Yuribaiting: Overview and Analysis

Andrew Hinchberger

Queerbaiting is the textual process of hinting at queer relationships but stopping short of

actually depicting them. While this phenomenon has been studied before, it has often been

focused on live action dramatic relationships between male characters11, such as that between

Castiel and Dean Winchester in Supernatural and between Sherlock and Watson in Sherlock.

While there has been some commentary on queer coding in animated media13, these have

generally focused on American media (such as Adventure Time, Steven Universe, and She-Ra

and the Princess of Power), with non-Western shows often only cited in passing. We will focus

on a few case studies of lesbian queerbaiting (also known as “yuribaiting”) from recent (2010-

present) anime, manga, and other Japanese media.

The most commonly cited8 anime when it comes to queerbaiting is Hibike! Euphonium5,6.

It follows the story of Oumae Kumiko, a noncommittal high school first year who plays the

euphonium in her school wind ensemble. In middle school, she was friends with Kousaka Reina,

a trumpet player, but differences in their worldviews drove them apartA. Early in the show,

Kumiko is seen awkwardly shying away from interacting with ReinaB before she is encouraged

by her new friends to speak to her again. However, as the pair grow closer, the camera, taking

Kumiko’s perspective, often frames Reina as an object of romantic desireC. They even play a

duet called “Ai Wo Mitsuketa Basho” (“The Place where Love was Found”) after Reina (perhaps

non-literally) confesses her love to KumikoD. Later, Kumiko confesses back while affirming her

dedication to ReinaE. Although it is not necessarily core to the narrative, the queer subtext is

overt. These hints could be read on the surface as just “admiration”, but the show goes out of its

way to make that reading harder and harder to maintain as the series progresses.
 In the end, the narrative rejects this queer reading by giving both Kumiko and Reina

heterosexual love interests. For Kumiko, it is her childhood friend Tsukamoto Shuuichi.

Although it was hinted at earlier, the narrative confirms that he is romantically interested in

Kumiko when he asks her on a date, but she rejects him and accidentally ends up going on a date

with Reina insteadF, where Reina gives her aforementioned confession of love. Later, Shuuichi

and Kumiko start dating, then break up for reasons unrelated to Reina. For Reina, she is depicted

as being in love with their teacher, Taki. Nothing ever comes of this narratively, as Taki brushes

off all the romantic hints that Reina tries to give. These heterosexual pairs play into narratives

about the impermanence of lesbian love. One could even read Kumiko and Reina’s relationship

as Class S, even though they are the same age. Reina is shown to be more mature than Kumiko,

and Kumiko does admire her as a veteran musician as one might admire an upperclassman. This

textual denial of the clear queer reading of the text alienates queer audiences and otherizes what

would have been an entirely normal depiction of a relationship that just happened to feature

queer characters.

This practice of suggesting a queer relationship but “explaining it away” with flimsy

alternative readings and heterosexual suitors is exactly what most people think of when

describing queerbaiting. However, these queer readings can be denied less explicitly. Love Live!

School Idol Project Series is a multimedia franchise which began in 2010 featuring fictional

groups of high school girls performing in student-run pop music groups as “school idols”. The

franchise has published material in manga, magazines, light novels, video games, anime, music

videos, and even hosts live concerts and interviews with the voice actors performing as their

characters. One of the key appeals of the franchise has been its fan interactivity - in fact, the

name of the first idol group, μ's, was decided by a popularity poll. Additionally, the franchise has
gained a reputation for having yuri undertones among its all-female cast. Specifically,

“shipping”, the assigning non-canon romantic relationships to the characters, is pervasive within

Love Live! fan communities (as it is with most fandoms). This convergence of audience

interactivity and queer projection provides us with a case study in examining what is and is not

considered acceptable for publication in these media circles.

Yuri undertones have been present in Love Live! since its inception. Kimino Sakurako,

the author of the first manga adaptation9, is often cited as one of the key figures in the

development of the series’ original concept, but she is perhaps better known as the author of the

popular yuri manga Strawberry Panic!10. Additionally, when the first mobile game was being

translated into English, there was a controversy when lines that even jokingly suggested same-

sex romances were censored12. Such references were less prevalent in the first anime adaption,

but the queer undertones became much more explicit with the release of the Love Live!

Sunshine!!14 anime, which introduced a new cast and setting with a similar premise.

In Season 1 of Sunshine!!, Sakurachi Riko moves from Tokyo to a rural fishing town in

Shizuoka prefecture to rediscover her inspiration after a disastrous piano recital. When she

arrives, she befriends Takami Chika, an energetic girl in her class who is trying to start an idol

group to save their failing high school. As the pair grow closer, there are hints that their feelings

for each other may be more than platonic. This culminates when Riko directly tells Chika that

she loves herG. However, this alienates Watanabe You, a childhood friend of Chika’s, who is also

shown to have feelings for Chika. After a conversation with Riko about the upcoming

performance referenced in the previous scene, Chika arrives unannounced at You’s house, where

You promptly breaks down crying and embraces herH. Reconciling their differences, Riko and

You become close friends by the end of the seriesI.

 The fanbase’s response to such depictions has been to ship all permutations of these three

characters to some degree, but the most common interpretation is that You and Riko are friendly

rivals for or equal partners in Chika’s affection. Many fan worksJ about the series are centered

around these romantic pairings: which makes it all the stranger that none of them are actually

canon – the aforementioned scenes are not explicitly romantic in-universe. However, it is often

speculated that the authors are actively responding to these fan interpretations. For example, in

the Winter Vacation CD, released in December 2020, You and Riko perform a duet called Misty

Frosty LoveK, which describes the exact sort of pining affection the two are depicted as feeling

towards Chika, and the fanbase has interpreted the song as suchL. Additionally, in the most

recent addition to the franchise, Love Live! Nijigasaki School Idol Doukoukai7, one of the

primary subplots precisely follows the beats of a lovers’ quarrel, with a romance-coded

confessionM, misunderstandingN, confrontationO, and resolutionP. However, yet again, this is not

canonically romance. The authors have written what are obviously queer romances which they

know are going to be interpreted as such, but they fail to openly recognize the text’s queerness.

This attitude treats queer relationships as something to be hidden or kept “in the closet”.

However, this is not to say that using non-explicit queer subtext is, as a rule, bad. For

example, in Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight2, leaving the potentially queer relationshipQ

between the main characters as subtext matches the “open but unspoken” queerness of the

Takarazuka Revue culture that the show is celebrating and critiquing. Additionally, the inclusion

of a canonically queer characterR affirms the queerness of the text, rather than rejecting it as

Euphonium did (even though her love remains unrequited). Another example of an effective use

of this kind of subtext comes in Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica16. This work takes on a dark,

almost surrealist aesthetic, so a traditionally-depicted romance would clash with the established
mood. However, it still manages to depict multiple relationships which many viewers have

interpreted as queer – even marking one character’s literal apotheosis with her embracing her

partner while bathed in an ethereal white light evocative of a wedding dressS. Like Revolutionary

Girl Utena4, Madoka ultimately depicts queerness saving the world, if a little less explicitly. A

final example where leaving the queer elements as subtext was appropriate is Little Witch

Academia (TV)17. While the show does set up three potential romances between the three

possible pairs of its leads (Diana, Akko, and Andrew), the atmosphere of childlike wonder does

not allow these to progress beyond subtext. In fact, the only explicitly “romantic” scene in the

show is a gag where an enchanted bee forces characters to fall in love with the first person they

seeT. However, in the show’s finale, the text reinforces the queer pairing, using the visual symbol

of a lilyU, perhaps as a reference to the literal meaning of the word “yuri”.

So if the use of subtext in and of itself is not problematic, what separates “good”

subtextual depictions of queer relationships from “bad” ones? It comes down to what leaving the

romance as subtext conveys. Is the potential queerness presented as normal, or does a

heterosexual presence erase the suggested queer presence? Would explicit romance of any kind

clash with the work’s tone, or would it have been a typical subplot, if not for its queerness? Is the

potentially romantic subplot central to the story, or does relegating it to subtext actively confuse

the work for the sake of “censoring” queer material? The essential problem that plagues many of

these subtextual depictions of queer love is that they refuse to recognize the validity of queer

relationships. In doing so, they perpetuate harmful ideas about queer love while giving the

illusion of genuine representation.

 APPENDIX 1: In-Text Citations/Video Sections

A: 00:00 – 1:46 (Hibike! Euphonium Season 1 Episode 1)

B: 1:46 – 2:13 (Hibike! Euphonium S1E1)
C: 2:13 – 4:20 (Hibike! Euphonium S1E5)
D: 4:20 – 10:43 (Hibike! Euphonium S1E8) (this one is quite long, so feel free to skip to
the next one once they start playing their instruments)
E: 10:43 – 12:51 (Hibike! Euphonium S1E11)
F: 12:51 – 14:25 (Hibike! Euphonium S1E8)
G: 14:25 – 17:35 (Love Live! Sunshine!! S1E10)
H: 17:35 – 22:09 (Love Live! Sunshine!! S1E11)
I: 22:09 – 23:14 (Love Live! Sunshine!! S2E13)
J: See the first comic pasted in Appendix 3 (page 8). Works cited [1]
K: Here’s a link to a YouTube upload of the song with lyrics. Works cited [15]
L: See the second comic pasted in Appendix 3 (page 9 for Japanese/page 10 for English)
(the “writing” is specifically referring to the lyrics of Misty Frosty Love). Works cited [3]
M: 23:14 – 25:25 (Love Live! Nijigasaki School Idol Doukoukai E1)
N: 25:25 – 26:06 (Love Live! Nijigasaki School Idol Doukoukai E10)
O: 26:06 – 30:08 (Love Live! Nijigasaki School Idol Doukoukai E11)
P: 30:08 – 33:11 (Love Live! Nijigasaki School Idol Doukoukai E12)
Q: 33:11 – 36:00 (Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight E4)
R: 36:00 – 37:30 (Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight E5)
S: See images pasted in Appendix 3 (page 11). Note that I am referring to the imagery in
the movie version (top): in the original anime (bottom), it is similar, but the wedding dress
imagery is not present (although the rainbow lights and the embrace alone may function similarly
as a queer signifier).
T: This is really the whole of episode 10, so here’s a link to a poorly edited highlight reel
on YouTube. The show is also on Netflix, but the main point is that both Diana and Andrew are
stung by the bee and fall in love with Akko, validating the possible queer readings.
U: 37:30 – END (Little Witch Academia (TV) E25)
 APPENDIX 2: Works Cited

[1] AiAi. Enthusiastic Practice. Translated by Reddit user Weegedor. Pixiv. 12 December 2019,
https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/78260690.
[2] Furukawa, Tomohiro, director. Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight. Kinema Citrus. 2018
[3] G_teaLL. Misty Frosty Love. Translated by Reddit user Weegedor. Twitter. 19 January 2021,
https://twitter.com/G_teaLL/status/1351518448203927554.
[4] Ikuhara, Kunihiko, director. Revolutionary Girl Utena. J.C. Staff. 1997
[5] Ishihara, Tatsuya, director. Hibike! Euphonium. Kyoto Animation. 2015-16
[6] Ishihara, Tatsuya, director. Hibike! Euphonium Movie 3: Chikai no Finale. Kyoto Animation.
19 April 2019
[7] Kawamura, Tomoyuki, director. Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Doukoukai.
Sunrise. 2020
[8] Kellogspp. “I’m Not Like That: Euphonium and Yuri Baiting.” Pedantic Perspective. 11 June
2015, https://pedanticperspective.wordpress.com/2015/06/11/im-not-like-that-euphonium-and-
yuri-baiting/.
[9] Kimino, Sakurako, author. Love Live!. Dengeki G’s Comic. 2012
[10] Kimino, Sakurako, author. Strawberry Panic!. Dengeki G’s Magazine. 2005-2006
[11] Panigrahi, Kerishma. “Queerbaiting in Online Communities: Television, Fandom, and the
Politics of Representation.” Wordpress. 17 December 2012. http://docplayer.net/72735093-
Queerbaiting-in-online-communities-television-fandom-and-the-politics-of-representation.html.
[12] Reyna, Leo. “English Love Live! School Idol Festival Removes Homosexual References.”
Nerdspan. 20 May 2015, https://www.nerdspan.com/english-love-live-school-idol-festival-
removes-homosexual-references/.
[13] Robinson, Joanna. “Raya and the Last Dragon’s Kelly Marie Tran Thinks Her Disney
Princess Is Gay.” Vanity Fair. 5 March 2021,
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/03/raya-and-the-last-dragon-kelly-marie-tran-gay-
namaari-raya.
[14] Sakai, Kazuo, director. Love Live! Sunshine!!. Sunrise. 2016-2017
[15] Sakurachi, Riko and Watanabe, You (CV: Aida, Rikako and Saitou, Shuka). “Misty Frosty
Love.” Love Live!! Sunshine!! Duo & Trio Collection CD Vol. 2 Winter Vacation, Lantis Co., 9
December 2020
[16] Shinbou, Akiyuki, director. Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica. Shaft. 2011
[17] Yoshinari, You, director. Little Witch Academia (TV). Trigger. 2016
APPENDIX 3: Misc. Images
 Title

: みすてぃふろすてぃらぶ (Misty Frosty Love)

 Movie version

Original television run