With the most recent news of Citrus and Netsuzou Trap both getting anime adaptations next year, I saw a lot of different reactions to this all over the internet, spanning from pure euphoria to disappointment about the choices to just rants.
As you guys know, I love both manga, and I couldn’t be any happier with the choices and simply with the news in general. I guess some people already saw it coming in the case of Citrus, since, for one, it’s the most popular yuri manga out there, plus Saburouta was already looking for a way to make it happen anyway. Still, I gotta say, it came as a big surprise, even more so with the added news that Netsuzou Trap is in the making as well.
Now, despite the fact that I like both manga, why would I think that those are great choices? Let’s just start with the more obvious one, that being Citrus. As already stated, Citrus is—without a doubt—the most popular yuri manga out now. The fanbase is huge, it’s been officially translated into many different languages, and it’s one of the few yuri manga that notably get more people to like and start to explore the genre. It’s just nice to finally see such a big shot appearing again, and that alone is reason enough to think that this might actually be just the right manga to make into an anime. We need something that already has a lot of supporters. We need something that is already big. And we need something that also has the potential to get even bigger. In my eyes, Citrus is just that.
Many people don’t like it for it’s predictable story, forced drama, and well, pretty much for Mei just being Mei. I can see those flaws, though I also think that Citrus is getting a lot of hate just because it’s so big. But even this type of controversy is good for the show, trust me on that.
And that’s exactly the right kind of transition I needed to come to Netsuzou Trap, because this one is already dividing the nation—even more so then Citrus could ever do. We can argue about whether it really involves what you call NTR, but what is does surely involve is cheating, pretty much throughout the whole story. It’s heavy on drama, betrayal, and nasty situations, though that’s what I think will land it a lot of viewers. As we saw, Sakura Trick, as well as shows like Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san, just to name the most recent pure yuri shows, did a, let’s say, not so great job sales-wise. Both happy shows, comedies with just a lot of fluffy yuri, nothing heavy at all. And that’s what I think might as well be the problem. What we might need is rather a serious show, a romance unfolding with drama, hardship, and all the things that we just haven’t seen in a yuri anime in such a long time.
Let’s take Sasameki Koto and Aoi Hana for example, as they’re the two yuri shows that would come closest to what I am describing right now. Both shows date back to 2009, while shows like Strawberry Panic go back even further. I haven’t really looked it up, but I do assume, especially after going so long without anything similar appearing, that those shows also didn’t do too great. The reasons for that could be anything, people not being ready for pure yuri shows, maybe, or the stories just not being intriguing enough. Personally, and please don’t get me wrong there, I think that the main selling point for me for Sasameki Koto and Aoi Hana were the fact that they were yuri shows. Otherwise I wouldn’t have watched them. Not for the comedy, not for the slice of life aspect, and not for the characters. I did love them, that’s for sure, but I wouldn’t have found them if it wasn’t for them having yuri elements.
We need something with a bigger impact, I think.
With Citrus and Netsuzou Trap, the impact partly comes from either the pseudo-incest, the NTR elements, and, of course, the heavy yuri. And with “heavy”, I mean that we might be in for some in your face kind of yuri scenes. Both manga pretty much involve kisses in each and every chapter, with Netsuzou Trap going as far as pretty much showing sex happening between the two main girls. I have no idea how and if they will implement all these scenes into the anime, but I’m pretty sure that if they do, no matter how brief or long these scenes will be, it will gain some viewers… maybe even a lot. Well, we have to keep in mind that both shows might be scheduled to air in the middle of the night, but that has not been any different, even for some more fluffy shows like Sakura Trick.
So, in conclusion, despite many people bringing up some other great anime choices, like Octave, Girl Friends or even non-Japanese ones like Fluttering Feelings, I do believe that especially Citrus is a solid, maybe even the best choice to go with right now. And as long as at least one of the two does well, we might actually get a lot more in the future, so let’s hope for the best!
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I think one of the big problems we’re staring down – is that there is only so much you can do when romance is ALL you have – the biggest problem in yuri might be that we’re focusing too much on the yuri – there is a difference between a compelling yuri story and a compelling story with yuri elements. I think we need to dig into the latter more than we do. I’m not saying settle for subtext or pushing gay characters into the background you know I’d be the last one to do that.
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That is absolutely right.
And now I do wonder, what do you think would be a good choice?
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I feel like Fluttering Feelings would be a good thing to have in that area because the pacing and the characters are all so wonderfully planned and the story is very sweet but also dramatic. There are ups and downs, sads and happys, it just works really well 🙂
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Couldn’t agree more~
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I’m happy for people who already know they’ll enjoy the anime, and you may be right that these will draw a bigger audience. Unfortunately for me however, I really can’t stand romance stories with really heavy drama and angst. I’m honestly pretty sad that these are two yuri anime I’ll have to skip.
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I’m not sure how they will implement all the drama and where they put their focus. I guess NTR makes it pretty easy whereas Citrus might turn out lighter than expected.
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I kind of understand why people’re not happy.
But you gotta look at the good side 😀 If Citrus and NTR become successfully yuri anime and most famous ever than any other new anime, they will going to bring more adapt yuri anime! Maybe they will adapt Kindred Spirits! 😀
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Now, that would be next on my wish list 😀
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I personally like both works. I think they are both compelling in their own way. Mostly I read the more fluffy stories, but once in awhile I want something with bite, something that is outside my comfy zone. And I like the racey aspect of it too.
There’s no denying the drama and angst, in fact it’s pretty much what I want from stories like these. I don’t have an eye for art, I know when I see something that I like, but I don’t have that critical sense that many of the people on these sites have, so I usually defer to others judgement for that. What I do know is when a story sucks me in and I can’t put it down until I get to the end of it. Both these works have pulled me into their worlds, and I can’t wait to find out what happens next after each chapter. Of course this puts the onus on the scanalators, to whom I am so so grateful.
NTR especially pushes my buttons. There are so many wrong things going on it, and I can’t help but worry about the outcome of Hotaru and Yuma. I literally wring my hands while reading it.
As for sales, well yuri is such a niche genre, I do hope they sell well and that that translates into more yuri anime being made (even more side yuri as someone mentioned above). But I am not going to get my hopes up here. This seems like a big experiment to see if yuri can go a bit more mainstream, and the truth will be seen in the pudding.
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A big experiment, yeah, that’s probably how I would put it too. Could be the turning point for yuri, but could as well just be another one in a long line of pretty much forgotten yuri shows…
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I know for a fact that one of my dislikes with Citrus is what you already mentioned: Mei being Mei. And of course Netsuzou Trap has it’s own problems because of how much it betrays my morals on aspects that I have in my life.
While having a romance-only anime is something that I personally enjoy, as I mentioned to you before, there’s a great opportunity for these 2 anime adaptations to show other characters perspective: Mei, Matsuri and Harumin, and Hotaru, Fujiwara and Takeda Citurs and NTR Trap respectively. Mei’s perspective would be huge for Citrus, and I think more importantly, the perspective of the Fujiwara. I think if they show his perspective of it all, it will give people a better reason to dislike him. Granted, the whole series is based around cheating, which is already scummy as heck, but I’m trying to find a silver lining.
For sure, this should be good for the Yuri genre. Of course, lots of Yuri tends to have those other tags (mecha, whatever weird stuff), it’ll still be good to promote Yuri to other creators who are already doing it. Even then, maybe it’ll be able to give those that want to draw Yuri but are reluctant to do so because no one would read or watch it some hope.
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Different perspectives is what would probably be really really important, especially in case of Citrus.
The anime actually showing more of Mei’s view on things… oh god that would be heavenly~
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Woooooo, did you just say Tsundere?
Mei is absolutely not a Tsundere, this is once again misinterpreting her character, is just what I said, instead of a disadvantage not knowing what Mei thinks is what makes her interesting, obviously her mind is in many places and the point Of Yuzu’s book was to prove that both Mei and Yuzu were nervous and insecure about their date. One way of saying Mei was the same as Yuzu.
As I said I think the big problem that everyone has with Mei is frustration at not understanding his character, and when they explain their past that I’m sure they are saving it for a better moment, Everything will have more meaning, meanwhile, it remains to see it and try to Understanding her is what makes her interesting.
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Ups My mistake
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I never understand, to those who have a problem with Mei, what means exactly that Mei is Mei?
I think that the majority of people who say that do not understand it.
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I think it’s just that Mei is really predictable and always does the same (frustrating) things. You might say she has her reasons for it, and she definitely has, though those are explained poorly at times, which is not the characters’ fault, but just – let’s say not perfect writing.
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Really predictable??
I do not think Mei is at all predictable.
The only odd part, I would say was when she kissed Matsuri, that felt kind of weird from Mei.
But other than that I do not really see a problem with Mei, I think people just do not understand his character and they get frustrated about it.
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That is true too, I think that seeing thing from her perspective would be great for a change.
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Absolutely, I’ve been waiting for a chapter to change perspective from Yuzu to Mei, but Saburo is still keeping it, but it will happen, and when it happens everything will have much more meaning with Mei, that is to say we know practically nothing of its past yet .
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It’s exactly as it sounds. My problem is Mei being Mei. Mei being herself. Her personality. Her actions, or lack there of.
You may very well like her character and everything to do with it, and that’s fine, because to each their own. I for one don’t like the way she acts because it goes against my very being. Because we haven’t gotten to go inside her head AT ALL, or we haven’t gotten a lengthy monologue from her telling her story and why she does the things she does; I’m taking what I get at face value. My perception of her character is extremely shallow because we don’t know what she’s thinking.
In some cases, you CAN judge people based off their actions. But in Mei’s case, her actions are so all over the place that we can’t tell what she really wants because we don’t know what she’s thinking.
Again, everyone perceives things differently. That’s the beauty of entertainment. We all have different ways of thinking, so you may be completely fine with her character and how she shows herself, her actions, whatever, and that’s completely fine. Because of how I am, I would much rather prefer a relationship with someone else openly. I would want both of us to say straight to the other’s face how much we mean to each other. This is why I dislike Mei so much. Yuzu is doing all of the work while Mei is trying to figure out what to do with herself, evidenced by how much she clings to whatever the dating thing that Yuzu made is. Mei’s mood and personality changes are all over the place that we can’t even assume what she’s thinking. Obviously she’s a tsundere, but that’s it. Whether or not you care about how much more tsun than dere she is is entirely up to you to decide, and vis versa.
It’s all a matter of perspective, and we haven’t hit Mei’s perspective AT ALL, thus me thinking this way.
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Woooooo, did you just say Tsundere?
Mei is absolutely not a Tsundere, this is once again misinterpreting her character, is just what I said, instead of a disadvantage not knowing what Mei thinks is what makes her interesting, obviously her mind is in many places and the point Of Yuzu’s book was to prove that both Mei and Yuzu were nervous and insecure about their date. One way of saying Mei was the same as Yuzu.
As I said I think the big problem that everyone has with Mei is frustration at not understanding his character, and when they explain their past that I’m sure they are saving it for a better moment, Everything will have more meaning, meanwhile, it remains to see it and try to Understanding her is what makes her interesting.
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personally im very extremely happy about both getting animes as i totally love both mangas and i do hope they become very successful because then it will finally prove that yuri is popular and we will hopefully get more yuri animes but my biggest problem doesnt really stem from the manga itself or anything but its the timing of the animes, how will it work considering both are still very short when it comes to chapters especially netsuzou trap and even with the 2017 release window i still dont think it will be enough as each chapter is now a monthly release (thank god they changed it from two months) and i definitely dont want to see original works like what happened with akuma no riddle even though i love the anime, the manga for akuma no riddle is 100 times better.
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The Manga version of Akuma no Riddle had way more yuri…. the story seemed to proceed faster, but it made more sense to me too.
Though, I think that might only be a problem for action stories… or that’s what I hope 😛
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i’m really excited for these anime adaptions but i’m also a bit worried that whoever is making the adaptation is going to screw up. i mean, the mangas are great, both of them are but it wouldn’t be the first time they messed up a really good story in the adaptation. especially if the producers or whoever, feel like the story is too slow or boring or something like that…
it would be really really great if we could get some more yuri anime. i get a little jealous of the yaoi fans every time a new yaoi anime comes out… especially when there’s already like 300 of them out there (not the exact number but there’s still more yaoi out there than yuri so…).
lets just hope that it turns out great. (fingers crossed 😉 )
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I think we still don’t know the anime studio(s) that will work on these.
But I believe that that info alone is pretty important in that matter, so let’s see.
Pretts sure Kyoani won’t be one of them, but that would be awesome 😀
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I feel the same! There are loads of BL anime out there and not enough yuri! I figure any exposure is good for the genre especially if it’s popular titles like NTR and Citrus.
Imagine if KyoAni picked up Citrus?! It would look beautiful and they wouldn’t be able to pull any of their gay-baiting anymore. It may even forestall the planned burning down of their offices… 😛
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It’s such an awesome thought, but soooo unlikely unfortunately…
It would look so gorgeous and the fans would finally be freed from the endless circles of gaybaiting 😛
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I’m too lazy to type it all over again so I’ll just repost here a comment I made somewhere else and add a few other things:
“I honestly couldn’t care less about these anime adaptations. I mean, it’s a good thing for the genre because we’ll get more visibility, but other than that, I’m not really hyped up about it.
I was a hardcore fan of Citrus at the beginning of the series. Up to chapter 8, I could barely sit through those two painful months of waiting. [You should know, Lena…] But since then, I’ve slowly lost my interest in the series.
Saburouta’s writing is just plain bad. She had a lot of room to develop the main characters as well as their relationship, but instead of doing that, she kept bringing new characters into the story to play the role of the antagonists. I didn’t really like the Matsuri arc but yeah, I thought, “maybe it’ll get better after this”. But then she brought the sisters, Harumin’s older sister, and so on. It’s the same structure over and over again and it isn’t interesting at all.
That’s what I call lazy writing right there and I don’t know if I’m getting too old for this crap, but there’s no way I’m following a bad series again just because there’s yuri in it (Valkyrie Drive being the last one, ew). I read Citrus up to chapter 22 I think and then I finally gave up on it. This series is so popular, I wish Saburouta had done a better job with it.
Netsuzou Trap, on the other hand, got me interested because of the author. I enjoyed Renai Manga and one or two oneshots by Kodama Naoko, so I thought I should give it a try. But then, Kodama Naoko’s bad habit showed up again: the fact that she loves romanticizing abusive relationships. “A World Without Freedom” is the best example of that — it’s disgusting. This trace can be found in other works of her, and it appears here as well. I dropped it after 5 chapters or so.
It really is a shame because Saburouta’s art style is one of the prettiest I’ve seen out there (not only in the yuri genre but overall), and Kodama Naoko does a good job at drawing, too. Unfortunately, a pretty art style doesn’t make up for a bad story.
Anyway, I’ll probably still give the anime adaptation of Citrus a shot (maybe the staff or the seiyuus working on it can hype me up a bit), but I’m definitely passing on Netsuzou Trap.”
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I do remember the old days of us going crazy about new Citrus chapters, though this news doesn’t really surprise me.
It’s partly the same for me. I loved Citrus with all of my heart, but at some point,I started losing interest. I still wait for each and every chapter, but the hype slowed down, partly because of the things you already listed.
The news of an anime happening though is still one of the best things that could ever happen. I have no idea how many chapters they’ll cover with it, but as long as they’ll stay close the events of the the first let’s say two volumes I’ll be a happy fangirl. I do hope the anime studio and whoever else is involved will do something about some of the flaws of this manga, so don’t lose your hope just yet. But even if they just copy the story as it is, I think you should still be able to enjoy it, especially after you loved it so much in the beginning. Seriously, I’d find it sad to see you leave the hype train just yet…
As for Netsuzou Trap and the author’s tendencies to let’s just say explore the darker aspects of some relationships, I have to say, I enjoy it for a change. Well, I didn’t like A World Without Freedom, simply because it was rushed and didn’t get enough chapters to really make sense of the situation, but Netsuzou Trap is a different story, completely.
I do get that these settings probably scare away enough people for obvious reasons, but I just find it nice and interesting to be able to read about stories like this as well. I honestly find it intriguing, even though I feel like my initial hype will die down just like it did with Citrus.
That however will not keep me from hyping about the anime adaptations.
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I feel like we’ve already discussed something like this before, but since I don’t remember much of it, I’ll say it again. I think the biggest disappointment I had with Citrus was the fact that I expected a lot of Saburouta — maybe more than she could give us, but I didn’t realize it until the quality drop hit me throughout the chapters. That’s precisely the problem of being on the hype train: it’s always a risk that we have to take.
But yeah, putting that aside, there’s still too little info about the anime adaptation as of now. If they decide to cover the first two volumes, and happen to pick a good studio, a good director, and a good writer, then I might really enjoy it as much as I did in the early days. It doesn’t happen too often, but sometimes we do get anime adaptions which happen to be better than the original works, so let’s see in which direction Citrus will be going.
Netsuzou Trap, though… I don’t know. I understand what you’re saying about having new topics to explore for a change and I do think that’s a valid point, but personally… I can’t bring myself to like it. I mean, I read the first chapters of Netsuzou Trap quite some time ago so my memories of it are probably blurry, but I dislike that “let’s do this and that so you’ll know what to do when you’re with a guy” kind of stuff. It’s like they’re not taking the relationship between the two girls seriously. And it bugs me because I’ve seen it a lot in the yuri genre, you know? The whole “oh we’re both girls so it doesn’t really matter” (even in Pulse, which I love from the bottom of my heart, there are lines which make it seem that lesbian relationships are inferior to straight relationships). And then there are the abusive tendencies of Kodama Naoko, so yeah… I don’t think I’d be able to enjoy something like this. It makes me feel uncomfortable as someone who is currently in a lesbian relationship and wants her relationship to be valued just like every other straight relationship.
As for the anime adaptations specifically, I do hope they’ll sell well (at least enough to cover for the invested money in them). That’s the only way for us to get more yuri anime, after all.
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Oh we talked about this a lot over Twitter, I remember the huuuuge walls of text we sent each other 😛
Well, I have to say, with how Citrus started out, with how stunning it looks and with the given potential of characters like Yuzu, I agree that Saburouta could have done something way better. It is wasted potential, but at the same time we have to see that it still works for a loooooot of people.
But let’s see it like this, you already set your expectations really low for the anime, so maybe you’re in for a pleasant surprise 😛
I also see your point with Netsuzou Trap. Hotaru does constantly call her “attacks” a way for Yuma to get ready for the real deal, though it’s clear that she doesn’t mean it. Of course it’s pretty shitty to actually see Yuma go along with it, actually believing it, but man I guess I’m a sucker for this kind of drama 😛
Hotaru not being able to be open with her feelings and only seeing those sneaky attacks as a way to kind of compensate, and Yuma unknowingly enjoying them far more than anything she could do with Takeda…. It’s so wrong, but I love it 😛
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You knoe, I’m sort of debating on watching Netsuzou Trap. It has yuri yes, but the thung about the chearing part and boyfriends…I don’t know.
I am re-reading the manga and it’s pretty good, but…I don’t know if this relationship between Yuma and Hotaru is kinda…forced. Because of what Hotaru is doing.
What do you think of it?
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Forced it definitely is. Though, that’s one thing about the manga that I like so much; no matter how much Hotaru forces it, it’s still clear that Yuma is actually into her and might as well want it just as much as Hotaru does.
It’s charming, despite the fact that it’s still pretty nasty. How weird 😛
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I’m so excited for Citrus, I will not be able to rest until I know who would animate.
And I would like you to have 24 chapters, who knows.
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I’m so interested in seeing which studio will go for it, it’s really killing me at this point. We need more information! 😛
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I hope it happens! I like NTR most for the art, so not sure how that will translate to anime, but it has other interesting elements as well. I wonder also how Citrus will translate visually, as it’s more in the Shojo art style if I am not mistaken, but it’s gonna be a joy to see the characters come to life with voice actors and such, maybe a little scary too haha.
As far as these shows furthering the popularity of Yuri I have a question, are these two actually good examples of Yuri? As I have seen some different opinions on what Yuri should be, some seem to be afraid that the art is dying out to the same cliches as in the common het/moe Shonen series.
I kind of see their point, as there is something with the style in Yuri I can’t find anywhere else and it would be a shame if that aspect was lost. I am not experienced enough to determine where these two fall on that issue. Citrus feels like Yuri to me, but I might be enjoying the SCP&Gyaru combo too much.
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Hmmm, I think there are many many different views on how a “good” yuri should look and what it should be about.
I think that we just need something new and fresh in a sense. Sakura Trick and probably most yuri shows prior to it just didn’t do that well, so we might just need something more serious, something with more drama and possibly just a difffernt love story.
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