Citrus


Citrus
By Saburouta

The yuri supposedly so toxic it needs a radioactive warning sign in bright red flashing letters. Yes, I am going to be talking about heatedly debated manga, Citrus. I half expected it to be sent from hell and have devil wings from how much some people hate it. The manga follows Yuzu, a gyaru transferring to a new school because her mom remarried. On her very first day, she meets Mei, the student council president and they immediately become rivals from their differing world views (Mei hold strong to rules and dress codes, Yuzu speak out against it). When Yuzu gets home, she finds out that Mei is going to be her stepsister. WHAT? On top of that, they'll be staying in the same room. WHAT?? Over the course of the story, the two of them grow closer over adversity and finds sides to each other unknown to anyone else, the manga ending with them getting married. IS THAT LEGAL???
After finishing Citrus and Citrus+ (The series that follows it) I didn't really feel much for the main couple. I really like the side couple,. Not great? Not that bad? If you push aside the incest and dubious consent in the beginning, you can get a better scope of the decent story. Two people from two different worlds with completely different ways of viewing life having their worlds collide, eventually growing into something that sort of resembles a healthy relationship by the end. Bubbly girl with smart girl. Pretty basic stuff. So what sets this yuri apart from others?
The problem of the sexualization of these high schoolers. Even without the weird consent stuff, it's a can of worms I'd rather not open because it raises a lot of questions that I can't answer perfectly (Is a woman's body inherently sexual? Does sexually explicit content in a story make it less valuable? Is the author a weirdo for writing this about high schoolers as an adult?), but it has a lot to do with what yuri gets popular. It is extremely rare for a yuri to get an anime adaption, ESPECIALLY one of this quality. Let's not pretend that the reason Citrus was adapted didn't have anything to do with the many, many, people who looked this manga and thought "ooohohah girl on girl hot". 
Needless to say, I'm happy that a yuri is going mainstream, even if its kind of weird. It's not like GL is as common as Yaoi or straight romance, but I wish we didn't have to celebrate such small and dubious wins. It would be nice to have more romantic, sweet yuri get popular enough to be adapted into an anime, and I do believe that our future could be very yuri centered if more people read it.

I can't really recommend this from the bottom of my heart. Read at your own digression. 
-Leaf


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Dictionary:

GL: Another word for yuri 
Gyaru: Japanese fashion subculture for all ages, often associated with gaudy fashion styles, an extreme makeup style and dyed hair.
Yaoi: Media based around relationships of men
Yuri: Media based around relationships of women

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