Yuri (百合, literally “lily”) is a manga genre depicting romantic, emotional, or sexual relationships between female characters. The genre encompasses a wide tonal spectrum — from the most tentative, barely-spoken emotional connection between schoolgirls to explicitly sexual adult content — and has a genuinely diverse readership that includes lesbian and queer women, heterosexual women, and men.
Origins and Name
The term “yuri” to describe this genre emerged from a column in the gay men’s magazine Barazoku in the early 1970s, where the editor encouraged readers to send letters about female relationships. The word yuri (lily) was chosen as a counterpart to the column’s name barazoku (rose tribe). It spread into fan communities and eventually became the standard industry term.
Earlier stories that would now be classified as yuri predate the term: Riyoko Ikeda’s The Rose of Versailles (1972) contains intense female-female bonds and gender-transgressive relationships that have been read as yuri since publication.
The Demographics Question
Yuri is published across multiple demographics, which creates unusual market dynamics:
- Female readership yuri — published in josei or shojo-adjacent magazines, tending toward emotional realism and character interiority. Bloom Into You is the defining example: a slow, precise story about a girl who cannot feel romantic attraction and the girl who loves her anyway.
- Male readership yuri — published in seinen magazines or dedicated yuri anthologies aimed at male readers. This segment has historically dominated commercial yuri publishing in Japan, though female readership has grown substantially.
- Dedicated yuri magazines — Comic Yuri Hime (Ichijinsha) is the primary dedicated yuri magazine and publishes content for a mixed readership.
Spectrum of Content
Like BL, yuri spans a wide range:
- Implied or emotional yuri — relationships that are deeply intimate but never explicitly romantic, often read as yuri by fans even if not labeled as such
- Shojo-ai — a term used in international fandom (less in Japan) for non-explicit romantic yuri
- Romantic drama — explicit emotional and physical relationships between adult women, often published in josei contexts
- Explicit 18+ — adult content published in age-restricted magazines and platforms
Landmark Series
Bloom Into You (Nakataki Nio, 2015–2019) is widely considered the best modern yuri manga, distinguished by its psychological precision and its willingness to take the emotional life of its characters seriously over a sustained narrative.
Citrus (Saburouta, 2012–2018) was a major commercial success that helped grow yuri’s international audience, despite — or because of — its more melodramatic approach to its central relationship.
International Community
Yuri has a dedicated and vocal international fandom, particularly active on platforms like Reddit (r/yurimanga), Twitter/X, and dedicated Discord servers. Translators like the Seven Seas Entertainment yuri imprint and fan-translation groups have made a substantial portion of the genre accessible in English.