About

YuruYuri (Japanese; ゆるゆり; lit. "Easygoing Yuri") is a yuri slice of life manga and anime series. The series revolves around the daily lives of four schoolgirls, members of the Amusement Club: Akari Akaza, the protagonist who struggles with her lack of presence; her childhood friends, Kyōko Toshinō and Yui Funami; and her classmate, Chinatsu Yoshikawa; along with the school's Student Council.

History

The manga series was written and illustrated by Namori, which began serialization in Ichijinsha's Comic Yuri Hime S magazine from June 18th, 2008, before being moved over to Comic Yuri Hime in September 2010. An anime adaptation by Dogakobo aired in Japan between July and September 2011 for 12 episodes, followed by a second season aired between July and September 2012 for another 12 episodes. An original video animation is currently in production by TYO Animations.

Reception

YuruYuri has been praised for its non-sequitur comedy and the general randomness of its characters. While Akari Akaza is supposed to be the main role, her lack of presence (to the point of becoming invisible), is used to change the protagonist every episode. The manga is currently (August 2014) in the top 30 Japanese Comic Ranking ^[1]

Online Relevance

In North America, Yuru Yuri is licensed by NIS America, and is available for streaming on Crunchyroll^[2]. The show has gained a large online following on many sites, including on Tumblr^[3], Reddit^[4], 4chan's /a/ (Anime and Manga) board^[5], Fanpop^[6], My Anime List^[7], and DeviantART^[8]. There are numerous sites that provide episodic information about the series, such as the YuruYuri wiki^[9], TV Tropes^[10] and Anime News Network^[11]. In addition, the YuruYuri Facebook page also has over 16,000 likes^[12].

Fandom

The YuruYuri series has spawned a significant online fanbase since it’s creation, which has created much fanart and fanfiction. On the Japanese fanart site Pixiv, there are over 19,000 images tagged under “ゆるゆり”^[13], as well as over 6,000 videos on the video sharing website Nico Nico Douga^[14]. On DeviantART, there are also over 1,600 images tagged related to the series^[15], as well as over 160 stories on Fanfiction.net^[16].

Search Interest

External References