Out of everything on here I feel the most need to defend this manga’s inclusion on my favorites list. Its not the most explicit thing on the list, and arguably one of the more wholesome stories, but the reputation of the series does it no service. The core of the story concerns Utena, a girl whos primally vessel of expression is her love of magical girls. Her room is stacked with merchandise, and her primary hobbies consist of not talking to people and following the real life trio of magical girls in her city. She only manages to break out of her shell when she is forced to become an antagonist to her beloved magical girls. Utena realises she is a lesbian. Unlike even a lot of yuri, this series does not shy away from depicting a variety of lesbain relationships. I think one of my main issues with the yuri is the fact that a lot of them end when the two girls get together. This manga features several couples who all differ in significant ways. There is the classic yuri trope of a girl in deep yearning for a girl she is close to but feels incapable of approaching her in fear that it is not mutual. You have a couple who are so close together that it is only a surprise to themselves when they eventually get together. You have a couple with differing levels of comfort in acting on physical intimacy, having to work on their communication skills in order to keep their relationship afloat. It might be surprising to you that pretty much everyone is a lesbian in this manga, but it makes sense once you realise there are literally no men in this story. Even every single background character is a woman.