Anime of Interest to Yuri Fans in 2011

To make a decent-sized list possible, I had to use series that aren't really necessarily yuri, but are of interest to us- a problem that I will not have with my manga list. As Erica pointed out, the pickings this year are really freaking slim. But there's still some good stuff out there. I'm just listing everything I've tried that has come out this year alphabetically.

A Channel made me fall asleep. Not kidding. That's why I never made it past episode 2.

Fate/Zero wins the Most Delicious Subtext award for Saber's suit and her knightliness towards Irisviel, which some may have noticed I like.

Edit @ 9:23 pm: Whoops, accidentally didn't include the following title earlier.

Ga-Rei-Zero on DVD and Blu Ray: A solid pick for the action fan who likes yuri subtext, dubious though it may be. Just make sure to have tissues on hand at the end.

Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere: Malga and Margot win the Best (well, only) Canon Couple of the Year Award. The series that they're in is a piece of crap. Even with a yuri couple in it, I cannot fault anyone for skipping or dropping it. And Malga and Margot don't get very much screen time. (To be fair, Horizon is crammed with characters and most of them don't get any more screen time than Malga and Margot.) But after coolly taking down a flying battle mech in episode 10, Malga and Margot had the only yuri kiss of the year (in front of a sunset, to boot), and it was tender and had actual love behind it. (Fujieda Miyabi likes them too.)

Hourou Musuko is a brilliant coming-of-age series. No magic, no fights, just a cast of likeable people- lgbt (Nitori, Takatsuki, Yuki, Momo, Mako, etc) and not- interacting realistically. This series wins the Show Most Likely To Filter Out People Who Don't Actually Care About LGBT People award. Not to say that not getting into it means that you don't care about lgbt people. But if you meet a non-lgbt person who likes this show, chances are better that they would care about lgbt rights than, say, your average non-lgbt person enjoying the lgbt elements in Kashimashi.

K-ON! on DVD and Blu Ray: Mugi, and a lot of people like slashing the characters.

Koihime Musou seasons 1-3 on DVD: It has a lot of yuri characters. There's a cute canon couple, but they can't really compete for the Best Canon Yuri Couple award because the third (and probably last) Koihime Musou season aired in 2010. I'm not a Sousou fan, but I did like that she outright said that she "only takes women to bed" in that scene with the doctor. How often are yuri characters that plainspoken about being gay, without an "I hate men, icky men are brutes" qualifier, a la Sakura from Kämpfer? Sousou doesn't have anything against men, she just doesn't want to sleep with them. Whatever faults Koihime Musou has, it did that bit right.

Last Exile -Ginkyoku no Fam-: I tried an episode. Aside from the awful opening scene, it was fun, but I didn't stick with it because I was already content with what I was watching at the time.

Mawaru Penguindrum was gripping, intelligent, and frequently poignant to watch, but unlike its older sister Utena, I can't recommend it for its yuri.

Morita-san ha Mukuchi: A cute little show that had some non-obnoxius yuri. The way that Mayu's classmate Yamamoto handled being confessed to by a girl who had one-sided feelings her was nice. If there's one thing that I would be willing to watch another season of this series for, it would be Yamamoto herself admitting that she's gay, which happens later in the manga.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica is my Top Yuri Anime of the Year pick. The plot was driven by yuri (won't spoil how), and it was excellent. It doesn't hurt that [spoiler] was an incredible badass in her quest to [spoiler spoiler spoiler]. I expected this series to be kind of lame, but was surprised like almost everyone else by how gripping it became. (Side note: I've shown some anime over the years to my utterly non-otaku dad, like Miyazaki's films, Grave of the Fireflies, Fullmetal Alchemist, Kannazuki no Miko, and Utena- just to share titles that I like and de-mystify my hobby. I showed him Madoka Magica. He was initially intrigued by the crazy visuals, and thought that it was "a terrific show" after I showed him the last episode. Madoka's core base may be hardcore otaku, but it clearly can appeal to people who wouldn't know SHAFT from Gainax and don't know what it's deconstructing.) I was also amused by how similar you-know-who is to a certain character from KnM. I'm looking forward to seeing the alternate direction that the upcoming Madoka Magica movies take.

Revolutionary Girl Utena easily wins Best English-Language Release on DVD or Blu Ray. A yuri classic and one of the best shows ever ever ever, re-released with remastered visuals and audio.

Sengoku Otome had yuri in it.

Sound of the Sky (Sora no Woto) on DVD: As a yuri fan, I had to make soup from stones to see anything in this series. And episode 8 was awful. But as a slice-of-life/war story hybrid with pretty music, it's still enjoyable for me.

Yuruyuri: May it herald other, better Yuri Hime adaptations.


Agree, or have differing opinions? Feel free to share!