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Yuri Genre Narrator

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A Japanese genre exclusively centered around female/female relationships. Based off the TV Tropes page for Yuri Genre.from Chub

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Yuri (百合)Translation refers to a Japanese Media genre about sapphic romance and sexuality. Yuri works traditionally focus either on romantic or sexual feelings, but increasingly have both. Western fans will sometimes use the term "shoujo-ai" to refer to romance-specific, less-explicit works, while using "yuri" to refer to more sexually explicit work. However, in Japan, "shoujo-ai" often refers to girl-focused pedophilia, and yuri is also known as "Girls' Love" (in English), or GL, a term created in common with the more popular male version, "Boys' Love" or BL.

Yuri is a genre distinguished by many tropes, stereotypes, and specific plotlines or interactions. The term "yuri" is so strongly associated with those tropes and stereotypes that some Japanese yuri fans use a different term, like "bian" (short for lesbian)note , "Onna x Onna" ("woman and woman" (the x is usually pronounced as "to", "and" in Japanese)), or "Onna-doushi" ("women together") for works which are actually by/for lesbian women. Yuri is commonly an idealized and unrealistic portrayal of sapphic relationships, like most romance, and is not representative of actual sapphic people, culture, community, and experiences. This is, in part, due to the genre's high fluff content.

In Japan, yuri stories and portrayal depend a lot on the target audience demographic:

Yuri aimed at girls ("Shoujo yuri") is commonly hyperfeminine and "pure" but may feature some degree of gender-bending or cross-dressing, with the bifauxnen in a more traditionally male role. In either case, it's usually focused on stories of female solidarity, idealized femininity and gender transgression, with physical displays of affection rarely going beyond hugging and kissing. Yuri aimed at adult women ("josei yuri") is usually less stereotyped and fairly realistic, like most fiction aimed at adults. Many works in the demographic are targeted at actual sapphic women, which is why this type is often called "yuri for lesbians".note Yuri aimed at men ("seinen yuri") tends to emphasize (or overemphasize) sweetness, femininity, girlishness, innocence, purity, and moe generally. This type often shows a very romanticized or idyllic view of female adolescence or childhood. Alternatively, there are very explicit erotic stories focusing on fetishized lewd portrayals of sapphic romance or sexuality. These works also often fall under the Cute Girls Doing Cute Things category. Yuri aimed at boys ("Shōnen yuri") tends to only exist as a secondary or tertiary genre under the main focus/es (see "background/subtext" yuri below). Often portrayals of sapphic romance is subsumed under sapphic sexuality in these works, often working the fetishized Girl on Girl Is Hot. Yuri aimed at fans of the genre ("niche yuri") is found in specialized magazines where all the stories are about sapphic romance or sexuality. The first magazine of this type was Yuri Shimai, which was followed by Comic Yuri Hime and many others. These magazines try to cater to as wide an audience as possible, and publish both "pure" and erotic stories, with young and adult characters, and in all sorts of settings. "Background" or "Subtext" yuri is a cross-demographic type of yuri that has been gaining a foothold in Japan. These works portray female protagonists (often Action Girls) in lasting lesbian relationships, without actually being specifically about these relationships. Though this element has the same status that a Romance Arc in non-romantic fiction does, such works are classified as yuri in addition to whatever their primary genre is. Due to the Japanese's love for tragic stories of doomed couples, a disproportionately large amount of yuri works, especially older ones, tend to end in sadness, tragedy, obscurity, or audience-attracting sham. This is slowly changing and more fictional couples are allowed to have happy, committed, and Canon endings as time goes on.

When a yuri work was made has a large impact of exactly what tropes it uses. Older yuri of the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s tend to be more rigid in their adherence to standard tropes. Recent yuri works tend to break the traditional mold much more often as the genre expands and gains more mainstream acceptance.

The most common tropes you find in yuri, especially older yuri, are the Senpai/Kohai dynamic, Tomboy and Girly Girl, and Teacher/Student Romance. All three of these tropes can be cast in a particular light to make them appear to mirror or emulate heterosexual couples.

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