I'm looking for people's opinion's about what they considered the best yuri stories they have read. I'm not restricting the scope to any genre or tags. The aspects of good storytelling I'm looking for are well-defined characters, excellent pacing, immersive art, minimal use of tropes, compelling plotlines, and an overall sense of respect for the reader. I want to filter out bland, unengaging, and forgettable content. It does not have to be completed, either. Thank you for your help!

These are some that I think are pretty great in terms of depth and story
Shimanami Tasogare
Ohana Hololo
Run Away With Me, Girl
Silver Gymnasium
^theres one story in here that veers off from the rest but overall the pacing is pretty good
There’s honestly a lot more I’d wanna put but these are probably my top picks that I always go back to, there are some one shots that I really like but most of them are pretty short
A Delinquent, a Transfer Student, and Their Silly Little Game
But this one’s just too cute not to add
Oop and also this If It Rains Next Week
And this 30 Minutes

Thank you for these great stories to read. I can't wait to start.

There’s honestly a lot more I’d wanna put but these are probably my top picks that I always go back to, there are some one shots that I really like but most of them are pretty short

If you have time to kill, feel free to give me them all. Don't hold back! I'm going to devour them all. While I like long stories for the simple reason that there is more to enjoy, I'll take short and sweet as well! A lot of great short stories add up to one great long one.

I'm looking for people's opinion's about what they considered the best yuri stories they have read. I'm not restricting the scope to any genre or tags. The aspects of good storytelling I'm looking for are well-defined characters, excellent pacing, immersive art, minimal use of tropes, compelling plotlines, and an overall sense of respect for the reader. I want to filter out bland, unengaging, and forgettable content. It does not have to be completed, either. Thank you for your help!

Can't say that my opinion doesn't change every other month, but here are some that have "stood the test of time" for me. In no particular order:
Graffiti and its sequel.
From Aiu Station on the Hiragana Line (Also has a sequel.)
Aqua Blue Cinema
Collectors (4-koma, so it might miss on pacing or plot-line for you.)
Water Depth (This story is almost poetic.)

I notice that I'm listing mostly shorter pieces. My favorite longer ones seem to be slice of life, meander a lot (e.g., A Kiss and a White Lily), are so heavy I've no desire to reread them (e.g., Octave), or miss out on other points you're looking for.

<--- But I do try to keep my lists clean, so feel free to explore my Favorites folder.

I will definitely check these out, and thank you for the lists and recommendations. Octave is a really great story that I thoroughly enjoyed. I just caught up with It's a Detached Relationship. I was feeling that post-binge emptiness and looking for the next buffet to fill myself on.

last edited at Feb 23, 2021 11:54PM

I'm looking for people's opinion's about what they considered the best yuri stories they have read. I'm not restricting the scope to any genre or tags. The aspects of good storytelling I'm looking for are well-defined characters, excellent pacing, immersive art, minimal use of tropes, compelling plotlines, and an overall sense of respect for the reader. I want to filter out bland, unengaging, and forgettable content. It does not have to be completed, either. Thank you for your help!

I'm all in. Let's go!

Japan is hellbent on exploring every possible type of ship and I for one am happy to ride that imagination train and see all the stops, even if it gets cringey. The layers of awkwardness that can pile up in this story is dizzying:
1. The daughter gets jealous of her father's affection for her mother.
2. The mother feels like she is betraying her daughter by sleeping with her husband.
3. The father secretly monitors the mother and daughter being overly intimate over a period of months and begins a campaign to restore their morality through psychiatry, religious intervention, and finally legal action
4. The daughter grows up and brings girls home and drives mom insanely jealous (as a previous commenter mentioned)
5. The daughter remembers everything of her past life and cannot help exploit that information to manipulate the adults who were once her childhood friends by using their secrets against them (ok this turned dark for some reason).

"Oh, you want an affair, you little bitch? Well, I'll give you an affair to remember! I'm just doing this to prove a point, its not like I like you! When are we meeting up next?"

This one shot was a metaphor for 2020; simultaneously fascinating and horrible.

Any else getting Junji Ito vibes from this manga? The manga is hilarious but just ever so slightly creepy. My ominous radar keeps getting triggered.

There’s kind of a built-in governor for how cheerful yuri stories with the Ghost Tag can be.

When I see the Ghost tag, I'm clicking to get my soul-crushing thousand yard stare feels on, and this did not disappoint.

One of these days I want to see a one shot Ghost yuri expand to a full 10 chapter blow out of agony and regret. Something like Nagisa begins to suffer traumatic mental breakdowns from the pain of being a doomed spirit in front of Ako at all hours and begging for her company before she vanishes into nothing forever. Ako, driven to madness, commits suicide in front of her family and comes back as a ghost only to glimpse Nagisa fade into nothingness while screaming in desperate horror. Ako is left to wander alone for the rest of eternity.

Riri goes from victim to voyeur in the blink of a yuri eye

I don't want the panels to stop!

Could also be "clear out stuff as efficiently as possible (in use of my time)".

Could also be Touko being stone blind to interpersonal nuances as usual.

It's most likely both of these. I just find it fun imaging Touko being an evil mastermind that gets everything she wants by making it look like other people are trying to provide it for her from their own volition when in fact they have been manipulated into doing it. Or maybe I'm playing too much Among Us.

last edited at Dec 5, 2020 9:40PM

Could also be "clear out stuff as efficiently as possible (in use of my time)". </>

Could also be Touko being stone blind to interpersonal nuances as usual.

It's most likely both of these. I just find it fun imaging Touko being an evil mastermind that gets everything she wants by making it look like other people are trying to provide it for her from their own volition when in fact they have been manipulated into doing it. Or maybe I'm playing too much Among Us.

last edited at Dec 5, 2020 9:36PM

Imagine inviting all of your exes over at once to pick up their stuff. How could this go well?

This feels like a power play by Touko with multiple effects. Touko gets to bring Akari closer to her by showing how in demand she is and spark some jealous possessiveness in Akari. She also wants to flex and spark envy and desire from the exes by showing she can seduce a high school girl and show how many beautiful women she has been with. That seems to have worked on Ayano, who reacted to Akari by trying to talk her into moving out of all things.

Touko is coming off as a master manipulator. But don't hate the playa, hate the game!

It's hard not to think of Death Note after reading this. However, the idea of seeing a person's death timer above their heads is too freaking cool not to explore in other stories, originality be damned.

But if we were to go and overanalyze this silly concept further, I think it's worse that now the girl has a proof that her actions in reaction to seeing the clocks actually matter. So now it's easier to blame yourself for deaths of other people since you could theoretically prevent it...

This is a great reason for the author to give us sequels! Let's go! There are so many ways this story can play out, I really want more.

Poor Kimura is the universe's emotional punching bag. My gut instinct says things will turn around for her early in the next chapter. See you in 1-3 months!

The story ending like this is confusing and mysterious. Why create these long story arcs over 37 chapters and then abruptly halt them with little explanation? I wish we could know what the author was thinking. It's almost like J. J. Abrams wrote a yuri manga with the pen name of tMnR. I felt like this story, with the pace and gravity it was seemingly attempting to achieve, could have reached one to two hundred chapters. More chapters means more money to the author. It feels like they are throwing away money and good storytelling.

last edited at Nov 5, 2020 5:30AM

So happy to have Chapter 10!!!

This manga captures the passionate beginnings of love in ways I can relate to. In other stories, there is drama and plot points woven into the beginning of the relationship, which gets in the way of the characters expressing physically how they feel about one another. I appreciate how this story strips away most of that so we can see passionate young love blossom naturally.

I also enjoy that the conflict of the story is driven mostly by their own questions and struggles to understand the feelings and motives of themselves and their partner, and the meaning of their relationship.

It is wonderful to see them become emotionally invested in each other and begin to express these feelings, even with the help of a scheming classmate.

I want to see this love extend for the rest of their lives and reveal their progress at different stages. That would be super cool. But the next chapter could be the last, lol, who knows. >< Yuri mangas tend to run short.

I would love love love a sequel. Seeing Kisaki express her love botanically is delightful. Chishiro's earnest goodness and receptiveness to Kisaki is super satisfying. I also enjoy interpreting Kisaki's woodman syndrome as a metaphor for lesbianism: misunderstood by many but in fact a super power.

Hanjuku Joshi

As a plus, this one is still going.
Well, the sequel series is, I mean.

Awesome! Tyvm!

Would “The Secret Recipe” by Morinaga Milk fit into your standards? The MCs start off pretty passionately!

Wow, they are off to a great start! Tyvm! I'm reading this one now.

I really enjoyed "The Secret Recipe". I wish the story started where it ended! It is very hard to find yuri manga that are about the relationship rather than the buildup to the relationship.

Glad you enjoyed it! Yeah the MCs were interacting very regularly but their romantic relationship didn’t start right away :(

If you are still looking around, I would recommend “Miss Angel Miss Devil” where one of the two main couples are dating from the start of the series. You can find it on Mangadex. I went on a rampage on old stuff I used to read and that’s probably the only series I know where the MCs are dating from the start! If I find more I will make sure to tell you :)

Thank you so much! I greatly appreciate the rampaging. I am going to read MAMD now.

I'm looking for romance stories where the characters start off their relationship very early story and most of the story is about their relationship, rather than the build up too it. I also want the characters to be in love and express this love physically through kissing, hugging, sex, etc. The more passionate the love, the better, and the sooner the relationship starts, the better. I'm also leaving the definition of relationship intentionally loose to cast as wide a net as possible.

Since you mentioned you liked The Secret Recipe, then I would recommend the Nana & Hitomi chapters of "Kisses, Sighs, & Cherry-blossom Pink" (not available on Dynasty, but they are licensed in english, and alternatively available on MD), as well as My Cute Little Kitten, both by Morinaga Milk.

Also:

Her Kiss - Infectious Lust

Our Teachers are Dating!

Hanjuku Joshi

An Aside Told To You

Bocchi Kaibutsu to Moumoku Shoujo (Can find this one on MangaDex. There are also two H-Doujins by the author.)

Thank you very much for the recommendations! I'm going to start reading these now.

Would “The Secret Recipe” by Morinaga Milk fit into your standards? The MCs start off pretty passionately!

Wow, they are off to a great start! Tyvm! I'm reading this one now.

I really enjoyed "The Secret Recipe". I wish the story started where it ended! It is very hard to find yuri manga that are about the relationship rather than the buildup to the relationship.

Would “The Secret Recipe” by Morinaga Milk fit into your standards? The MCs start off pretty passionately!

Wow, they are off to a great start! Tyvm! I'm reading this one now.

I'm looking for romance stories where the characters start off their relationship very early story and most of the story is about their relationship, rather than the build up too it. I also want the characters to be in love and express this love physically through kissing, hugging, sex, etc. The more passionate the love, the better, and the sooner the relationship starts, the better. I'm also leaving the definition of relationship intentionally loose to cast as wide a net as possible.

My favorite example is After School: https://dynasty-scans.com/series/after_school

Other examples are:
Hana Ni Arashi
Even If It Was Just Once, I Regret It

I want to avoid stories like Cheerful Amnesia, even though it is about a couple in love it does not depict much physical contact.

Bloom into You and Citrus would be left out because they are based on the build up of tension rather than exploring the relationship itself.

So, Do You Want To Go Out, Or? is about their relationship, but the characters do not have passion for each other.

I would happily settle for a story like Kase-san, even though much of the story is the build up to their relationship, there is still a lot of relationship to explore, the quality is high, and there is lots of love.

No limits on the kinds of tags. It can be romance, drama, comedy, adult life, NSFW, etc. Sorry if this has been asked already.