Happy National Coming Out Day!

Like last year, I've decided to make a list of 5 yuri titles that include excellent examples of coming out.

What are they this year?

1. "More Rica'tte Kanji!?" by Takashima Rica in Yuri Monogatari 4: Rica comes out at school, the neighbors gossip, and her family supports her much more than it appears they will at first. The nicest thing is that Rica's little brother, who is gay also, now feels like he can come out sooner. Every single out person makes it easier for other people to come out, and this story makes that point beautifully. It doesn't hurt that Takashima Rica herself is one of the few fully publicly out yuri mangaka. (I'm partly looking forward to the Rica'tte Kanji!? omnibus because I want to write a new, non-cringe inducing review of this series in its entirety.)

2. "My Sister's Wedding" in Tadeno Eriko's Works: I really, really want to see more yuri characters come out to family. Every single person who has been nagged to get a boyfriend by busybodies or faced that kind of pressure from their mother should be able to strongly relate to this story. Emi comes out about her long-term relationship with a woman, and her mother cries but eventually starts coming around. Luckily, Emi's sister doesn't have a problem with it at all. I reviewed another story by Tadeno here.

3. "Instinct and a Chromosome" in Akiyama Maiko and Okai Haruko's 100okunengo no Kimi no Koe mo: The entire story is Nanako's coming out journey: basically, "Bad coming out, good coming out, bad coming out, good coming out." A) Nanako coming out the girl she likes and getting bullied at school, B) adult Nanako unintentionally coming out to Yuri, the woman who would become her first girlfriend, C) Yuri telling some obnoxious guys at a club about her and Nanako's relationship to shoo them away from hitting on Nanako, and D) Nanako coming out to another random guy- and being pleasantly surprised by his lack of homophobia or (aside from one idiotic comment) "Dohoho, well I think you're hot so I'm going to keep making sure you know that." (To any male readers: Don't do that. Really, don't. Just don't.) Nanako's coming out process is harrowing at times, but ultimately rewarding.

4. Poor Poor Lips by Goto Hayako: Kyah! Ren! ^_^ I want to see more people coming out at work in yuri manga also! Her coming out scared away every person who applied to work at the store she runs...except for her soon-to-be closest friend (and love interest?) Nako. (I just remembered a fitting quote by Dr. Seuss: "The ones who mind don't matter, and the ones who matter don't mind.")

5. Husky and Medley by "Medley": A really sweet example of a girl coming out to someone else who she thinks might be interested in girls also. (Extra points for bravery since she has feelings for her.)

I mentioned Aoi Hana last year, but I want to at least give it an Honorable Mention for Fumi coming out to her friends Pon-chan and Yassan this past year. Yay, Fumi! XD Even though it isn't directly shown, Orie also comes out to her mother about her marrying Hinako.

With the direction that the new Kuchibiru Tameiki Sakurairo series seems to be going in, I'm hoping to finally include a grand coming out by Morinaga Milk in next year's list.

And for anyone who doesn't recognize the picture at the top of this post, it's Mari and Ran, a couple in Hanjuku Joshi, holding hands in public for the first time.

Do you have any favorite coming out moments that I haven't mentioned?