Warning: The following contains spoilers for Yuri Is My Job! episodes 1-12
Although eye-catching, the title of Crunchyroll’s Yuri Is My Job! unfortunately created the false impression that the series doesn’t take itself seriously, or that the yuri aspect is superficial, like the yaoi facade in Ouan Host Club. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Not only is there genuine sapphic romance throughout, but actual relationships that develop in season one, albeit scattered sparingly near the end. Of course, the romance between the one couple that fans care the most about is only alluded to, which is only complicated further by the convoluted and confusing mind games that derive from the series’ eponymous job.
The anime’s title alludes to a waitressing job at a café. The series advertises it as yuri because the all-female staff put on an act where they get into cute and suggestively intimate interactions with each other for the adoration of their customers. There’s even an “ultimate” type of relationship, which requires a small ceremony involving matching necklaces, where the two waitresses become each other’s “big” and “little” sister. However, these relationships aren’t legitimate. In fact, actual romance is prohibited between waitresses, and the season finale even addresses the inappropriateness of lewd clothing to keep things PG for customers.
The Yuri Relationships In Yuri Is My Job!
Created by Passione & Studio Lings, based on the original manga by Miman
The only official yuri relationship is, unfortunately, seen in a flashback, though the original manga by Miman goes much further. It’s through this flashback that viewers discover why the salon’s waitresses are prohibited from being intimate with each other. The one relationship that formed between two staff members was naturally quite messy and almost resulted in the salon closing permanently, hence the strict code. However, the rule’s main enforcer in the present day, in her earnestness to keep her girls in check, learns that one of her girls is in love with fellow waitress and protagonist, Hime Shiraki. Originally, viewers were led to mistakenly believe that these legitimate romantic feelings were nothing more than a shy girl’s obsession with her one and only true friend. However, later episodes prove otherwise.
The relationship that anime-goers care about the most is between the aforementioned Hime and Mitsuki Yano. Although whether the two have romantic feelings for one another has yet to be confirmed, the emotions between them are quite intense since they actually knew each other beforehand, and their relationship ended in disaster. This dynamic is further fueled by the order in which the two realize who the other is, and even when the truth finally comes out in a multi-episode flashback, the situation only gets more complicated because of the salon’s special format where the waitresses put on a show for their customers. Naturally, most of the interactions between Hime and Mitsuki occur while on the job, so no one can be sure whether they’re only acting or being genuine.
Like the greatest anime that feature mind games, these layers go much deeper than just whether the other is acting, as other variables are slowly introduced. In fact, the two leading ladies eventually begin reenacting prior arguments from the last time they saw each other years earlier, creating a weird amalgamation of the past and present. These uncertainties persist throughout the entire season, even in the final 12th episode, when everyone is ostensibly on the same page for once. However, anime-goers will only get to experience these intricate misunderstandings and questions of authenticity if they are able to get past the gimmicky feel of the highly misleading title Yuri Is My Job!
Watch the Series on Crunchyroll
