As it happens with BL, you are better off finding good yuri in manga format than in anime. With that said, here are a few recs:

Aoi Hana
Very compelling and heartfelt lesbian romantic drama. Unlike a lot of the genre it does not just cover the teenage years but actually follows the characters into young adulthood so that one has a sense of their growth. Great psychological insight and no fan-service at all.

Sasameki Koto
This one needs time to develop as it starts out as a comedy about a tomboyish girl who is secretly in love with her best friend, a girl who is obsessed with cute girls. The first volume or so is dedicated to the funny hijinks as one of the girls has to endure her object of affection gushing about her many crushes, all of which are the exact opposite of the tomboy, while the two endure a couple of lesbians who wish to form a club just for girls at their school; but it develops into surprisingly deep stuff later on.
Sasameki brings to attention some of the clichés associated with lesbianism and does a terrific job at contesting them. Some of the secondary cast also gets to truly shine, namely a girl who makes yuri doujin.
The mangaka is male but do not let that put you off this one. The transition from pure silly fluff to serious emotional territory is gradual and does not feel forced either.

Simoun (anime)
Simoun manages to have flying machines powered by girls kissing without being exploitative, which is quite a feat. It also has some wonderful sci-fi world-building and great characters. I need to rewatch it but I recall being very impressed by it.

Marimite
The actual lesbian content in this one is rather low, despite being so famous for being the ultimate yuri everything. But it is well worth watching for its delicate approach to relationships between girls, be they of a lesbian nature or not. The refined school setting adds a weird, borderline historical feel to it. The cast is full of unique characters and they all get developed.

Akuma no Riddle
AnR is not half as deep as the titles mentioned so far but it has so many Utena vibes that it deserves some attention. Imagine a cast full of girls stuck on Black Rose mode, all vying to kill a frail girl in order to gain something that was promised to them by a clearly shady organization, add to this a tough girl who is protecting the victim, set battles complete with a letters of challenge, make the setting a school and you are all set.
The manga is still ongoing so there is potential for its becoming better. From the same mangaka there is also Loveless where the lesbian element is not the focus but well worth mentioning since it covers two of the most interesting characters in the entire manga.

Also worth mentioning: Girlfriends (manga), Mai-Hime (anime, I personally disliked it but many people swear by it), Shitsurakuen (manga, often accused of ripping off Utena and seems to have a less than stellar conclusion), Kimi Koi Limit (manga), Octave (manga).

Tamen De Gushi, Chinese manhua is wonderful, though it is probably much more light-hearted than what you're looking for. I find it very sweet, funny and charming. Fresh, too - a bit different to most.

Last edited by malna (04-22-2016 06:02:08 AM)

Thanks for the recommendations everyone!

I just finished Sasameki Koto today. It was adorable! A bit too slice-of-life in some ways and while the art reminded me of Azumanga Daioh it didn't gel together as well. BUT GODDAMMIT THE LOVE STORY

And yeah I found out the anime just covers the beginning of the story, didn't get renewed. I also get the impression that the English release of the manga got cancelled? Volume 3 came out over a year ago and all. Anyway, it was so cute!

I'll check out some of your other recommendations, thank you x

Passionate yuri fan of nearly 20 years here. Like you, Sailor Moon was what brought me to anime. Utena soon followed. Since then, I've borne witness to every step of of yuri's growth, from the prehistoric era, through the time it finally took cohesive form in the early 2000s spurred by the commercial success of SM, SKU, and Marimite, to the flowering of the Golden Age of Yuri Anime (2004-2009), and the subsequent paradoxical flourishing of yuri manga as substantive examples in anime declined (but not disappeared) in the 2010s...I've seen and read it all.

For anime,
Simoun (Beautiful, atmospheric, thoughtful, and unutterably bittersweet. One of the greatest anime ever made, with yuri or without it. Releasing in 2006, it helped define the peak of the Golden Age.)
Blue Drop (Wistful and sad, but real. As Nocturnalux indicates, this is only one piece of a larger multi-story setting, but stands perfectly well on its own. The other pieces of the franchise are of...varying quality.)
Kannazuki no Miko (Does have some service, but the relationship of the girls is the theme of the entire show, and very seriously handled. It was a watershed moment in yuri when it aired in 2004.)

For manga, there's a lot to choose from. This is the site to go to for yuri manga, a former yuri scanlation group that now acts as an aggregator for other yuri scangroups: http://dynasty-scans.com
Over the years, it has become a very large repository of the corpus of scanlated yuri works. Particular artists that I can recommend in the style you're looking for are:

Morishima Akiko (widely considered the best of the best in yuri)
Chi-Ran
Takemiya Jin
Amano Shuninta
Ootomo Megane

If these seem like not much, that's because these are the gold standard, no-risk "S-tier" recommendations that I could make to anyone and feel safe. If you are interested I can give many more "A-tier" offerings out of my own favorites. There is a great body of stellar yuri works, some of which are great portrayals of female-female romance, some of which are simply good solid escapist entertainment.

Aoi Hana, aka Sweet Blue Flowers

A sad case. Once upon a time, it was yuri's greatest hope. Releasing in 2009, it was supposed to be the chosen one that would lead us even higher into a nirvana of substantive lesbian-minded yuri in anime. The opening sequence of Aoi Hana - designed by Ikuhara himself - perfectly encapsulates our joy and optimism from that time. In reality, it was one of the last great yuri anime of the Golden Age (which its commercial failure helped to define the end of) and ultimately the later stages of the manga were a disappointment. The two female leads do end up together in the end, but the way it happens will probably leave you feeling angry at the selfish and cavalier behavior of one of them.

Shitsurakuen

Do not read that. Ever. Do not be curious. Do not "give it a look". To sum it up, it is about a system of institutionalized, intentionally dehumanizing physical and emotional abuse of women by men, which then tries to suggest the male abusers (most of whom were enthusiastic participants) were "suffering" too because of the system. They are then forgiven and most of the women they were abusing end up romantically involved with their abusers. It is one of the worst, most disgusting manga I have ever read in my long career. Your lack of familiarity with it, which I envy, is a blessing on your life that must be preserved at all costs.

Last edited by Aelanie (06-14-2016 10:37:30 PM)

Nocturnalux wrote:

Along the same lines, and suffering from some of the same issues, is Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabihito. I am only familiar with the anime and since I watched it back to back with KnM and given how visually alike the couples are I cannot help but thinking of them as kindred shows.

Ah, Yamibou. It was always an interesting case. You're correct; Yamibou was very much a kind of precursor to KnM, and certainly seems to have influenced it. I like to think of it as "the promise" and KnM as "the fulfillment". Yamibou is indeed deeply flawed, but also very compelling. Hazuki and Hatsumi's feelings are beyond doubt, it's just that the ending was something of a mess due to actually being THREE different endings (one happy, one neutral, one unhappy), in an experimental mimicry of the visual novel from which it was born. Hazuki and Hatsumi do in fact canonically end up together in the VN; they're actually very minor side characters, which makes it all the more mysterious that they - and their relationship - were selected to play the main role in an anime adaptation.

It is not the best, but it's a show I look back on fondly both for its own merits and due to its curious place in yuri history.

Last edited by Aelanie (06-14-2016 04:47:06 PM)

http://dynasty-scans.com/series/the_pri … loneliness
[Запиcки из подпольюри хахаха]

Last edited by Amasis (09-21-2016 01:59:32 AM)

I haven't checked this thread for a few months so all I can say is: wow! My cup runneth full!

Thank you so much everyone for the recommendations! At the moment I'm trying to wrap up some anime/manga loose ends before I embark on new stuff again (I'm in the last couple episodes of Macross 7 and the second Legend of the Galactic Heroes Gaiden, and manga-wise I'm trying to finish up Japan Tengu Party Illustrated).

Also a big thanks to Aelanie for the very comprehensive contribution! Believe me, I'll be using what you and the others have written here