Yuri
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I remember googling "lesbian anime characters?" and "yuri anime?" when I was maybe like, 12 years old. That was around the time that I realized I liked girls, and I wanted representation so bad. Back then, when characters were actually canon instead of just subtext, Class-S (no hate to it thuough), or a side character who's sexuality is only implied in passing once or twice, the pickings were slim, even though they were still better than what was available in western media. And what was available was maybe not always the... best representation (looking at you, Maria Holic). I was frustrated, especially because at the exact same time, it was stupid easy to find yaoi as far as the eye could see (even though these were often made with women who romanticize gay relationships in mind, rather than gay male readers themselves).
Which is why I'm so happy that we appear to be living through the yuri golden age!! We popping the biggest bottles! There's like 20 new yuri series every year, if not more! We're talking canon sexualities, kisses, sometimes even sex and not soley for the reader's titillation! Obviously things aren't, like, perfect, but we. are. being. spoiled! And I'm enjoying every minute of it!!! What a wonderful time to be a himejoshi!
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Citrus
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Saburouta 2012-2018
10 volumes - 50 chapters
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Oooh this is a controversial one because of the fact that the two girls are step-sisters and one of them, multiple times I might add, oversteps the other's boudaries in a way that can be read as sexual assault. If you can swallow that, however, this is, in my opinion, a beautiful and poignant story of two completely different people with their own, opposing personalities and problems trying against all odds to understand and open up to each other. Yuzu is a gyaru who thinks rules are meant to be broken and girls are meant to have fun, and Mei is her new step-sister and the strict student council president of the school she just transferred to, as well as the chairman's granddaughter. Yuzu's father is dead, and Mei's is never around. Mei has had a lot of responsibility placed on her shoulders from a young age, needing to live up to her families name with a no-nonsense attitude, and enduring an arranged engagement with a teacher who does not hesitate to become physical with her while she's still a student, all while also carrying around resentment towards her father for abandoning his duties as inheritor to the school and his duties as a father. She's been taught to devalue her heart and desires in place of academic perfection and adherence to rules. Yuzu likes makeup and hanging out with her friends, and initally can't understand why a girl her own age, who's supposed to become her family, seems devoid of any warmth or love. When she realizes she has feelings for Mei, though, Yuzu stops at nothing to put Mei's feelings above her own romantic desires, trying piece-by-piece to understand her psyche, and trying to be what Mei needs, be that a sister, friend, or lover. She makes mistakes along the way, and Mei also comes to learn how not to push people away and push their buttons so much, accepting a love that she was both desperate for and afraid of for her whole life.
There's also a spinoff after the main story called Citrus+ which, to my knowledge, focuses more on the side characters and their relationships? I was never particularly interested in the side characters, as they always felt like they primarily existed to push Mei and Yuzu together instead of to stand as solid characters in their own right. But I might read it one day, if only to see more snippets of the main couple in the gorgeous shojo-esqu art style
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