As you might know, I love good coming out stories. I thought a list with this theme would be fun to compile.
A sweet one-shot about a young woman who comes out to her mom about the fact that she likes women and is currently dating one. Thankfully, mom's cool with it and wants to meet the girlfriend to see if she's good enough for her daughter. :-)
In a display of stellar timing, Yasuko comes out to her mom and sisters about her relationship with Fumi when Fumi visits them- without forewarning Fumi about it. Amusingly, Yasuko's family not only doesn't care, they call Yasuko out for dating Fumi while having feelings for someone else. Yasuko's older sister Shinako's bisexuality doesn't seem to be a secret to her family either. Last but not least, Fumi's friend Haruka's gay older sister Orie comes out to her family about her relationship with Hinako.
Clover is a short story collection about four sisters, two of whom (Fuuka and Midori) are interested in women. At one point the second oldest, Fuuka, vents to her older sister Ichige about losing the girl she likes to another girl. Ichige's reaction is perfect: "You got your heart broken, and you never even told her how you felt. If you tell me something that pathetic again, I won't let you in the house!" Coming out isn't an issue at all in this family.
Chizu's mom catches Chizu kissing her girlfriend Yayoi at home. Chizu and Yayoi panic and run away, but they run out of money after a day. When they return, Chizu's mom tells them that she'll keep their relationship a secret and she understands what they're feeling since she dated some girls when she was younger.
Ebisu and Hotei are two office workers who hate then like then eventually love each other. Ebisu has an older sister who instantly picks up on Ebisu and Hotei's feelings for each other and is cool with it. Later, Ebisu's niece not only figures out that Ebisu and Hotei are a couple, she likes a girl herself.
The lead in "Female x Female = Love" tells her girlfriend, who is self-conscious about their relationship, that she is used to the idea of girls dating other girls because her older sisters have girlfriends.
The protagonist of "The Mystery of the Yuri Cage" finds out about her older cousin (the protagonist of another Chi-Ran story, "The Yuri Cage") having a girlfriend before she starts falling for the girl who likes her.
Keito comes out to her parents. Her dad isn't hostile about it, but he doesn't get it either- and his and Keito's relationship is strained by other issues. Keito's mom is more...vocal about her lack of understanding about Keito's sexual orientation, but her understanding of Keito improves over the course of the story. Keito, in turn, starts to understand her mom more. What we last see of Keito's relationship with her mom promises further positive change.
Kina is out to her gay older sister Kana about her relationship with Suu. In the Fu~fu doujinshi Minamoto Hisanari made, after agreeing to be Suu's girlfriend, Kina tells Suu that dating girls has always seemed normal to her because of Kana.
Annnd here's a cute pic of Suu and Kina I found at Minamoto Hisanari's blog:
Yukio's parents object to her relationship with Komari since they're rich and Komari isn't (and there's that niggling issue of same-sex marriage not being legal, which this story doesn't emphasize) and they want Yukio to marry someone who can contribute to the family fortune. Thankfully, Yukio and Komari are able to be together, with the support of Yukio's aunt and brother.
Niina finds out that Mayu, the woman she had a drunken one night stand with, is her daughter Ryuna's kindergarten teacher. lol Mayu continues to pursue Niina and they fall in love, making Niina, Ryuna and Mayu a family of three by the end. :-)
In the final chapter of volume 1 of Gunjo, the ex-wife (because she is nameless, I will call her B) of one of the leads comes out to her mom as a lesbian- and her mom not only doesn't care, she cements her place as the most awesome mom on this list. Dad finds out from mom, and he is just as cool with it. B's fate is ultimately horrible and sad, but this chapter will forever remain one of the most heart-warming, achingly poignant things I have read.
Chitose and Yae are in love. Chitose comes out to her older sister Chie, a fujoshi who loves BL and yuri, when she asks if she can read Chie's yuri manga. In the one-shot "Soft-Boiled Fujoshi," Chie finds a girlfriend (who turns out to be a fan of Chie's work as a doujinshi creator) at Chitose's school.
Jitsuko comes out to her mom Hanae and aunt Tsubomi. Hanae is accepting, but Tsubomi sputters in protest- because she has been repressing her feelings for her sister-in-law Hanae. Tsubomi confesses to Hanae after Jitsuko comes out, but Hanae seems oblivious. Because Tsubomi's confession is so freaking obvious- and feigned obliviousness is A) the easiest way to reject someone you don't want to hurt and B) less sad than the idea of Hanae willfully denying the nature of Tsubomi's feelings- I want to think Hanae feigned not getting it. It stretches credibility too much to think that she really didn't understand. Jitsuko, who doesn't witness Tsubomi's confession, stays pretty chill despite Tsubomi's behavior.
In this silly historical fantasy, Princess Lucia boards the dreaded pirate Maria's ship to get the cross pendant that Maria stole from Queen Beatrice. Instead of Maria, Lucia finds the ship captained by Maria's daughter Eliana. Lucia and Eliana fall in love, and it turns out that Beatrice and Maria dated and Beatrice is just pissed that Maria dumped her. Maria returns and makes up with Beatrice, so Happily-Ever-After for everyone. ^_^
Yamaji Ebine had a stroke of genius when she came up with Love My Life's premise. Ichiko comes out to her dad, who then tells her that he is gay, as was Ichiko's mother. Ichiko is obviously accepting, but her head reels a bit from learning that her parents' lives differed from what she had thought.
After having a lovers' spat with Monayo, Mayu returns to her family's house and tells them what happened. Mayu's homophobic mom subsequently sets Mayu up on an omiai. Mayu tells the guy she meets at the omiai that she loves someone else and goes home with Monayo after her brother tells her that Monayo came for her.
Emi attends her younger sister Yuka's wedding, and she and her long-term girlfriend Takako get engaged during the reception. After the reception, Emi comes out to her mom. Emi's mom cries, but starts to improve when Yuka (who already knew) tells her that she doesn't have a problem with it.
Yukino comes out to her mom about her relationship with Setsuko via email. From Yukino's follow-up email, we can tell that her mom is accepting. After Yukino comes out to her, Yukino's mom asks Yukino to visit home again with Setsuko. :-)
Ren has been out since high school, but her mom, Nei, still wants her to get married. Homophobia aside, the fact that the "ideal" spouse for Ren would boost the enormous family fortune gives Nei a strong incentive to marry Ren off. When Ren confronts Nei about her trying to bribe the girl Ren loves, Nako, to stay away from Ren, Nei cuts Ren off. Ren only agrees to return home and do what Nei wants on the condition that Nei will erase Nako's never-ending debt. Ren's father, Akio, can't change Ren's situation, but he does support Ren and helps Nako get a job as a maid at Nei's house so Nako can reunite with Ren. What will happen!? Dun dun dun.
Anon is in love with Miamo, but coming out about that isn't an issue. Her main worry is coming out as an android. :-) Like everyone else in this series, Anon's mother/creator and little sister Minon (another android created by Anon's mother) root for Anon and Miamo to be happy together. Minon opposes Anon's feelings for Miamo at one point, but only because of her short-lived crush on Miamo.
Shiho's mom finds out about Shiho's relationship with her classmate Hiyori, and she is furious. Shiho and Hiyori's classmates find out also, and react with bullying. Shiho and Hiyori decide to commit suicide, but when they search for a place to die together, each is separately spirited to a place called the Cat's Eye Hall. The Cat's Eye Hall is where people go "when their hearts are lost," and its owner helps Shiho and Hiyori realize that they want to live when they reunite.
The "More Rica'tte Kanji!?" chapter in Yuri Monogatari 4 shows its protagonist Rica coming out to her parents and little brother during her high school years. Rica's dad is a lot more accepting than he first appears to be, Rica's mom has no problem with Rica's sexual orientation because she's bisexual (she even goes starry-eyed remembering her first time with a female sempai in high school) and, best of all, Rica's gay little brother feels like he can come out sooner because of her. Awww. ^_^
Our protagonist Sumi comes out to her dad in volume 9, but I won't spoil how that goes. Sumi's love interest Ushio is out to her older brother and grandmother from the beginning of the story. (Her parents died years earlier.) Her brother is understanding, at least. ^_^; Good thing she's able to live with him. Her grandma does comes around by the end, though. Additionally, our side couple Tomoe and Miyako are out to their families throughout the story.
Coming out to one's parents is nerve-wracking enough. But coming out to your mom when she's the leader of a yakuza syndicate? That's what Yuu does, and her mom isn't pleased. Despite everything, this story ends happily.
Reina, the protagonist of Ichijou Yukari's Maya no Souretsu, comes out to her mom about her relationship with another girl, with...less than happy results. Btw, I like Maya no Souretsu. It's tragic, but in a stylishly over-the-top Gothic/film noir way, and I could see the story playing out just as tragically (given the skeletons in Reina's family's closet, Maya's revenge plot and...uh, certain hidden family ties) if Maya had been a guy.
Decades later, Ichijou Yukari re-visited coming out in the humorous, upbeat "That's Why I Sigh," which features a teenaged lesbian who is in love with her best friend. Mako serves drinks at the okama bar where her "dad" works as the Mama. ("Mama" = the term given as a nickname to the head okama at okama bars.) Mama is weirdly gung-ho about the idea of Mako getting a boyfriend, but is on the same level of pushiness as that ineffective great auntie type who lightheartedly ribs you about when you'll finally get a boyfriend even though you express no interest in it rather than, say, someone like Ren's mom in Poor Poor Lips. Even with Mama's not-exactly-ideal response to Mako's lack of interest in men, "That's Why I Sigh" is a sweet coming out story.
Sumi has been in love with Kaori, her philandering brother Ryou's wife, since they met. After things fall apart between Kaori and Ryou, Sumi admits her feelings to Kaori and they get together. Sumi is afraid that Kaori isn't as serious about their relationship as she is, but Kaori tells Sumi she's in love with her and accepts Sumi's marriage proposal in a public park. They tell Kaori's son Takkun that they're getting cake on the way home to celebrate the birth of their new family. ^_^ Squee! I wish Konno Kita would draw more stories for Yuri Hime.
Takeuchi Sachiko's Honey & Honey and Chi-Ran's "Her Temptation" one-shot in Shoujo Bigaku technically don't count because their protagonists do not come out to family, but I still highly recommend them for their explorations of what it means to think about coming out to family.
Know any examples that I've missed? Let me know!
Would Wandering Son count? Perhaps not "yuri" in the strictest sense but Shu does identify as female and has romantic feelings towards other girls.
ReplyDelete@Steven- That's true. But I wouldn't include it in this list only because I'm looking for yuri characters who are out to family members as women who like women. For example, Aika coming out to her parents and Ayumi about identifying as female in Mermaid Line isn't the type of coming out I'm referring to in this post, but Aika coming out to Ayumi about being a "bian" when Ayumi assumes that Aika likes guys is. (Or alternatively, Ayumi telling that guy from driving school who hit on her that Aika is her girlfriend.) I'm sorry for not clarifying that earlier.
ReplyDeleteI've been desperately seeking for a translated version of Sasameki Koto chapters 43-53 but I can't find them anywhere. I wish I could just read Japanese...man, waiting for scanlations is killing me.
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