EN Yuri Fans are Poser
Tuesday, 15 April 2025 17:02![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
michifuguThis is based on my rant on bsky with a little bit of polishing:
I’ll say the most controversial take that will make people mad: English-speaking Yuri "fans" online love the idea of yuri—or GL—or just enjoy calling themselves "yuri fans" for brownie points, but they rarely engage with actual yuri series as a medium. They just like the concept.
Compare that to fujoshi/fujin/BL fans: even if some BL fans don’t engage directly with BL titles, they still participate in the medium through shipping. The statistics prove it, and many anime/manga companies capitalize on this by selling merch and fanservice with fujobait elements.
EN yuri fans love being loud about how much they adore yuri or making it their identity, yet they can’t even name more than five yuri anime/manga titles that aren’t niche. They also rarely discuss culturally relevant yuri ships in the otaku/yuri sphere beyond Homumado or Utena girls
I’ll be a little elitist here, but as a yuri fan myself, it’s frustrating to see EN yuri fans remain ignorant about the genre’s place in the industry. They complain that yuri isn’t popular but never talk about yuri series or ships.
They don’t even realize how much yuri has grown compared to a decade ago. Numerous yuri anime have been adapted, whether yuribait or canon. Hell, we even got a canon yuri couple in one of the biggest mecha IPs in the world. Not to mention, many yuri manga have had decent sales (Kitakawa, Sasakoi, Yagakimi, Watayuri, MagiRevo, MahoAko, Tsukutabe, WataOshi, etc.), and plenty of yuribait/yuri-subtext anime have been popular recently (Lycoris Recoil, Ave Mujica, Mygo, etc.). There's no better time being a yuri fans than now.
Oh, and Uma Musume is now one of the bishoujo IPs with the most yuri content.
It’s bizarre to me when EN yuri fans claim yuri is neglected or unpopular. There are yuri artists with over a million followers (like Arai Sumiko-sensei), while BL artists rarely pass 500K. I don’t know what to say when people insist yuri is sidelined, despite the genre growing significantly over the last eight years.
It’s not BL fans’ fault that BL is more popular than yuri, it’s just not a fair comparison in general IMO. BL has a much longer history, a more established fanbase (both globally and domestically), and overlaps with male slash audiences that already had strong communities in the West. BL simply has the upper hand.
I promise it’s not some hidden conspiracy where BL fans are misogynistic or lesbophobic—most just aren’t interested (because many are straight women). Yuri is inherently more niche, and BL itself is still niche. People act like BL is as mainstream as shounen, but it’s not.
Based on my 15+ years in otaku and shipping spaces, BL’s success comes from fujoshi being incredibly enthusiastic about derivative/transformative works (more so than men). If yuri fans want growth, they should start there. You don’t even need to draw fanart—just talking about ships, writing meta/nonfiction, or sharing headcanons helps. Start writing fics, it’s more accessible than drawing.
Also many EN BL fans even learn Japanese just to scanlate untranslated doujinshi and manga. I think this is also reason why EN BL fans is way more entrenched with JP doujinshi culture beside Hentai guys. Yuri fans should get into doujin spaces too—it helps.
Seriously, EN yuri fans need to stop with the small-dog syndrome and actually engage with yuri as a medium. Tweeting "uwaah I love yuri XOXO girl kiss hot" won’t make publishers license more titles—you have to support the media itself. Demonizing fujoshi in essays won’t help either.
(Also I think the reason why most EN publisher barely license Yuri is maybe the sales aren't that great compared to other genres.... Rather than being angry publisher license the ecchi yuri manga, you can support legally by buying the OG manga or keep sending email to publisher)
Also, stop measuring everything quantitatively. Not even the most annoying fujoshi act like shareholders. I’m concerned by the trend of EN yuri fans insisting, "My genre only matters if it has high fanart/fic counts/sales." Please stop.
Anyway, that’s my rant. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.
Support your favorite yuri mangaka, artists, and ships—no matter how niche. Stop obsessing over numbers, and you’ll feel better. And again: ENGAGE with the genre you claim to love. Read/watch yuri titles.
(And if you don’t want to read/watch yuri, make fanworks for non-yuri series! Everything is yuri if your goggles are strong enough. Oh no, the female MC has a canon boyfriend? Who cares—draw her having lesbian sex with her female rival!)
I’ll say the most controversial take that will make people mad: English-speaking Yuri "fans" online love the idea of yuri—or GL—or just enjoy calling themselves "yuri fans" for brownie points, but they rarely engage with actual yuri series as a medium. They just like the concept.
Compare that to fujoshi/fujin/BL fans: even if some BL fans don’t engage directly with BL titles, they still participate in the medium through shipping. The statistics prove it, and many anime/manga companies capitalize on this by selling merch and fanservice with fujobait elements.
EN yuri fans love being loud about how much they adore yuri or making it their identity, yet they can’t even name more than five yuri anime/manga titles that aren’t niche. They also rarely discuss culturally relevant yuri ships in the otaku/yuri sphere beyond Homumado or Utena girls
I’ll be a little elitist here, but as a yuri fan myself, it’s frustrating to see EN yuri fans remain ignorant about the genre’s place in the industry. They complain that yuri isn’t popular but never talk about yuri series or ships.
They don’t even realize how much yuri has grown compared to a decade ago. Numerous yuri anime have been adapted, whether yuribait or canon. Hell, we even got a canon yuri couple in one of the biggest mecha IPs in the world. Not to mention, many yuri manga have had decent sales (Kitakawa, Sasakoi, Yagakimi, Watayuri, MagiRevo, MahoAko, Tsukutabe, WataOshi, etc.), and plenty of yuribait/yuri-subtext anime have been popular recently (Lycoris Recoil, Ave Mujica, Mygo, etc.). There's no better time being a yuri fans than now.
Oh, and Uma Musume is now one of the bishoujo IPs with the most yuri content.
It’s bizarre to me when EN yuri fans claim yuri is neglected or unpopular. There are yuri artists with over a million followers (like Arai Sumiko-sensei), while BL artists rarely pass 500K. I don’t know what to say when people insist yuri is sidelined, despite the genre growing significantly over the last eight years.
It’s not BL fans’ fault that BL is more popular than yuri, it’s just not a fair comparison in general IMO. BL has a much longer history, a more established fanbase (both globally and domestically), and overlaps with male slash audiences that already had strong communities in the West. BL simply has the upper hand.
I promise it’s not some hidden conspiracy where BL fans are misogynistic or lesbophobic—most just aren’t interested (because many are straight women). Yuri is inherently more niche, and BL itself is still niche. People act like BL is as mainstream as shounen, but it’s not.
Based on my 15+ years in otaku and shipping spaces, BL’s success comes from fujoshi being incredibly enthusiastic about derivative/transformative works (more so than men). If yuri fans want growth, they should start there. You don’t even need to draw fanart—just talking about ships, writing meta/nonfiction, or sharing headcanons helps. Start writing fics, it’s more accessible than drawing.
Also many EN BL fans even learn Japanese just to scanlate untranslated doujinshi and manga. I think this is also reason why EN BL fans is way more entrenched with JP doujinshi culture beside Hentai guys. Yuri fans should get into doujin spaces too—it helps.
Seriously, EN yuri fans need to stop with the small-dog syndrome and actually engage with yuri as a medium. Tweeting "uwaah I love yuri XOXO girl kiss hot" won’t make publishers license more titles—you have to support the media itself. Demonizing fujoshi in essays won’t help either.
(Also I think the reason why most EN publisher barely license Yuri is maybe the sales aren't that great compared to other genres.... Rather than being angry publisher license the ecchi yuri manga, you can support legally by buying the OG manga or keep sending email to publisher)
Also, stop measuring everything quantitatively. Not even the most annoying fujoshi act like shareholders. I’m concerned by the trend of EN yuri fans insisting, "My genre only matters if it has high fanart/fic counts/sales." Please stop.
Anyway, that’s my rant. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.
Support your favorite yuri mangaka, artists, and ships—no matter how niche. Stop obsessing over numbers, and you’ll feel better. And again: ENGAGE with the genre you claim to love. Read/watch yuri titles.
(And if you don’t want to read/watch yuri, make fanworks for non-yuri series! Everything is yuri if your goggles are strong enough. Oh no, the female MC has a canon boyfriend? Who cares—draw her having lesbian sex with her female rival!)
