Yuri. What does the word mean to you?

In Japanese, it means ‘lily’, a beautiful flower that has the meaning of ‘purity’ and ‘refined beauty’ in the language of flowers. However, yuri has also come to refer to a special genre that depicts the pure and romantic relationships between girls. Yuri itself can encompass many things: from friendship and heartbreak to lust. To get an idea as to what yuri is, and the wide variety of its works, we headed to the Yuri Fair 2017, held by Village Vanguard. The exhibition showcased illustrations and manuscripts from popular authors of yuri manga, and also had a wide variety of goods with beautiful illustrations of the characters.

The exhibition was held in Tokyo from 18 to 26 March and moved to Osaka from 1 to 9 April 2017. The goods will then be available in other areas of Japan. If you couldn’t make the exhibition, don’t panic! We have plenty of beautiful photos for you in this detailed photo report!

The Entrance

The entrance to the Yuri Fair 2017

The first thing you are greeted with at the entrance to the Tokyo fair is beautiful white curtains tied back with flowers including roses and, of course, white lilies.

The exhibits on display

It feels like we have entered a pure world that makes our hearts race. As you make your way further inside, you can see some of the beautiful illustrations and manuscripts on display. Let’s take a look at some of the displays.

Saburouta – citrus

The citrus display

citrus is a popular ongoing manga by Saburouta. It will receive an anime adaptation!

Updates on Sisterly Yuri Anime ’Citrus’

The story revolves around the relationship between a pair of stepsisters. The manga currently has a whopping 520,000 copies in circulation! Yuzu is a romantically inexperienced high school girl, who has a not-so-innocent gyaru fashion sense. Her step sister Mei is the cool and serious president of the Student Council.

Yuzu confessing her love to Mei

All of the displays had special messages written by the manga authors!

Yuzu with tears in her eyes ‘I’m saying…it’s because you went and kissed me!!’

MANGA.TOKYO will keep you updated on the citrus anime as more information is released! We are looking forward to it!

Nio Nakatani – Yagate Kimi ni Naru (Bloom into You)

Yagate Kimi ni Naru revolves around Yuu, who has been waiting for the day she will get a heart-racing love confession like the ones she has seen in shoujo manga. However, when she does eventually get confessed to, she feels nothing. Her next confession comes from student council president Nanami. But something about this confession feels a little bit different?!

Yuu and Nanami sharing an umbrella

Yuu and Nanami share a kiss, even though they are busy

Hachi Itoh – Tsuki ga Kirei Desu ne and Goshujin-sama to Kemonomimi no Shoujo Meru

Manuscripts for Goshujin-sama to Kemonomimi no Shoujo Meru

Hachi Ito writes beautiful manga featuring characters with cute animal ears. Yuri Fair 2017 featured two of Itoh’s works- Tsuki ga Kirei Desu ne and Goshujin-sama to Kemonomimi no Shoujo Meru

A color illustration for Goshujin-sama to Kemonomimi no Shoujo Meru

Specially-drawn illustration by Hachi Itoh. The cherry blossoms perfectly match the spring season in which the exhibition was held.

Color spread for Tsuki ga Kirei desu ne.

NEXT PAGE: Yuri itself has a wide variety