleasure, because many of you most likely won’t even mind stuff like that. So this one centers around Marisa Kirisame from the Touhou games. In pretty much all cases, I really hate seeing characters being paired up with numerous other characters. It’s just a no-go for me, because in my head, they only have one true partner, so everything else is just wrong. For example, a lot of people ship Eri and Nozomi (Love Live!), while others find Umi a more suitable partner for Eri. For me, there’s only Eri x Nozomi, and no matter how well these Eri x Umi doujinshi are written, I won’t read them.
Now, coming back to Marisa. Most Touhou fans know that there are a lot of different pairings with her. For example, she gets paired up with Alice, Reimu, Sakuya, Patchouli, and the list goes on. And despite the fact that my one true pairing for her is Marisa x Alice, I’m mostly fine with all the other pairings as well. I guess that’s not really what you’d call a guilty pleasure, but for me, it really feels like one.
Next up is a genre that I unfortunately don’t find that often in yuri stories. You’ll probably disagree with me once you hear what I’m talking about, but hear me out first. What I mean is romance, but not just that. I’m talking about cheesy romance. Something really gushing and so over the top that most people would rather die than do anything like that in real life. I bet each and every one of you have come across specific situations in manga in which you just had to roll your eyes because of how cheesy and overly romantic it was. And despite the fact that I could probably not handle situations like that in my own life, I love reading about them in manga. For me, the love between characters just can’t be deep enough, and while most people are just annoyed by stuff like that, I live for it!
My last guilty pleasure is probably something that many guys will hate me for, but I’ll name it anyway.
I know it sounds mean, but I really enjoy stories in which guys lose to other girls, when it comes to relationships. For example, I really enjoyed how Souma (Kannazuki no Miko), who was actually a super nice guy, totally and utterly lost to Chikane. I pitied him a little, but in the end, his failure made me enjoy Chikane x Himeko even more than I already did.
So yeah, that’s my list for now. I could probably name a few more, but since this post is already long enough, I’ll save it for another time. If you enjoyed reading this post, feel free to tell me about your own guilty pleasures as well~
YuriReviews and More 
How could you root against someone like Souma? He's a handsome gentleman who just wanted to be with the girl he loved. There's nothing wrong with that. 😉
If I had to pick a guilty pleasure, I'd probably go with Seikon no Qwaser. It technically has a little bit of yuri, and the qwasers get their power from boobies. Yes, I just said boobies. 😛
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That's really cold. LOL, Souma was the only boy in a yuri I truly pitied. He was such a nice guy. Well, he has his brother, so it isn't all that bad.
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Of course you would say that 😛
Ah, Seikon no Qwaser… I tried watching it for the yuri and took a liking to Katja x Hana (I think?), but all the boobies were too much, even for me 😛
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Hehe I'm felt a little sorry for him too, but Chikane and Himeko are fated to be with each other, so it can't be helped 😛
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” My last guilty pleasure is probably something that many guys will hate me for, but I’ll name it anyway.
I know it sounds mean, but I really enjoy stories in which guys lose to other girls when it comes to relationships”
Probably because the opposite happens so much. And, I love this as well.
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for me my guilty pleasure is probably pairing a character with another one thats not an otp that everyone likes just like yours lena k but its with a different types of animes and mangas not just yuri idk why i just like it for example i know i might get bashed for this but i like eri and umi but i still like eri and nozomi too or in the world god only knows i like pairing keima with shiori or keima and kanon.
another would be liking animes and mangas that dont go anywhere or that are slow paced like glasslip for example right now there is no story progression at all but idk why i just like it and i think its good.
one more would be liking the characters that my favorite seiyuus voice for example hanazawa kana, she is my second favorite seiyuu and i like all of her characters no matter what for some reason i just cant hate her characters that she voices but she is going to voice a character from akame ga kill that i really dont like because something occurs in the manga and will eventually happen in the anime but i get the feeling i will end up liking her.
i can list more but i think this will be good enough sorry if its too long.
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I don't feel sorry for Souma either. He's a nice guy but that's all there is to it. Nothing more, I think. I can't sympathize enough to care. I don't feel bad about it either because I just can't take him seriously. Are there any other stories out there where yuri prevails over het big time? I might like that 🙂
Sasameki Koto, however, is a bit different. Akemiya was my favorite character. This was unthinkable for me on a yuri manga. I genuinely felt sorry for the guy. I even thought that the mangaka was too hard on him. He went to “great lengths” just to get noticed by the person he likes, throwing away his pride and doing dangerously humiliating things that he initially disliked but ended up liking. And even after all that, the world falls apart on him during his finest moment. Ouch. Give him a break, jeez. At least, he had a relatively “good” ending.
He's also a good brother. He spends time with his little sister and puts up with her antics thinking that that is the only time they could spend time together like that and that they will eventually grow apart as they get older.
More male characters should be more like him and less of the generic stereotypes we usually get these days that are catered to the lowest common denominator.
(It's hard to write about something without spoiling anything specific) 😡
As for guilty pleasures, I don't think I have any. Because if I do I'm sure I'll end up not liking it anyway. It will curse me.
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Shows starring sexy women who beat each other, and some random guys up, while wearing little armor or clothes that tear easily. Ikkitousen, Senran Kagura, Queen's Blade, Kampfer, etc.
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Seems we have the same guilty pleasures
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Really, it does? I don't read much hetero stuff, so I don't know 😛
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Oh, that's right.
That might be a guilty pleasure for me too, but then again, I'm only ok with it to a certain extent.
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Thanks for leaving your guilty pleasures as well 🙂
In case of Eri x Umi, I can at least see where it's coming from. I mean the first season had some subtext, so it's not just a random ship like Umi x Maki would probably be.
Oh and liking characters only for their seiyuus is not unusual, I know someone who is just like you and watches basically all shows with Hanazawa Kana 😛
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Unfortunately it doesn't happen that often that a girl wins in situations like this, especially not in anime.
Yuri manga might be a better source for that, but I really can't come up with one right now…
Oh, but even though this might not really be what you're looking for, Mai Hime has one character that kind of looses to another girl, but it's not as obvious than it is in Kannazuki no Miko 😛
I think the only time I really rooted for a guy instead of a girl was in Oneweek friends.
The yuri undertones were really subtle, pretty much nonexistent actually, still even though there was a possibility, I rooted for Hase. It's like you said, if it's a nice character that you actually enjoy yourself, then it's different.
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Maybe you'll also agree with me on my remaining guilty pleasures then 😉
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I agree on the term of the cheesy romance! 🙂 Mainly because I like to read and watch true fiction. And the cheesy romance fits quite well in this section. I never watch biographies or other “real” movies (or read “real” books), watching anime or reading a manga is my escape from reality. There is no space for similar things I already experience in my reality and this is why I love this cheesy romance! I am looking at you, Sakura Trick. And yes, science fiction, fantasy and animation movies are my beloved genres, you can keep the rest! 🙂
Btw, don't think I am gloomy, I just need my exit to my imagination sometimes. Except for this, I am pretty ordinary. :p
– Anjelaoni
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That's true, it's also kind of like an escape, just like games can be as well.
So being a little off from reality is actually not a no-go, but rather even wanted on my part.
Also, I like that “exit to my imagination sometimes” part, it's fits perfectly for me too 😛
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I was aware of the Mai series for quite a while now but it didn't pique my interest, initially. I guess I'll have go watch all of them now and then maybe read the manga. Thanks!
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Hmm, kinda difficult to see the conclusion or final thesis in your post here, tho I get a rough idea from the title. Mind explaining in simplified summary? And also, tragic news, but it seems that Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari manga anthology series has been put at an aned of publication at its 2014 SUmmer vol. 14 anthology. Kase-san and all seem to be done apparently now due to these unfortunate turn of events. I think that Hirari just got in the Yuri business a bit too early. Had it stayed a bit more for the 2014 -2015 term, I think we might have seen more hits. Now will go buy all 14 anthologies with all my bibliophile might.
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is one of ur remaining pleasures yuri hentai
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You're the second one to recommend Candy Boy to me…. this week 😛
I've watched it a long time ago, so in order to write a proper review, I'd have to watch it again, which will probably take some time.
What I can say so far, the incest was not a bother to me at all, but this probably only goes for this anime 😛
Also, thanks for leaving your thoughts 🙂
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I'm not really sure what kind of conclusion you're expecting.
I guess I didn't want to get any kind message across with this post 😛
But maybe I should have tried?
First Tsubomi and now even Hirari…. just imagine if they also put an end to Yuri Hime….
Definitely no good news, and there I was thinking that 2014 would raise the popularity of yuri.
Ah well, hopefully a new Yuri Anthology will follow at some point.
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I actually hate yuri hentai. Shocking, huh? 😛
But I'm only talking about yuri hentai in anime. Sono Hanabira is the only exception though.
If we're talking about yuri hentai in manga, then it's a definite yes, but in our yuri community, liking NSFW stuff is probably not considered a guilty pleasure 😛
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No problem, but please keep in mind that “the guy losing to a girl” thing is not that obvious in this anime.
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no problem i love sharing some things about myself and really i thought i was one in a millionth person who likes characters that my favorite seiyuu voices
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If Yuri hime went down before 20 years time and there aren't new Yuri magazines….. I couldn't live. I hope Yuri popularity (ninki) rises to at least be able to match Yaoi zzzz.~~~~
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From a different Anoumynous lawl.
Totally get that feeling. Many hentai that have “yuri” in them totally suck with no story. The only exceptions I have to that are Shoujo Sect, Sono Hanabira,….eh? Wow, that's only two I can think of. Guess the rest must be too bland to remember. Fructose plentiful. <<<
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So true… I actually went through a few Hentai that were said to have some “nice” yuri. But despite what other people wrote about it on the internet, neither the yuri, nor anything about these shows were nice… 😛
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I hope so too…
We should not lose hope though, 2014 may still be able to prove that yuri is in fact pretty popular.
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Haha, I bet there are a lot of people like that (especially when it comes to this specific seiyuu) 😛
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oh okay. also question lena k. who are your top 5 favorite seiyuus???
for me its:
1. hikasa yoko
2. hanazawa kana
3. toyosaki aki
4. taneda risa
5. tomatsu haruka
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By seeing your title Guilty Pleasures, I thought it was about some hentai stuff.
I hate Souma as well, by that kiss scene. But don't you think he's like a “yuri protector”?
It's forgivable to feel disgusted when you see your OTP spliting and shipping with others. But…. sometimes a yuri harem can make a difference. ha//
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Oh, nice question, let's see.
1. Saitou Chiwa
2. Nana Mizuki
3. Ayako Kawasumi
4. Mai Nakahara
5. Hanazawa Kana
We only have one in common, and I think I only know one of the other 4 you listed. Remembering their names is hard actually, I had to look up 2 of my picks as well 😛
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your favorite seiyuus are great. i know the other 4 that you've listed, they are all great seiyuus and yes i have to agree remembering seiyuu's names is hard especially when you like so many
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A yuri protector? Sorry, but I can't see him for more than a disgusting pair-intruding, kiss-stealing bastard. He's no protector, he's just a third wheel that is present for plot (plot as in making the yuri fan hearts rage and twinge).
I don't get what you meant by Yuri harem making a difference? I remember no other potential yuri pairings in Kannazuki no miko….Unless you mean by harem as in Himeko x xChikane x Souma? Surely you don't mean that right? Please tell me you didn't 'cause if you did, that's just plain hentai-esque pattern disgusting.
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Sorry for the long wait Kangchen, it seems I didn't see your comment, but luckily, anon reminded me to reply 😛
I don't see him as a yuri protector either, because his goal was clearly to get Himeko for himself, maybe even to steal her away from Chikane.
It's true that he eventually saved both Chikane and Himeko, but that just makes him a really nice guy in my eyes 😛
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Nothing to be guilty 'bout on souma in kannazuki. m̶o̶s̶t̶ All of us only went in for the yuri in the first place. souma's just another mob victim of the powerful element called “plot” xD
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Such harsh yet true words 😀
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