Top 20 Best Yuri Anime Series List [Recommendations]

Akuma no Riddle

In Akuma no Riddle, the name of the game is for a group of assassins to kill their singular, non-assassin classmate for a big payout. However, they only get one shot at it. While this seems pretty easy, the problem is one of the assassins has developed feelings for the girl, and thus begins to protect her instead of try to kill her. Yuri assassins? Yes, please. Most times, there is very little fighting in yuri series, but this one is packed full of some pretty cool fights.

Yamibou

This is another tale about the forbidden girl love between two sisters. Hazuki is a tall, dark, and brooding girl type that has always been infatuated with her sister Hasumi. However, Hasumi disappears. Hazuki meets a talking bird that is also looking for her sister and together they search for her by entering the different worlds through books. It is an interesting concept in and of itself with a huge fun cast of characters. However, the yuri is kind of creepy. You know it is an obsessive kind of love when Hazuki listens to her sister doing her business in the bathroom. It starts off seeming sweet, but it gets kind of weird, to be honest.

Kashimashi

This one doesn’t start off as yuri. It is the age old tale of a guy liking a girl, the girl not liking men, and the guy getting rejected. However, the twist is that the guy goes up the mountain where they first met, gets crushed by aliens, and they bring him back as a girl. You know, usual plot things. The unfortunate thing about this series is that while he may be a girl, he is still very much of a guy and does guy things, which kind of takes away from the romance of it all.

The Virgin Mary is Watching You

Marimite, as it is called for short, is a classic story about yearning. It focuses on the multiple different relationships between several girls at an elite Tokyo catholic school. There isn’t much overall plot besides relationship drama, oh, but the way if approaches it is masterful. These girls yearn for each other, be it openly or in secret, and of course their relationships seemed destined to be curtailed in one way or another by adulthood. Some see all those yuri feelings as a phase, after all, and this is an anime that depicts the real complexity of that notion.

Noir

This series is not pure yuri. It is more heavily implied than anything, particularly more so in the spin-off. However, it is one of those female-centric series where the subtext is very obvious, but it never takes that real first step. Despite that, if you don’t need fully-realized yuri, Noir has a damn intriguing plot. It follows two seemingly unrelated female assassins that are both pursued by the same Illuminati group. They meet and begin to learn more about each other and their connection to each other. It’s got an interesting plot and plenty of awesome action scenes if that is more important to you than tender romance moments.

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid

This series has very strong hints of yuri that are never fully realized, but I still believe it deserves a spot. You might not get the kissing and the holding you crave, but that doesn’t change the fact that Ms. Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid is a very, very fun watch. The basic premise is Kobayashi gets drunk off her ass after work, wanders into the forest, and saves a dragon by pulling a sword out of it. In order to repay her, the dragon decides to work as her busty Victorian-style maid as it is capable of changing into human form.

Yuri Bear Storm

This one is just kind of for fun. That’s not saying it is a bad anime, but it is definitely not the kind of thing you expect from a yuri anime in terms of plot. In Yuri Bear Storm, bears and humans can no longer coexists after bears suddenly crave human flesh. So thus, they build a wall between them. However, two bears sneak across it and infiltrate a school disguised as humans, where they kill one girl’s lover, then fall in love with her.

There are a lot of yuri series out there, and even more with strong yuri overtones, so if we missed on your very favorite series on this list, let the world know in the comments section below.