Hey,
I made this cocktail myself. Want to have it in?
Uh no, thanks. I think I’m good.
You sure?
It’s really good. And we can have a lot of fun later.
Uh…
Yuri. Yuri. [music]
Yuri.
Ah yes, Yuri. The forbidden chambers I never talked about [music] with my family.
Growing up, I’ve always had a curiosity for girl-to-girl love. But surrounded by family members who didn’t think it was normal at all, I never [music] dared to venture into it.
It wasn’t until high school that I started to become [music] a little too curious.
Interacting with friends with the same interests, and yeah, I had [music] my own phone and stuff. No, and I was in the rebellious phase. I didn’t have to adhere to my family’s norms at all.
Let me just take a peek. [music]
Just a little peek.
Oh hell yeah.
Um, Blythe, are you okay?
Uh…
To clarify, I’m not interested in girls. I’ve always been interested in guys. [music]
But I just cannot help but be curious.
I think the aspect [music] I like the most about Yuri is the romanticized friendship aspect.
Yes, yes, boys and girls can be friends too. But on average, we differ a lot [music] in how we behave and what interests we have.
Being romantic with someone similar to yourself, there’s just something so different about that. Or at least I imagine it is.
Also, the fact that it’s considered forbidden by many.
Like many other people, I began my Yuri journey with a manga called [music] Citrus.
Citrus is a manga about a bubbly fashionista who transfers [music] to a super strict girl’s school and instantly clashes with the icy student council president.
[I] ~ (with sb) (over/on sth)to argue or disagree seriously with sb about sth, and to show this in public （公开地）争论，辩论，争辩
The leaders and members clashed on the issue.
领袖和下属的成员在这个问题上产生了分歧。
The leaders clashed with party members on the issue.
政党领袖与该党党员在这个问题上产生了分歧。
Only to get hit with the ultimate plot twist.
Surprise, that’s your new stepsister.
I kept reading Citrus all the way up until the last chapter. [music]
So, I must have found some enjoyment in the manga.
My next Yuri pick on my Yuri adventure was a bit different because the story was actually based on real [music] life events.
When I was in art school, they had a bunch of comic books laying around the classroom for us [music] students to read, and the work by Kabi Nagata was one I kept glancing at.
But I was just too nervous to pick up the book and read it, at least for the first [music] couple months.
But one day I was bored in class and refused to look at my iPad screen any longer. [music]
So, I picked it up.
I gotta say, this is the fastest I have ever finished [music] a manga/comic.
The book just consumed me.
So, what is it even about?
My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness is an [music] autobiography about a deeply anxious young woman from Japan.
Exhausted by adulthood, depression, family [music] pressure, and not knowing what she actually wants from life, she decides:
“You know what? I’m hiring an escort and figuring myself out the hard way.”
What follows [music] is an intensely honest roller coaster of awkward self-discovery, [music] emotional vulnerability, oversharing at maximum power, and painfully relatable “I have no idea how to be a functional human” moments.
All wrapped up in a doodly [music] art style.
Her writing felt so raw and personal that I genuinely felt like I was reading someone’s diary without [music] their permission.
It felt overly invasive at times.
She shares all the details from her encounter with the escort and the emotional aftermath of taking [music] such a bold step.
It’s a point of view I never thought I’d get to really experience, and reading her words almost felt like I was stepping out of my own comfort zone too.
[music]
I must say, it felt like I was reading peak Yuri.
Yuri is the one genre where the stories will always be centered around women.
It explores [music] our feelings, our complicated relationships with each other.
I never thought I’d feel so seen in a genre like this, but you really shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.
That’s it for today’s video, and I’ll see y’all later.
I want to give a big shout-out to my patrons who support my livelihood and enable me to do what I love.
If you want to support me and get more exclusive content like video previews and [music] podcasts, check out my Patreon.
Link is down below in the description.
Bye-bye