History Anime / YuriKumaArashi

* TheUnreveal

* CatchPhrase

* CerebusRetcon: Lulu's retelling of the human-bear war looks funny at first, but Ginko's backstory shows that it was still a ''war'' with casualties on both sides.

* DaylightHorror: The murders at Arashigaoka tend to take place during the day, as one of the anime's many nods to ''Film/Suspiria1977'', which also set at [[http://www.themarysue.com/yurikuma-arashi-recap-episode-2-i-will-never-forgive-you/ an all-girls school where a lot of gruesome murders take place]].

* FootFocus: Two of the shots in the OP feature Ginko and Lulu sensually biting someone's toes.

* BareYourMidriff: Ginko and Lulu when in their faux-bear costumes.

* OffModel: The art style is usually beautifully drawn and well-animated, but sometimes the characters get very off-looking faces. Kureha in particular suffers from this on multiple occasions.

''Yuri Kuma Arashi'' (''{{Yuri|Genre}} Bear Storm'', ''Lily Bear Storm'', or ''Lesbian Bear Storm'') is an anime directed by Creator/KunihikoIkuhara ([[AuthorAppeal in true style]]) which aired as part of the Winter2015Anime season. The anime's character designs are by well-known [[YuriGenre yuri]] manga creator Creator/AkikoMorishima.

*** Those are literal interpretations of a highly symbolic story, though. The reappearance of dead Sumiko, Kureha's lost love, as the goddess of love, and of dead Mitsuko as the personification of Ginko's jealousy hint very strongly that the entire story represents and symbolizes the main characters' inner journeys and the entire fantasy world and story is supposed to be viewed as an allegory. To this effect, Ginko's sexual assault on Kureha might symbolize Ginko's rather forceful intrusion into Kureha's life shortly after her separation from Sumiko and [[spoiler:Yurika]]'s attempted rape might allegorize her [[MindRape continued deception and manipulation]] of Kureha, for example.

* NiceHat: Everyone at Arashigaoka Academy wears a white hat with a brim as part of the uniform, though this only seems to be during the beginning hours of school.

* PantyShot: Though the anime's preview concept art of the main three girls infamously featured these, the actual anime itself has none. The manga, on the other hand, features many.

* AdultFear: In the manga, [[spoiler:Milne's death, as recounted by Lulu, is basically every single young parent's worst nightmare]].

* {{Meganekko}}: Sumika. Her glasses even have little flowers on them.

* MomentOfSilence: After a certain character TakesTheBullet for another, they manage to hold onto life for a while longer. The moment they die, the background music suddenly stops.

* AuthorAppeal: Ikuhara's previous works haven't been subtle about showing his fondness for female characters in lesbian relationships, but here it's [[UpToEleven especially obvious]] as [[CastFullOfGay nearly every female character is a lesbian]] (or at least [[ArmoredClosetGay in denial about it]]).

* PseudoRomanticFriendship: Deconstructed. Anybody who tries to openly take this to the next level is excluded, such as Kureha and Sumika. Also, seemingly what caused a rift in Reia and Yurika's friendship was Reia moving out of this and forming a "real" relationship, while Yurika considered her relationship with Reia to be real.

* RomanticTwoGirlFriendship: Deconstructed. Anybody who tries to openly take this to the next level is excluded, such as Kureha and Sumika. Also, seemingly what caused a rift in Reia and Yurika's friendship was Reia moving out of this and forming a "real" relationship, while Yurika considered her relationship with Reia to be real.

Safely within the confines lives Kureha, an ordinary girl who is devoted to [[SchoolgirlLesbians her girlfriend]], the sweet Sumika. Unbeknownst to her, two bears infiltrate her class at school as humans in order to eat more girls; one of whom, Ginko, is immediately attracted to Kureha's delicious scent. Kureha vows to protect Sumika from any trouble, but soon, Sumika is captured and eaten by bears. Kureha is enraged, so when she gets a call telling her that her love for Sumika can be proven if she meets a couple of bears on the school's roof, she races to meet them, gun in hand.

* RomanticTwoGirlFriendship: Deconstructed. Anybody who tries to openly take this [[SchoolgirlLesbians to the next level]] is excluded, such as Kureha and Sumika. Also, seemingly what caused a rift in Reia and Yurika's friendship was Reia moving out of this and forming a "real" relationship, while Yurika considered her relationship with Reia to be real.

** The show opens with Sumika being glad they've found a place to be alone, but Kureha responding that they're doing nothing wrong. It's later made clear that [[SchoolgirlLesbians relationships like theirs]] ''are'' looked down upon by the vast majority of the school.

* SchoolgirlLesbians: By far Ikuhara's most blatant yet -- the very first few minutes of the anime show Kureha and Sumika declaring their love for one another, and the OP is filled with shots of the three main girls hugging each other naked, almost-kissing and nibbling each other's feet. In the anime itself, however, this trope is looked down upon by the majority of the school where it takes place, and anyone who tries to take a RomanticTwoGirlFriendship to the next level is excluded by everyone.

* NotSoDifferent: As shown in episode 7, the bear world excludes those who can't follow the herd and leaves them to die, much like the human world does.

%%* CerebusRetcon: Lulu's retelling of the human-bear war looks funny at first, but Ginko's backstory shows that it was still a ''war'' with casualties on both sides.

%%* CycleOfRevenge: One of the main themes of the anime. Kureha wants nothing more than to get revenge on the bear that killed her mother. She softens this stance as the series goes on, but the Invisible Storm does not and immediately sets sights on excluding Kureha permanently once they think she's responsible for the bears appearing.

%%* WhamShot:
%%** At the end of episode 5, Ginko's pendant is the exact same one Reia used to have.
%%** The stinger of episode 6 reveals [[spoiler:Ginko saw Sumika's murder and did nothing to stop it]].

** A large amount of shots are taken from [[Creator/KunihikoIkuhara the creator]]'s previous works. In particular, the whole "climb a spiral staircase to battle OnceAnEpisode" sequence is taken directly from ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena''.y

** A large amount of shots are taken from [[Creator/KunihikoIkuhara the creator]]'s previous works. In particular, the whole "climb a spiral staircase to battle OnceAnEpisode" sequence is taken directly from ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena''.

** In episode 8, during a tense situation, Lulu tells Kureha [[spoiler: what crime Ginko committed]]. The entire conversation is drowned out by a thunderstorm, but whatever it is, [[spoiler: it causes Kureha to shoot Ginko.]] This sequence is repeated in the beginning of episode 9; only in the second repeating do we finally hear what the conversation was.

* BearsAreBadNews: It's right up there in the description. They can disguise themselves as human, to boot. [[spoiler:And there are more bears hiding in human form: Mitsuko, Konomi and Yurika.]]

* WorldOfSymbolism: There's a lot of allegory for Japan's views on homosexuality and contrasting that view with the country's large quantity of "yuri" fiction. Ikuhara has, in interviews, talked about how bears tend to be seen in real life as predatory dangers but are often portrayed as cutesy innocents in pop culture, which is a clear parallel to Japan's view of lesbians versus how they're depicted in anime and manga. There's also a ton of other symbolism, as usual for Ikuhara.

* InfantImmortality: Played with, and ultimately averted. [[spoiler:Milne]] didn't die from being thrown off a cliff, being thrown off a cliff into quicksand occupied by a dune worm, or being thrown into a volcano. Instead, he [[spoiler:died of rather less dramatic causes: being stung by bees]].

* SuddenSoundtrackStop: After a certain character TakesTheBullet for another, they manage to hold onto life for a while longer. The moment they die, the background music suddenly stops.