Sono Hanabira Ni Kuchizuke Wo
Also known in English as “A Kiss for the Petals,” it’s a short school based game that focuses on the budding relationship between Yuuna (a perverse honor student) and Nanami (an adorable klutz.) But this isn’t just the name of a single visual novel. Oh no! Instead, it’s become the name of a very successful series that currently spans twelve games, an OVA, a web series, an online anime, light novels, drama CDs, music CDs, art books, and a manga series. This is an Eroge series, so there are lots of sex scenes, but it lacks any extreme fetishes (though there are a few lesser ones–come on, it’s Japan, it’s practically unavoidable), and the romances are very sweet and lighthearted. If you’d like something sexy, feel good, and just generally cute, then you really ought to check this series out. It’s a fan favorite, and the game series rates fairly well across the board!
This game is currently only in Japanese–HOWEVER, there are dedicated folks out there who have developed unofficial English patches for the games!
Katahane
This is another adult title with sex scenes, this time based in a fantasy type world of which there are three kingdoms. The main story begins with a playwright named Wakaba, who decides to write a controversial play about a hated man from history named Ein. Instead of villifying him as everyone expects her to, however, Wakaba shows Ein as a hero. She gets criticized for her choice of story, but still has actors willing to participate. Her production leads her to journey across the three kingdoms in search of more actors for her play.
This is a long visual novel and it has many characters of interest with multiple romances going on. I should note that not all of the romances are yuri, but there are two lesbian couples, thus this made the game qualified for this list in my eyes. The relationship between Belle and Angelina ended up being my favorite anyway out of all the couples, and they felt pretty important. Their romance takes time, but it develops naturally, creating more emotional investment and catharsis at the end. The game is quite long, and sometimes the story drags with politics, but it was overall an enjoyable title that had lots of CGs!
You can only buy it from Japanese sites like this one, but there is a guide on how to do that for DLsite, and also an unofficial English patch you can download here.
Lonely Yuri
This game is pure yuri, and not just that, it’s for all ages! Minors rejoice! Like Sono Hanabira, this game is centered on teenage girls. The story begins with Fusa, a first year high school student who has to take some handouts to a fellow classmate named Seri, who hasn’t shown up for school. Later, Fusa is asked to wait in the family room. She ends up falling asleep, and is awoken by a kiss on the lips.
This is a quick game–roughly two hours, but it’s so atmospheric, and the romance is so sweet that I had to mention this one. It can be a bit bittersweet, but the experience this title provides makes it worth it. The art is simpler than other visual novels you come across, but I sort of like its gentle, laid back feeling. There’s also a lot of event CGs, considering the game’s length.
You can get the game translated in English here!
What other yuri visual novels would you add to the list?
People often complain that you don’t see many Yuri titles localized outside of Japan, which surprises me often, guess harem romances just sell better.
There certainly aren’t many yuri games, or yuri manga and anime. That’s why there are strong fan communities centered around translating them. It’s just a shame, because there is a potential for market growth for that particular niche if they’d just invest in it. On the other hand, I haven’t seen what the sales are like in Japan or internationally, so maybe they have a valid reason to avoid trying. It’s just my feeling that hardcore fans of yuri in the West try to support it even when it’s not translated for them, and the people who take advantage of the fan communities could’ve been supporting yuri titles financially if it was available for purchase in English.
I think it has more to do with awareness. The sites that most people read don’t cover these type of games, and the sites that do cover them have a hard time getting those interested to discover there sites.
There is at first also a lack of yuri VN that no one can’t deny. A quick glance at Vndb (visual novel database), i see that over 3000 romance vn registered only 250 involves yuri (which doesn’t mean it is only yuri but there is yuri romance in it).
If you count sexual content over 13000 product registered you’ll find 1300 involving yuri scene (10%) and we all know that over those 10% 80% of those are not yuri games but just VN including a yuri scene.
So rather that awareness of site..i’d rather say we live in a man’s world (and japan..is a man’s society) where yuri is considered a niche. First thing would be to increase the awareness of japanese producers (most of VN are japanese let’s be fair). Not saying that because yuri is a girl thing or not, rather..everything that exclude men has less chance to work when it involves sexual matters. After all men’s pride..is something else.
Then goes the site. On the other end Yaoi, has a fair number of VN.
I agree that given the amount of male creators there are in the VN market, that would certainly affect the amount of yuri we see, especially considering the fact that many VN players are male. But you were right to point out yaoi VNs too. Yaoi is hugely popular among straight women, so perhaps it’s all related?
Creators cater to what their customers demand. The majority of customers demand content that would satisfy heterosexual tastes. This results in all those blogs and news sites tending to favor that heterosexual content.
It’s true that some men enjoy yuri, but put something like Lonely Yuri in front of them and it wouldn’t do all that well in the mainstream. This is why many yuri games are eroge and why those random yuri sex scenes in other VNs tend to lack emotional depth. Women who enjoy yaoi like that emotional element. Men, unless they can project themselves onto someone in the story involved in the relationship, usually do not.
That is sadly true, and the point i was trying to make clumsily using data.
Or maybe the situation could change if the industry were more opened to women, we tend to be more open-minded when it comes to sex and acceptance of all kind of love.
A point that can easily be proven, by what you said straight women are a lot into Yaoi, which is still an homosexual relationship. You don’t see that much men liking Yuri in comparison.
Imo, all of this essentially could be explained by a simple fact. Sorry if that appears crude on a site lol. A man consider a sexual relationship satisfying only if there is sexual intercourse.
As you says they need to be able to project themselves into the satisfaction, if you add what i just said, it completely obliterate the possibility of any yuri..unless it is a group of female with one man in the middle and like you said..most players are males, so the math are easily done.
What could be done is a more enticing yuri. That would also attract male, revolving around yuri but maybe including one male in some scene. Or a more sexual yuri, most of yuri like Sona are what you can call “soft” or eroge. Maybe a proclaimed Hentai yuri would do better. At least i think it wouldn’t completely fail.
Then as to why straight women prefer..Yaoi. My opinion, they wish they somehow had been male and in a position of domination and they also enjoy seeing a male in a position of being dominated. My 2 cents, i can’t be sure though..i have the same attraction than you..(catholic all girl school..with its cliché and then..the world lol).
Interesting points! But I still consider awareness to be the most important factor, after all if the market is too small in Japan, then awarness will grow the niche in the west; thereby creating a financial interest in catering to that audience. I have nothing against the typical harem romance, but it doesn’t hurt to have some variety every now and then.
I don’t think awareness is enough, at least, not just within the VN crowd. You’d have to reach out to new players.
This is anecdotal, but hard data is hard to come by so: Many VN players are into anime, obviously, right? Well I’m not sure if you go on Crunchyroll, but a few years ago they hosted a number of yuri anime titles. I think it must have been ’09 or 10, but one summer around that time yuri in manga and anime was picking up a bit. Well Crunchyroll started hosting Aoi Hana, which was an adaptation of the fairly popular (at least within its niche market) manga series of the same name. The reaction in the comments was dubious at best. A lot of people either outright disliked it, or didn’t know what to make of it. Eventually Crunchyroll just took the show off the site. I don’t think it even stayed up a year.
Some of the more subtle yuri shows are received better, but that’s just because people prefer to see the female characters as all heterosexuals. It all fits into their worldview. Until more open-minded people join the anime ranks, I’m not sure that will change, regardless of increased attention.
Hmm good points, and I would agree growing the audience is essential at this point!
I played the three of them. Even, if i hate Sono now. It was nice though when it hadn’t become a “brand”.
It’s unfortunate when a series becoming successful can ruin it for some. There’s been a few anime/manga that I lost interest in once it turned into a “brand” as you say, so I can sympathize
Oooh, as a big fan of LGBT visual novels (actually, LGBT anything) I’ve got to check these out. And, yes, I’m already a backer of Starlight Vega.
Me too. 😉
One more – “Sugar’s Delight”. Very short, kind of silly, but has some good bits.
Great! Thanks 🙂