This is the final day of yuri ships. I’m terribly sad about it, but I hope everyone had an excellent pride month. I saved one of my absolute favorites for last, in the hopes of a memorable send off.
This ship is so special to me, mainly because it was my first yuri ship (so the nostalgic points provide considerable weight). I remember first getting into Love Live and exploring the content that existed on the internet. I had no idea that this show was shipped so heavily and that the pairs were so endless. At first, I didn’t understand the appeal and continued to think of them all as mere friends. But then the yuri fandom came crashing down on me out of nowhere, hitting me like a truck. And after that I knew there was absolutely no escape from this world, nor did I ever want to leave. It started when I came upon a doujin of EliUmi by tMnR,called “The Secret Shokolad.” I read it purely out of curiosity at first (and since I’d previously seen some fan art of the two), but did not expect to love it as much as I did. I mean it was SO GOOD. The relationship between Eli and Umi, and how the author perfectly captured their personalities, floored me, and I became an avid EliUmi shipper ever since. That paved the way for other ships to form and caused me to start reading actual yuri manga. It completely opened up the genre to me, in which I will be forever grateful. tMnR is a godsend. But besides it acting as the catalyst, I realized how perfectly Eli and Umi go together. They’re both the studious, mature, and responsible type who uses those traits to lead μ’s to unimaginable success. Additionally, Eli possesses a more assertive personality, which would perfectly compliment the shy and easily embarrassed Umi. So despite the fact that they don’t interact that much in the show (which is a real shame), the chemistry between them is undeniable, and tMnR will provide evidence if you don’t believe me.
