So what’s up with all of these predatory chicks in yuri?
You know exactly what I’m referring to. I’m talking about the girls who are definitely into other girls but are also consistently shown to be way too aggressive or exploitive or creepy.
I mean, think back to Kuzu no Honkai. Sanae likes girls and the series does an excellent job exploring what it means to come to terms with your own sexuality and unrequited feelings as a confused teenager. However, Sanae also sort of forces herself onto her emotionally distraught and conflicted best friend and isn’t stopped because she use their friendship as a tool to get what she wants.
This really isn’t okay!
What about in Netsuzou TRap, where a clingy girl essentially gaslights and emotionally abuses her best friend out of petty feelings? I think most people remember what happened with Citrus since it’s so recent, so I’ll skip the summary for that one.
The point I’m trying to make is that these girls are manipulative and at least a little nasty. But they get away with it! People are fine with what they do because girl-on-girl is considered to be “hot” or because these girls have some sort of emotional hang-up or are messed up.
Sure, it makes for dramatic storylines which some people like to watch, admittedly. Yes, there are some people in real life who are really this bad. But this sort of conduct really paints lesbians in a bad light. Does every sexually-forward girl have to be like this? Can’t they just, I don’t know, ask their crush to meet them in front of the shed that’s behind the gym which is across from the homeroom classroom that’s in the left wing of the public school they both decided to attend because it’s nearby or something? What’s wrong with a good ol’ fashioned confession?
Maybe the people in charge consider non-toxic relationships to be too boring. Well, guess what? People who know about Kase-san are really into this “boring” couple that happens to have a very loving relationship that developed via wholesome means.
I get that toxic relationships, while terrible to be in, are considered to be exciting to watch by some. They’re, like, that white chocolate banana curry ice cream flavour! But I’m just trying to say we need some of that sweet vanilla stuff, too. And if almost every lesbian couple or implied lesbian couple includes a sneaky, creepy girl, then it just makes lesbians look bad.
Obviously anime never accurately reflects real life or defines a person and I think a lot of people are conscious of that. But some aren’t and they will start spouting some vile nonsense while acting holier than thou. Awful lesbian girls will just give them more fuel for hatespeech against queer romance.
So if having more varied anime characters isn’t good enough for you, then maybe that might change your mind. Or maybe not since the kind of individuals who start throwing around labels and accusations are always the kind you should ignore.
I’ve ranted enough. It’s 5:40 AM. I’ve got work in 20 minutes. Toodles.
I went for a more casual tone of voice here.
Let me know if this helped or hindered the post!
The Lily Garden 
It’s super common in the bl too…
And honestly even in shoujo the guys are getting this way…
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This trope is DEFINITELY getting very popular, I don’t understand it either. Is it a culture thing? Is this just how they view lesbians? It’s definitely strange… But, then there are many anime that depict unsettling and violent romances between heterosexuals as well, apparently this is just a theme that they enjoy.. 😕
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Yeah, it’s baffling and frankly frustrating. But I guess some people like it… hm…
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This brings up a really good point, this type of stuff would be fine if there was enough normal healthy depictions to balance it out ..There’s also just a lot of straight up Evil Lesbian tropes in anime, like with Wixoss and Mai-Hime. Which, I mean, I love a good villain, & I love a good gay, but yikes. I don’t necessarily know if anime tries to put this in in purpose, but a lot of older Hollywood movies would do the “predatory lesbian” trope bc they genuinely believed the stereotype that gay women were just all crazy Single White Female types trying to manipulate other women into loving them or whatever.
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Right, it would be less problematic if we had some actually normal lesbians.
Nothing wrong with gay villains, I agree, but yeah….
Older Hollywood movies sound like a riot.
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One of my biggest criticisms of anime as a medium is that it’s much too fond of predatory/abusive behavior, and that’s far from just a yuri problem. Definitely the whole “girls sexually harassing each other for comedy” thing is one of those tropes I wish would go away (it’s one of my few major gripes with Saki, for instance), but unfortunately that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Like I’ve watched two of those short/steamy romance anime they’ve been releasing over the past few seasons, and both of the ones I watched had scenes where the guy sexually assaults his girlfriend/love interest in a fit of anger or jealousy and she apologizes to him afterward. And those aren’t hentai catering to male rape fantasies or anything (don’t even get me started on that subject!), those are shows that are actually being made and marketed for women to watch. Talk about sending a horrible message to your audience.
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It’s definitely a(n?) universal problem and wish anime wasn’t married to this trope or beat.
Yeah, that hurts Saki. Blah.
WOW that’s some nonsense right there. He’s in the wrong! He can’t control his anger or something? Ugh. You’re absolutely right. Terrible message.
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Thanks for calling this out, you’re absolutely right. And it’s not just Anime that does this: Look at how popular the Fifty Shades franchise is in the West.
Abuse of any sort, in any context, is wrong! It’s not the fodder for humor, and it shouldn’t be considered entertainment.
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Nah I totally agree with you there’s way too many predatory lesbians in yuri anime. Even in the manga of “Kiss and White Lily for my Dearest Girl” Yurine pretty much preys upon Ayaka the entire story. Constantly following her around and asking people about her instead of you know, engaging with the person she has romantic feelings for.
I get that this type of girl is ‘trendy’ (disturbingly) right now, but it’s run it’s course and is boring to me now so I’d hope they make some new character types or something.
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Thanks for calling this out; and to sheet your question, I thought the more informal tone worked just fine. 😺
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*to answer. Honestly, where in the world does autocorrect get off with this harassment??
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THE PREDATORY AUTOCORRECT
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And thank you for stopping by.
I appreciate the feedback!
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Ooh this was quite an interesting read. I remember when we did our collab and I read my first yuri manga I made the comment that yuri was refreshing to read because it didn’t contain creepy or abusive love interests, but it looks like I was wrong. Like you said, even though common sense wise anime/manga don’t represent real life, all it takes is a few people who lack that sense and such negative representations do so much harm to the LGBTIQ community.
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Ah, yeah, I didn’t want to dash your hopes but there are plenty of toxic love interests in yuri.
Right? It’s really frustrating. Ah, I wish things would change but easier said than done.
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Yeah, this is trope that I’ve never been fond of. I think that the most common representation I’ve seen in the series that I watch are the lesbians who sneak up behind another girl and just, well, grab them. What really sucks is that it always seems to be palyed for laughs in those moments, but it’s not funny at all, it’s abuse. Ugh.
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I wouldn’t say it’s abuse but it’s definitely at least harassment. It’s really not funny at all but it keeps happening!
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It certainly does that. With regards to absue or harassment though, that may be UK thinking. The general definition here would be that, because it’s physical contact without consent, it would potentially fall under physical abuse, and maybe even assault. Harassment could also cover it if it’s a consistent behaviour targeted at one person, but I suspect that in reality, it could be charged under all three, potentially at once. Of course, that’s in the real world though, and anime often follows slightly different rules. On top of that, my knowledge of law is more tax-based, so who knows? I could be way off the mark there.
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I wasn’t too sure either, but this comment was very insightful. Thank you.
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