hello its me miss dollbandcry, to celebrate i wanted to make a 12 yuri series that you need to read to understand me, maybe not the best but these are the ones that are truly important to me.
it feels like theres simultaneously nothing else and infinite more i could say about shuukura, its the greatest love story ever told, it's touted as this toxic thing but really its the healthiest relationship either of this girls could ever hope to achieve. a slow burn that even after 750k words feels just so compelling and amazing. absolutely nothing has ever portrayed personality disorders better than this, each new chapter rips me apart and puts me back together again in a way i cant tell if its better or worse. life changing piece of writing
2: The moon on a rainy night
this one i only read recently but it as cemented itself into my brain forever, a story partly about disability and how it affects every part of your life but still trying regardless, partly about being in the closet and internalized homophobia, and entirely about becoming the person your heart needs you to be. ive never read anything more beautiful in my life. the mangaka has also done a mangaka's weirdly wonderful workplace which got an anime recently and is just incredible as well
3: There's no freaking way i'll be your lover... unless
watanare is something special, the anime became the first yuri to crack an 8.0 on mal, a harem story that manages to stick the landing, featuring one of the most transgender protagonists in fiction who's internal battle with her idea and dream of being normal and actually being herself ends up in one of my favourite confession scenes of all time, where polyamory is not just a cop out but a truly important part of it. i highly recommend the light novel over the anime even if the anime is fantastic the ln just has so much that youd miss otherwise.
i would bet my life on teren mikami the writer being a trans woman.
4: Destroy it all and love me in hell
i think this is the perfect example of toxic yuri, it breaks my heart and gives me panic attacks sometimes but its why its absolutely perfect, the characters are reasonable and compelling, the drama is dense enough to give you a concussion, and it never fails to give a shot of adrenaline when you think you finally have calmed down. the side characters were so compelling that the mangaka has made another series dumb mutt girlfriend that features almost identical characters!
following messy aromantic Hime as she starts work in a role play cafe where the waitresses play students at a fictional all girls boarding school, very much spoofing marimite and other class s yuri's, it starts quaint enough but quickly starts to show its teeth as it dives into a complex web of love, yearning, angst, drama and betrayal. some people love it, others really hate it but i find it utterly enthralling.
6: I cant say no to the lonely girl
a secret agreement between Ayaka an excellent student who chokes when it matters and a truant who seemingly cant be bothered with school, that the truant Sora will come to school in return for her fulfilling one request a day, that starts with kissing and hugs but quickly becomes messy as Sora's long time feeling for Ayaka surface. this story is absolutely wonderful, one of the cutest couples in yuri. Kashikaze the mangaka has been working on 'howling song for a husky girl' since lonely girl finished and has proved herself as one of the best
7: There's Weird Voices Coming from the Room Next Door!
a naive girl moving to the city for uni finds herself involved in her neighbours fwb antics as they and a couple of her other friends develop feelings for her, one of the cutest conclusions to a yuri ever, like watanare another case where polyamory is not just settled on but actively important.
8: Sorry but im not into yuri
wagayuri is the funniest story on this list by far, following main character and definitely not a lesbian Toudou Itsumi though tropey and silly yuri situation after situation, you just gotta experience it for yourself and you wont regret it a bit.
between multiple manga adaptations, a... mediocre anime and 16 as of typing light novels, adashima has been a stalwart yuri in the genre, following silly weirdos adachi sakura and shimamura hougetsu through their developing relationship from class skip friends to a very co-dependent adachi desperately working through her feelings before finally confessing properly, its incredibly compelling, with the occasional stunlock, and the most agonizing several pages in anything ive read, i would recommend the light novels and the moke ver manga
10: I'm in love with the villainess
following an isekai'd overworked to death office lady who gets transported into her favourite otome game and forsakes all the men to do everything she can to win over the games villainess. written by a trans woman this story addresses several incredibly relevant social issues, has multiple openly gay characters and a trans woman with a beautiful coming out scene, a truly delightful story
11: Gushing over magical girls
i really dont know what to say, its horny, its hilarious its amazingly fun. a take on the magical girl genre that is both fresh and so full of love for its source material. hiiragi utena is the greatest protagonist of all time, everyone is fantastic, it knows its strengths and constantly leans into them, every new chapter is an absolute delight, you could argue its slop but itd be the most compelling slop of all time
if Renako is one of the most transgender characters of all time Mahiro is THE most transgender character of all time. one of the most healing stories ive ever read, following Mahiro a shut in neet who one day wakes up as a recently turned teenage girl thanks to her sisters university team science experiment, and her life of slowly learning to be around others who love and accept her and learning how to treat herself in the same way, its wonderful.
