Legally Streaming Yuri and Yuri-ish Anime Series (Updated)

Color me shocked. (Really; I'm not being sarcastic.) Oniisama E has been licensed for streaming. It's viewable everywhere except Italy and Japan. Now you can watch this dark classic, which I consider the earliest yuri anime series, legally and with good video quality instead of the unfortunate graininess of the fansub.

This bit of news put me in the mood to list every series containing (what I consider) canon yuri that's streaming legally in English. "Canon yuri" runs the gamut from something focusing squarely on yuri, like Sasameki Koto, to a series in which the only canon yuri is a one-sided crush from a side character, as with Noir's Chloe or Gokujou Seitokai's Kaori. Thankfully, the one-sided crush shows tend to have some nice subtext also. I'm not looking up the region restrictions for all of these shows. I'm sorry if you're blocked from watching something and agree that region restrictions are stupid. If I've missed a show, feel free to let me know!

Enjoy!


2x2=Shinobuden (Ninja Nonsense) episodes 1 and 2 on YouTube

Air Master on Crunchyroll and Funimation 

Blue Drop on The Anime Network, YouTube, and Crunchyroll.

CANAAN on The Anime Network and YouTube 

El Cazador de la Bruja on Funimation

Gokujou Seitokai (Best Student Council) on Crunchyroll

Hidamari Sketch season 1, season 2 and season 3 <- The first two episodes of each season are available for free. The rest are only available to people who subscribe to The Anime Network.

Hourou Musuko (Wandering Son) on Crunchyroll

Ikkitousen seasons 1 and 2 on Crunchyroll

Jormungand on Funimation

Kanamemo on Crunchyroll

Kannazuki no Miko (Destiny of the Shrine Maiden) on The Anime Network

Kiddy Grade on Funimation <- Dubbed only. I still haven't watched this show, but I'm told there's some canon yuri. 

Koihime Musou, Shin Koihime Musou and Shin Koihime Musou: Otome Tairan on Crunchyroll

Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora (Shattered Angels) on Funimation <- Dubbed only.

Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon (Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere) seasons 1 & 2 on Crunchyroll

Noir on Funimation

Maria-sama ga Miteru (Maria Watches Over Us) season 1, episodes 1 through 9 on YouTube

Morita-san ha Mukuchi on Crunchyroll

Mouretsu Pirates (Bodacious Space Pirates) on Crunchyroll <- If this series is faithful enough to the novels it's adapting, there should eventually be a canon couple. Update: Couple confirmed!

Oniisama E (Dear Brother) on ViKi and Hulu

Psycho-Pass on Funimation and Hulu

Puella Magi Madoka Magica on Crunchyroll

Queen's Blade seasons 1 and 2 on Crunchyroll

Revolutionary Girl Utena episodes 1 and 2 on YouTube

Rose of Versailles on Viki (5 more episodes will be added each week.)

Saki on Crunchyroll

Saki Achiga-hen Episode of Side A on Crunchyroll

Sasameki Koto on Crunchyroll

Sengoku Otome: Momoiro Paradox (Battle Girls: Time Paradox) on Crunchyroll 

Senki Zesshou Symphogear on Funimation 

Taisho Yakyuu Musume (Taisho Baseball Girls) on The Anime Network <- The first two episodes are available for free. The rest are only available to subscribers. 

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun (A Certain Scientific Railgun) on YouTube and Hulu

YuruYuri seasons 1 & 2 on Crunchyroll


And here are some subtext-only shows that are popular now:

Removed Black Rock Shooter from this listing because Funimation removed its stream of it.

Last Exile: Fam no Ginkyoku (Last Exile: Fam the Silver Wing) on Funimation and Hulu

Rinne no Lagrange (Lagrange: The Flower of Rin-ne) on Viz and Hulu

You know that you watch and read too much yuri if you...

• hear "anise" and think of the lesbian magazine, not the plant.

 

• try to recreate the teas blended at the Amber Teahouse. (Even black seaweed and strawberry cream.) Bonus points if you make scones and tea for you and your girlfriend right before accepting her marriage proposal.
•  compare you and your significant other to a teapot and tea cozy.

 

• read every single literary work you haven't read that Shimura Takako references.
• schedule a trip to a city or town around the sights referenced in a series you love. (Like, say, Aoi Hana and Kamakura.)

 

• try every music artist name-dropped by Yamaji Ebine.

 

• get beauty tips from Girl Friends.
• visit Mister Donut because Akko is obsessed with it.
• drink Kahlúa milk because it's Mari and Akko's alcoholic beverage of choice.

 

• order a grasshopper every time you get drinks with someone you like.

 

• seduce someone by inviting them to eat mapo tofu.

• convinced some older guy to let you treat him like a surrogate brother and send him letters about how much high school sucks before you entered your freshman year. Poor bastard.

• sing the Amigo Tacos song every time you have a taco.

 

• are enraged by the lack of lesbians in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
• are similarly disappointed by the Pillow Book. 

• take it as a challenge if someone offers to befriend you.
• name your daughter Vivio.

• decide that even though you're not a ten year old girl, no one will be creeped out if you convince the person you like to cosplay dresses you made while you gleefully film them with a video camera.

 

• watch Battle Athletes to get in the mood to exercise.

 

• are still willing to try whichever new title Kaishaku produces that's tenuously connected to Kannazuki no Miko. (Kaishaku have turned themselves into the herpes of the yuri genre. They won't ever quite go away.)

• are a man who acts fanboyish over real women- not fictional characters, but flesh and blood people in front of you- who you perceive as a couple. If this applies to you, know that no real lesbian will ever like you and you aren't as progressive as you think you are.

 

• refer to butchy women as "princes" or "princely."

 

• get all of the references in Strawberry Panic!

• substitute Lonely Planet (or your travel guide of choice) with Rica'tte Kanji!? and Honey & Honey when you visit Shinjuku Ni-Choume.

 

•  when listening to a completely unrelated band (say... The Chieftains) you begin imagining what an AMV of the music would look like, results naturally involve yuri anime. (Contributed by Steven.)

• say "Gokigenyo" when greeting someone, even if they don't understand you.
• buy an orange lipstick that reminds you of sunset.
• check almost every day if there are new yuri releases.
• have read "Wuthering Heights" right after Aoi Hana and not because of some boring vampire book.
• if a significant part of the music you've got is from yuri anime. (This one + the above four are contributed by Gata de los canales.)

 

• ....See white lillies as more than just a symbol of death. (Contributed by P.S.)

Have any more suggestions? Share them in the comments, and I shall add them. :-)

Crack List: A Yuri Valentine's Day

Inspired by Manga Bookshelf's Valentine's Day and White Day posts from last year, I've made a list of how some of the most popular yuri characters would react to getting Valentine's Day chocolates. (Assuming that the gift giver is a teenaged girl. You'll notice that rather than write "the gift-giver" or something similarly clunky a million times, I've decided to just use "you.") Don't take it seriously- it's just for giggles.

Up first, we have...

Kannazuki no Miko's Chikane:
If it isn't from Himeko, it's going in the garbage. If it is, she will slowly savor each bite as if it had been sprinkled with angel dust and kissed by a goddess, and then keep the chocolate box as a memento.

Sailor Moon's Haruka:
Will accept it with a little tongue-in-cheek flirtiness but only really look forward to seeing what Michiru gives her (which will no doubt be perfect).

Revolutionary Girl Utena's Juri:
Will raise one eyebrow and be like, "Who are you? Why are you giving me this?" and suspect you of being insincere. If it's from Shiori, she will wonder what it's laced with and attempt to forget about her again by chucking it into a pond.

Maria-sama ga Miteru's Sachiko:
Hates Valentine's Day, mostly because she hates getting chocolate from fangirls. She will refuse anyone's chocolate. Almost. She will happily eat anything Yumi gives her, even if it's filled with rusty nails.

Oniisama e's Saint-Juste:
Will politely accept it among the gajillion other gifts and love letters she gets, but will later swallow a handful of pills, wash them down with some hard liquour, and walk in the rain while thinking about how Valentine's Day chocolates will never fill the void in her heart.

Maria-sama ga Miteru's Sei:
Will say "Mmmmmm, chocolate!" and give you a hearty thanks. If you're Yumi, expect her to be all over you. If you're Shimako, expect her to eat your gift without realizing it's yours.

Strawberrry Panic!'s Shizuma:
Pre-Nagisa, she would have been like "Of course I'll accept them, my little minx," and tried to remember if she'd already slept with you or not. Now that she's with Nagisa, she will be flattered, but won't reciprocate.

Mai-Hime's Shizuru:
Will smile and accept it with a faux-surprised "Ara!" ("Oh my!"), but probably forget your name in two seconds since she only wants chocolate from Natsuki. If she uses your Valentine's Day chocolate for anything, it will be to try to make Natsuki jealous.

Revolutionary Girl Utena's Utena:
She isn't completely aware of how popular she is, so she will accept whatever she gets with a genuine smile of thanks without thinking too much about what it could mean. Just watch out for Wakaba. (Anthy would actually be pretty chill about it.)

Have a Happy Valentine's Day!

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!