#i want yor and yuri to be friends and good siblings but i dont trust japan to give me what i want

[jamethinks]

two things i believe must be avoided at all cost when talking about anime is misogyny and incest. It never ends well for anyone involved because no one is willing to take the l and admit that what they're watching is fucked. But i'm an asshole so i will.

One of my favourite pairings in sxf is Yor and Yuri (PLATONIC) but my least favourite pairing is also Yor and Yuri. There are two sides of it: the actual relationship vs how it is actually portrayed in the manga

**Now this is media analysis and social commentary. It's not about me or what i think. IT IS ANALYSIS. I hold this pairing very near and dear to me and i want better for them but you cant improve if you dont know what's wrong in the first place. this is about what's wrong. not me.**

The actual relationship: an interesting plot about two siblings who have to manage their shared trauma and learn how to have a healthy, non-codependent relationship with each other. It's complex, it can really add layers to Yor as a character and just overall elevate the story in a wonderful

Then there's how it's portrayed: Yor has a weird and clingy brother hehe who is obsessed with her because she's his sister.

There is a lot to be said about the portrayal of the relationship and the different social connotations it pulls from. And a lot of this has to do with the subtle individualist natalist ideology present throughout the series.

tldr: the story wants to portray yor and yuri's relationship as something perverse and unnatural in order to stigmatize sibling relationships in adulthood. also misogyny hehe

On one side: it's done for cheap laughs, it sexualizes Yor (that would require a whole other post) and it make Yor out to be some poor weak defenseless soul who can't even set boundaries with her own brother

On the other more in depth side: it is a rejection of the extended family model. it takes what could just be a close sibling relationship and morphs it into something so perverse and uncomfortable.

Individualism and the nuclear family have a joint impact on siblings. It encourages competition and separation. There's a reason they normally portray it as a girl and a boy. Within the nuclear family, children should not have a relationship with each other only with the corelating parent. It is expected that your children will grow up and branch off into their own personal families and stay apart.

And so media tends to stigmatize adults (especially of opposite relationships) have close bonds to their siblings. It is again seen as a flaw or almost childish. A well adjusted adult won't even speak to their siblings or touch them.

And then Christianity gets in the mix and purity culture and it just falls into chaos.

Yuri's affection for his sister is treated as a very childish attitude. His love for his sister is so strong it hinders his ability to even do his job right. Being around his sister makes him act stupid and juvenile.

His attachment to Yor is also implied to negatively impact her. She joins the Garden for his sake. He's blocking her from being with Loid in a genuine way. Their relationship blocks Yor from being a woman and so it's seen as growth when she pushes him away for Loid and Anya, adapting to her role as a mother and wife.

And that's not to say Yor cant have boundaries with him but Yuri is written in such a way that the only reasonable boundary is to cut him off. And while that can happen greater context makes the whole thing feel icky. You can give them a more nuanced relationship without getting rid of what makes their dynamic so interesting (ie the codependency) but the story isn't interest in that narrative.

And this is not exclusive to sxf it is a common problem in anime and other forms of media. When you have a culture that sees grows as separating yourself from your family, incest becomes very common as a way of compensating for it. If you're constantly being told that it is inherently sexual to want a relationship with someone... then shit like this comes about idk what to tell ya