This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.
Forbidden Love?
If there is one genre which thrives in the visual novel space it is Yuri. While other mediums and types of games touch on Yuri, there are none that put their entire focus on it in quite the all consuming way present in visual novels. Rather than being a sideshow for another genre to use as romantic fluff, it is front and centre in many of the best and defining titles you can play. On top of this prominence there is a distinct difference of approach to the genre taken by Japanese and Western developers. One presents a romance steeped in purity and idealism while the other focuses in on the issues of identity and belonging that effect the characters. These divergent paths have led to a variety of content and themes not present in many other spaces. Over the course of this deep dive these elements will be explored as well as a rich landscape of creators and visions of what Yuri means. Let’s fall in love with a cute girl and find out what makes the genre tick.
Vision of Purity – Japanese Yuri
Pervasive within Japanese Yuri is the idea of the romance as being akin to a garden of flowers and the pairing as the most brilliant blooms among them. The focus on a very specific set of emotions adds some distinctive flavour to the love story and helps this genre stand out. However, under the surface there is the same treatment of love as a form of titillation to sell a product in many games which use Yuri as a secondary element.
At its core the link to flowers and purity found in this style of Yuri stems from an extreme idealisation of the lesbian romance. It is placed in opposition to a male centric romance story which is by contrast is a tale of desire and lust with love being the ultimate driver behind it but obscured by this layer of impurity and dirtiness associated with men. In contrast the female is seen as the purer sex and thus it follows that any love between two of them would be equally pure. Even when lust does enter the conversation it treated with a sanctity as if it were the precursor to a holy act of union. Generally this is caked in vaguely Christian iconography and language, such as the pair attending a Catholic school, to present the pair’s relationship as an act before some kind of unseen divine presence which accepts their choice of partner.
We can see this in the Sono Hanabira series where the complete focus on a single couple makes it stand out the most. For each game their pairing is presented with a sort of all consuming sanctity, everything points to the couple from the supporting cast to the everyday events, even previous games’ couples act as conduits to insure the new couple comes together. An entire world orientated towards an outcome is a pretty convincing argument for its legitimacy. Theirs is a union painted through bright colours and delicate gazes and there is an almost otherworldly glow to their encounters to better emphasise the feelings they are enraptured by and the purity of their intention. Sono Hanabria is a particularly good example of these traits since it leans into lust as part of its content and even there the colours never let up, their acts are done in the light of day and have none of the messiness of a male orientated union, but it is instead one where only the cleanest intentions are realised and this is reflected in their language and generally cleanliness of proceedings. Overall it is a unique presentation of romance that puts this particular coupling on an almost unattainable level.
These distinctive traits do allow for the exploration of some emotions often forgotten about or sidelined in a more traditional romance story. The two points it excels at are the capturing of the feeling of wishful longing and the power our desire for human connection has over us. Capturing the essence of wishful longing within a romantic context is something many stories gloss over in favour of the more dramatic aspects of a relationship, such as the confession, and the intense focus affords to it in Yuri helps the genre stand out. Needing to be with someone else for your happiness is a part of love that effects both participants in often vague ways and the pale colour and idealises space of Yuri is a perfect place for exploring this since it can shift its already vague imagery towards this equally vague subject. In doing so it can present the emotions of its characters and explore the reasons for their emotional state and the effects it has on people. By extension the power of the human desire for connections is expressed through the completion of the longing and the realisation of the pair’s bond. Similarly to the longing, this is made possible by Yuri’s extreme emphasis on the emotional states of its characters and makes the strength of their desire for each other clear and gives a good space for exploring what exactly this means in practice.
Of course not everyone sells this vision of purity for the right reasons, there is no denying that the teasing of Yuri is a strong selling point for a product and there are many visual novels which lean into this for all the wrong reasons. These are the type of visual novels which have Yuri as a flavour to entice in an audience without then committing to the idea as in practice they pay it off with only vague insinuations. They also make use of the aesthetic by signalling the colour and composition associated with Yuri to paint the game in Yuri to complement the main thrust of the game, but the result often feels hollow because the juggling act between these elements is difficult to manage while keep a consistent tone. An example of this attitude to Yuri can be seen in The Curse of Kudan which uses it as a side element to drive the emotional core behind its main mystery focus. What results is a confused experience with the Yuri cues not matching the serious and darker mystery causing a form of narrative whiplash. Alongside this is the problem of the romances feeling undercooked and merely in there to act as bait to keep the player hooked without the developer considering that will have to pay this off at some point. This type of treatment for Yuri is strangely common despite its very mixed results from an overall game standpoint and more often than not leaves a sour taste in the player’s mouth.
A Vision of Reality – Western Yuri
For Western Yuri the presentation and priorities are very different than with Japanese Yuri to the point at which the only commonality at times is their base subject matter. Rather than pastel idealism there is instead a sense of the weight to the relationship. It is something to be treasured but there are many experiences which will be difficult or strange to those under these emotions. This shift in approach from their Japanese peers stems from the different origins of those creating the influential titles and the space around the topic which has developed.
Even when the setting is fantastical Western Yuri has its sights firmly set in the real and grounded experience that reflects the lives of actual lesbians. These take the issues and frames them individually within events and characters who bring it into an easy to digest form that emphasises the emotions involved. Presentation of these themes is not limited by an established visual language and instead plays host to many contrasting uses of imagery from other genres with interesting merges taking place in order to get the desired effect. As a result there are a lot of different interpretations of the same ideas that have arisen leading to many new ways of approaching the Yuri design space as well as a fair amount of cross-pollinating from popular games. One of the best examples of this culture of design can be seen in Blackberry Honey. This visual novel, set in mid-19th century England, takes the issues surrounding lesbians relationships and puts them into a distinctive historical context which allows them to standout against a world hostile to their existence. In assuming the visual identity of the era the game gains a presentation it can play with to better convey its ideas without being bound to a set of prescribed iconography. On the other hand this does mean the game has to work twice as hard to make sure it is clear in its intent since it has nothing within the player’s established understanding of the genre to fall back on. It is a trading of stability for freedom and it is a common choice among many Western Yuri games.
The difference in approach originates for the far more indie centric development of Yuri visual novels due to the way the market has developed in the West. Rather than being defined by an industry in need of profit to survive, the Western scene is defined by individuals or small groups who act within the genre out of a love for it and as a result the vast majority of the visual novels produced by them are passion projects that their developers do not expect to make large (if any) profits from. As you would expect this leads to a diverse field both in terms of game concepts but also the people involved due to the low barrier for entry and easy access to simple but competent engines. Of course such a wide array of releases leads to an unevenness in terms of quality with many being basic in nature with a few which stand out for their distinctive originality, but each one has the same passion and contain the experiences and thoughts of their developers. NomnomNami is a good example of an individual within this space. Their projects are small in scale but tight in focus and have allowed them to develop a visual and narrative identity of their own that reflects their passion for the ideas they express. Rather than being made with an eye for sales their projects are the stories they want to tell and this comes across in every moment of these games. They also showcase of how there is a lot of overlap in Western Yuri between the genre and other LGBTQ+ narratives and spaces. Many of their works often touch on, if not outright make the focus, other feelings effecting this group and the commonality between them.
Conclusion
Regardless of which of the two approaches you might follow in your own work or play, there is no denying the unique power that Yuri has to inspire the presentation of often unexplored ideas and emotions in relatable fashions. Be it through the bright colours, pseudo religious imaginary and idealism of Japanese Yuri or the grounded, alive and real issue orientated Western Yuri, there is no limit to the sheer variety of expressive tools on offer for budding developers. Each one offers some angle on love that a more traditional romance experience would shy away from but which Yuri makes front and centre for all to see. The strange mixture of longing, desire, hopes, acceptance and realisation which make the space such a sight to behold continue to attract more people into the genre. Perhaps something here tickled your creative juices and you want to explore this space more and doing so would definitely be worth your time as the diversity on display is not something any one article can possibly capture.
