I’m sure I’m late to the party, but holy shit, Sucker Punch created an all-time yuri dynamic in Ghost of Yotei.
Atsu, a young woman on the road to revenge, sworn to kill the six blades that took away her family.
Oyuki, the orphan shinobi who got in too deep with the wrong people, and wasn’t brave enough to fight back until pushed to kill a young girl.
The shinobi was complicit in the murder of the young woman’s mother, but also risked her own life to give the young woman a chance to live.
The shinobi is punished for her defiance, but begins to plot in secret against her corrupt lord. Before she can succeed, she is betrayed by her student, stripped of her mask, and exiled from her own organization, forced to scrape by as a traveling musician.
But then the young woman resurfaces, having honed her rage and pointed it at those who made her suffer. She kills at least one of the six, before heading north.
When they meet again, neither knows it. They are simply the shamisen player and the onryō. They make common cause in bringing down the men who made them suffer, targeting first the new Kitsune.
But then Oyuki learns Atsu’s name. And she realizes who she is. But even knowing Atsu has pledged to kill her, she remains. The common cause persists, and Atsu has grown powerful. But is that all this is? Oyuki dates to envision a path other than death at the end of a blade, not just for herself, but for Atsu too. It’s something Atsu hasn’t envisioned for herself, but Oyuki dangles it in front of her: a life as traveling musicians, with only each other to rely upon.
But the common cause remains. And in its pursuit, the truth comes to light. Atsu pursues Oyuki with murderous intent, but Oyuki refuses to run. She waits, unwilling to flee even to save herself. She even offers to let Atsu kill her, but argues that this only serves the interest of their common foe. And Atsu relents, even her rage unable to stay stoked in the face of the beguiling shamisen player.
And it doesn’t even end there. But goddamn, what a setup. It’s got everything: age gaps that are just big enough to be extra sexy, enemies to lovers, shared trauma, gratuitous violence.
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