Yuri or Shōjo-ai, a sub-genre of Japanese Animation and Manga, can be defined as
women-loving-women narratives that explore the relationships between women. Although the
sub-genre has only been recently introduced to the West, it has been in existence in Japan for
nearly a century and has been used as a means to resist stereotypical perceptions of both queer
and heterosexual women. With the aid of perspectives found within queer, ecofeminist, and
cyberfeminist theory, four contemporary animations are analyzed to challenge the various myths
about queer and heterosexual women. The animations Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl and Sweet
Blue Flowers defy stereotypes of queer sexuality and identity by demystifying myths about the
queer body and mind and the nature of the “closet.” The animations ICE and Kurau Phantom
Memory deconstruct the woman/nature myth and other fabrications produced within it, such as
the goddess myth and the queer against nature myth, through the tales of two queer female
warriors who must save humanity