Before 1970: Class S literature , whose works in the
Class S genre significantly influenced
yuri Among the first Japanese authors to produce works about love between women was
Nobuko Yoshiya, a novelist active in the
Taishō and
Shōwa periods. Yoshiya was a pioneer in Japanese
lesbian literature, including the early twentieth century
Class S genre. Her works popularized many of the ideas and tropes which drove the
yuri genre for years to come. Class S stories depict lesbian attachments as emotionally intense yet
platonic relationships, destined to be curtailed by graduation from school, marriage, or death. Class S developed in the 1930s through Japanese girls' magazines, but declined as a result of state censorship brought about by the
Second Sino–Japanese War in 1937. Though
homosociality between girls would re-emerge as a common theme in post-war
shōjo manga (comics for girls), Class S gradually declined in popularity in favor of works focused on male–female romances. Traditionally, Class S stories focus on strong emotional bonds between an
upperclassman and an underclassman, and a component of
yuri.
1970s and 1980s: The "dark age" In 1970, manga artist
Masako Yashiro published the
shōjo manga , which focuses on a
love triangle between two girls and a boy. Noted as the first non-Class S manga to depict an intimate relationship between women,
Shīkuretto Rabu is regarded by some scholars as the first work in the
yuri genre. As both Yashiro and
Shīkuretto Rabu are relatively obscure and the work focuses in part on male–female romance, most critics identify
Shiroi Heya no Futari by
Ryōko Yamagishi, published in 1971, as the first
yuri manga. The 1970s also saw
shōjo manga that dealt with
transgender characters and characters who blur gender distinctions through
cross-dressing, which was inspired in part by the
Takarazuka Revue, an all-female theater troupe where women play male roles. These traits are most prominent in
Riyoko Ikeda's works, Some
shōnen works of this period featured lesbian characters, though they were typically depicted as
fanservice and
comic relief. Roughly a dozen
yuri manga were published from the 1970s to the early 1990s, with the majority being published in the 1970s. Most of these stories are
tragedies, focused on doomed relationships that end in separation or death. 1992 saw the release of two major works for the development of
yuri:
Jukkai me no Jukkai (1992) by , which began to move the genre away from tragic outcomes and stereotyped dynamics; and the
anime adaptation of
Sailor Moon (1991–1997) by
Naoko Takeuchi, the first mainstream manga and anime series to feature a "positive" portrayal of a lesbian relationship in the coupling of
Sailor Uranus and
Sailor Neptune. The immense popularity of
Sailor Moon allowed the series to be adapted into anime, films, and to be exported internationally, significantly influencing the
shōjo and
yuri genres. Uranus and Neptune became popular subjects of
dōjinshi (self-published manga, analogous to
fan comics) and contributed to the development of
yuri dōjinshi culture. The success of
Sailor Moon significantly influenced the development of
yuri, and by the mid-1990s, anime, and manga featuring intimate relationships between women enjoyed mainstream success and popularity. This period also saw a revival of the Class S genre through the bestselling
light novel series
Maria-sama ga Miteru (1998–2012) by , which by 2010 had 5.4 million copies in print. Another prominent author of this period is
Kaho Nakayama, active since the early 1990s, with works involving love stories among women.
2000s: Publishing and fan culture growth Faced with a proliferation of stories focused on homosociality, homoeroticism, and female homosexuality, some publishers sought to exploit the
yuri market by creating
manga magazines dedicated to the genre, coalescing around
yuri as the preferred name for this genre in response to its popularity in
dōjinshi culture. In 2003,
Yuri Tengoku and
Yuri Shimai launched as the first manga magazines devoted exclusively to
yuri. This was followed by the female-oriented
Comic Yuri Hime in 2005 and the male-oriented
Comic Yuri Hime S in 2007; the two magazines merged under the title
Comic Yuri Hime in 2010. Stories in these magazines dealt with a range of themes, from intense emotional connections such as those depicted in
Voiceful (2004–2006), to sexually explicit schoolgirl romances like those portrayed in
First Love Sisters (2003–2008), Some of these subjects are seen in male-targeted works of this period as well, sometimes in combination with other themes, including
mecha and
science fiction. Examples include series such as
Kannazuki no Miko (2004–2005),
Blue Drop (2004–2008), and
Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl (2004–2007). In addition, male-targeted stories tend to make extensive use of
moe and
bishōjo characterizations. The mid-2010s saw
yuri works expand to genres such as science fiction and
isekai, as well as the formalization of as a subgenre focused on stories involving adult women. The growth of digital platforms like
Pixiv,
Twitter, and
Shōsetsuka ni Narō allowed for the creation and widespread distribution of
yuri works outside of traditional manga magazine and
dōjinshi publishing:
My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness (2016) was originally published as a
web comic, while the
yuri fantasy works
Sexiled (2018–2019),
Roll Over and Die (2018–present), and ''
I'm in Love with the Villainess'' (2018–present) began as
web novels on Shōsetsuka ni Narō before being adapted into other mediums. The genre of comic essays—stories that focus on the author's life experiences—have also become popular, including the aforementioned
My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness and Hiranishi Mieri's ''The Moment I Realized I Wasn't Straight.'' ==Concepts and themes==