For some reason, I just won’t run out of new material for Top 10 lists. But this time, I think it’s a really important list.
Well, I tried to postpone it long enough so I’d have enough time to post reviews of each and every artist that I wanted to name in this list. However, I didn’t manage to do so, which is why some of the artist reviews I wanted to write are still not done, but they will follow soon, I promise.
So even though I wasn’t able to do so for all the artists, at least in some cases, clicking on their names will redirect you to my reviews about them.
With that said, enjoy the list~
I had a really hard time deciding which artist I should go with, and as you can see, I just couldn’t decide for one of them, which is why they have to share this place.
The two of them actually have quite a lot in common, so maybe it was a good decision. First of all, both artists are absolutely stunning when it comes to releasing cute/ecchi works. I’m mostly annoyed by ecchi stuff, but those two add just the right amount in just the right places. Also, they balance it out by adding some totally cute and fun elements to the story, which makes these stories just irresistible for me.
On the other hand, however, both of them tend to release some NSFW stuff as well, and while the ecchi-level in their SFW doujinshi was nicely balanced, they go full-out when it comes to 18+ stuff.
In Kasumi’s case, I can still tolerate, and even like it, even though he added some quite “odd” themes in his newer works, but Pigeon Blood…. Let’s just say that he went a little too far for my liking. Well, these futanari doujinshi were just extreme, especially compared to his other works.
This was a hard decision…. Do I prefer the fun MadoHomu stuff that Forest Village comes up with, or is the cute NSFW MadoHomu stuff that Fukuya does more to my liking? In the end, I decided for something in between, and that is Citron.
I know that this artist hasn’t been around for too long. Well, okay. It’s more like the translations of Citron’s works haven’t been around for too long, but in this case, I yet again fell in love at first sight.
Also, Homura is so damn sexy in these works~
Milk Morinaga is considered to be something like the yuri manga queen, and to some extent I agree with that. Girl Friends has been, and probably still is, one of the greatest yuri manga for many of us.
In my eyes, this masterpiece still hasn’t been topped by any other manga, and there surely is a lot of competition out there. However, the fact that this one manga is so great, doesn’t help the fact that her newer ones can’t really live up to it. I’m still waiting for another one by Milk Morinaga that at least comes close to her two greatest works, Girl Friends and Kisses, Sighs, and Cherry-Blossom Pink.
I found out about this artist right when I got into reading yuri manga and doujinshi. The ones who are familiar with this artist probably already know just what kind of doujinshi I first found by this artist. It’s, of course, her ShizNat doujinshi.
Thinking about ShizNat actually always makes me think about these works. I loved them so much back then, and I of course still do, but her newer works as well never fail to please me.
I wouldn’t mind some more ShizNat stories, but her original works are pretty great as well~
Unlike Milk Morinaga, this artist always releases works that are on the same level of awesome. In this case, however, I’m still waiting for that one work that will completely sweep me off my feet, and I’m pretty sure that an artist like Amano Shuninta is capable of doing so.
But with this said, please don’t get me wrong. So far, I loved all of what she’s released, and that alone makes her a great artist in my eyes.
Closely followed by artists like isya, Ooshima Tomo still manages to score as my number one NSFW yuri artist. In her case, I don’t even know whether there are any SFW doujinshi at all, but when it comes to this artist, it’s actually a blessing.
I can honestly admit that I enjoy reading her works so much, simply because the sex is depicted so nicely. I don’t even care whether I’m familiar with the characters, I just love everything this artist comes up with. In fact, she’s so good at what she does that I even started liking one specific KanColle pairing that I didn’t even know existed. This coming after I read her doujin about them.
I think I’ve never fallen in love with an artist faster than I did with Minase Ruruu. It took me no more than one of her works to not only fall in love with her art, but also with the way she manages to simply get the story across to the reader.
Her works always show the same awesome themes: We see two girls falling in love, which is quickly followed by some sexiness. The great thing about it is that even though Minase depicts some quite sexual actions, it usually never crosses the line, and it just teases us, but in just the right way.
Unfortunately, it’s been a while since Minase released a new yuri work, but I sure hope that it won’t take that long until we’ll get a new one.
Let’s list some facts: Isya is one of the greatest NSFW artists the yuri community has ever seen. Isya is also one of the greatest Precure artists. And finally, isya is one of the funniest yuri artists that I know.
That last fact might sound a little random, but isya is one of the few artists that can really speak English, and you can write her whatever you want, and she’ll most likely reply. But what’s really awesome about it is the fact that she uses her Twitter and Ask.fm accounts to write some really random and hilarious comments, constantly talking about yuri and how sex between her two favorite characters will eventually save the world.
Seriously, isya is awesome!
I know, this artist hasn’t been active in years now, and I doubt that we will really see new stuff in the future. Still, I can’t stop hoping that Tokoharu will rise from the dead and bless us with some more of these ultra cute NanoFate doujinshi that I love so much.
Well, in this case, I wouldn’t even mind if this artist decided to draw some doujinshi for completely different pairings as well. As long as they are as cute as Tokoharu’s previous works, I’m totally fine with it.
Did this really come as a surprise? For the ones who have followed my blog for a little longer, it surely didn’t. Shinoasa pretty much leads all my other manga and doujin related Top 10 lists.
Unfortunately, Shinoasa has changed two crucial things lately: One, not all of his/her works are MokouKeine-related anymore. Hell, I even remember one original hetero doujin that was released last year. Secondly, Vivit Gray kind of changed from doing heartwarming yuri doujinshi to doing cute and funny ones.
The art is still gorgeous, and I’m also happy that MokoKeine is still one of Shinoasa’s main pairings, but I really miss those bittersweet and heartwarming romance doujinshi from a few years ago.
I wanted to name so many more artists, but I decided for a Top 10, instead of a Top 100.
Just for convenience, here are some of the artists that at least came close to my Top 10: Waterfall, Niratama, Saburouta, Mira, Takemiya Jin, Neko no Sakegoto, Rireba, Pikachi, Forest Village, Fukuya, Yotsuhara Furiko, Momono Moto, and so many more….
YuriReviews and More 
The world needs more Nico x Maki, so Ooshima Tomo's my fav.
If only it was in color…. I need to see that red hair. 😦
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Amano Shuninta for me is in different level compared to other artist, i mean, Amano works always touch about the adult or more serious problem. While the other Yuri artist (doujin artist especially) create more fluffy and cute stuff. But maybe, that's the reason why i fell in love with Amano. Minase ruuru though…. no comment. I always love her/his works.
I never have a list, but my favorite artist is Hakka-ya or also known as Tokumi Yuiko. She always draw my favorite pairing, Hisa and Mihako from Saki, to the level that no one, even the original author of Saki, can compete with her in drawing the story between the two. Well, just my opinion though :p
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You might be interested in works by Niratama too.
She also has some full color works, but I personally think that her art is not as good as Ooshima Tomo's art is.
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Hakka.ya's works remind me a little of the stuff Shinoasa does.
Both artists seem to have one pairing they're in love with above any other pairing.
Reading their works make me realize just how much they must love these pairings, and if a reader can feel that, it simply means that they are doing everything right.
Hakka-ya didn't make it to my list and probably never will, simply because I'm not a big fan of Hisa x Mihako.
I actually wish I was just so I could enjoy these works a bit more.
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I can;t rank mine; all the ones I like even a bit are favourite~…
All the yuri books I bought have started to create stacks in my room, on my table, on my bookshelf…
I would add artist Kome to the mentions there if I were doing favs ranks, since I like Kome's Mokou x Kaguya art and I love Touhou school settings~!
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Kome you say? I think I have to look that one up.
But no wonder, I don't like Mokou x Kaguya, it's interfering with my precious Mokou x Keine 😛
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Are you seriously going to tell me you won't even give Mikuni Hajime and Momono Moto an honorable mention? :'( Okay imma go cry in my corner now.
… Just kidding. I know there are so many amazing manga artists out there that it gets hard to choose just 10 so I can let that slide, I guess. 😛
Anyway. On topic, some people might hate on me because of this, but I wouldn't put Milk Morinaga on my favorite manga artists list. It's not like I don't enjoy her works, but for some reason they just don't make me go like “omg, this is awesome!!!” and they don't make me wanna read them all over again either (even though I read Girlfriends twice lol).
Now, about the others… I freaking love Nanzaki Iku's works. The only thing that kinda bugs me regarding them is how Sayo always does all the… ahem, action. I wish I could see Ricchan on top at least for once. 😛
Amano Shuninta… Well, she is probably my favorite one, even though I didn't really like her latest releases. I've lost count of how many times I've reread her works…
Ooshima Tomo is great too. I haven't watched Love Live! yet but I've read all of her NicoMaki works and they're all awesome! I agree with pretty much everything you said.
Minase Ruruu… Same. You've already said what I had to say about her works. 😛
Aaand… Isya. I still deserve to be punched in the face for having forgotten her the first time we talked about this. I mean, come on, how could I forget? I just love all of her works and could reread them for hours and hours without ever getting tired of it. 😛
Also, about the ones I didn't mention… I just didn't really remember their works. Guess I might have some rereading to do… 😛
[On a side note, I think it would be interesting if you created a list about your favorite manga artists when it comes to their art only. You know, some artists might suck when it comes to writing a story but to make up for that they can actually draw pretty well. :3
… This is just a suggestion, though. And omg, another bible. lol]
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No Morishima Akiko? How dare you!
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I know!
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I had to googled Mikuni Hajime again, found Gokujou Drops and read like half of it in one go again.
Once you start you can't stop anymore 😛
However, even though she has some really outstanding works, I don't find all of them that great.
Oh and good thing you mention Momono Moto, I really have to add her, at least into the list of the few that came close my Top 10.
She's really fantastic, how could I forget about her?!
Also, thanks for giving me new ideas. I think it won't be a Top 10, but I guess talking about the art-style of some artists might be interesting as well 😉
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I simply don't enjoy her art-style.
The stories she comes up with are usually really good, but the art sometimes puts me off.
It's cute, but it might be a bit too cute. The characters all look really young with their childlike faces and huge, round eyes.
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I can understand that, I love that about it though 🙂
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You feel Mokou x Kaguya is too “mainstream” a pairing huh? I can feel the same way on certain other stuff like generalizations of what anime people like. I still think its worth a look, especially Kome's school setting doujin of Kaguya x Mokou “The Two By the Window.”
Should mention I am now also a fan of whoever the artist is for the recent pure-love Yuri visual novel, “Lilium x Triangle.”
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Vivit Gray was obvious choice inclusion already; but no Namori? Well, Namori is more lighty in Yuri-ness with recent works (yuru yuri, it is “everyday yuri” titled after all), but I thought that at least in art design namori would place among a fav.
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So next is “TOP 10 Favorite Music/Songs”? or Top 10 Music Remixes? or Top 10 Doujin Made Anime? (like touhou doujin anime;
I coincidently bought Touhou Musou Kakyou 2.5 from Amazon.com recently.)
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I can't believe you haven't read Ooshima's SFW… works. She's my favorite, go check them out on Dynasty-Scans right now.
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What do they even have to do with “Yuri Reviews”, I don't get it…
I can't remember any doujin anime besides the two/three Touhou ones and some KanColle PVs with crappy monotone narrator. They wouldn't make a list of 10 for me.
btw, I think Mari's idea of a top 10 focusing on art is pretty good (too lazy to scroll up and reply there, though)
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This might come as a big surprise, but I don't read Yuru Yuri.
I enjoy the anime, but it's too lighthearted when it comes to yuri, so I'm not much interested in reading it.
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I have some problems deciding whether this is meant to be sarcastic or whether Anon actually wants me to do it 😛
In any case, I already know I'm making too many Top 10 Lists, but on the other hand, people seem to enjoy it, so why stop as long as it's still yuri-related?
Thanks Mai 😉
I liked the idea as well and I'm already writing about it, though it's not a Top 10… 😛
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Mokou x Kaguya doesn't feel mainstream at all.
If anything, it's rather Mokou x Keine that feels mainstream.
Well, I haven't compared the number of doujinshi for each pairing, but I feel like there are more for MokoKeine
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Funny thing is, I have read them all and each and every time a new one showed up, I was like “Oh, since when does Sweet Pea draw SFW stuff”.
Yet every time, I forget about them.
I still like her works, but the NSFW stuff is simply more remarkable.
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and sometimes I'm just confused about weird comments… 😛
In my opinion, I don't feel like you're doing too many lists. I mean, it's a blog and you write about your own opinion/thoughts, so there can't be something like “too much”. Maybe it's even the more, the better, but it's up to you to decide. My god…I'm talking to much…I'll just stop here!
Oh, last thing, I can understand it not being a top 10 though. Sometimes it can really be tough to decide for an order, it's like me wanting to decide which doujin circle/artist is better 😉
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It's actually even harder to write it without kind of putting an order in it with a top 10 ranking 😛
It feels so random, yet I can't stop writing 😛
Also, thanks for the support 🙂
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Oh, ok then. The on with Honoka was still funny
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I always find it funny how easy it is to tell if the artist is male or female just by their art and depiction of sex.
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Exactly, sometimes it's just very obvious.
But in both Saburouta and isya's case, I was convinced that the artists must be male, so I guess I'm not that good at guessing 😛
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I thought Tokoharu has just been doing Nezumi/Center stuff recently. Or are those old uploads, too?
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Ah sorry for the long wait.
The Nezumi/Center stuff Tokoharu did was also from some years ago. There are no new updates on his or her website either…
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