百合
Meaning
A genre depicting romantic or emotional relationships between female characters — girls' love.
百合 (literally 'lily') encompasses a wide range of works depicting relationships between women, from subtle emotional bonds to explicit romance. The genre exists across anime, manga, light novels, and games. In fan discourse, 百合 can describe anything from canon romantic relationships to subtextual or fan-interpreted connections between female characters. The community distinguishes between ガチ百合 (serious/explicit yuri) and 百合営業 (yuri fan service).
Examples
- この漫画の百合描写がリアルで好き。 I love how realistic the yuri portrayal in this manga is.
- 百合アニメで泣ける作品ある？ Are there any yuri anime that'll make me cry?
- あの二人の関係性完全に百合じゃん。 The relationship between those two is totally yuri.
Usage Guide
Context: anime discussion, manga reviews, genre categorization, fan communities
Tone: descriptive, appreciative
Do Say
- 百合好きにおすすめの作品教えて (Tell me your recommendations for yuri fans)
- この作品の百合要素が最高 (The yuri elements in this series are the best)
Don't Say
- 現実の同性カップルを「百合」と呼ぶのは失礼 (Calling real-life same-sex couples 'yuri' is disrespectful — it's a fiction genre term)
Common Mistakes
- Using 百合 to describe real people's relationships — it primarily refers to fictional works
- Confusing 百合 with GL (girls' love) — they overlap but 百合 has broader connotations in Japanese
Origin & History
The term 百合 (lily flower) was first used in this context in the 1970s magazine Barazoku. The lily symbolism for female-female relationships mirrors how 薔薇 (bara, rose) was used for male-male relationships. The genre grew significantly in the 2000s-2010s.
Cultural Context
Era: 1970s origin, mainstream growth in 2000s-2010s
Generation: All ages
Social background: Anime/manga community
Regional notes: Used across Japan. 百合 is one of the most internationally recognized Japanese genre terms.
Related Phrases
Flashcards, quizzes, audio pronunciation and spaced repetition