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- Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie
- Toei Animation
The 17 Best Yuri Anime Couples of All Time, Ranked
Vote for your favorite GL couples in anime.
Yuri is an anime genre that's focused on queer relationships between two female characters. Also known as GL anime - for girls love anime - these can include anything from cute and romantic stories known as shojo ai to steamy and explicit hentai series. The GL genre is a place where LGBTQ+ relationships take center stage by highlight WLW stories. While it can occasionally include tropes that aren't reflective of gay people in the real world, it's still great to see same-sex love flourish in the anime world. Let's take a moment to celebrate a few of these wonderful yuri couples.
Who are the best yuri anime couples? That depends on what you like in your romance. If you like wholesome, loving couples, you'll probably be delighted by Tomoka and Yui of Kase-san and Morning Glories, If you prefer your relationships a little more messed up, you might prefer Mei and Yuzu from Citrus. Love seeing women fall in love but prefer shonen or other genres? One great example is Ymir and Historia from Attack on Titan.
While these anime lesbian couples are all quite different, all of them are interesting in their own way - and most of them are couples that you want to see succeed.
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Yu Koito & Toko Nanami - 'Bloom Into You'
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- Bloom Into You
- TROYCA
Bloom Into You is one of the recent modern additions to the shojo ai and yuri genre, and it's also one of the best. That's because the couple at the center of the story is emotionally complex, and therefore fascinating. The series begins with Yu worrying about the fact that she's never felt the bubbly hearts and flowers feeling that she thinks you're supposed to feel when someone asks you out. When she finds out that Nanami, her upperclassman, feels similarly, she's elated to not be alone.
But soon after they meet, Nanami does start feeling a romantic attraction to someone - Yu. At first, Yu feels betrayed that they're not on the same page, and confused by Nanami's feelings, but over the course of the series, their relationship changes and grows into something spectacular.
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Tomoka Kase & Yui Yamada - 'Kase-san and Morning Glories'
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- Kase-san and Morning Glories
- Zexcs
Kase-san and Morning Glories is an hour-long OVA that features a truly adorable couple. It follows two girls with very different personalities as they develop a romantic relationship. Tomoka Kase is an athletic girl who is full of energy, while Yui Yamada is a quiet girl who loves gardening. Despite or perhaps because of their differences, they manage to build a strong and loving relationship and help each other overcome the challenges life throws at them.
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Haruka Teno & Michiru Kaiou - 'Sailor Moon'
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- Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie
- Toei Animation
Sailor Moon might be a magical girl anime from the 90s, but that doesn't mean it's not queer AF. In the original English dub, Haruka Teno and Michiru Kaiou are introduced as cousins. This is extremely odd, since they're girlfriends in the original series. Their love for one another inspires them to risk their lives as Sailor Scouts. When they aren't fighting by each others' sides, they relax together by playing music.
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Haruka Takayama & Yu Sonoda - 'Sakura Trick'
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- Sakura Trick
- Studio Deen
Haruka Takayama and Yu Sonoda started off their relationship as middle school best friends, but that quickly escalates when they get to high school and Haruka decides that their relationship needs to get closer. The two share a kiss, and all of a sudden their platonic friendship has turned romantic. The great thing about their relationship is how obvious it is that they care about each other. This is shown not only through obvious acts like making out but also through subtle gestures, like one girl forming a study group in order to help the other be successful in school.
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Ymir & Historia - 'Attack on Titan'
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- Attack on Titan
- Wit Studio, MAPPA
Ymir and Historia don't appear in a yuri anime. Instead, they appear in one of the most popular mainstream shonen anime in history. This is a sign that mainstream audiences and creators are becoming more accepting of queer love.
The two young women first meet while training with the Survey Corps. They form a powerful connection based on shared elements from their troubled pasts. Both of them experienced a combination of extreme prejudice and excessive and unrealistic adoration that made it difficult for them to identify with their true selves and prioritize their own well-being. They saw their own struggles in the other person. Through wanting to see the other person thrive, they were also able to grow themselves. Though it has a tragic end, it's a beautiful and mutually beneficial relationship.
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Chikane Himemiya & Himeko Kurusugawa - 'Destiny of the Shrine Maiden'
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- Destiny of the Shrine Maiden
- TNK
Just because you're a yuri fan doesn't mean you're exclusively interested in romance. Sometimes you want your lady x lady couple to come from an anime that blends romance with something else, like fantasy or mecha. Destiny of the Shrine Maiden is a mecha anime with a major yuri component.
Chikane and Himemiya love each other passionately and would do anything to protect one another - and their love will be tested dramatically when the incredible celestial powers that dwell within them are awakened, and they wind up on opposite sides of a terrifying battle of good versus evil. Will their relationship transcend the fighting, or will they be torn apart? It's this tension that makes them such a compelling couple.
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Shizuma Hanazono & Aoi Nagisa - 'Strawberry Panic'
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- Strawberry Panic
- Daume
Strawberry Panic is basically a lesbian anime soap opera, so just about every relationship that it depicts is fraught with drama. While the show features of a complex web of liaisons, the one at the center of the series is the relationship between Shizuma Hanazono and Aoi Nagisa. Aoi is an inexperienced transfer student who finds herself embroiled of her new Catholic school's complicated social hierarchy. Shizuma sits at the top of the hierarchy, but finds herself drawn to Aoi.
Their relationship sometimes seems like that of a mentor and a mentee, but it eventually blossoms into a full-fledged romantic relationship - but it's one without conflict since there are plenty of other girls waiting in the wings.
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Anthy Himemiya & Utena Tenjo - 'Revolutionary Girl Utena'
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- Revolutionary Girl Utena
- J.C.Staff
Revolutionary Girl Utena is a classic anime that should be on everyone's to-watch list - but it's an especially important show for yuri fans. Utena Tenjou is a teenage girl with one burning ambition - she wants to be a prince. In keeping with her goals, when she gets to Ohtori Academy she ends up dueling for possession of the Rose Bride, Anthy Himemiya. Rather than possessing her or using her for magical purposes, she intends to free her and discover the secrets behind her captivity.
Their relationship is more explicitly romantic and even sexual in the movie spin-off, The Adolescence of Utena, but their feelings for each other are clear enough in the series proper.
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Ushio Kazama & Sumika Murasame - 'Whispered Words'
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- Whispered Words
- AIC
Whispered Words is an underrated romance anime that features a particularly charming couple. Sumika Murasame is wildly in love with her classmate, Ushio Kazama. While she's delighted to learn that her crush also likes girls, that isn't enough - Ushio is oblivious to Sumika's feelings for her, and continuously falls in love with other girls who reject her. Sumika consoles her every time but hopes that one day Ushio will turn her attention to Sumika and fall in love with her. Watching these girls slowly progress toward a relationship that will truly fulfill them is a delight.
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Tohru & Kobayashi — 'Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid'
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- Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid
- Kyoto Animation
The protagonists of Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid are Kobayashi, a computer programmer who indulges in her obsession with maids when she isn't working. Tohru is a dragon from another realm who ends up working for Kobayashi as a maid as a ploy to spend more time with her.
While their relationship is challenging at first due to their having completely different personalities and expectations of reality. they eventually grow close and develop a romantic relationship.
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Cocona & Papika - 'Flip Flappers'
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- Flip Flappers
- Studio 3Hz
Flip Flappers is a strange anime that doesn't necessarily fit neatly into the "yuri" category, but nevertheless prominently features a relationship between two girls. Cocona is a sleepy student with no clear goals in life, whose humdrum life is completely shaken up by the appearance of Papika, a girl who drags her into the complicated world of the Flip Flappers. Together, through transcending dimensions and undergoing extreme joint transformations, they seek an item that can grant their wishes. To do that, they'll have to strengthen their bond significantly - because the transformations rely on synchronicity between the two of them.
If there's any doubt as to the romantic nature of their relationship, the fact that one of their synchronized transformations involves the two of them wearing wedding dresses should be symbolic enough to make the show's intentions clear.
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Yuzu Aihara & Mei Aihara - 'Citrus'
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- Citrus
- Passione
Citrus was a controversial anime, and the reason is the couple at the center of it. Yuzu and Mei begin their relationship as enemies - Mei is the daughter of the principal of their elite high school, and despises Yuzu for failing to follow the rules. When they find out that their parents have actually married each other and that they'll be living together as stepsisters, their relationship is complicated by feelings of attraction.
Nothing about the way they interact is healthy - Mei doesn't seem to care about Yuzu's boundaries for one thing - but not everyone is interested in a wholesome loving couple being wholesome and loving. If you like your romance a little more screwed up, Mei and Yuzu will satisfy.
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Suzu Nekoyama & Yachiyo Inugami - 'Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san'
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- Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san
- Seven
Suzu Nekoyama and Yachiyo Inugami's relationship may be based on a gimmick, but it's a really really cute gimmick. One girl is deeply introverted and has a catlike personality, while the other has an extroverted, doglike personality, but is a huge fan of cats. Naturally, the two are drawn to one another. If you like your yuri cute and wholesome, this couple is perfect for you.
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Sachiko Ogasawara & Yumi Fukuzawa - 'Maria Watches Over Us'
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- Maria Watches Over Us
- Studio Deen
Like Strawberry Panic, Maria Watches Over Us is another story about lesbians attending a Catholic school - but the romances are a little more down-to-earth. Sachiko Ogasawara is a beautiful and popular upper-classman who takes an unexpected interest in a transfer student named Yumi Fukuzawa - in fact, she offers to be her souer, a position which requires Sachiko to mentor Yumi and introduce her to the school.
Yumi is reluctant at first since her connection with Sachiko means a ton of attention from the rest of the school - but she also really likes Sachiko, and as the two of them get closer, she likes her a whole lot more.
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Himari Kino & Yori Asanagi - 'Whisper Me a Love Song'
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- Whisper Me a Love Song
- Yokohama Animation Laboratory, Cloud Hearts
What begins as a misunderstanding turns into one of the most wholesome yuri relationships in modern anime. Himari attends her new school's freshman opening ceremony where she sees a band perform. Connecting with their music, the boisterous and bubbly Himari exclaims to the lead singer that she has fallen in love.
The lead singer in question - Yori - is taken aback, but soon finds herself also falling in love with Himari… until she realizes that it was the music Himari fell for, not her. With her heart now set on the new girl, Yori vows to show her why they'd make the perfect couple and become more than just two friends who love music.
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Shion Karanomori & Yayoi Kunizuka - 'Psycho-Pass'
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- Psycho-Pass
- Production I.G
Psycho-Pass is an anime about a dystopian society in which humans are labelled and punished as criminals before actually doing anything with help from the Sybil System, a complex system that judges each person based on constantly scanning every detail about them. It's not a romance by any means, but there are romantic moments. One of those moments is between Shion Karanomori and Yayoi Kunizuka.
Shion works as an Analyst within Division 01 of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Public Safety Bureau. Yayoi was a journalist but was labelled a latent criminal and ended up working as an Enforcer - a category she's eventually cleared of. Though their work often prevents them from being together, they're still able to maintain a lasting, loving relationship.
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Fumi Manjome & Akira Okudaira - 'Sweet Blue Flowers'
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- Sweet Blue Flowers
- J.C. Staff
The relationship between Fumi and Yasuko doesn't come easily. Although the two are best friends, Akira spends a long time not feeling ready for a relationship of any kind, and Fumi doesn't feel ready to admit to her friend that she's a lesbian. She also dates someone else before she realizes how she truly feels about Akira. It's a long time before either of them are willing to take the next step with the other, but by the time they do, it's clear how much they care from one another as both friends and romantic partners.
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