My Yuri Anime & Manga quick list
For fun, a brief rundown of the yuri / shoujo-ai anime and manga I have seen and read with brief descriptions (in case newcomers wanna get into it) and opinions.
I organized these in order of significance, amount, and quality of yuri. Though some series may have a TON of yuri as compared to the first entry, the first entry is by far one of the best anime I have ever seen in terms of quality so it wins hands-down.
ANIME - Yuri is central
Maria-Sama ga Miteru - (Marimite for short) my very favorite. Its about girls at a Catholic girls school and their lives and dramas throughout the school year. Its not over the top in any way - not silly, not overly dark and serious, making it a bit more realistic than you'd expect. Has some of the best character development of anything I have seen, and has TONS of tension between Yumi and Sachiko. Also includes an arguably-obvious-but-never-stated lesbian character, Sei, who tends to be most fans favorite character (including me) - she gets two episodes dedicated to her back story about her first (lesbian) love. Two seasons of 13 eps each, plus 5 OVA (licensed), a bunch of manga (download some here), all based on a bunch of novels.
Simoun - Kinda hard to describe this one. In a world where everyone is born female and at 18 chooses a gender, this series is rife with girl-love. Series follows a team of what basically amounts to fighter pilots - only pre-gendered girls can pilot the crafts known as Simoun. Each Simoun is piloted by a pair who kiss one another and then the orb that powers the craft in a ceremony to get the craft started. Though many pre-gendered girls fall in love and then choose a gender so that they are one woman and one man, it is hinted that there are no real boundaries in terms of men loving men and vice versa, so really the woman+man choice is one of practicality in some ways (sexual mechanics, child bearing, etc). Yuri is central in the plot between characters but its done within a greater story about the mysterious powers that drive the Simoun and their war with neighboring countries. Unique and solid with good animation, good plot, good characters - one of the better yuri anime out there. Available in US.
Revolutionary Girl Utena - 39 episode anime that is very difficult to watch due to the vast amount of episodes which are cyclical in that three rounds of tournaments occur before the final showdown. "Utena" is a shoujo anime that takes place at a fancy boarding school. Utena is the famous pink-haired protagonist, an optimistic girl who stumbles into the school's secret world of sword duels. The winner of each duel wins Anthy, the Rose Bride, and can do whatever they want with her. Utena is unwittingly dragged into the duels when she stands up for Anthy. Utena duels and wins Anthy, after which Utena is constantly trying to protect her from the use and abuse of others, all the while struggling to get behind Anthy's mysterious outward persona to build a friendship with the girl beneath. Utena's dedication to Anthy is very romantic and one of my favorite stories in anime - unfortunately its difficult to re-watch because of the repetitive battles (and car scenes in the last third), and because of the heavy metaphors and symbolism. Not a good series for beginners or people who want mindless anime. Available in the US.
Adolescence of Utena - The film adaptation of the previously mentioned anime. This movie has nothing to do with the series; they just took the existing characters, setting, and themes and rebuilt the story with a slight twist and about 200% more surrealism. Most of the symbolism *can* be pieced together without having seen the anime, but I think it would make a LOT more sense if you had. Without any critical film watching skills, a viewer is likely to think the film is a serious acid trip. Anyway, same basic plot but done in about 90 minutes and with a far more satisfying ending (and a real lesbian kiss done for love and not fanservice!). This time its more obvious that both girls need rescuing by one another. Anthy is also more lovable in this version. Again, I can't rewatch it too often because of it being so bizarre, but I love it - romantic, beautifully animated, and with the same moods as the anime. Available in US.
Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl - a 26 ep series about a boy, Hazumu, who one day is struck by an alien ship and turned into a girl. Everyone around Hazumu has varying degrees of difficulty adjusting to Hazumu's new gender - except Hazumu herself. The main story is about these adjustments - including Hazumu's relationships with two girls: Yasuna a girl who cannot see men and falls for Hazumu as a girl, and Tomari, a childhod friend who loved Hazumu as a boy and now struggles with her feelings with Hazumu as a girl. The larger plot deals with Hazumu struggling to decide between the two. What's hands-down awesome about this series is the lack of any prejudice and fanservice as far as the relationships and sexualities go - its tastefully done. So, yuri is central, story and characters are good, making for a solid anime. Available in US.
Kannazuki no Miko - Seinen (guys) anime. It actually has a horribly ridiculous plot and weak character development but I like it anyway. Be warned that it involves mecha. The story is loosely based on Japanese mythology. Takes place at a modern school in a small town in the hills. Two main characters, Himeko and Chikane, are best friends though Chikane secretly wants more. In the first ep, the evil god Orrochi awakens and sends forth 7 people as his minions with giant mecha. One of them is Souma, a boy who loves Himeko. As it turns out, the two girls were (unknowingly to them) the priestesses of the sun and moon and are there to protect the world from the Orrochi. Many battles ensue including Souma and Chikane fighting for the love of Himeko. The only reason to watch is because the girl gets the girl (remember to watch until after the credits on the last ep). Anime and manga (soon) both available in the US.
Strawberry Panic! - I have a lot of mixed feelings over this series. Too many people take this one seriously when it is obviously a parody of many other series, most obviously Marimite. Over-the-top drama with horribly weak and ridiculous plot devices, plot holes, little-to-no character development, with lots of annoyingly pointless episodes that seemed to drag on forever. YMMV. However, it is infamous for being a hive of yuri between characters, particularly between main character Nagisa and Shizuma, Hikari and Amane, Tamao and Nagisa, and the two evil girls. In this, the yuri relationship drama, it excels. Ultimately the 26 episodes felt like they could of been condensed into 13 eps. If I rewatch, it'll be with a lot of fast-forwarding - the good parts are great, the slow parts are just too painful for me. Available in US.
Yami to Bōshi to Hon no Tabibito (Yamibou for short). 13 episodes. Hazuki and Hatsumi were raised as sisters, Hazuki always protecting Hatsumi. On the night of her 16th birthday, Hazuki walks into Hatsumi's room to steal a kiss in the night only to have her dissipate into sparklies. A little bird appears and tells Hazuki that her sister is actually Eve, the guardian of the library of the universe or some such. Hazuki tears across the universe in search of Hatsumi/Eve. Each episode (mostly) takes place in books from the library, meaning that the settings change vastly from episode to episode, sometimes with seemingly unrelated characters. While colorful and creative, it was frustrating to watch. The yuri is up-front, and while it starts off squickish (they're SISTERS!) its better once you find out they aren't related. However, the end is one of the worst possible and just plain WRONG. Nothing good comes of this series.
ANIME - Yuri is peripheral or arguable
.hack//SIGN - 26 episode anime that takes place almost entirely inside a futuristic, virtual-reality MMORPG called "The World". Tsukasa is trapped in The World with no way to log out. Afraid for his health and mental condition, other players befriend Tsukasa and team up to try and figure out what's going on only to discover something much larger at work than previously thought. The yuri here is peripheral and developmental but turns into an actual lesbian relationship as specifically stated in a novel that follows characters in a sequel to this series. Despite taking place in a computer game, there's little action and a LOT of dialogue and detective work. Beautifully animated with a stellar soundtrack, great plot, 3-dimensional characters - one of my favorite anime. Available in US.
Read or Die (OVA) - A 3-episode OVA about the length of a film overall. Takes place in a world a bit more futuristic than ours where there are people with mysterious abilities. Someone has begun cloning historically important (and often troubled) figures from creative history and sending them out into the world to destroy it. Agent "The Paper" (Yomiko) is teamed up with "Miss Deep" (Nancy) to stop them. Yomiko is a nerdy bookworm and loves to read, often appearing dazed, her mind constantly wandering. She has the power to control paper, to make it move, to make it bullet-proof, to make it razor sharp, and to build enormous things out of it at will. Nancy is kind of an opposite: reserved, sexy, dark and mysterious, an obviously good spy and agent. Her power is to phase through things, to become intangible. The OVA plays out like an action film so there's not a lot of time for greater depth but they do a good job of making us care about the characters. Yuri here is in the eye of the beholder; there's a few tender moments between the two and it could be argued that were circumstances a bit different, Nancy and Yomiko would of ended up together. Available in US.
R.O.D. the TV - 26 episode sequel to Read Or Die. This story follows the three Paper Sisters, two women and a girl who live together who each have the ability to control paper. The three work together as a detective agency, quickly thrusting themselves into the life and home of writer Nenene, who closely resembles Yomiko and was in fact her protegé. The first half of the series follows the Sisters through day to day adventure and its not until the second half that we begin to see that there is a greater story and plot at work. Again, yuri is in the eye of the beholder - some say the two older "Sisters" have something going on, others say Nenene's obsession for Yomiko is indicative of something, and then there's more proof brought up about Yomiko and Nancy. In any case, a good, solid anime thats interesting and full of adventure with a few twists. Available in the US.
Burst Angel - ("Bakuretsu Tenshi" in Japanese, as I call it). A futuristic world with an urban western setting. The western theme in this anime is what helps it survive, mashing with the techno-punk future to create something unique. The story follows a team of three women, a girl hacker, and their male chef, who are mercenaries-for-hire. The main-main characters are Meg and Jo, the arguable couple of the series. Their dynamic is exactly like old-school Xena and Gabrielle: Meg is the busty, incompetent spitfire who keeps getting kidnapped, and Jo is the mysterious, silent gunslinger who always has to rescue her. Jo often acts emotionless and uncaring even toward Meg - until Meg is in danger, at which point Jo flies into a berzerker fury to get Meg back. The fights are fun, the animation is slick, but the story suffers with some holes and just lack of anything really interesting. The characters are under-developed as well but as far as action goes its fun overall. Despite its weaknesses (and prolly due to my tolerances being high from my years of Xena subtext) I like Burst Angel anyway. Available in US.
My-HiME is a 26 episode anime about these girls who fight demon-like "childs" by summoning their own, powerful childs (yes, 'childs', not 'children'). Mai is the main character, new to the special boarding school founded by a mysterious organisation in order to bring the HiMEs together to fight. Yuri here is in the eye of the beholder (Mai and animalistic Mikoto) but there is one psychotic character, Shizuru, who has a passionate obsession for Natsuki. They reconcile to a degree. Lots of fan service with a kind of cyclical plot (fight til you get to the top) but with good animation, good music, and interesting characters. Available in US.
Puni Puni Poemy (OVA) is pure crack. Its a giant parody of EVERY anime theme you can think of, tossed into one ridiculous and unbelieveable plot. It is non-sensical and eyebrow-raising and would probably scare away most people unfamiliar with anime. But if you're used to anime, you might get it and even find it funny. :D Yuri here is in the form of the main character who is into girls. Available in US.
He is My Master - a (mercifully) 13-ep anime about this rich boy who tricks two sisters into becoming his indentured servants/maids, plus another girl who signs up on purpose. This series is a harem anime, full of fan-service. Its totally ridiculous and the only thing that got me through it is that I was in a good mood and actually found it funny despite myself. Yuri is in the form of the third girl who obsesses over the older sister, declairing her love for her and insisting they run away to the Netherlands so they can get married. She's rather obsessive and really not that interesting and of course it goes nowhere.
Fight! Iczer One (OVA) - Iczer One is a humanoid fighting machine (think skinjob Cylons) who escapes to earth and falls for the first earth girl she sees. Earth girl's family is killed so she becomes a sort of muse for Iczer's fighting ability against the aliens now taking over the planet. Iczer is totally in love with the girl, the girl is totally squicked out by the aliens and wants her life back. Ridiculous in every way, just don't bother. Unless you like horrible B-movies, in which case if you do watch it, don't eat anything squishy while you do.
Madlax is about this happy bounty hunter, Madlax, and an orphan schoolgirl, Margaret, who has an old book that some evil organization wants. Their paths cross and entwine with supernatural forces at work. The yuri content comes in the form of some tension between Madlax and Vanessa, a woman who was once a tutor for Margaret. Some people love this series with its larger cast of characters and multi-threaded plot. I was bored by it. "Madlax" is the second in a "Girls With Guns" trilogy of otherwise unrelated anime by studio BeeTrain. Available in US.
Noir is the first in the "Girls With Guns" series. In comparison to Madlax it has a very simple cast of characters and a single mystery so is much more straight forward, done in a film noir style. Takes place in France and Italy and follows two characters, Mireille and Kirika. Mireille is a no-nonsense bounty hunter whose parents were murdered when she was a child. She crosses paths with Kirika, a slightly younger girl from Japan with no memories of her past, who hired Mireille to kill her. Right away they become aware that their pasts are related and so work together to discover the answers to their past - and to Soldats, the mysterious cult organization trying to kill them. The first few episodes are SO repetitive it is a wonder anyone ever gets beyond them. Halfway through, though, the series really shines and loses most, if all, repetitive material. Despite the rocky first few eps, this is one of my favorite anime with awesome gunfights, a stellar soundtrack, clean animation, interesting characters and mystery. The yuri here is in the bond formed between the two main characters, especially evident in the last two episodes, and in enemy assassin Chloe's obsession for Kirika. Available in US.
Gokujou Seitokai (Best Student Council) - is about a girls school run by the students, for the students. The Gokujou Seitokai is the student council, made up of members who have different skills (driving ace, yo-yo fighter, spying, fighting with cards, etc) all very silly. They fight all kinds of things. Rino is a clutzy orphaned girl who comes to the school and ends up pulled into the council because of her sentient handpuppet, Puuchan, who almost never leaves her hand. Its full of silly WTFness without being so strange as to alienate the audience. Yuri is debateable - you can put together several of the characters but really there's not much there. Still a fun anime. Available in US.
MANGA
Anything you can download over at Lililicious. Something for everyone there and I have read quite a lot of it. Don't miss the Maria-Sama ga Miteru manga, which covers more content than the anime does in relation to the novels. My other favoriets are "Pieta", "Claudine", "Blue", and various shorts from Yuri Hime magazine.
Iono-Sama Fanatics is about Iono, the queen of a small country, who is in Japan searching for sobames (concubines, assistants). She is obsessed with women and collects them. The story is light-hearted and fun, written by a woman so it isn't purient at all. The art is clean and lively and Iono-sama is cute and hilarious. Yuri all the way through. Available in the US.
Revolutionary Girl Utena: Adolescence of Utena - The Utena franchise has a wide variety of versions to its story - the original manga series (I have yet to read), the anime series, the movie, and this, the manga based on the movie. This single volume is yet again a stand-alone story, boiling down the elements from the film and doing away with most of the surrealism and symbolism. The yuri here is between Utena and Anthy, though like with the other incarnations of the story you wonder at Anthy's true motivations and feelings toward Utena until the end. Unfortunately we don't get any great kisses as delivered by the film but the results are pretty much the same, making this a quick and easy way to relive the story of the film, if you don't mind heaping piles of Touga/Utena relationship leftovers (which are thankfully not in the anime series). Available in the US.
And though I have read scanlations of these yuri volumes, also available in bookstores are:
• Strawberry Panic
• Voiceful
• First Love Sisters
• The Last Uniform
They blur together in my memory so I have no notes for them at this time.
For more information, reviews, and content, check out these links:
Yuri (term) on Wikipedia - includes list of titles with yuri
Okazu - blog by renowned yuri expert Erica Friedman. She reviews anime, manga, and film titles both licensed and unlicensed, has interviews and discussions, and more - all dealing with Yuri. Her Yuricon online store has links to most available yuri titles making it easy to purchase what you're looking for. Also invaluable are her rough transcripts of the "Maria-Sama ga Miteru" novels, a real treat for Marimite fans.
Lililicious - a scanlating group specializing in yuri, particularly in titles not likely to ever make it outside of Japan. They have a community here on LJ, lililicious that puts out updates for new content as well as reviews for oldies but goodies.
I organized these in order of significance, amount, and quality of yuri. Though some series may have a TON of yuri as compared to the first entry, the first entry is by far one of the best anime I have ever seen in terms of quality so it wins hands-down.
ANIME - Yuri is central
Maria-Sama ga Miteru - (Marimite for short) my very favorite. Its about girls at a Catholic girls school and their lives and dramas throughout the school year. Its not over the top in any way - not silly, not overly dark and serious, making it a bit more realistic than you'd expect. Has some of the best character development of anything I have seen, and has TONS of tension between Yumi and Sachiko. Also includes an arguably-obvious-but-never-stated lesbian character, Sei, who tends to be most fans favorite character (including me) - she gets two episodes dedicated to her back story about her first (lesbian) love. Two seasons of 13 eps each, plus 5 OVA (licensed), a bunch of manga (download some here), all based on a bunch of novels.
Simoun - Kinda hard to describe this one. In a world where everyone is born female and at 18 chooses a gender, this series is rife with girl-love. Series follows a team of what basically amounts to fighter pilots - only pre-gendered girls can pilot the crafts known as Simoun. Each Simoun is piloted by a pair who kiss one another and then the orb that powers the craft in a ceremony to get the craft started. Though many pre-gendered girls fall in love and then choose a gender so that they are one woman and one man, it is hinted that there are no real boundaries in terms of men loving men and vice versa, so really the woman+man choice is one of practicality in some ways (sexual mechanics, child bearing, etc). Yuri is central in the plot between characters but its done within a greater story about the mysterious powers that drive the Simoun and their war with neighboring countries. Unique and solid with good animation, good plot, good characters - one of the better yuri anime out there. Available in US.
Revolutionary Girl Utena - 39 episode anime that is very difficult to watch due to the vast amount of episodes which are cyclical in that three rounds of tournaments occur before the final showdown. "Utena" is a shoujo anime that takes place at a fancy boarding school. Utena is the famous pink-haired protagonist, an optimistic girl who stumbles into the school's secret world of sword duels. The winner of each duel wins Anthy, the Rose Bride, and can do whatever they want with her. Utena is unwittingly dragged into the duels when she stands up for Anthy. Utena duels and wins Anthy, after which Utena is constantly trying to protect her from the use and abuse of others, all the while struggling to get behind Anthy's mysterious outward persona to build a friendship with the girl beneath. Utena's dedication to Anthy is very romantic and one of my favorite stories in anime - unfortunately its difficult to re-watch because of the repetitive battles (and car scenes in the last third), and because of the heavy metaphors and symbolism. Not a good series for beginners or people who want mindless anime. Available in the US.
Adolescence of Utena - The film adaptation of the previously mentioned anime. This movie has nothing to do with the series; they just took the existing characters, setting, and themes and rebuilt the story with a slight twist and about 200% more surrealism. Most of the symbolism *can* be pieced together without having seen the anime, but I think it would make a LOT more sense if you had. Without any critical film watching skills, a viewer is likely to think the film is a serious acid trip. Anyway, same basic plot but done in about 90 minutes and with a far more satisfying ending (and a real lesbian kiss done for love and not fanservice!). This time its more obvious that both girls need rescuing by one another. Anthy is also more lovable in this version. Again, I can't rewatch it too often because of it being so bizarre, but I love it - romantic, beautifully animated, and with the same moods as the anime. Available in US.
Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl - a 26 ep series about a boy, Hazumu, who one day is struck by an alien ship and turned into a girl. Everyone around Hazumu has varying degrees of difficulty adjusting to Hazumu's new gender - except Hazumu herself. The main story is about these adjustments - including Hazumu's relationships with two girls: Yasuna a girl who cannot see men and falls for Hazumu as a girl, and Tomari, a childhod friend who loved Hazumu as a boy and now struggles with her feelings with Hazumu as a girl. The larger plot deals with Hazumu struggling to decide between the two. What's hands-down awesome about this series is the lack of any prejudice and fanservice as far as the relationships and sexualities go - its tastefully done. So, yuri is central, story and characters are good, making for a solid anime. Available in US.
Kannazuki no Miko - Seinen (guys) anime. It actually has a horribly ridiculous plot and weak character development but I like it anyway. Be warned that it involves mecha. The story is loosely based on Japanese mythology. Takes place at a modern school in a small town in the hills. Two main characters, Himeko and Chikane, are best friends though Chikane secretly wants more. In the first ep, the evil god Orrochi awakens and sends forth 7 people as his minions with giant mecha. One of them is Souma, a boy who loves Himeko. As it turns out, the two girls were (unknowingly to them) the priestesses of the sun and moon and are there to protect the world from the Orrochi. Many battles ensue including Souma and Chikane fighting for the love of Himeko. The only reason to watch is because the girl gets the girl (remember to watch until after the credits on the last ep). Anime and manga (soon) both available in the US.
Strawberry Panic! - I have a lot of mixed feelings over this series. Too many people take this one seriously when it is obviously a parody of many other series, most obviously Marimite. Over-the-top drama with horribly weak and ridiculous plot devices, plot holes, little-to-no character development, with lots of annoyingly pointless episodes that seemed to drag on forever. YMMV. However, it is infamous for being a hive of yuri between characters, particularly between main character Nagisa and Shizuma, Hikari and Amane, Tamao and Nagisa, and the two evil girls. In this, the yuri relationship drama, it excels. Ultimately the 26 episodes felt like they could of been condensed into 13 eps. If I rewatch, it'll be with a lot of fast-forwarding - the good parts are great, the slow parts are just too painful for me. Available in US.
Yami to Bōshi to Hon no Tabibito (Yamibou for short). 13 episodes. Hazuki and Hatsumi were raised as sisters, Hazuki always protecting Hatsumi. On the night of her 16th birthday, Hazuki walks into Hatsumi's room to steal a kiss in the night only to have her dissipate into sparklies. A little bird appears and tells Hazuki that her sister is actually Eve, the guardian of the library of the universe or some such. Hazuki tears across the universe in search of Hatsumi/Eve. Each episode (mostly) takes place in books from the library, meaning that the settings change vastly from episode to episode, sometimes with seemingly unrelated characters. While colorful and creative, it was frustrating to watch. The yuri is up-front, and while it starts off squickish (they're SISTERS!) its better once you find out they aren't related. However, the end is one of the worst possible and just plain WRONG. Nothing good comes of this series.
ANIME - Yuri is peripheral or arguable
.hack//SIGN - 26 episode anime that takes place almost entirely inside a futuristic, virtual-reality MMORPG called "The World". Tsukasa is trapped in The World with no way to log out. Afraid for his health and mental condition, other players befriend Tsukasa and team up to try and figure out what's going on only to discover something much larger at work than previously thought. The yuri here is peripheral and developmental but turns into an actual lesbian relationship as specifically stated in a novel that follows characters in a sequel to this series. Despite taking place in a computer game, there's little action and a LOT of dialogue and detective work. Beautifully animated with a stellar soundtrack, great plot, 3-dimensional characters - one of my favorite anime. Available in US.
Read or Die (OVA) - A 3-episode OVA about the length of a film overall. Takes place in a world a bit more futuristic than ours where there are people with mysterious abilities. Someone has begun cloning historically important (and often troubled) figures from creative history and sending them out into the world to destroy it. Agent "The Paper" (Yomiko) is teamed up with "Miss Deep" (Nancy) to stop them. Yomiko is a nerdy bookworm and loves to read, often appearing dazed, her mind constantly wandering. She has the power to control paper, to make it move, to make it bullet-proof, to make it razor sharp, and to build enormous things out of it at will. Nancy is kind of an opposite: reserved, sexy, dark and mysterious, an obviously good spy and agent. Her power is to phase through things, to become intangible. The OVA plays out like an action film so there's not a lot of time for greater depth but they do a good job of making us care about the characters. Yuri here is in the eye of the beholder; there's a few tender moments between the two and it could be argued that were circumstances a bit different, Nancy and Yomiko would of ended up together. Available in US.
R.O.D. the TV - 26 episode sequel to Read Or Die. This story follows the three Paper Sisters, two women and a girl who live together who each have the ability to control paper. The three work together as a detective agency, quickly thrusting themselves into the life and home of writer Nenene, who closely resembles Yomiko and was in fact her protegé. The first half of the series follows the Sisters through day to day adventure and its not until the second half that we begin to see that there is a greater story and plot at work. Again, yuri is in the eye of the beholder - some say the two older "Sisters" have something going on, others say Nenene's obsession for Yomiko is indicative of something, and then there's more proof brought up about Yomiko and Nancy. In any case, a good, solid anime thats interesting and full of adventure with a few twists. Available in the US.
Burst Angel - ("Bakuretsu Tenshi" in Japanese, as I call it). A futuristic world with an urban western setting. The western theme in this anime is what helps it survive, mashing with the techno-punk future to create something unique. The story follows a team of three women, a girl hacker, and their male chef, who are mercenaries-for-hire. The main-main characters are Meg and Jo, the arguable couple of the series. Their dynamic is exactly like old-school Xena and Gabrielle: Meg is the busty, incompetent spitfire who keeps getting kidnapped, and Jo is the mysterious, silent gunslinger who always has to rescue her. Jo often acts emotionless and uncaring even toward Meg - until Meg is in danger, at which point Jo flies into a berzerker fury to get Meg back. The fights are fun, the animation is slick, but the story suffers with some holes and just lack of anything really interesting. The characters are under-developed as well but as far as action goes its fun overall. Despite its weaknesses (and prolly due to my tolerances being high from my years of Xena subtext) I like Burst Angel anyway. Available in US.
My-HiME is a 26 episode anime about these girls who fight demon-like "childs" by summoning their own, powerful childs (yes, 'childs', not 'children'). Mai is the main character, new to the special boarding school founded by a mysterious organisation in order to bring the HiMEs together to fight. Yuri here is in the eye of the beholder (Mai and animalistic Mikoto) but there is one psychotic character, Shizuru, who has a passionate obsession for Natsuki. They reconcile to a degree. Lots of fan service with a kind of cyclical plot (fight til you get to the top) but with good animation, good music, and interesting characters. Available in US.
Puni Puni Poemy (OVA) is pure crack. Its a giant parody of EVERY anime theme you can think of, tossed into one ridiculous and unbelieveable plot. It is non-sensical and eyebrow-raising and would probably scare away most people unfamiliar with anime. But if you're used to anime, you might get it and even find it funny. :D Yuri here is in the form of the main character who is into girls. Available in US.
He is My Master - a (mercifully) 13-ep anime about this rich boy who tricks two sisters into becoming his indentured servants/maids, plus another girl who signs up on purpose. This series is a harem anime, full of fan-service. Its totally ridiculous and the only thing that got me through it is that I was in a good mood and actually found it funny despite myself. Yuri is in the form of the third girl who obsesses over the older sister, declairing her love for her and insisting they run away to the Netherlands so they can get married. She's rather obsessive and really not that interesting and of course it goes nowhere.
Fight! Iczer One (OVA) - Iczer One is a humanoid fighting machine (think skinjob Cylons) who escapes to earth and falls for the first earth girl she sees. Earth girl's family is killed so she becomes a sort of muse for Iczer's fighting ability against the aliens now taking over the planet. Iczer is totally in love with the girl, the girl is totally squicked out by the aliens and wants her life back. Ridiculous in every way, just don't bother. Unless you like horrible B-movies, in which case if you do watch it, don't eat anything squishy while you do.
Madlax is about this happy bounty hunter, Madlax, and an orphan schoolgirl, Margaret, who has an old book that some evil organization wants. Their paths cross and entwine with supernatural forces at work. The yuri content comes in the form of some tension between Madlax and Vanessa, a woman who was once a tutor for Margaret. Some people love this series with its larger cast of characters and multi-threaded plot. I was bored by it. "Madlax" is the second in a "Girls With Guns" trilogy of otherwise unrelated anime by studio BeeTrain. Available in US.
Noir is the first in the "Girls With Guns" series. In comparison to Madlax it has a very simple cast of characters and a single mystery so is much more straight forward, done in a film noir style. Takes place in France and Italy and follows two characters, Mireille and Kirika. Mireille is a no-nonsense bounty hunter whose parents were murdered when she was a child. She crosses paths with Kirika, a slightly younger girl from Japan with no memories of her past, who hired Mireille to kill her. Right away they become aware that their pasts are related and so work together to discover the answers to their past - and to Soldats, the mysterious cult organization trying to kill them. The first few episodes are SO repetitive it is a wonder anyone ever gets beyond them. Halfway through, though, the series really shines and loses most, if all, repetitive material. Despite the rocky first few eps, this is one of my favorite anime with awesome gunfights, a stellar soundtrack, clean animation, interesting characters and mystery. The yuri here is in the bond formed between the two main characters, especially evident in the last two episodes, and in enemy assassin Chloe's obsession for Kirika. Available in US.
Gokujou Seitokai (Best Student Council) - is about a girls school run by the students, for the students. The Gokujou Seitokai is the student council, made up of members who have different skills (driving ace, yo-yo fighter, spying, fighting with cards, etc) all very silly. They fight all kinds of things. Rino is a clutzy orphaned girl who comes to the school and ends up pulled into the council because of her sentient handpuppet, Puuchan, who almost never leaves her hand. Its full of silly WTFness without being so strange as to alienate the audience. Yuri is debateable - you can put together several of the characters but really there's not much there. Still a fun anime. Available in US.
MANGA
Anything you can download over at Lililicious. Something for everyone there and I have read quite a lot of it. Don't miss the Maria-Sama ga Miteru manga, which covers more content than the anime does in relation to the novels. My other favoriets are "Pieta", "Claudine", "Blue", and various shorts from Yuri Hime magazine.
Iono-Sama Fanatics is about Iono, the queen of a small country, who is in Japan searching for sobames (concubines, assistants). She is obsessed with women and collects them. The story is light-hearted and fun, written by a woman so it isn't purient at all. The art is clean and lively and Iono-sama is cute and hilarious. Yuri all the way through. Available in the US.
Revolutionary Girl Utena: Adolescence of Utena - The Utena franchise has a wide variety of versions to its story - the original manga series (I have yet to read), the anime series, the movie, and this, the manga based on the movie. This single volume is yet again a stand-alone story, boiling down the elements from the film and doing away with most of the surrealism and symbolism. The yuri here is between Utena and Anthy, though like with the other incarnations of the story you wonder at Anthy's true motivations and feelings toward Utena until the end. Unfortunately we don't get any great kisses as delivered by the film but the results are pretty much the same, making this a quick and easy way to relive the story of the film, if you don't mind heaping piles of Touga/Utena relationship leftovers (which are thankfully not in the anime series). Available in the US.
And though I have read scanlations of these yuri volumes, also available in bookstores are:
• Strawberry Panic
• Voiceful
• First Love Sisters
• The Last Uniform
They blur together in my memory so I have no notes for them at this time.
For more information, reviews, and content, check out these links:
Yuri (term) on Wikipedia - includes list of titles with yuri
Okazu - blog by renowned yuri expert Erica Friedman. She reviews anime, manga, and film titles both licensed and unlicensed, has interviews and discussions, and more - all dealing with Yuri. Her Yuricon online store has links to most available yuri titles making it easy to purchase what you're looking for. Also invaluable are her rough transcripts of the "Maria-Sama ga Miteru" novels, a real treat for Marimite fans.
Lililicious - a scanlating group specializing in yuri, particularly in titles not likely to ever make it outside of Japan. They have a community here on LJ, lililicious that puts out updates for new content as well as reviews for oldies but goodies.