Bait and Switch Lesbians: Difference between revisions

 

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

 

== Anime and Manga ==

* While the original ''[[Mariasama ga Miteru]]'' novels are a bit more lenient in [[Subtext]], the anime only has one canonical pairing, derailed when one member ''went off to become a nun,'' and when two girls are about to kiss, the camera cuts away as if it were [[Sexy Discretion Shot|something much more]] [[Harmful to Minors]]. This is especially unusual, as ''[[Portmanteau Series Nickname|Marimite]]'' is pretty much defined by its [[Girls Love]] fandom.

* 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.

** 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.

* 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]]ed by the idea of marrying him, since she viewed him as [[Like Brother and Sister]].

* ''[[You're Under Arrest]]'' features a very intimate relationship between two [[Lovely Angels]]. The couple gets a lot of [[Ship Tease]] from manga omakes, endings of the anime, and official artwork. However, they both have male love interests and don't express any romantic feelings for each other. Compared to their male love interests, which tend to be forced and they typically have an awkward relationship with, their relationship is the main cause of troubles in the series.

* ''[[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...

* Oddly and sort of annoyingly inverted with the manga ''Maka-Maka''. It's billed as a yuri manga, and the girls do have sex with each other... but they both consider themselves straight and all their relationship focus is on their boyfriends. It's basically about the lesbians from porn movies who will just randomly have sex with each other because there are no guys around.

 

== Cross-Media ==

* In the TV ''[[Doctor Who]]'' there was some fairly strong innuendo that [[Mad Bomber]] [[Action Girl]] companion Ace was bisexual if not preferentially lesbian, especially in the stories ''Ghost Light'' and ''Survival''. But when the TV show ended and the [[Virgin New Adventures|New Adventures]] spin-off novels were allowed to go for a [[Hotter and Sexier|more]] [[Darker and Edgier|"adult"]] tone, she was depicted as entirely straight.

 

== Film ==

'''''Don't mean I'm in love tonight'''''}}

 

* Elphaba and Glinda from ''[[Wicked (theatre)|Wicked]]'' have a very close bond. It starts off as pure [[Foe Yay]] full of [[Belligerent Sexual Tension]] but morphs into a fluffy friendship, most likely the closest in the musical. It's even thicker than in the [[Wicked (novel)|source book]], as the musical focuses almost entirely on them. However Glinda is apparently in love with Fiyero and Elphaba's in love with Fiyero, {{spoiler|plus he lives in the musical}}, so that gets in the way of any of their romance. [[Word of Gay]] backs their romance up but it's hard to say whether they were ever together.

** The source book makes it fairly clear that Glinda was too self-absorbed and mired in what she thought she should be to ever step that far out of her assigned role, being just barely able to acknowledge Elphaba as a friend despite the depth of her feeling. Elphaba, meanwhile, is clearly uncomfortable with being close to ''anybody'', and is only able to kiss Glinda just before parting from her because she knows they'll probably never see each other again. Glinda is left flummoxed and confused by Elphaba's feelings and her own, and any realizations she might have had about those feelings are hidden beneath her forced manner and position as a member of the Wizard's regime the next time we see her.

== Video Games ==

* Since your typical [[hentai]] [[Eroge|game]] has one or two major male characters and boatloads of pretty girls, the marketing images often involve multiple female characters looking mighty friendly, even if there's not even a romantic friendship between them in-game. For that matter, several games play up a romantic friendship between two girls and teasingly suggest that one of them may be gay for the other, only to eventually drop that subject without so much as a girl/girl kiss ever being shown. Obviously some authors do not agree that [[Girl-On-Girl Is Hot]].

 

== Web Comics ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Bait and Switch]]

[[Category:Queer As Tropes]]

[[Category:Always Female]]