#SHWD

[ladyloveandjustice]

Yuri Manga for New (AND Not-So-New) Readers

I was talking on discord about some good yuri for beginners, and figured I'd repost here.

I get way more detailed some of these recommendations in this post, and there's great recs from another person too! Check it out!

I'm doing this accounting to various tones and tastes, so what works as a beginner yuri for one person might not for another, just read the info to figure out what your jam is.

I'll put a star by the ones about adults (which is the majority of them) since I've found that's always something people want.

Goodbye my Rose Garden (Victorian yuri w/ beautiful art, just beautiful all around)*

How Do We Relationship? (messy adult relationships and lots of actually realistic intimacy)*

She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat- (A woman loves to cook but doesn’t have a huge appetite, only to find the woman next door to her does! She cooks for her and they really start to bond over food and the trials of being working adults. Yes, this is the one where the woman googles lesbian. It's really good)*

Bloom into You- a common go-to yuri for beginners for a reason, about a girl who believes she can't fall in love meeting a girl who wants to date her specifically BECAUSE she can't fall in love. Find out more about it and hear my thoughts here. It has a gorgeous anime that doesn't cover the complete story.

Doughnuts Under the Crescent Moon (sweet office lady romance, ace rep) *

Catch These Hands! (These two women were delinquents and rivals in high school, they meet up again, one reveals she was always into the other, she challenges her to a fight on the condition that if the other woman loses she'll date her. Lots of slapsticky fun and great for any lover of girl delinquents)*

Run away with me, Girl (there's some abuse shown in this one, but it's a story about healing, the premise is these girls dated in high school, but one of the pressured herself "normal" and marry a man, that man turns out to be abusive, so when the former lovers reunite, they decide to run away together. It's got beautiful art and a well done story)*

The Moon on a Rainy Night (absolutely spectacular, explores the relationship between a hard of hearing girl and her closeted classmate, the characters are complex and the writing is so good!)

Kase-san And...- Starting with Kase-san and the Morning Glories, this is a very fluffy and sweet high school romance. It also has a short movie. (as the manga goes on they become college students, too)

The Two of Them Are Pretty Much Like This (slice of life about a voice actress and anime screenwriter who live together as a couple. Unfortunately the ending is a bit abrupt (and likely premature) but I love their relationship)*

My fave Otherside Picnic is great for scifi and (mild) horror lovers. It's Scifi creepypasta adventure yuri. It's a slow burn but does truly spectacularly deliver on the gay. Has an anime, it's not great, you should start with the novels. Wrote an article here. https://www.animefeminist.com/how-otherside-picnic-masterfully-uses-horror-to-explore-abuse-and-show-healing-queer-love/ *(v young adults, college students)

The Guy She was Interested in Wasn't a Guy at All: (A web manga about a girl who works at a record shop. Her classmate , Aya, wanders in but doesn't recognize her because she has her hair hidden with a hat and is wearing a face mask, and Aya assumes she's a guy. They bond over music and slowly start to get closer...and Aya's finds her heart is fluttering not only over this mysterious boy, but her female classmate that seems a lot like him...) It's going to get a physical release soon.

This Monster Wants to Eat Me: (A depressed girl who's been searching for death gets approached by a mermaid who wants to eat her...but the thing is, our monster mermaid is a gourmet who wants her to be as delicious as possible, which means she's going to make her happy first (as apparently that enhances her flavor), and fight off all the other monsters who want to kill her. This is TOP TIER yuri horror and a must read for any lover of monster girls, especially monster girls drenched in the blood of their enemies, it's so good)

I Married my Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up (girl and her friend get married simply so her parents will stop bugging her about being single. You can probably guess where it goes from there) *

I Married my Female Friend (similar premise, except no parents involved, it's a platonic marriage they both agreed to with the promise they'll divorce if one of them falls in love. But one woman has decidedly not platonic feeling for the other that she's hiding from her, so It will likely turn romantic, it hasn't all come out here yet so I haven't finished it)*

Whisper Me a Love Song: (A girl named Himari sees her upperclassman, Yori, perform with her band and falls in love with her music. She confesses her love of Yori's music, and Yori mistakes it as Himari confessing to being in love with her. Yori falls head over heels at first sight. (if you don't like miscommunication, dw this is cleared up fairly quickly and new drama ensues) Has an anime covering early material)

Monthly in the Garden with my Landlord* (it didn't really hit with me but I might give it a shot again, it's solid despite the terrible title, a woman moves into a house and finds she'll be cohabitating with an idol) (Some more titles I haven't fully read that could appeal: Still Sick*, Cheerful Amnesia*)

Hana and Hina After School: (a cute three volume about a gyaru and shy girl working together at a shop after school and catching feelings)

After Hours: (A cool punk girl meets a girl who's been abandoned by her friend at the club, and she introduces her to the world of DJ'ing...and romance!)*

My Cute Little Kitten (two roommates adopt a cat...and maybe fall in love?)*

I think all of those work as solid intro- though it does depend on what flavor you're looking for!

This article also covers some of these recs and some manga I didn't mention due to not having completely read it. so check it out: The Beginners Guide to Yuri Manga.

Here's some titles to try when you're a little more familiar with yuri (or you can try them now! I'm not your boss!)

SHWD (action yuri that's taking forever to come out over here physically, featuring extremely muscular women fighting monsters. I think it was forced to end prematurely too)*

Kiss and White Lily for my Dearest Girl: (I'm only three volumes in, but it's really enjoyable. The main storyline is about two academic rivals, where one is determined to rank first in class, and the other is an effortless genius who becomes intrigued at the possibility of someone beating her. Honestly they have the kind of messy combative sexual tension I wish we'd see more often in yuri because it's so good. The story follows other couples too. However, big warning for some nonconsensual kisses in early volumes, and a storyline in volume 7 that has implied incest and an age gap, though the older sister doesn't go through with it onscreen).

Sweet Blue Flowers/Aoi Hana- (This one is a little bit dated, and boy is the ending weirdly paced, but a lot still holds up imo. A painful and sweet coming of age tale, it also has an anime that's good but ends too soon.

One teenage characters backstory involves incestuous (older cousin) the perpetrator of which pulls the "oh no did I turn you gay? thing" but it's definitely framed as a bad thing. )

The Summer You Were There: (For tragic and doomed yuri lovers. A deeply depressed girl starts her journey to healing thanks to a girl who courts her and enjoys her writing. Unfortunately, said girl is terminally ill. The manga is a heart wrenching meditation on grief, redemption, and how being sick doesn't mean you can't still be loved).

Yuri is My Job- a story about messy lesbians in a yuri-themed cafe, and how their real relationships differ from the personas they put on. Read more about it here. Big warning for sexual assault of a minor (by an adult villain) in volume 12. Has an anime covering early material.

[scarlet-riot]

every time i see a post like “FINALLY some female characters who are physically strong but not big ugly dykes still cute” i’m gonna post more SHWD caps bc i wanna go live in OP’s world where big dykey character designs like these are apparently the norm

[reverendclown]

She uses a battle axe 🫣🫣

(Manga is called SHWD)

[animefeminist]

The joyful affirmation of plus-sized leads in yuri

Content Warnings: Discussions of fatphobia and sizeism in media (not directly present in the manga discussed, but rather in general pop culture), sexism, and queerphobia.

Spoilers for the second volume of She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat

Character designs are one of the most crucial elements in a visual medium, as choices in clothing and hairstyle can be subtle references to cultural expectations and understandings. Body type is one of these indicators, as many protagonists are portrayed with idealized bodies, while antagonists are given “undesirable” bodies. This commonly results in unconscious examples of harmful stereotypical beliefs rooted in ableism, racism, cissexism, sizeism and/or fatphobia.  

Fatness, in particular, is commonly used as a shorthand visual cue for a character who has an abhorrent and insatiable appetite whether it be for food, power, sex, or some combination therein. Even secondary characters on the side of the hero(ine)s are not immune to this harsh perception, as their fatness typically makes them the butt of the joke to both the other characters and their creators. In this context, fatness is often something associated with clumsiness and incompetence in comparison to the rest of their group, and these characters can only be worthy of respect after they shed some pounds.  

Finding positive examples of representation within any genre is generally frustrating for many plus-sized readers and viewers, but the romance genre is perhaps one of the most disheartening as we typically are not present at all. This harkens back to common perception in various cultural contexts that larger, fatter, bodies are synonymous with being unattractive and undesirable, alongside other negative connotations. 

Mainstream manga with romance (sub)plots are no exception to this, with very few stories positively portraying a fat protagonist in the leading role. This is part of why seeing two recent yuriseries with plus-sized women in the leading roles was such an unexpected, long-overdue joy. These series are the action-packed, sci-fi-horror-romance SHWD by sono.N and the sweet, grounded, and unquestionably queer positive slice-of-life She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat by Yuzaki Sakaomi. In a media landscape where there are seldom women who have a body type like mine, seeing two very different series, in terms of genre and presentation, showcase plus-sized sapphic women as people worthy of respect and desire, was so impactful for me.

Read it at Anime Feminist!

[uh-mozzaza]

she put her best clothes on CAUSE IT'S A DATE YOU USELESS LESBIAN

[girlkisser3003]

[saccharinescorpion]

that’s fucking right

[hotwaterandmilk]

sono.N teased the third SHWD volume cover on Twitter in April, but now Amazon JP has it up in full (including obi). This final collected volume of sono.N's unique take on workplace WLW with added trauma and unholy mutants hits Japanese shelves on June 15th 2023.

There is still no English-language date for this volume from the US license holder, Seven Seas, but the 2nd volume is scheduled for release on October 17th 2023 (though this has changed several times and may still change again).

SHWD started out as an indie comic lovingly shared by sono.N via print and PIxiv before getting to begin again as an online serial with Comic Ruelle. From the get-go the series struggled to find a large audience because it didn't fit neatly into existing yuri tropes. Meanwhile, its focus on relationship growth didn't make it a hit with general SF audiences either.

However, for the dedicated group of people that found something they loved in the SHWD world, it was a truly special little series.

For me, having come to the series from the original indie comics sono.N shared, the earnestness with which the author pursued telling the story and how carefully the characters were rendered... idk, it felt really raw and beautiful in a way that only indie tales can. I'll really miss it.

All I can do now is to encourage you to support the official Japanese or English language releases of SHWD when you can and to let others know about this little gem if it resonated with you too.

When sono.N has a new project I look forward to supporting it too ❤️

[hugewomanpoll]

Contestant List

Scorpia (she ra and the princesses of power)

marisa (street fighter)

Kilen (pokemon XD gale of darkness)

Big Mama (rise of the tmnt)

Milly Thompson (trigun)

Koga (special hazardous waste disposal)

Brienne of Tarth (game of thrones)

Lady Dimetriscu (resident evil)

Pickman (friends at the table)

Mothra (kaijuverse)

Opal (steven universe)

Adora/She Ra (she ra and the princesses of power)

Bismuth (steven universe)

Giganta (DC comics)

She-Hulk (marvel comics)

Luisa Madrigal (encanto)

Noi (dorohedoro)

Glad0s (portal)

Urbosa (LoZ: breath of the wild)

Zarya (overwatch)

Granmamere (ponyo)

Jodariel (pyre)

Ambessa Medarda (arcane)

Rose Quartz (steven universe)

Jasper (steven universe)

Sybil Ramkin (discworld)

Cathleen Bate (my hero academia)

Susan Strong (adventure time)

Ursula (the little mermaid)

Huntara (she ra and the princesses of power)

Great Fairies (LoZ)

Sakura Ogami (danganronpa)

I will try to use as much official art as possible, however, some characters have no official depictions or are just hard to get screenshots of. Fan Artists, if you want to submit art to be used, message me. I will be a little choosy just so that art influences voting as organically as possible, and of course if your art is used you will be credited. The characters in need of art are:

Pickman Kilen Koga Sybil Ramkin Cathleen Bate Marisa

[engshoujosei]

SHWD

1 volume in English as of 4/18/2023. Ongoing.

Licensed by Seven Seas

A hardboiled yuri tale about two special agent women fighting supernatural horrors! Special Hazardous Waste Disposal (or SHWD) has a mission to destroy mysterious biological weapons left behind after the last war. Though SHWD mostly hires men, their newest recruit, Koga, a buff female operative, is assigned to Sawada, the only other woman in the Tokyo branch. Before long, Koga finds herself falling for Sawada, whose powerful psyche compliments Koga’s big muscles. Together, the unlikely duo must confront monsters beyond their wildest nightmares. Office romance meets buddy cops meets yuri horror!  

Status in Country of Origin

2 Volume (Ongoing)

Tags:

Fight/s

LGBT Themes

Muscular Female/s

Office Love

Office Worker/s

Romantic Subplot

Strong Female Lead

Supernatural Elements

Tragic Past

[rosycheekies]

Shwd by Sono N

[ladyloveandjustice]

My favorite Manga and Graphic Novels I Read in 2022

I read 54 different manga and graphic novel series in 2022 (you can see them here, from the beginning until the print novels start with Hench. I only included one from each series for my own weird reasons but I'm up to date on everything except Adachi and Shimamura and Prince Freya, which I dropped for now). You can also see my favorite novels of 2022 here! 

Here are my favorites!

Snapdragon by Kat Leyh

A young girl gets involved with a witch who has has lots of skeletons (animal and otherwise). I’ve always loved Leyh’s work, and this is her usual super queer fantasy that has everything I adore- cute art, cool witches, animal magic, older butch lesbians with eye patches, lovable characters and lots of sweetness.

SHWD by Sono.N

It’s refreshing to see a dark sci-fi yuri about incredibly ripped adult women fighting monsters, and it really pulls off the horror of the monsters well with some gripping action. The characters were pretty charming too and there was a lot of attention paid to the trauma of the situation.

However, it does have a 'character who looks like a child', which is not my favorite trope for a lot reasons. It bothers me a bit less than other series because the art style does not do cutesy. She just looked like a short adult. The reasoning for having her there was...interesting, I'm not sure where they'll go with that, but it's original, though potentially weird?

Anyway, I like what it's doing and I'm interested to see where this goes. I hope we continue to get a variety of yuri like this published over here!

The Two of Them Are Pretty Much Like This by Takashi Ikeda

Two ladies- 32-year-old anime screenwriter and 22-year-old newbie anime voice actress- live together and navigate their romantic relationship. It’s mostly done in short vignettes, but the central couple has a fun dynamic and the art is nice, and some plot threads slowly develop as the books go on. It’s a cozy read, and it’s nice to see the ups and downs of an adult relationship where they share living space. I also find the 32 year old attractive, to be honest, I’d date her.

Until I Met My Husband by Ryousuke Nanasaki, art by Yoshi Tsukizuki

An autobiographical story of the first religiously recognized gay marriage in Japan. It’s not super lengthy or meaty, but it’s a sweet read.

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe

You might have heard of this book based on how it was banned in a lot of places, it’s simply an autobiographical story of growing up genderqueer. It’s a breezy read with some nice evocative art, and Kobabe is pretty relatable.

Nubia: Real One by L.L. McKinney, Art by Robin Smith

I read a bunch of the DC standalone YA offerings from the library this year and found most of them to be a let-down, but this was a good one. It follows a young Nubia, a black girl who discovers she’s an Amazon related to Wonder Woman herself, and uses her abilities to confront some very real dangers and injustices, while also struggling against racism and other forms of prejudice. Satisfying, solid YA.

Who Killed Jimmy Olsen? By Matt Fraction, Art by Steve Lieber

Another library read. A fun riff on the zaniness of Silver Age Jimmy Olsen comics with a healthy does of humor, it follows the bizarre life of Superman’s BFF as he tries to avoid assassination and does some viral YouTube videos .I especially liked the weird but sweet relationship Jimmy and Clark had in this, and the gentle dunking on Batman.

Run Away With Me, Girl by Battan

Maki’s girlfriend, Midori, broke up with her during her high school graduation, saying she had to “move on” to dating guys now that she was grown up. Ten years later, Maki runs into Midori and finds she’s in an abusive relationship with a man she’s engaged to after getting pregnant. Maki asks Midori to run away with her, but will she?

This is definitely a darker yuri- the abuse Midori faces escalates, and the dude she’s with is basically an incel- but it’s handling the subject matter well so far and I’m really interested to see where it goes. There’s been a notable amount of yuri lately that’s tackled the belief that love for other women is just a childish phase, but this is the first one I’ve seen that explores what happens to a woman who believes that and forces herself into a heterosexual relationship. The abuse Midori faces is not at all framed as her ‘just desserts’ or anything, but a tragic circumstance that happened to a woman who was desperate to fit in and not be alone. The art is also fantastic and distinctive. I really hope it sticks the landing!

She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat by Sakaomi Yuzaki

A slice-of-life foodie yuri manga! Nomoto cooks more than she can eat, and she notices her next-door neighbor is a big eater and invites her over. A very slowburn romance strikes up. I got interested in this because of the authors marriage equality activism, and it’s a cute read. It’s laid back and slow paced, but there are nice moments of realism that make it very grounded- the way the women talk about being mistreated at work, Nomoto complaining that all the fashion articles she look up talk about impressing men- it was relatable! I also liked that Kasuga is large and butch and doesn’t have to look conventionally ‘cute’.

Cheer Up: Love and Pom-Poms by Crystal Fraiser

A cute YA about an acerbic young lesbian joining the cheer squad and repairing her relationship with her people-pleasing trans friend. It’s for a younger audience, but it’s a sweet romance with adorable art.

I Want to Be A Wall by Honami Shirono

I’m interested to see where this one goes. An aro-ace woman and a gay man in love with his (seemingly, so far) straight best friend enter a marriage of convenience. Yuriko’s obsessive BL fandom can get annoying, but it’s always refreshing to see the ace character represented and the manga is realistic about the struggles we face. I’m rooting for this one!

Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon by Shio Usui

A slow burn office lady romance, it’s just downright cute. It might be a little slowpaced for some but I enjoyed it!

Catch These Hands! by Murata

I’m a huge sucker for delinquent girls, so the story of two former delinquent girl rivals who meet again as adults, only for one to challenge each other to a fight with the condition that she’ll date her if she loses? Sign me up! This is, unfortunately, a little uneven- the second volume was kinda eh and introduced an annoying side character with some questionable tropes-but the third volume picked things up again and included a wonderfully absurd training montage. Though it starts with one of the women wanting to change and appear less like a delinquent and more ‘normal’, the clear message of the series is she doesn’t need to. If you don’t like any kind of violence, no matter how weird and divorced from reality, this isn’t for you though, as there is the whole challenge-to-a-fight thing, but it’s tongue in cheek and wacky enough I don’t mind.

Continuing favorites:

Witch Hat Atelier- Can't believe Witch Hat punched the 'funny anime pervert' trope to dust like it deserves, while also exploring and denouncing victim blaming in a genuinely affecting way. This manga is legendary. Also I'm very worried for everyone.

Yuri is My Job!- Really escalated wonderfully with it’s tangled web of relationships, rich backstories, and commentary on how people, especially queer people, often put on a performance. What IS the true self? One character’s commentary on how she wanted her work place to ‘like romance without the romance’ (a la class S) yet can’t suppress her true romantic fantasies was especially well-done. There’s also a character saying ‘friggin’ heteros’. The accurate representation we need, clearly. I just really enjoy this cast of characters.

Spy x Family (A Yor arc! Finally! And there’s just as much murder and mayhem as that should entail!), My Love Mix Up! (continues to be adorable), Yona of the Dawn (dramatic backstory reveals!), How Do We Relationship? (it’s really interesting to read a gay romance where the central relationship is acknowledged as not good for both of them and they try to move on), Delicious in Dungeon (the dungeon adventures are ramping up!), A Man and His Cat (more kitty cuteness), The Way of the House Husband (more hijinks), Bride’s Story (another volume of the beautiful historical epic! It’s been a while.), The Adventure Zone graphic novels (continue to be a lot fun with fantastic art), I Think Our Son is Gay (continues to be a sweet look at a mom supportive of her gay son), Monthly Girls Nozaki-Kun (I’ll always love these idiots) and My Wandering Warrior Existence by Kabi Nagata (another entry in Nagata’s moving autobiographical series about the struggles of mental illness, self reflection, and queer exploration).

[peachybeins]

After reading SHWD, I've come to the realisation that the reason I don't give two shits about most yuri is because I hate reading about kids/teens & femmes.

So yeah more of this please.

[yuripoll]

YURI POLL ROUND 1

NOTE: How Do We Relationship? has sexual content and touches on other mature themes. SHWD contains bloody violence. Reader discretion is advised.

[mirimangarecs]

SHWD: special hazardous waste disposal - sono.N

women in a private military task force battle psychic horror bioweapons left over from a mysterious war

the couple: muscle woman x even bigger muscle woman. a jaded veteran on the force and an exceptional young newcomer who is pushing herself to the brink for revenge

story & setting: truly bleak tales of suffering as a a result of the bioweapons wreaking havoc on civilian populations. the disposal squad gets moments to bond during the mundanity of office work as well as action packed fight scenes

the art: there’s a disparate mix of cute, charming character design (protagonist is a total sweetheart) and serious, terrifying monster design that are difficult to look at

cw: gore

[waterfromleaves]

That's certainly something to say to your new partner after showing her the scratches and scars on your back. Yeah girl, i bet those hands have "killed" a lot of ladies.