It’s time for us to delve back into the strange world of short-form yuri anime, and we’ve come up with quite an eclectic mix for this latest installment. Incestuous siblings, bathtime exercises, and a chibi-fied version of one of yuri anime’s greatest treasures are what we’ll be looking at, so let’s get started~

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Synopsis: A sequel to Aki-Sora under a new name.

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I don’t even know where to start with this anime. First off, I’m pretty shocked that this isn’t listed as a hentai. I haven’t watched many hentai anime, but I’d dare say that there may be more sex scenes in Aki Sora and its two episode sequel than actual hentai anime. And other than a dream sequence that I’ll get to later, all of those sex scenes are het in nature. If you’re only interested in what this has to offer from a yuri standpoint, you might as well skip the original OVA, which exclusively features sex between a boy and his sister. Yeah, it’s that kind of anime.

Incest plays a HUGE role in both Aki-Sora anime, so I’d imagine that there are practically no people still interested in reading about this, but I’ll continue anyway. The sequel, Aki-Sora: Yume no Naka is where you’ll find the yuri. Sora’s twin sister, Nami (the sister he doesn’t regularly have sex with), has long had a crush on her best friend, Kana, who just so happens to have a crush on Sora. For some reason, Nami helps trick Sora into going on a date with Kana, and what does she get for her ill-advised kind gesture? She’s forced to hide in a locker and hear (and watch) the girl she’s in love with have sex with her twin brother. That’s gonna leave some scars…

But wait, it gets even more messed up. After this, Nami has a dream of her having sex with Kana, and she figures the reason this didn’t happen to her is because she doesn’t have a dick (she had one in her dream). Nami comes to blame herself for this whole situation, so she later slaps and confronts her brother, cuts off the crotch of his sweat pants with scissors… and proceeds to have sex with him. Say it with me, “WTF, Japan?!” There’s some twisted logic all throughout this anime, and even though Nami confesses to Kana and seemingly still manages to have a friendly relationship with her, it doesn’t make up for all the other WTF moments in this anime.

This is simply Japan doing what Japan does, and unless you’re a masochist or someone who’s curious how messed anime can sometimes be, you’d be far better off avoiding this like the plague. Between the yuri sex scene that’s a dream, Nami’s inferiority because she lacks something between her legs, and how Nami and Kana’s relationship seemingly only exists to somehow have the male character score once again, it’s impossible to like this anime or give it a proper yuri rating, so just take it with a grain of salt. 😛

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Synopsis: Viewers take an exercise in the bathtub and an after-bath stretch with Hinako and the new character Hiyoko. A microSD card containing the OVA data will be bundled with the DVD so that users can watch the anime on their cell phones.

Stretch Time segment included.

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There are some anime that can make you feel uneasy solely due to their title, and Bathing with Hinako is one of those anime. As the name would suggest, this is basically just thirty-five minutes of “training” that takes place in and out of the bathtub, so this is all about fanservice and absolutely nothing more. I don’t even know why something like this even exists, but as long as there’s money to be made from desperate otaku, craptastic anime like this will continue to exist.

The yuri comes when Hiyoko, who has to be related to Hinako in some way (their relationship isn’t stated), joins Hinako in the tub, which results in the plenty of fondling and massaging, just like you’d expect in an anime like this. That’s pretty much the gist of things, so the yuri is every bit as shallow and worthless as the rest of this anime. I didn’t find this show funny, cute, sexy, or entertaining in any sort of way, and in addition to how cringeworthy this was, I thought that Hinako was pretty annoying as well. Surely, there has to be some people that enjoyed this anime, but I’m not one of them, so unless you’re curious how bad this can be, it would probably be best to steer clear from this.

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Synopsis: Mini Yuri will be a four-episode series with a runtime of 5 minutes per episode. The short anime will feature mini characters and debut online at a later time.

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The tenth anniversary OVA wasn’t the only Yuru Yuri we got to experience this fall. Mini Yuri may have been short and lacking all of the things that truly makes YRYR special, but I thought it was still really enjoyable. For being only around five minutes per episode, I was surprised by how many familiar little gags were crammed into these ONA episodes. The creators know what we like to see most, and however brief, they gave us a lot of these little moments, and I loved every second of it.

Animation is minimal, but I don’t think that really matters, since the comedy will always be more important, and this still feels very much like the YRYR we all know and love. These characters are simply great, and even in this, their super charming personalities shine through. More often than not, the gags are pretty funny, but I even found myself amused at random sounds the girls would make, so I may be more sensitive to this brand of comedy than others. 😛

My favorite episodes were episodes one and three, partly due to them having more yuri than the other two episodes. In episode one, Kyouko gives a series recap that’s pretty much the opposite of how things really are, so for example, instead of being in love with Yui, Chinatsu is in love with Kyouko instead. As for episode three, Kyouko wants the girls to do some sports to get ready for the Olympics, but the events in these YuruYurimpics are a bit different. High tension Jenga is cool, but the highlight of the episode is Kyouko riding Ayano like a horse.

This is what yuri dreams are made of, and as is mandatory, Chitose fantasizes about Kyouko taking a whip to Ayano, and we get another nosebleed from her. Not to be outdone, Chizuru fantasizes about Ayano and Chitose, so we get some drooling from her. But all four of these episodes are a lot of fun, and despite the super short length, I thought that Mini Yuri was still more enjoyable than a lot of other comedy/slice of life anime. This isn’t as good as the other YRYR seasons and OVAs, but if you’re a fan of the series, you’re probably still going to like it a lot.

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