Yuri, meaning girls love in Japanese, is often an overlooked genre, or either not a very well-developed one in media. It is a rare occasion when an anime adaption of one even gives fans a healthy, or cute relationshipーand when it does, does it create a wonderful one.
While there have been much healthier and stable yuri relationships and adaptions in recent years, there remain ones that happened to leave a bad taste in fans' mouths. And even if it did not, some were much more popular than other relationships, and in turn, overlooked. Here are the most popular yuri ships in anime, and ones that deserved a bit more love.
10 Too Popular: Aoi Nagisa & Shizuma Hanazono (Strawberry Panic!)
Strawberry Panic is a classic yuri anime that features a romance between an energetic transfer student, Aoi Nagisa, who attends an all-girls school and encounters Shizuma Hanazono first. While their relationship may be one that many fans admire, their beginning wasn't all that good.
While Shizuma is Aoi's first love, Shizuma's relationship problems in the pastーalbeit traumaticーcauses her to act callously to everyone, including Aoi, at first. Despite their pairing being popular as an entry-level anime to yuri fans, the characters' relationships do not seem to proceed that well, either.
9 Overlooked: Yuu Koito & Touko Nanami (Bloom Into You)
Bloom into You is one of the best yuri anime out there that shows a healthy, and adorable, relationship between two girls. After Yuu rejects a confession from a boy and sees Touka do the same action, she begins to think that they have similar predicaments.
Although Touka immediately confesses to Yuu instead, surprising her, she states she wouldn't want her to recuperate her feelings. That, thankfully, does not happen, and what fans received was one of the best pairings in yuri anime in recent years.
8 Too Popular: Izetta & Ortfiné "Finé" Fredericka von Eylstadt (Izetta: The Last Witch)
Izetta: The Last Witch may have not done well with critics, but fans of the anime were quick to pair Izetta and Ortfiné as soon as they saw the chance when this anime debuted.
While this anime is not classified as a yuri anime, the affection shared between Izetta and Ortfiné is clearly more than friendship to a lot of fans. Unfortunately, the anime's messy plot did not save the pairing from overshadowing other more well-developed couples.
7 Overlooked: Haruka Takayama & Yuu Sonoda (Sakura Trick)
Sakura Trick is a fluffy yuri anime full of sneaked-in kisses and girls that try to hide their feelings for another. Although Haruka Takayama and Yuu Sonoda are best friends, they realize they have romantic feelings for each other when they share a kiss.
While Haruka is the one who is the pushiest for kisses, Yuu acts as the shy one. What more could one hope for in a pairing? These two are adorable but were sadly overlooked for the slice-of-life plot and the time it debuted.
6 Too Popular: Yuma Okazaki & Hotaru Mizushina (NTR: Fabricated Trap)
When the name of an anime has the term "NTR" in it, one knows what to expect. This spicy anime tells of a girl named Yuma Okazaki who just got a boyfriend but does not know how she should go about dating him.
Cue in Hotaru Mizushina, Yuma's childhood friend, and her "advice" which includes kissing her often against her will, and you get their pairing. They drew attention from the anime, and although their relationship is not the healthiest, have gained recognition for the mature themes of the manga.
5 Overlooked: Suzu Nekoyama & Yachiyo Inugami (Inugami-san & Nekoyama-san)
Suzu Nekoyama loves dogs although her surname contains "dog", and Yachiyo Inugami loves cats although her surname contains "cat". Because both of them act like the animal the other loves, they instantly are attracted to each other.
Suzu and Yachiyo are a romantic-comedy type of couple that peels away from the serious tone of some yuri. It is too bad that they are overlooked because of the anime being short.
4 Too Popular: Mei Aihara & Yuzu Aihara (Citrus)
Citrus is a complicated yuri anime to watch. While some fans cite the fact that it gets better as a way of defending it, that does not change the fact that Mei is a problematic character.
Using a tragic past and backstory as an excuse for abuse and gaslighting Yuzu is not the least of this couples' worries, as Mei and Yuzu are also stepsisters. Couple that with Mei beginning to make unwanted sexual moves on Yuzu, and this is a recipe for disasterーand a toxic relationship.
3 Overlooked: Utena Tenjou & Anthy Himemiya (Revolutionary Girl Utena)
Although Utena and Anthy never "truly" get together in the original anime, the movies do this couples' romance justice. Utena wishes to be a prince, and that is just what she is to Anthy, who she wishes to save from being used as a prize.
The dynamic between not only them as a couple but their gender roles in the anime is quite admirable. No matter how long this anime has been out, its important message remains.
2 Too Popular: Madoka Kaname & Homura Akemi (Puella Magi☆Madoka Magica)
Madoka and Homura were never explicitly said to be a couple in Puella Magi☆Madoka Magica. That does not stop fans from shipping these two, however.
While the fact that Homura kills herself multiple times to save Madoka is admirableーand quite tragicーHomura is shown to only care about saving Madoka and no one else. This can be seen as obsessive to some, although the number of shippers on deck they have do not seem to have a problem.
1 Overlooked: Tomoka Kase & Yui Yamada (Morning Glory & Kase-san)
Morning Glory & Kase-san is a 2018 OVA that not a lot of fans know about, and it is a shame. The romance between Yui, a girl who falls in love despite unsure of the fact that that person is another girl, and Tomoka, a boyish-looking girl who is a bit perverted.
The romance between a shy girl and one who is straightforward in her romantic approach is pure and refreshing, along with their wholesome relationship.