Become the hero who follow the heart's way

So, I’ve been reading a lot of yuri manga lately. Like, a lot of yuri manga. Outside of One Piece, yuri manga basically makes up my entire manga diet. And the thought occurred to me: if I’m reading this much yuri manga, and if I’m really loving a lot of them, why don’t I make a big-ass recommendation list so my followers can learn about some titles that might have slipped under their radar? Well, that’s just what I did. Here before you is a list of the best yuri manga I’ve read, the ones that made the biggest impression on me and have stuck with me the most. Give it a read and see if you pick up anything new for your reading list! I’ve also included each manga’s current chapter count, whether they’re finished or ongoing, and how much spice they have going on. It turns out, yuri manga can be veeeeeeeery sexual when it wants to be.

One last thing: don’t expect to see any of the big names on this list. You don’t need me to tell you to check out Bloom Into You, Kase-san, and Adachi and Shimamura. Those manga already have plenty of exposure, not to mention superb anime adaptations (though to be clear, those titles are all fantastic and you should absolutely read/watch them as well). This is a list of more obscure titles, stuff you probably haven’t heard about and likely won’t ever get an anime. I prefer anime over manga as a general rule, so if a manga seems bound to get an anime, I prefer to wait until the anime comes out and experience it in anime form. But I doubt any of these manga will ever get the silver screen treatment, which means it falls on me to be their hypeman. You probably haven’t heard of many of them, if any at all, but they absolutely deserve your attention just as much as the ones you have heard of. Give them a shot, and you might be surprised just how many of them steal your heart away.

Vaggie, cuz she’s a cool girl <3

I mean, if you ship it, it’s fine. But I sincerely hope that this couple is not really going to become cannon, and here’s why :

First of all, it doesn’t make sense. I haven’t seen a lot of them, but I have the feeling that if it ever becomes cannon, it will come completely out of the blue. A romance between these two would feel forced to me, and completely out of place in the context of the story. And I don’t want Vivzie to pair them just for the sake of having LGBT representation. We really don’t need another Gay-Ra and the Lesbians of Color.

Because, and that’s my second point, I don’t really see them that way. In every picture where they are together, and looking at each other, there don’t seem to be any actual «couple chemistry» going on between them.

As you can see, in all of the pictures above, Vaggie is looking at Charlie, but not in a romantic way, I wouldn’t say so. Vaggie is not blushing, nor being shy or tense (and neither is Charlie) I’m sorry but I don’t see that chemistry between them. It’s more a look of affection/complicity, but no love. I see Vaggie as Charlie’s overprotective big sister, but I just can’t see them as lovers. It feels just kind of wrong to me.

And third of all, this is madness. Long before Vivzie even said anything, everyone was already assuming that they were dating, just because one of them is supposedly a lesbian and the other a «tomboy» :

This comment comes from the comment section of the Speed Draw «Gal Pals» on YouTube. It’s one of the rare comments in this comment section that haven’t been written by some mad shipping fiend and as soon as it was posted it was attacked by one of said mad fiends. What bother me is a)the fact that this person felt the need to apologize for daring to assume that Charlie and Vaggie were actual gal pals (it’s almost as if it was the very title of the speedpaint) and b)the fact that when the other person responded, it haven’t even been confirmed anywhere that they are dating, or going to.(And in my opinion, it’s still isn’t confirmed. The wiki is BS written by the fandom and when it comes to the «stream», what Vivzie said was barely audible anyway.) Also I feel like this is kind of rude of this person to tell the other how they should think, so in my opinion they’re the one being the most toxic here.

So yes, the Varlie is cute, but it isn’t really anything other than «cute». It’s irrelevant, it makes little sense, and it feels like people are so desperate for LGBT representation that they’ll start to insane fangirling over anything that look remotely gay. I personally think that Charlie and Vaggie’s friendship is beautiful just the way it is and that Vivzie should let it remain that way instead of forcing a romantic relationship on the two of them.

(And for ghosts’ sake, I don’t want to hear anything along the lines of «They’re cannon !!1!! Vivzie confirmed it herself !11!!1!!! ». There is official character sheets out there with everything you need to know about them on it, that say that Vaggie is, quoting word for word, «Charlie’s responsible manager and best friend». That will be all.)

I’m gonna cut to chase though and say, actually yes. Vaggie and Charlie are being written as an established couple.

My original intention proceeding any discussion of a pilot or realized cartoon was for Charlie to gain a female love interest while also having a male ex and many male crushes (a bi sexual character) it wasn’t originally Vaggie but over time their chemistry through development became impossible to ignore. To the point a few of the board artists who were working off the eventual pilot script told me they were boarding with the mindset the characters were together because they assumed they were. Chemistry isn’t really an easy thing to depict because relationships are not ever the same, but it is intentionally there! Vaggie isn’t blushing or acting coy around Charlie because that is not what their relationship consists of, when I say they are best friends I mean it. Charlie and Vaggie have reached a place in their relationship where it is a partnership, and they carrie themselves on equal footing at almost all times. They feel 100% comfortable around each other, and they have a lot of things they are doing that take up most of their attention. Mostly working together to actually get the hotel up and running. I realized the story had way more to work with with them as a couple already then just being close friends. It gave a level of reason and depth to a lot of what events in the story- it just makes sense.

The reason I do not make a big show of their relationship however is because it is not at all a plot point, which is why I don’t mind addressing it now as it’s not really a spoiler! I really didn’t want it to be a thing people focused on, I wanted the characters to really be experienced and enjoyed as their own and not just because of shipping. That said, I do plan on delving into their relationship more in prequel comics or backstories, but as the narrative unfolds their relationship is more of a dynamic then a plot point. So don’t worry. No ship teasing, no dangling. They simply are who they are. This is because there are in fact other love interest storylines in the show planned, and I really don’t like focusing too much on shipping or romance storylines unless they really need to unfold on screen and serve to make a character’s arc stronger. I wanted Charlie and Vaggie to have a solid and connected partnership set in stone from the word go, not something that would be lead up too over the story. The narrative planned for these characters challenges them as people, challenges their relationships but as life does with anyone. I really just wanted to depict a pre-established relationship, I’d like to see more of those, and they give a different kind of dynamic from a writing perspective!

In short I’m sorry to the poster if it’s disappointing to learn they are very much so canon. But I hope it’s some solace to know the reason for them being so isn’t “forced representation” - it’s simply knowing the characters the way I do, it just became impossible to ignore how deeply they cared about each other and who they were. Instead of making their story all about falling in love when that really isn’t what their arcs were meant to be, I said “ya know what, I think they are already in love” and moved on with the story. I hope their chemistry will become more clear the more of the story we get to show. But their relationship doesn’t define them, which is why we didn’t want to bother with a love-interest storyline. They are simply already partners, and best friends. <3

On the subject of “forced diversity” I personally don’t see why just having lgbt characters needs to be classified as “forced”. Is it “forced” when theres a strait couple? No? So who cares if they aren’t haha. What matters is the story told, not who is dating who.

Plus I really wanted to do the Vaggie-having-a-best-platonic-friend story with someone else in the main cast ….. (thumbs up emoji)

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