Maybe I've missed something but this didn't feel like a yuri story. There was no indication she loved her friend in a romantic way. She just said she feels safe with her around all the toxic men in her life. Maybe it could've become yuri but what we were given doesn't suggest it ends with them together.
I have the same feeling, and I feel the same way about calling her Bi. I don't see much there. It's a sweet story, though and I can assume the author must have meant it as yuri but it's not there on the page, while her het stuff is certainly all over the place..
Exactly. It gives more of a "when you're down and in trouble it's good to depend on those who care for you" kind of vibe. Suggesting she should date her friend just because she was the only one she had a good relationship, despite not having any feelings for her prior, wouldn't be something I suggest someone should do.
I would have normally said maybe we're assuming their sexualities based on the author's history but this author has written a lot of Het and that also goes for their currently running series. So, it's mixed. I think at best the author is using an old-school version of yuri (girls interacting, not necessarily romantic, subtlety, ambiguity, etc.). Anything else is not really in the story itself. Interesting read anyway.
I think this work passes a broader, descriptive/additive definition of yuri, in that the F/F relationship is at its center, said relationship is emotionally charged, and while a rival F/M relationship exists it ultimately "loses". I would normally not try to argue against tagging it as subtext, but in this case the creator did tag it as yuri in the release post, and since I see no indication they did so in bad faith I'm inclined to take it at face value.
When categorizing works, I think it's more helpful to think of yuri as a process, instead of a certain relationship milestone being cleared, proof of a certain sexual orientation, or a seal of approval of the relationship as healthy and sustainable. Did Madoka and Homura fail to 'become' yuri -in the eyes of fans- just because Homura is allegedly abusive and they are not officially dating (at the time of this writing)? Should book stores not categorize A Monster Wants to Eat Me as yuri just because the central relationship is based on not explicit romantic feelings but hunger and death wish? There are many great stories that are generally accepted as yuri, where the relationship is not explicitly romantic but still stretches beyond the limits of "friendship between girls/women" as it is usually depicted in hetero media.
Just for fun, I also want to look at the ways this oneshot is consistent with the usual workings of yuri manga. The two girls are introduced as a pair of opposites. They interact on more than half the total pages (I counted about 17), but to call it mere interaction sells it short. Time seems to slow down when Kurihara is with Suwada; the scenes where she's with other people are more brief and to the point. And their shared scenes form an arc where the distance between the two is gradually closed both physically and emotionally.
In the first act, they speak somewhat formally, always standing at least a foot apart, and Kurihara looks away when Suwada notices her staring. In the second act, when Suwada confronts Kurihara full of concern, she now catches her hand, and Kurihara tries to get Suwada to back off by invading her personal space. In the third act, Suwada distracts Kurihara's attacker and leads her away by her hand. They keep running together bathed in the lights of the city as Suwada desperately tries to get through to Kurihara, and they only let go of each other's hand when they stop to catch their breath. For a moment the two look each other in the eye, faces red and still out of breath, and their hearts are still beating fast when they finally embrace. (That entire third act sounds like a checklist of yuri -and generally romance- tropes.) Through the whole story some kind of tension keeps brewing between the pair, bubbling to the surface in the third act, and it's only resolved somewhat when they share that hug. The exact the nature of each girl's feelings may be left unclear, but the framing of their interactions is romantic to the max.
And during this time they are not quite friends but just classmates. Suwada was so worried for a classmate who -as far as she knows- hates her that she went looking for her downtown at night. Her feelings seem to go beyond concern, and are kind of contradictory. She is frustrated, but she can't hate this girl who always blows her off and won't look her in the eye, and she doesn't know why she can't hate her. (Kurihara's feelings are similarly messy, as she finally lets Suwada comfort her despite still being conscious of them being "opposites".) That kind of 'irrationality' has a romantic charge in fiction (and often in real life).
Honestly I can totally see them as an adorable couple in the future, when Kurihara's situation is more stable and she has at least a few friends to lean on. With Suwada's backing she's bound to find some friends at school. Suwada being Kurihara's savior of sorts is not a reason for them to be together, but if they're still drawn to each other long after the storm has passed and they stand on equal grounds, I don't see a problem.
last edited at Jan 5, 2025 8:32PM
