Bait and Switch Lesbians: Difference between revisions

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In the eyes of fandom, a show's major selling point is that its principals are [[Schoolgirl Lesbians]]... but oops, it was just a [[Romantic Two-Girl Friendship]] after all! The viewers have been [[Ship Tease|Ship Teased]]; and now that the writers got their attention, they can write more comfortable (to them) relationships. The lesbian [[Subtext]] may [[Bait and Switch Credits|not even last beyond the opening credits]].

The is pretty common in [[Moe|Bishoujo fandom]], where the [[Romantic Two-Girl Friendship]] develops for a number of unintentional factors. One could say that [[Girl-On-Girl Is Hot|audience likes girls in large quantities, and seeing two girls acting cute, even at each other, is better than one]]. One could also point out that ''far'' more attention is put into the interaction and communication between the girls; while a relationship with a guy just "happens" with most development offscreen. And if they're the [[~~Improbably-~~Female Cast|only people you see]] but the show still maintains particular tropes, the audience is sometimes led toward an imagined payoff that might not be there. Often, this is coupled with a young age for both characters as well as the lack of any actual 'sexuality' in either character, barring [[If It's You It's Okay|concessions]], as this outcome is harder to rationalize for an adult character. Note that any romantic relationship with boys, on the other hand, is considered completely serious at any age. Yes, it's [[Double Standard|hypocritical]].

The is pretty common in [[Moe|Bishoujo fandom]], where the [[Romantic Two-Girl Friendship]] develops for a number of unintentional factors. One could say that [[Girl-On-Girl Is Hot|audience likes girls in large quantities, and seeing two girls acting cute, even at each other, is better than one]]. One could also point out that ''far'' more attention is put into the interaction and communication between the girls; while a relationship with a guy just "happens" with most development offscreen. And if they're the [[Fundamentally Female Cast|only people you see]] but the show still maintains particular tropes, the audience is sometimes led toward an imagined payoff that might not be there. Often, this is coupled with a young age for both characters as well as the lack of any actual 'sexuality' in either character, barring [[If It's You It's Okay|concessions]], as this outcome is harder to rationalize for an adult character. Note that any romantic relationship with boys, on the other hand, is considered completely serious at any age. Yes, it's [[Double Standard|hypocritical]].

Tends to raise the hackles of a show's [[Yuri Fan|Yuri Fandom]], who tend to crop up more infrequently, but also makes them paranoid in the long run. Any male friend of one of the girls becomes the [[Sword of Damocles]]; a possible route of escape for the writers via [[Last-Minute Hookup]]. So [[Die for Our Ship|expect malevolence.]] It takes frustratingly little for a male character to become a love interest. A single scene, a [[Where Are They Now? Epilogue]], can instantly make [[Canon]] to overturn entire seasons of interaction.

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An ironic result of this is making a relationship explicit can result in enough fuel for viewers who oppose the [[Shipping]] to simply scoff that any evidence of the pairing is "just [[Fan Service]]." The fact that a great many shows avoid [[Unfortunate Implications|portraying relationships in significant detail muddies it further: so many other shows cop out at the last minute, so why should this one be different?]] The writers won't ever [[Hide Your Lesbians|admit anything anyways]].

Outside of canon this trope is invoked a lot especially in H-doujins due to a rather persistent tendency for [[Most Writers Are Male|male writers]] to be intimidated by the idea of girls who don't find them sexually attractive (though generally only mildly). This is the reason why a disturbingly large number of popular lesbian characters and characters who are popular in part because of their [[Romantic Two-Girl Friendship|near lesbian tendencies]] are depicted in huge amounts of heterosexual porn with a random [[Author Avatar|male insert]] or more and very frequently in the form of rape instead of [[Girl-On-Girl Is Hot|with each other]].

Compare [[Faux Yay]]. Related to the [[Sweeps Week Lesbian Kiss]].

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* The OVA for ''[[Saber Marionette J]]'' introduced Marine, a new Marionette who somehow imprinted on Lime as her Master -- and therefore, her implicit love interest. Although there is plenty of [[Subtext]] in their relationship, Marine eventually realizes that her true <s>love</s> master was the ocean, the first thing she saw when she awoke (underwater). Complicating this is Lime's perception of affection is generally much more childlike than the other androids. The more likely explanation is the [[OA Vs]] are [[Non Serial Movies]] whose topics [[Put on a Bus|couldn't be put into the next season of the show]].

* The opening credits of the ''[[Venus Versus Virus]]'' combine this with [[Bait and Switch Credits]], although the two girls never really have that kind of relationship in the show, which isn't helped by the [[Gecko Ending]] of the anime.

** The manga is licensed as a yuri manga, actually. The yuri subtext is much more apparent in the manga too. It's [[Sugar and Ice Personality|very]], [[Innocent Innuendo|very]] apparent. Lucia quite noticeably has feelings for Sumire by the end of the manga, though fans think they sparked around volume 2, but Sumire's feelings are a case of YMMV.

* ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena]]'' shocked fans by giving them what they wanted, but through a conclusion that suggested more than it showed. Utena and Anthy are engaged, share a room, share a bed, make a wonderfully handsome couple on campus, and gaze at each other adoringly during the opening credits. Their feelings for each other grow more and more intense as the series progresses. And, in the end, they do choose each other over any male love interest! [[Unpleasable Fanbase|Many fans believed, however, that the way it was depicted wasn't explicit enough]], despite the show still being marketed as a [[Shoujo]] series.

** Among other [[Mind Screw|infamous oddities]], the movie's depiction of the relationship is explicitly physical mostly care of an extroverted Anthy. Paradoxically, many fans [[Unpleasable Fanbase|now claimed to dislike it because it was somehow TOO obvious and thus fanservice]].

** And lets not forget Kozue's car scene with Anthy.

* The relationship between Fate and Nanoha in ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'' has quite a bit of this, leading to some [[Internet Backdraft]]. The makers of the show likely didn't want to ruin the [[True Companions]]-dynamic with romantic relationships, but they really push the issue by making the female leads share an apartment and [[There Is Only One Bed|even a bed together]]--not to mention having them [[Has Two Mommies|adopt a child who starts calling them both "mama"]].

** Nevertheless, the [[Fourth Wall Mail Slot|Megami Sound Stages]] tried to explain that really, Fate was "more of a sister to Vivio" than a mama, and that Fate sent herself into deep space missions in order to "get out of the way." Something ''the voice actresses of the characters themselves'' have declared [[Canon Discontinuity]].

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* The relationship between Mikan and Hotaru in ''[[Gakuen Alice]]'' has something of this. Despite both girls becoming ever closer in the course of the series, leading to [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|numerous heartwarming moments]], it is becoming very clear that the writer intends to hook Mikan up with Natsume, a boy. Sure, all of the characters are [[Puppy Love|relatively young]], but still...

* The ''[[Aoi Hana]]'' anime combines this with [[Bait and Switch Credits]], what with all the romantic imagery involving Fumi and Akira. Sure, Fumi is openly lesbian and seen in an unambiguous relationship with a girl, but that girl is ''not'' Akira.

** The manga also seems to moving into this territory. Of all the (potential) yuri pairings, only the one between Orie and Hinako seems to have survived the author's penchant for [[Kudzu Plot|odd plot twists]]. Even the relationship between {{spoiler|Fumi and Akira}} is uncertain.

* ''[[Amanchu]]'' could be considered a mild version, in that [[Genki Girl|Hikari]]'s cheerful flirting with [[Tall, Dark and Bishoujo|Futaba]] gets toned down considerably as soon as more characters are introduced.

* This could be seen as a continuation of ''[[Aria]]'', made by the same author. Emotions between the girls regularly reach romantic levels, only to be cut off before they become ''too'' obvious.

** Fans noticed quite a few scenes in which Alicia and Akari seem to be ''very'' close to kissing. Maybe this is the reason why Amano introduced some rather forced male romantic interests later on.

* A somewhat mild version occurs in [[Pretty Sammy|Magical Project S]] between Sasami and Misao, since the characters are underage. They're very close friends, and there's subtext there, but the end of the show very haphazardly pairs them up with their Ryo-ohki and Rumiya respectively, even though they didn't know either boy had human forms until the end of the show.

* The old [[Girls Love]] manga ''[[Maya's Funeral Procession]]'' ends with one of the girls marrying her male childhood friend, even though up until that point she'd been very [[Squick|Squicked]] by the idea of marrying him, since she viewed him as [[Like Brother and Sister]].

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** In the third season, ''Full Throttle'', the male relationships were greatly downplayed, but outside of the ending animation Miyuki and Natsumi never quite make it beyond [[Ship Tease]].

* Rika and Hanyuu come millimeters away from kissing -with hands intertwined and eyes closed, no less-, in the the closing theme of ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni]]: Kai''.

* ''[[Life (manga)|Life]]'' is very similar to the ''[[Nana]]'' example above. A lot of the manga centers around the close bond between Ayumu and Miki. Ayumu states that Miki "is her light", they share a [[Kiss of Life]], and one character teases of one their male friends about them. Still, Ayumu eventually shows feeling for a boy, Miki gets a boyfriend in her home town, and {{spoiler|both women go their separate ways in the end}}.

* After all the heightened emotions, almost-declarations of love and subtext between them, [[Canaan]] and Maria choose to separate because their lifestyles are too different--and they don't even once contact each other again. A lot of yuri fans felt this was quite a cop-out. At least the makers decided not to [[Bury Your Gays|kill any of them off]] or suddenly give one of them a straight option out of nowhere...

* ''[[DearS]]'' combines this with [[Bait and Switch Credits]] with an on screen kiss between Ren and Miu during the credits.