^That's how Micomet is made.

Did you play Akai Ito first? It's the first VN in the same universe and I think it is overall better, especially for the yuri. It also explains a lot of concepts that Aoishiro relies on. Of course some routes are just better than others.
Furthermore, did you rely on the fan translation? It is much better than the official mess of a MTL.

I was using the fan translation. It was pretty solid.
This is the first time I've seen anybody describe Akai Ito as a prerequisite of sorts for reading Aoi Shiro, but then again I haven't seen that much discussion about these VNs. I would've gone with Akai Ito first if I had known.

I don't want to give the impression that Akai Ito is absolutely necessary, in the end these are two different stories, simply set in the same universe with similar concepts. But while many consider Aoishiro the better of the two, I always had a preference for Akai.

1. The fan translation was completed as opposed to the ~90% for Akai Ito.

In regards to this, with the official release + fan patch you now have the entire game translated. Akai's official release was slightly more competent than Aoi's, so at the very least it's comprehendable if you read those last 10%.

Ultimately what stalled me on the VN was that the yuri was lacking. I found the actual story to be relatively engaging and the cast quite charming. The somewhat dragged out SoL scenes didn't put me off either. They weren't a chore to read because it peppered in a decent amount of banter between the characters.

I will not lie to you, neither of the two VNs is as explicit and strong on the yuri as I would like. Akai will not suddenly become FLOWERS. All I am saying is that the yuri aspect feels more supported. You barely have to use headcanon in Akai, though it rarely ever goes fully direct confession territory. At least the true route isn't disappointing.

If I could ask you about your first page list, why do you have Aoi Shiro listed under "VNs with Yuri focus" and then Fatal Twelve under "VNs with majorly Yuri content"? Because personally I'd either switch them or put them both in the latter category.
Admittedly I haven't finished the other routes for Aoi Shiro (but I'm expecting less, not more yuri in these routes) and it's been awhile since I read Fatal Twelve.
Both VNs have a main plot that drives the narrative with any yuri secondary. At least Fatal Twelve has an explicitly sapphic love interest who makes her interest in the main character clear at several points throughout the story, which is more yuri than what I saw in Aoi Shiro.
Also, don't they get together in the end, or am I misremembering? Which is definitely more yuri than Aoi Shiro. In fact it's a bit of a sore spot for me as far as Aoi Shiro's concerned.

No matter who I talk to they consider Aoishiro a yuri focused story. Everything revolves around these "relationships" and there are several "heroine routes". I think most people played it a long time ago when this level of subtext was treated as equivalent to yuri, especially back when it came out.
If it were up to me I wouldn't put it in the yuri focused category either to be honest. And yes I know, my list and all, but I try to find a general consensus.

Fatal Twelve is way more yuri than it appears at first, but it still is mostly a death game/detective story where the yuri is really only relevant to two characters out of a huge cast. Considering the major plot relevance the yuri has I could probably put it into the yuri focused category. But it's a coinflip and ultimately makes little difference.

Update: Added Chrono Jotter and Seraphim Slum to the list. Excellent yuri VNs.

last edited at Aug 27, 2024 6:11AM

Well I put Aoi Shiro on hold after my interest began to wane a bit. Made it through 2 routes but the lack of real yuri has left me a bit unmotivated to continue reading.
So I do recommend it if you're fine with the yuri not amounting to much.

Did you play Akai Ito first? It's the first VN in the same universe and I think it is overall better, especially for the yuri. It also explains a lot of concepts that Aoishiro relies on. Of course some routes are just better than others.
Furthermore, did you rely on the fan translation? It is much better than the official mess of a MTL.

I dropped Highway Blossoms because the writing wasn't up to my expectations. A lot of the flirting was pretty good but the overarching plot and a lot of the character interactions were too nonsensical.

Nonsensical...? I can understand not being a fan of the writing or the melancholic atmosphere, but this is a new one. What about the "plot" was so nonsensical in your opinion?

I've started reading Seven Days With the Ghost, which gets spicy pretty quick.
I can't tell if it's going to get more serious or stay mostly goofy and smuty.

I'm also reading Salome's Kiss. This one is definitely a serious work and I'm enjoying this main character. She's trying hard to contain her inner demons (AKA her homosexuality), but I look forward to her losing that fight.

I'd usually prefer you'd recommend them after you finish them. Though of course they are already on the thread's recommendation list, like all of these VNs you listed, so I suppose it's fine.

I've often dreamed about a yuri version of Aokana with Asuka as the protagonist, and while this isn't quite that, it does look promising and may scratch that itch. Hopefully studio Sprite will deliver with this one.
Everlasting Flowers Vndb: https://vndb.org/v46543

Yes, like I said in my last post, Everlasting Flowers certainly has a lot going for it in production value. It's only a week away, so I'm getting rather excited.

last edited at Aug 24, 2024 2:27AM

I may have a certain bias towards Medusa related sapphic stories, but what an endearing little gem this turned out to be. Fables and mythological beings in a contemporary Japanese high school setting sounds like an old lyre, but in truth execution is all the matters. If it makes me smile it is a success. And smile I did, almost as widely as Futakuchi-chan!

I'll do something I don't usually do and talk about some upcoming titles I look forward to a great deal. It may be presumptuous to talk about VNs that are not yet released, but these have quite the pedigree, so to speak.

At the end of the month (August 29th) we will see the release of Everlasting Flowers, a yuri VN that is described as utterly cinematic. Hundreds of CGs that make it feel like a visual narrative, amazing voice acting and a great soundtrack were already shown off. The steam page has the animated intro movie and shows off everything I discussed. This is my most anticipated yuri VN of the year, bar none. Evermaiden's translation would be nice too, but this is honestly even more exciting.

The other project does not have a release date on its steam page yet, although the Japanese version is allegedly scheduled for 2024. It's the visual novel adaptation of Vampdoll. I think many in the yuri community are familiar with the main artist Saku Takano. She has done a lot of unique yuri manga and has a very obvious obssession with vampire content. This VN promises both of those + some top notch battle manga style action.
I have never interacted with Vampdoll before, so please do not treat this as some kind of informed recommendation. I simply love Takano's art and the premise.

Let's hope both of these deliver everything they promise and hopefully I have spread some minor awareness for them.

last edited at Aug 4, 2024 3:24PM

Imho there's a big difference between actual "subtext" and "just not putting in the most literal words possible" and this VN def falls in the latter category imo. Ignoring all this feels like the equivalent of seeing a character saying "The moon is beautiful tonight." while giving a longing look and thinking "Man, she must really like the moon, huh." xD

Using the biggest example of not committing to actually showing romance and relationships in Japanese culture as an example was perhaps not the wisest move. You know that the majority of stories that use the moon line use it to not make the character openly confess to avoid showing a proper resolution? Subtext revels in the ambiguity. It was mostly used in fiction to nod at the audience that a character has romantic feelings and then regardless of the crush's response it is vague enough that it doesn't commit.

Anyway, it is easy to say that the romance works out or that it's "obvious" in this case, but if it is so obvious, why does the writer dance around it and give plausible deniability for no reason? This harkens back to the days of "superfriends" content where everyone always claims it's obvious that characters are in love or dating, but nothing on screen ever proves it and the author is laughing at yuri fans who will take anything. "They want to be together forever, they are soul-mates, they are like family, they care about each other" etc. etc. All used for superfriends media to justify the interpretation that they must be a couple when they openly state to being friends.
Lilja and Natsuka should not rely on these kinds of tropes or force people to use them in 2024.

I hope you understand that I am not stupid and can tell what the intention was. I am not ignoring all the obvious material here. It's clear that they are in love to me. But I do not fancy the writer relying on people to do the work for them to... to what? What end is there to justify the ambiguity? As you say there are plenty of confirmed and explicit side-couples. Is there any reason to not give the protagonists the same treatment?

It boggles the mind. As I said before, I can perhaps imagine a sequel being planned which will be more explicit and they are saving it up for that. Still what a turn from this author, who is known for his disgusting excessively mysoginistic non-con het porn to be so non-commital on yuri. I really do think there must have been some mandate from Bushiroad.

But enough about the issues with the yuri, the actual character drama of the VN is mostly well executed. Perhaps some of the suffering was gratuitous, but I like the positive resolutions. This game could have been hopelessly edgy and self-indulgent, but it felt genuine where it mattered and Natsuka is always a highlight during the entire story for me.
The only complaint I can muster in regards to plot is that some stuff was way too obvious.and telegraphed. But that may just be my overexposure to this type of story.

So Lilja and Natsuka: Painting Lies came out last week. I finished it the other day and was positively surprised, didn't expect smth this introspective from Frontwing of all studios.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2840900/Lilja_and_Natsuka_Painting_Lies/

Unfortunately the main pairing did not go anywhere in the end. I appreciate the explicit yuri side-pairings at least. Still somewhat baffling, unless they have planned a sequel already.

Not sure what you mean by that, they're as gay and together as can be. Maybe you missed their kissing at the christmas party?

It was one of those cop-out "kisses" that can be explained away by circumstance. In this case it was an "act".
There is no confession, no confirmation of any relationship and generally a huge lack of commitment. I would not consider this a major yuri work at all because of that. It's a good subtext VN with more explicit side-pairings, just as Bushiroad wants it. For some unfathomable reason they have decided to flood the market with yuri subtext VNs, something nobody has ever asked for. It certainly is on brand though.

I don't see the sense in it. Visual Novel readers are used to explicit content and there is no audience overlap... nobody who likes yuri wants subtext VNs and nobody who wants... uh... VNs with stuff other than yuri(?) wants these strongly yuri leaning subtext VNs. These are not CGDCT anime, they do not have a waifu chaser audience that has to be placated.

Supposing that they are leaning into the nakige/drama angle I perhaps can see some broader appeal, but that's stretching it. Heaven Burns Red this is not.

PS: Before I get eviscerated, I am not questioning the quality of Lilja and Natsuka as a story. This was solely about the yuri content.

last edited at Aug 3, 2024 10:01AM

So Lilja and Natsuka: Painting Lies came out last week. I finished it the other day and was positively surprised, didn't expect smth this introspective from Frontwing of all studios.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2840900/Lilja_and_Natsuka_Painting_Lies/

Unfortunately the main pairing did not go anywhere in the end. I appreciate the explicit yuri side-pairings at least. Still somewhat baffling, unless they have planned a sequel already.

However the author is... well I don't know if calling this artistic range is appropiate. More like a completely different entity. I'm all for second chances though, so it's better to see an author of this kind redeem himself I suppose.

I'm glad UsoNatsu seems to be pretty successful bc they just announced a manga adaptation of it today~ Serialization starts in the October issue of Yuri Hime and will be drawn by Rococo.

https://x.com/LYCORIS_info/status/1813592295301939575

Good thing we all bought that voice drama to show interest.
Joking aside, I hope it will be a successful run. Unless it wants to deviate from the source materal we already know the outcome, but it will be nice to see those scenes play out in artistic form instead of just words and single CGs.

last edited at Jul 18, 2024 8:48AM

Good news everyone!
UsoNatsu just got its first voice drama as a DLC on Steam. Completely translated naturally!
Let's support the devs so we get more quality yuri VNs like this in the future.

PS: I added more VNs to the list as usual.

The Steam summer sale started and almost every single VN on the recommendation list that is available on Steam is on sale. Grab all you can!

last edited at Jun 27, 2024 5:00PM

I have a serious request that I must see through. It may sound like something incredibly vague, but I assure you it is not.

My request is for any yuri with a femme top. Don't misunderstand, I'm not talking about a femme girl that has a fashion based superiority complex, a femme girl that is kind of assertive, a femme girl that is just topping during sex, a femme girl that can sustain a harem of tomboys and not any other arbitrary level of top!
What I'm looking for is a mean lean pretty girl turbo-dyke clam connoisseur with the will to bend the most dense material self-declared straight girls into submission!

Someone like Mai from https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/ma_ch%C3%A9rie except even more powerful.

Wakaba's ability to read Komaki's mind games is so well developed, yet she simultaneously doesn't understand what she is thinking at all. It seems all so strange.

For example the exchange:
"What would you do if you had a lover?"
"Probably a sleepover."
"Then I'm looking forward to it."
This can hardly be going over her head, yet somehow it does.

What really stands out in this chapter is how many weaknesses Komaki shows. For someone supposedly so perfect she suddenly appears much more hopeless. She can't handle spicy food, she can't sleep without her specific pillow. It's all contrary to her perfect image. Wakaba even actively compensates for those weaknesses.... Hmm. I think there is a point to that too.

@Rye
Never apologize for sharing knowledge. Rather we should thank you for your service in the trenches of the obscure and questionable.
As you suggest yourself, though, it doesn't sound like much of a recommendation, so I'd rather not put it on the list. For those interested your post will still give a proper evaluation of course

@icipher

Examples are in chronological order

OH my... If I had played that Demo I would have probably written it off myself. But who am I fooling? I'd still have played all of them even with a subpar translation.
I suppose all our thanks should go to dedicated fans that pulled through where corporations won't.

grading any of the FLOWERS volumes individually is tantamount to church schism

Hah. I am not fond of numerical ratings anyway. I do absolutely judge and analyse every volume of a novel series individually. It is important to take in a long series both on the micro and macro level in my opinion.

last edited at Apr 24, 2024 5:15PM

Personally I don't think Hiver deserve the amount of flak it seems to get. While certainly not without flaws and far from perfect, it's definitely not a disappointing disaster either.

In retrospect when looking through this thread it may appear like I'm on the negative side when it concerns Hiver, but I really do believe it's an amazing VN. I more or less agree with some people saying the mystery's resolution was lacking, but that wouldn't destroy all the emotional pay-off and character work it provides.

If I remember correctly @h3x rated Automne worse than Printemps, no? That is certainly... an opinion.

Yep :D Printemps was a good start of the series.

No offense, but the writing in Printemps is the weakest in the series by far. The writer clearly still didn't find their footing yet and the conclusion is unfathomably forced. While I understand that subjetive emotions will influence enjoyment a lot, it is also a fact that the majority of the fanbase considers Autumone the best written of the 4.

Your grievance with Automne seems to be with its mystery aspect, but that is by far its least important part. And even then, I'd consider these mysteries far more logically sound and interesting than Printemps', which all boiled down to forced character drama that in the end didn't really make any sense. The twins' plan in Printemps was basically non-existent. The mystery was written around the superficial idea of a Bloody Mary curse, but without actually giving the resolution any thought. All the deduction segments in Printemps require leaps of logic and brute forcing on the player's part too.

Even the long term mystery set-ups in Printemps make little sense. The game very clearly portrayed Mayuri's choice to leave as a result of the new rule of getting separated or expelled for romantic relationships between roommates. That is what triggered the whole situation. But it is never brought up again and this new rule doesn't exist in the sequels. Suoh immediately giving up on Mayuri the second she finds that message is beyond forced.
Mayuri's actions in Printemps don't make sense with Hiver's resolution but they are even more frustrating if you only played Printemps. It certainly left me infuriated to the point of nearly dropping the series right there.
The other long term set up without pay-off is Yuzuriha being attacked so the game could have some mystery that blames Mayuri for a crime. It is not actually resolved properly in Printemps and never gets a proper resolution anywhere else either.

Automne's strength lies in its character writing. It is by far the most thoughtful and self-contained in the series, with a very definitive conclusion that feels like the proper pay-off to a meticulously set-up arc. Even the alternate outcome where Yuzuriha dates Ringo has more depth than the usual tacked on alternate endings. Though admittedly the canonical twincest is a bit too tropey for my liking...

last edited at Apr 23, 2024 5:37AM

If I remember correctly @h3x rated Automne worse than Printemps, no? That is certainly... an opinion.

@icipher

after that fiasco with the original Printemps translation

I have only played Printemps years later, so I wasn't even aware of this scandal in the initial release. What exactly was the damage?

last edited at Apr 22, 2024 2:50PM

What's that about Aikawa? God dang what happened to her?

&

Ayo can someone explain to me what happened to Megumi? I don't play the game but i watch the translation of the game on YouTube.

In case both of you have not caught up since then and don't mind spoilers for some reason, at the end of Chapter 4 Part 1, Megumi leaves the military and goes into retirement in one of the Domes (temporarily). In Part 2 she returns. This doujin takes place in the gap between those chapters.

last edited at Apr 18, 2024 10:47AM

The drama CD in question will simply serve as the closing chapter in the eponymous “Flower Language” audio drama tetralogy.

It would certainly be nice if someone could at least make a summary of these, even if not a line by line translation. Just like the other supplementary material (in particular the artbook), these are basically essential pieces of info for people who care about the post-game.

UPDATE: yuri goddesses have actually blessed this wretched reality with a Flowers concert that will take place next year

I love anything MANYO touches, so I look forward to it.

(Rant time.
Unfortunately, I can imagine that most of this rings hollow to people who can't understand spoken Japanese, as nothing indicates that any of the drama CDs will ever get official English releases.

They did not even bother translating the voice actress commentary that was already in the games. I don't blame the translators of course. They got paid peanuts.

The fascinating thing to me is that Wakaba, by any normal measure, is actually outstanding and gifted herself. She may lose to the godlike at everything girls trope, but she still sails far above most normal people. Incredible grades, high singing talent and unreal luck at Mahjong.

The fact that she doesnt realize her own special standing because Komaki is a little better than her is probably the crystallization of the story. She has the slightest flaws, which make her human, but she is just special enough to scratch the ceiling and almost reach Komaki. So she goes on her tip toes and tries to pull her down to human levels, even if she is more liable to lose her balance and fall.

Of course it's obvious that Komaki is romantically interested in Wakaba and sees no other way to get close to her than this underhanded tactic, but I also think she wants to be defeated. Losing on purpose is out of the question though, because it proves nothing. She has created a soft win-win scenario for herself, but it still clearly bothers her that she can't get real affection. Oh how twisted.

So this is an unexpected update to an older VN... Without a Voice was updated to the 2.0 version and now includes full voice acting for the characters! This is a VN I already made a recommendation post for here. It's a short but impactful work that had me in its thrall for a while years back.
The new voice acting is very theater, but it does indeed fit the tone of the story. Of course it is completely optional.

Actual new releases include Sakura Isekai Adventure, another short VN in a long line of Winged Cloud releases. A lot of them are het, but the studio also releases quite a few yuri works, including this. It is not uncommon to hear the claim that Sakura VNs are the fast food of the VN industry. And I agree. Fast food can be quite tasty nonetheless.
I think there will be a general recommendation post just on Winged Cloud releases down the line. In the worst case by me.

For the Touhou minded folks out there, I can (maybe) recommend this new release featuring Patchouli x Alice. I fear I'm not deep enough into Gensokyo lore to know if this is a fan favorite pairing. It's a point and click game more than a VN, but the lines blur these days.

Finally a short yuri mystery VN that is absolutely free. I couldn't remember it's title for the life of me, so thank copy-paste! Zeitz Machz √Rhapsody

I want to do a proper recommendation post again soon, but I'm still contemplating which VNs to pick.

Why would that VN be only "majorly yuri" instead of just "yuri". You seem to have some strong preconceptions about omegaverse stuff, but especially for Japanese works whenever the concept comes up you can basically just read it as "what if human sex pheromones were real for some people". I've never once read one with a caste system or breeding based on the ABO subtypes, it's such a relatively tame concept that there's even Chinese ABO comics published on Bilibili, lol. It's come a long way from Supernatural fanfics about werewolves going into heat.
Dynasty has already (rightly) established that physical variation on the girls involved does not negate something being yuri as long as those girls have gay feelings. So what about that VN is not yuri?

Whether you can even call anything in the Omegaverse the equivalent to a human woman is debatable. Alphas, Betas, Omegas, all of these are basically mutants. It certainly depends on the writer how far they are willing to take these concepts, but suffice it to say that futanari is not considered yuri, even on Dynasty. That is why the futanari and yuri tag are not used in tandem, no matter how gay the girls feelings may be. If hermaphrodites by principle are not treated as female, then they are not ellegible for yuri. I'm simply taking the function of these tags to their logical extreme.
From what I can see this VN does not go into any detail on the specifics, so I suppose it is all up to the reader. In that case I would prefer to be on the safer side of things. That is all.

The list is first and foremost trying to cater to the widest audience possible. This means it goes from purists to players who are fine with anything. Having these distinctions helps everyone sort out what is what. It's not to devalue the contents, it is compartmentalization. I want people of every opinion to be able to understand what they see and choose accordingly. Let's not forget that they are still within the yuri category anyway.

Recommendations, reviews and discussions such as this can help people get a better picture of what they are dealing with, which is exactly why I only put things I didn't play on the list if someone makes a recommendation post. This automatically means things I may not be partial to, such as Omegaverse, still get a fair shake from those who are.

@Akaii
I can't say I ever wanted to hear Laura Bailey or Troy Baker sing, but the game certainly seems lovely. I'll add it to the list.

Not gonna try to make you put it on the list or anything, it's your list after all. Just coming back to say played it, finished it, enjoyed it. shorter than i expected but a fun, smutty yuri romp of about 3hrs~

3 hours? That is rather on brand for this studio. Oshirabu was also on the shorter side. Even moreso its sequel.

I do have to be clear about this though, I don't consider it my list. This is a collaborative effort. That's why I add games to the list that I haven't played myself as long as the poster can make their own recommendation for it. I generally trust people to judge VNs well enough to tell me if they fit the loose criteria of the list. Believe me, if this was my list, Yurinate! would never have made it in. ^^;

Keeping in mind that the devs went out of their way to make sure it's not futanari or any of the other... extremes of the Omegaverse I suppose it is only fair to consider this game a proper yuri title. Albeit one I will never touch.
I will add it to the list. However due to the uncertainties of this particular universe I will still take the precaution of putting it into the "Majorly Yuri content" category. I hope that's not too petty of me.

To show my goodwill I want to make clear that talking about Omegaverse content isn't a problem at all. Even more uh... characteristic examples of it could technically be put into the "Yuri adjacent" category. It is rather barren since its inception anyway. Not an awful lot of imposed bisexual narratives or futanari VNs going around in these circles.

Almost everything in (yuri) omegaverse depends on the author

Indeed, that's the crux. While the core idea of Omegaverse unfortunately has countless issues, a talented author will bend and mold the setting to suit their preferences in a meaningful and sensible way. The pure yuri section of this fandom is drastically the smallest of all though, so one can never be too careful.

That being said even if it has pure yuri focus, I abhor it. On every level I cannot bother to invest myself in a silly over the top caste society with inborn dynamics and scent glands and whatever else this subsection of fiction has to uh... offer.

※This game is based in a general Omegaverse setting. There are no references to hermaphroditism.

I assumed as much. That wouldn't be this team's style.

As an aside, would you consider putting Stray Gods somewhere on the list? It's something between a visual novel and an interactive still image film with a pause, and two out of four romance options are yuri.

I have encountered Stray Gods, although I didn't find the time to play it yet. I had the impression it was mostly a mystery game with musical elements. If you vouch for the yuri routes in it then I can put it on the list. As usual, I need someone to make an actual recommendation post for things I didn't personally play.
So if you could give a short summary of the game and why you like it that would be splendid!

last edited at Feb 22, 2024 10:36AM

LipTrip ~My Boss Is My Heat Suppressant?!~ The new Omegaverse yuri VN by dev team SukeraSomero of OshiRabu fame, with character art by Chigusa Minori (Convenient Semi-friend, Shino and Ren) come out this week on the 22nd!

Omegaverse? Apologies, but that is definitely not for me. How unfortunate, because I very much like the artist's work.
I hope you enjoy it at least. It has been a while since this team released something yuri adjacent after all.

That does bring up the question whether I can even put it on the recommendation list however. Omegaverse is in most part not really yuri. I'm sure that at least in this game's case they avoid the hermaphrodite aspect. Oh well, maybe if someone plays it and makes a case for it we can come back to that.

Added more games to the recommendation list and changed up one of the categories to include VN hybrids. This will perhaps make it easier to justify some of the games on the list. I even added Little Goody Two Shoes in that category, though it may be a bit of a stretch.

last edited at Feb 22, 2024 9:30AM

Ooohhh, Ever Maiden finally getting an English Release! Let's goooo~

https://twitter.com/lovelabjapan/status/1735665028752191574

Oh my, I thought it would never happen. This year starts off with good news.