Sunday, August 16, 2009

Anime Containing Adult Yuri Characters: Version 2.0

I wasn't able to finish listing every single anime and manga containing adult yuri characters today (which is a very good thing, if I look at it optimistically...without thinking about how I'm making soup from stones from some of these series), so I decided to create two new separate lists- one for anime containing adult yuri characters and one for manga containing adult yuri characters. The anime list is the one I'm posting today and the new manga list will go up tomorrow. Again, please feel free to suggest any series I've missed. ^^ I also decided to add pictures of the series listed to make the list more aesthetically appealing.



Aoi Hana:

There haven't been any adult yuri characters so far, but if a second season gets green-lit, keep an eye out for a cute- albeit minor- adult yuri couple that appears beginning in volume 3 of the manga. ^^
Streaming legally on Crunchyroll.

Blue Drop:

A sci-fi drama about a girl named Mari who meets and falls in love with a female alien named Hagino, who belongs to an all-female alien race (called the Arume) that's planning to take over Earth. One of the other Arume is a woman seeking (not entirely unjustified... ^^;) vengeance against Hagino for her girlfriend's death.
Currently only available in English via fansubs.

CANAAN:

Okay...it's pretty much heavy subtext only so far (aside from Liang Qi)...but, honestly, has that ever stopped anyone in the fandom before? ^^ *cough*Noir*coughcough* I'll update my description of this series once it ends, but it's been a fun ride so far. (Episode 7 was smokin'... both literally and figuratively. ^^)
Currently only available in English via fansubs.

Devilman Lady (a.k.a. The Devil Lady):

A horror/mystery action series about a model named Jun who, as a result of a genetic mutation, has the ability to become a "devilbeast." Unlike most others with the devilbeast gene, Jun can return to human form and maintain a human conscience after her transformation, so an agent of the government named Asuka uses Jun to hunt other devilbeasts as their numbers begin to augment. Asuka and a younger model named Kasumi both have a thing for Jun, as well as two other women who appear in the show. (And Jun reciprocates towards one of them. ^^)
Currently OOP on R1 DVD, but not difficult to find.

Kanamemo:

An insipid slice-of-life series about a girl who works to deliver newspapers, along with four young women, two of whom are dating, and another one of whom is a "lolicon."
Streaming legally on Crunchyroll.


Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora: Does anybody care about Kuu, Kyoshiro, and Setsuna? Yes? ...No? *crickets chirping* Our KnM cameo couple, Kaon and Himiko, seem to still technically be students, in the loosest sense of the term (they don't do anything student-like), but Mika, the EPL headmistress of the school/eeevil organization that they belong to who tries (emphasis on "tries" ^^) to win Kaon for herself is an adult.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS:

The third season of the popular otaku-targeted magical girl franchise, featuring the 19 year-old protagonists, Nanoha and Fate, working at the Time and Space Administration Bureau while raising a daughter. (I certainly couldn't do that... ^^;) I want to watch this season since it sounds chock full of yuri subtext (the kind that I like seeing), but I still have to get through the first two seasons... I've only watched through episode 3 of the first season so far.
Currently available in English via fansubs- only the first two seasons have been released on R1 DVD- and quite frankly (based on what I've seen- I know that the first episodes of season 1 are known for being pretty soporific), I can understand why they didn't sell very well.

Mai-Otome (a.k.a. My-Otome):

The sci-fi alternate world spin-off of Mai-Hime, featuring several canon (and heavily implied) yuri characters, both teenage and adult- my favorite couple being Headmistress Natsuki and Shizuru, followed by Chie and Aoi! ^_^ (And yes, I'm biased. MH and MO are among my favorite series, despite their numerous flaws.)
Available on DVD and easy to find.

Maria-sama ga Miteru (a.k.a. Maria Watches Over Us):

You all should know this one. An all-girl's Catholic school...a student council named after roses...an elaborate sempai-kouhai system that that uses French jargon.... Season 1 briefly includes an elderly woman who wrote an autobiographical novel of lesbian love from when she was a teenager, and the girl who she was involved with works in the present day as one of the faculty at Lillian Girls' Academy. And of course, we have Sei, Eriko, and Youko reappearing occasionally after their graduation from seasons 2-4. ^^
Available on DVD and easy to find.

Mnemosyne (a.k.a. Rin -Daughters of Mnemosyne-):

A sci-fi/horror mystery about Rin, a private detective who cannot die, her similarly immortal secretary Mimi, and a host of other women who have become immortal as a result of absorbing spores from the tree of Yggdrasil (don't ask). Rin goes about her days solving increasingly bizarre mysteries that lead her back to the source of the immortals. (Granted, the men who absorb the spores don't become immortal, they... you'll see if you watch it. ^^;) I'm torn on this series- I really like Rin, and I like most of the other characters (even some of the villains), but the graphic content is a major problem for me (even though I know that's the point of this series). Rin and Mimi sort of seem to have a relationship going on, and Rin has two female informants who demand sex as payment for their information.
Will soon be available on R1 DVD.

Noir/Madlax/El Cazador de la Bruja:




Noir was the series that made "girls with guns" synonymous with "yuri subtext" for many fans, and the other two series in Bee Train's "girls with guns" trilogy followed suit- El Cazador even provided some text for us loyal fans. ^^ All three series are good- and all three have yuri-ish women- but I'd have to pick El Cazador as my favorite- I like its fun, "let's not take ourselves too seriously" atmosphere, although I also like Noir and Madlax's darker, more brooding atmospheres.
Noir and Madlax are available on DVD and easy to find, and El Cazador is due out on R1 DVD this fall.

Plica-chan:

A movie (composed of multiple smaller segments) based on Sae Amemiya's 4-koma Plica-chan manga; I haven't seen the movie yet, but the manga that the movie's based on is meant to present a realistic take on lesbian life in Japan from the point-of-view of an office worker named Plica, her girlfriend Mari, and a few other characters- less happy-go-lucky in tone than Rica'tte Kanji!?, and more pointed and acerbic in its humor than Honey & Honey, but entertaining nevertheless.
Available on R2 DVD with English subs at the Love Piece Club website (nsfw, ships internationally). (Thanks goes to Erin for suggesting this one!)


Re: Cutey Honey OAV: Gainax's visually trippy, immensely entertaining re-imagining of Go Nagai's classic Cutey Honey franchise (this is definitely my favorite version so far ^^). Honey has the same basic backstory, as a bubbly, outgoing android created by Professor Kisaragi to replace his dead daughter, who swears vengeance against Sister Jill, the leader of an evil organization (of course :) ) known as Panther Claw, for killing him. Unlike the original Cutey Honey and Cutey Honey Flash, in this version, Honey's an OL who befriends the tough-as-nails, hyper-competent gun-toting Inspector Natsuko ("Nacchan", who isn't this cool in her previous incarnations :) ). Nacchan is initially put off by Honey's easygoing personality (and the collateral damage that results from her fights with Panther Claw), but by the end of the OAV enough yuri subtext piles up between them to sink a cruise ship.

Read or Die (OAV and TV series):

Another action/mystery, but unlike the Bee Train series, the ladies in R.O.D. mostly wield paper instead of guns. :) The OAV and TV series follow "Paper Masters" (people who have the ability to use paper in preternatural ways- like slicing through objects) who work for the British Library, which serves as an intelligence agency. The setting of R.O.D. is semi-realistic, its chief fantasy element being that the British Empire still holds sway throughout the world and is struggling to maintain its power. This obviously causes conflict for our heroes. There's some nice subtext between Yomiko, a.k.a. "The Paper", and Nancy, another woman with super-abilities, in the OAV. (Is it wrong of me that I really like Evil Nancy?) In the TV series, the yuri subtext shifts more towards Yomiko and her author friend Nenene, as well as Anita, the youngest Paper Master, and her classmate Hisa (Hisa's crush on Anita is definitely canon, btw).
The OAV is in print, but the TV series is currently OOP on R1 DVD (but not difficult to find).

Simoun:

A brilliant, cerebral sci-fi/fantasy war drama, with strong religious and gender identity themes. Not all of the characters are adults (technically not until they choose their true genders, in their society), but nearly all of them are by the end. This series really deserves more hype than what it's gotten.

7 comments:

Erin said...

Thanks for the list! The only other one that comes to mind at the moment is the Plica animated movie. The DVD comes with English subtitles, but it may be region 2; as far as I know, it's only available from Love Piece Club (warning: not worksafe), which does ship internationally.

Katherine Hanson said...

@ Erin- Thanks! :) I forgot about the Plica movie (even though it's perfect for this list), but I'll add it right now- I also wasn't aware that it had English subs and could be shipped internationally- sweet! ^^

Erin said...

@Katherine: LPC's international shipping isn't cheap, but it might be worth it for Plica. (You might be able to save on shipping by going through a proxy buyer, or doing a combined order with a friend.)
It's great that the movie comes with English subtitles. And I've heard that they're actual readable English rather than Engrish--always a plus.

Anonymous said...

AaaH! Another great post!! haha I'm actually quite proud of myself cos I've watched most of these!! Like you, I need to watch Lyrical Nanoha. I watched like 1 or 2 episodes of season 1 last year but gave up. BUt I will give it another go cos we know what awaits!! haha Thanks for the list!!

Katherine Hanson said...

@ Erin- You're right, the shipping isn't cheap... @_@; but it doesn't cost much more than Amazon JP. It's really nice that the website itself has an "English" option to help English-speakers navigate, though (like Amazon JP). ^^ And I'm glad to know that the subs are well-done.

Katherine Hanson said...

@ Nakayo (yasashiisekai)- Thanks! ^^ I'm glad you like the list! And good luck with finishing the first 2 seasons of Nanoha also- at least StrikerS is 26 episodes long! ^_^b *motivated*

Unknown said...

girls with guns