Let’s start with the highlights of 2017.
The year has admittedly been good, but definitely not the greatest when it comes to yuri anime and manga, at least in my opinion. Focusing on anime, we got some fair amount of shows with yuri subtext, like Kakegurui and the second seasons of New Game! and Love Live! Sunshine!!.
Though, the great highlights were rather shows like Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon, which simply surprised us with the amount of yuri—especially for a show by KyoAni—that seriously blurred the lines between only subtext and straight up yuri content. No one was really expecting that, which definitely makes this one of the greatest highlights of 2017 for me.
Let’s also not forget about two more full-on yuri shows, namely the infamous Netsuzou TRap and Sin: Nanatsu no Taizai. Starting with Netsuzou TRap, I guess it’s not a secret anymore that I was expecting a lot more than what we actually got. Short episodes aside, the quality of the animation as well as the fact that it was all simply a voiced and slightly animated copy of the manga, just made me drop my prior excitement all at once, which is simply sad.
Sin: Nanatsu no Taizai, on the other hand, was a pleasant surprise, for the most part at least. As I had never heard of it before, I went into watching it with pretty much no expectations. And thus, this one simply became the one ecchi, almost borderline hentai, yuri anime that just every year has to have. It was definitely a mostly nice watch, with a very high yuri content and even some unexpected romance, which makes this a definite highlight of the year for me.
There were also two other anime that, while not considered yuri anime, had plenty of yuri fans excited anyway. Of course, I’m talking about Kuzu no Honkai and Princess Principal, which were not only two excellent shows, they also portrayed the yuri in a more serious/mature way than we’ve come to expect from most other anime. This was especially true in Kuzu no Honkai‘s case, and even though it didn’t sell well at all, let’s just hope that we’ll continue to see more anime offer something a little more adult.
Don’t be mad with me, but I have to admit that this year, I haven’t finished playing even one yuri visual novel. I know, that’s almost a crime and should probably be punished accordingly, but I guess time is just too short lately.
However, I can still easily state that one of the biggest highlights of this year is definitely not only the amount of yuri visual novels that have been released, but also the amount that have been announced. I think there hasn’t even been one year in which we talked about yuri visual novel news that often. We literally had huge news updates ready every other week, and it always featured different ones. I guess you could say it’s both a blessing and a curse, seeing that the games are starting to pile up and they usually come with such long play times that it’s simply too hard to cover it all. Well, I’m sure there will come less busy times, so I’ll keep piling them up until I can finally consume them all!
If you wanna check all the ones that came out this year, here’s our very convenient list of yuri visual novels. The 2017 releases alone are already too many to count~
Another highlight that is pretty much unrelated to yuri anime, manga, or visual novels is the most recent events of the The Legend of Korra comics.
Unexpected is probably the most fitting word to use for this, but I’d rather just call it THE BEST FREAKING THING THAT COULD EVER HAPPEN instead. 😛
So, as it turns out, Korra and Asami don’t only go on a romantic vacation together, no. They actually confirm their relationship in numerous ways, be it by kissing each other, by actually stating having feelings for one another, and by even introducing each other as girlfriends. Just WTH! This was too good to be true and yet it is! I demand more!
Finally, the biggest highlight of 2017, just like stated above, is definitely the amount of yuri news announcements, which leads to the second part of the post: What to look forward to in 2018.
I’m so great at doing transitions! 😛
I think that I almost got fooled into thinking that 2017 had an overwhelming amount of yuri to offer, but when thinking about it some more, I just realized that rather than actually featuring or having offered a lot of yuri, 2017 just set the stage for a whole lot more to follow in 2018. It’s true that we have gotten an overwhelming amount of new yuri visual novels, but there are yet again quite a few titles that we already know we’ll follow in 2018. I would yet again encourage you to simply check our list of yuri visual novels and search for titles that will be released in 2018. It’s already quite a few.
Anime-wise, I think that 2018 will simply blow us all away. If starting out the year with the anime version of the biggest yuri manga of the past few years, namely Citrus isn’t already big enough news, how about continuing the year with the Kase-san OVA or how about the third big yuri show of 2018, Tachibanakan Triangle? There are already 3 pure yuri shows announced, and the year hasn’t even really started out yet.
And that’s not even all! How about second seasons of Kantai Collection and Amanchu!? Or how about more Sailor Moon?! The list goes on and on, and I’m sure we’ll be able to add more and more to it as times goes on, but even like this, it already sounds way too promising! I’m simply having high hopes that 2018 will be a year to remember, just like 2009 was, as we remember it as the greatest year in yuri anime history.
All in all, I think lately, we can’t really complain about the amount of yuri visual novels, yuri manga, and yuri doujinshi. The only department that has always been lacking, but that is arguably the most important of them all, is definitely the anime department. With 2018, I hope that we can finally gain some momentum and have the yuri genre get the attention that it deserves~
As we have already gathered all the upcoming yuri shows in a convenient list, please look forward to our post of 2018 Yuri Anime that will follow soon. With that said, the list of anime in 2017 has been almost completed and can be viewed here. We’re still missing some yuri ratings, so if you feel like it, please help us out and suggest away~
YuriReviews and More 
Right now I’m just hoping and praying that Citrus turns out well. NTR through both it’s content and, more importantly, quality (or lack thereof) gave yuri a bit of a black eye. It’s nice to see we are getting more straight up yuri in more mainstream channels but if Citrus does what NTR did I’m not sure how much longer that’s going to last.
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From what we saw of Citrus already, I think there’s no chance of it turning out like NTR. Then again, I have never heard of the anime studio behind it and only knew one of the shows they made, so let’s just try to stay positive and see 😛
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I’d say 2017 was a pretty damn good year, particularly for anime. You forgot the fact to mention how gay one season was – NTR, Centaur’s Worries, Hina Logi all featured yuri kisses! and that’s not all, that same season even had Princess Principal and Kakegurui too. Possibly a contender for most yuri season?
I think you also forgot to mention Urara Meirochou and Little Witch Academia – the latter of which has spawned SO MUCH FANART AND DOUJINS, and obviously Love Live Sunshine (which you’re not big on). I’ll also forgive you for not mentioning Houseki no Kuni since you’ve not seen it yet, but once you do you’ll be editing this post to say “B-M was right!”
It’s true that NTR was a big disappointment, but I think that department was covered quite nicely with the surprising Kuzu no Honkai, where Ecchan got possibly the best arc of the show (even when I put my yuri to the side, she was still the most interesting IMO). Here’s to more adult, more sexual stories.
I was busy catching up on the MASSIVE backlog of VNs I’ve got to get through like SonoHana and the incredible Akai Ito and even Kindred Spirits, so I didn’t get to check out any that came this year.
2018 is looking like it can topple 2009 as the most important year for yuri, especially if it turns out that some of these anime titles actually sell. The landscape is different to what it was then, I wonder if it’ll have the impact it needs? In any case, I’m beyond excited for Citrus.
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Oh, that’s right! That was a lot o yuri in one seasons! Definitely a contender for most yuri in a season. Then again, I never thought about that, so we might have some more contenders from previous years.
Man, I sure hope I’ll find the time to finally catch up with all the VNs that are piling up. I already spend so much money on it and I just can’t find the time to play them. Let’s hope 2018 will be different!
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How important does everyone think the performance of Citrus next year will be to Yuri anime in general? It feels super important to me, it feels like if a big name like Citrus can’t do well nothing will, and studios will be less inclined to try animate another Yuri anime as readily (I’m still hurt that Sasameki’s anime ended where it did). That and the fact that I’m a huge fan of the manga itself, I’m excited but also pretty anxious about the adaptation, if it turns out to be bad or turns out to be good and still do bad I am going to be absolutely gutted. Thankfully everything we’ve seen so far looks great, I love the artstyle and voicework we have so far and I have faith people will fall in love with everyone’s favourite Gyaru Girl all over again, with her ray of sunshine personality and all.
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I think there’s been enough changes in the industry that yuri is being made regardless – 2018 is going to have 3 confirmed YURI titles, Citrus, the Kase-san OVA and Tachibanakan Triangle, as well as a probable strong case from the Ikuhara/MAPPA anime (unconfirmed what it’s about, but every time he has writing credit he writes a lesbian character in), as well as Sailor Moon etc etc.
I think it’s somewhat clear that Citrus’ announcement has pushed for more yuri anyway. However, if it is a success, then I think there will be something of a guarantee that we’ll get more yuri works. If it’s a failure, there might be a little bit of caution but it’s not the only yuri anime in 2018 with the weight of all our hopes on.
And I think Citrus is going to pull in a decent crowd in the West since it’s being produced by Crunchy (who will advertise it a lot). Whether they will like it not is neither here nor there, but how can you NOT like Yuzu? She’s perfect.
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Indeed, one thing I love about Yuzu besides her kindness is her determination, she didn’t just wait for her love to happen she worked for it and she’s working hard to make it work out now they’re together. I’ve heard described as having a Shonen protagonists personality and Mei having a Shojo one, I thought it was an interesting obvservation!
Speaking of Mei, I hope people give her a chance, she’s icy to begin with but soon thaws thanks to Yuzu’s warmth.
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This year may not have been huge in terms of yuri anime but there was still some great stuff to enjoy! Where we really got spoiled was in yuri manga and yuri visual novels! So many new visual novels got released last year i have no idea how I will be able to get through them all! 😀 2018 will be so good for anime though with Citrus anime, Kase-san anime and the new yuri harem anime coming! 2018 is already starting off epic with Citrus, hopefully this ride can just go higher and higher from here! 😀
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Oh, and Happy New Year to all! 😀
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Indeed! A Happy New Year, everyone! =)
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Happy New Year!! 🙂
From what it looks like, it might as well turn out to be quite the happy one~
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2018 looks very promising, Candy Boy turns 10 this year, Utena will be old enough to drink in the US (21), and last I heard, Attack on Titan Season 3 was confirmed for this year so we may see more Ymir x Historia.All that said, I’m gonna make some bold predictions for future great years for yuri anime beyond 2018.
2019 – Mostly chosen because it’s the 10th birthday of this blog’s greatest year in yuri anime history. All original shows that premiered that year would turn 10, that means Maria Holic, Aoi Hana, Sasameki Koto etc. turn 10 that year. It’s also the last year of the current decade, so I expect a great lineup of yuri content to the end the decade on a high note. Speaking of that a decade in review for yuri content might be a cool idea for a post.
2024 – From my binge watching of that year, I thought 2004 rivaled 2009 in terms of groundbreaking yuri content, so the 20th birthday of that year sounds like a good time to put out some stellar yuri content. Yuri legends Marimite and Kannazuki No Miko turn 20 that year. We could see a new season or some sort of Marimite revival by that time.
2027 – I think this will be a very important year for yuri anime. Utena turns 30, other yuri shows and subtext heavy shows like Hidamari Sketch turn 20 that year. Thought not yuri or particularly heavy on subtext though there was subtext there if you looked for it, Lucky Star also turns 20 that year. Also the highlights of 2017 turn 10 that year. I think we will get some possibly amazing yuri content that year which will set the stage for my final year prediction.
2030 – I think 2030 will be a major landmark year for yuri. I think LGBT rights will make considerable progress in Japan by that year. Although it is more popular than previous years, yuri is still kind of niche genre in terms of anime content, however, I believe 2030 may be at the latest, the year yuri fully breaks out into the mainstream anime scene.
Sorry if I rambled a bit, I get very passionate about this genre and its future even beyond 2018.
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Omg, you’re jumping faaaaar ahead 😀
Though, it’s true, there will be some grand “birthdays” coming up.
Though, in my mind 2018 seems to be the year where it will all be decided. It sounds super serious and maybe it really is, but I think that in this year, depending how the yuri anime will do compared to their predecessors as well as the shows that run at the same time, it will be decided how much more we’ll see of this in the future.
I have my hopes up!
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