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Asexuality in Yuri: The New "By Your Side"

This is a preview of an article from The Secret Garden, YuriMother’s exclusive series of articles, available only for Patrons. If you want to access it and help support Yuri and LGBTQ+ content, subscribe to the YuriMother Patreon.

“Soba ni iru.” By Your side. “Zutto issho ni” We’ll be together forever. For decades these words were, for fans of same-sex relationships in manga and anime, the stand-ins for what we really wanted to hear.”

The opening lines from Erica Friedman’s By Your Side highlight the strenuous relationship Yuri and lesbian identity often have. It is a dynamic we have explored many times in this article series and will no doubt continue to delve into as the genre continues its rapid evolution and broadening. However, as I discussed in my article “Beyond The School Cathedral: How Yuri Grew Up,” Yuri and LGBTQ+ works are changing seemingly by the day. Moreover, while we celebrate the more explicit representation and discussion of queerness brought on by these changes, we also observe the growing intersection of other LGBTQ identities in Yuri.

In one of the first articles in The Secret Garden, I noted several works throughout history that explored gender and trans representation within or parallel to Yuri. Now, let us examine the presence of another important, though often sadly underrepresented, aspect of queerness, asexuality.

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Finally, Renmei’s 2021 series Lilies and Voices Born Upon the Wind (Yuri to Koe to Kazematoi) also presents a look into an asexual Yuri relationship, but without the romantic relationship of Doughnuts Under a Cresent Moon or Catch These Hands. Also, unlike those two titles, this manga notably openly discusses asexuality and LGBTQ+ identity using explicit terminology. Additionally, although lesbian attraction and the relationship between two women is at the story's core, its exploration of asexuality often takes an even more central role than in previous examples.

At the start of the series, the main character Matoi identifies as asexual, describing it as a lack of romantic and sexual feelings, which, as a reminder, is a common definition in Japanese LGBTQ circles. According to her, “That describes me perfectly,” and the character even clarifies other aspects of their identity, like that she is not a lesbian and is cisgender. Renmei does this to affirm to the audience that Matoi truly believes she is asexual and that the description resonates with her. Although by the end of the series, Matoi’s identity evolves, the author wanted to make it clear that she is not a closed lesbian or in self-denial in any way. Thus the series set the boundaries for exploring her evolving identity within the umbrella of asexuality.

It is unclear exactly how far into LGBTQ+ exploration Matoi is. However, she is assumed to be relatively new to learning about queerness. In the first chapter, she is shown to be watching a video describing “a look at LGBT,” possibly an introductory survey of queerness. She may have even discovered the term “asexual” in this video and, finding it the most accurate summation of her experience, decided that it described her best.

Matoi’s assertions about her sexuality are challenged upon meeting Yuriko, a 22-year-old biker who is also asexual. The two start seeing each other frequently for karaoke, motorcycle rides, shrine visits, and other reactionary activities. However, Matoi’s feelings for Yuriko are something more. At first, she attempts to rationalize it, saying that it is just fun to hang out with someone who does not get involved romantically, comforted by the knowledge that she has no interest in being physical while obsessing over Yuriko’s presence and every word. This justification is a retreat into her self-perception of her identity. As of this point, she believes herself to be asexual, and ties romantic and sexual attraction together.

Only after meeting Rio, a panromantic, demisexual woman and guide to Matoi in the LGBTQ community, does Matoi admits her feelings for Yuriko and the challenge it has presented to her asexuality. Talking through her feelings with Rio helps Matoi learn more about different asexual identities, finding a new label that more closely aligns with her truth, “non-sexual.” This experience also galvanizes her to learn more and continue building her knowledge of queerness. Matoi’s convection leads to her meeting an older lesbian couple, Rio and Chihiro, who serve as further sages of queerness and, as they are openly affectionate and sexual, provide a stark contrast to the feelings of the asexual characters.

Matoi’s newly found identity, nonsexual (ノンセクシュアル) is a term unique to Japan, where often, as previously stated, the label asexual refers to a lack of both sexual and romantic attraction. Nonsexual refers to someone who feels romantically drawn to others but does not experience sexual attraction (“Asexual.Jp Info”). It is thus identical to alloromantic asexual, a comparison Renmei themselves makes at the end of Lilies and Voices Born Upon the Wind’s final volume. Even as the split attraction model and its associate labels gain popularity in Japan, the term nonsexual is still employed, with over 80 percent of alloromantic asexual people identifying as nonsexual and only eight percent deliberately not identifying themselves as such (the rest being unsure or unfamiliar with the label or its meaning) (Miyake and Hiramori).

Want to check out the full article?

Support YuriMother on Patreon to get full access to this and other in-depth articles on lesbian anime and media as part of the Secret Garden series.

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Source: Witch Hat Atelier Tongari Boushi no Atelier とんがり帽子のアトリエ

by Shirahama Kamome

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Source: Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō Yokohama Shopping Log ヨコハマ買い出し紀行

by Hitoshi Ashinano

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MAPPA really highlighted Fujimoto's love for movies

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Tohru Honda Icons

360 icons of Tohru Honda from the series Fruits Basket. from debut chapter to current last appearance.  Icons sized 100x100. free to use & editable *icons are from the manga and other official sources *Icons are all from the official digital color release. Set is not complete.

dropbox link

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New Lesbian Manga ‘Even Though We’re Adults’ from Acclaimed LGBTQ Creator Released in English

The first volume of Yuri manga series Even Though We’re Adults (Otona ni Natte mo) was released Tuesday in English by Seven Seas Entertainment. This is the latest English release by celebrated LGBTQ manga creator Takako Shimura, whose other works include Wandering Son and Sweet Blue Flowers. Unlike some of her other romances, this story is purely about a romance between adult women.

Seven Seas Describes the manga:

Ayano, an elementary school teacher in her thirties, stops by a bar one day and meets another woman named Akari. Sparks fly as the two chat, and before the night is over, Ayano even goes in for a kiss. Akari is intrigued but confused…especially when she discovers that Ayano has a husband! Both Ayano and Akari are about to find out that love doesn’t get any easier, even as you grow older.

Even Though We’re Adults is serialized in josei magazine Kiss. Four volumes are published in Japanese by Kodansha.

The first volume is translated into English by Jocelyne Allen, with adaptation by Casey Lucas and Lettering by Rina Mapa. Volume 2 is scheduled for release in June, 2021.

You can check out the first volume of Even Though We’re Adults today digitally and in paperback: https://amzn.to/3oZUZXK

Reading official releases helps support publishers and creators. YuriMother makes a small commission from sales to help fund future coverage.

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Top 10 Comedy Anime: INPO

10. Azumanga Daioh

9. Lucky Star

8. School Rumble

7. Hare and Guu

6. Ouran High School Host Club

5. Urusei Yatsura

4. Panty & Stocking

3. Zombieland Saga

2. Mahou Shojo Ore

1. Hetalia Axis Powers

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𝔽𝕣𝕦𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕓𝕒𝕤𝕜𝕖𝕥 𝕚𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕤 - ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕥 𝟛 1 | 2

Like or reblog if you used / saved ! Credits at @/juvian Please !

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𝔽𝕣𝕦𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕓𝕒𝕤𝕜𝕖𝕥 𝕚𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕤 - ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕥 𝟙 2 | 3

Like or reblog if you used / saved ! Credits at @/juvian Please !

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Fruits Basket Chibi 🍙icons (200x 200)

BONUS:

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My analysis of S2, episode 11

Kagura’s development:

So y’all know I’m not a huge Kagura fan. Anything I say about her is just my opinion, and I think she’s a great character, just not my cup of tea. I know a lot of people love her, so I don’t want anyone to take this the wrong way. 

One problem I’ve always had with Kagura is her completely fake love for Kyo. I do not think Kagura should blame herself for how she reacted to Kyo’s true form the first time. She was a young kid, and I think any child would have reacted that way. While it probably hurt Kyo greatly, I don’t think a grand, loving reaction to such a situation should be expected from someone so young. 

However, she definitely can blame herself for the actions she took afterwards in an attempt to “redeem” herself. Deciding that she was going to love Kyo from then on was, in theory, a nice idea. But forcing “romantic” love on him for so many years when he’d made it very clear that he wanted nothing to do with it is honestly just really frustrating to me. 

Like Kagura admitted herself, she had been very selfish when it came to Kyo. She only ever loved him to make up for the guilt she felt. In my opinion, that’s just as “unclean” as the reaction she had to his true form, if not more so because now she’s a young adult who should know better. Does that mean she should suffer with this guilt for the rest of her life? Of course not. She’s growing and changing just like every other character, and every other person her age, and we see that a lot in this episode. 

While her “love confession” (that’s in quotes for a reason, hang on a second) definitely made me teary-eyed, I don’t think it was genuine. I think that Kagura had tricked herself into being in love with Kyo for so long that the realization it was over scared her into thinking she thought she had actually started to feel real romantic love. I know a lot of people will disagree with me on this, but. 🤷‍♀️

Kyo’s development:

So let’s get into the real point of the post. We see a shit ton of growth from Kyo in this episode right from the start. Like Kagura mentions, when she asks him about watching TV, in the past he would have yelled at her. This time, Kyo just calmly addresses the question. Tohru’s made him soft, and I am HERE for it.

What truly inspired this post, though, was the way he treated Kagura when she was upset. He held her while she cried, and told her that she didn’t need to be sorry (even though she did need to be, but I digress). Can we talk about how much fucking character growth Kyo exhibits here? 

I wonder if the reason Kyo’s so gentle with Kagura in this case is because of the one-sided “love.” He realized his feelings for Tohru, and believes that there’s no way she feels the same. Even if she did feel the same, he thinks he’d have no way to build a future with her. I could see this influencing his actions throughout this episode–he sympathizes with Kagura now. We’ve all been there–unrequited love is a bitch, and it’s hard not to feel bad for someone who’s in the thick of it. 

Additionally, he lets Kagura talk about his true form freely here. In the past, even Kazuma got shut down when he talked about it, showing what a huge deal it was to Kyo. Tohru’s reaction to his true form had so much of an influence on him that talking about it is a bit more comfortable now. He most definitely still feels like a monster, but it’s a little easier to face now because Tohru loved him through it. In episode 24 of the first season, Kyo says that he doesn’t want pity. Kagura flat-out just admitted that she pitied him, and he told her it was okay. My boy is becoming so mature. 

And Kyo looked so broken throughout the entire episode. Akito emotionally beat the shit out of him, and it shows. This might be another reason he was so kind to Kagura here–he’s tired. 

TLDR: Kagura and Kyo both showed a lot of development in this episode, and my little writer heart is so happy about it. 

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Man in the anime and manga world Tokyo is where everything happens. Though not as cool as it is in IRL. I would like to visit it one day

#X #x/1999 #90s anime #manga #90s manga #clamp #CLAMP #Tokyo

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ｂｌｕｓｈ　赤面

(my ask box or what ever you call it is open)

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the dragons of heaven

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Such an underrated Yuri Anime. Kannazuki no Miko is one of the earliest good Yuri Anime out there. In some aspects while it might not have aged well ,it’s worth watching. It incorporates a bunch of mecha elements as well. But the main focus are the two lead characters here, Chikane and Himeko. Honestly yuri watchers should give this a watch. Also the ending song is pure kino: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujnZMSrCZT8

#kannazuki no miko #2000s anime #yuri #yurianime #anime recommendation #chikane #himeko

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Forever.

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Basically summarizing Kingdom Hearts

#kingdom hearts #stoneocean #jojo #jojo part 6 #anasui #disney