Spring is in the air… and what better time to contemplate the wonderful subject of love! There are many reasons all of us were drawn into the anime world, including dramatic stories that promised a proper resolution at the end, the freedom to tell morally questionable stories with violence and sexual themes. But another reason many of us became lifelong anime fans was simple: characters who fell in love, and had that love affirmed in uplifting ways as part of the wider plot. I asked J-List’s awesome customers to tell me what their favorite anime love story was, and we came up with some great series to show you!
But first, let’s explore what a “good” anime love story even is. To my mind there should be several elements and they include:
- First, the progression of the relationship of the characters should be compelling for fans, who can increasingly obsess about when the relationship will come to fruition.
- If a love triangle is involved, care should be taken to tell a balanced story so fans can get invested in all sides of the triangle.
- If fans are going to get invested in the characters, we want an actual emotional and/or “physical” payoff for our trouble. Anime that have non-endings in which everything is left open-ended, perhaps so the manga or light novels can continue, need not apply. I even find I tend to avoid works by studios like Doga Kobo, who never end their love stories, as time goes on.
What Was the Best Anime Love Story?
And so, in no particular order, enjoy the best anime love stories, as recommended by J-List’s awesome customers!
One show that helped all of us get through the stresses of COVID-19 was Horimiya, an adorable slice-of-life about Hori-san and Miuamiya-kun, and the adorable love that eventually blossoms between them. I recommend it highly!
How could we leave Inuyasha and Kagome off this list? I love the idea that so many fans were introduced to anime love stories through the popularity of this show.
Another romance anime fans recommended, Golden Time is such a sweet story, it might just give you diabetes.
One of the most influential anime love stories ever, Onegai Teacher really got fans invested in the relationship between Kei and his alien waifu Mizuho…and we were rewarded with scenes like this. This was the series that started the trend of setting anime in real locations, allowing fans to make visits to “holy lands” for virtually any anime they became fans of.
A great scene from AnoNatsu, one of my favorite animes. SPOILER WARNING if you haven’t seen it and plan to.
AnoNatsu is a sequel (sort of) to Please Teacher and Please Twins. Like those shows, it’s filled with “seichi” (holy lands you can visit in Japan). pic.twitter.com/dLHXqXMHvN
— J-LIST (@jlist) November 20, 2017
Another delightful anime love story is the romance between Kaito and Ichika in the popular anime AnoNatsu: Waiting in the Summer is a Canon Sequel to Please Teacher, Fight Me! Yep, that’s what it’s actually called.
One of the most relaxing romantic anime series ever is Skilled Teaser Takagi-san, the story of Takagi’s long journey to win the heart of her crush Nishikata and eventually become The Skilled Teaser Formerly Known as Takagi-san. And best of all, we get canon confirmation of Takagi’s MILF-hood in the new season!
One of the examples of the nascent “harem” anime was 2002’s Ai Yori Aoshi, the story of Kaoru and Aoi, two children of wealthy zaibatsu families who had been engaged to marry at a young age. It’s a unique harem story in that it takes time out in the middle for the two main characters to have sex, so you know which girl he’s chosen.
After blowing everyone’s mind with Evangelion, director Hideaki Anno surprised the world by adapting a shoujo manga story as his next work. His and Her Circumstances was really good, the sweet story of how Miyazawa and Arima eventually become a couple.
Of course you can’t talk about love stories in anime without bringing up the legendary Super Dimensional Fortress Macross, known in English as Robotech. It was influential for many reasons, including introducing transforming mecha and being the first “idol” anime…but it also had a compelling love triangle that enthralled fans, who’d never seen anything like it. Will Hikaru choose the flashy singing star Minmei, or the plain but dedicated Misa? (Incidentally this is the first Japanese-language anime book I ever owned, way back in 1986.)
As long as we’re going old school, I’ll throw out Orange Road as one of the best love stories. It’s the tale of a family that has secret esper powers which they need to keep hidden from society…yet the love story of the relationship between Kyosuke, Madoka and Hikaru is so well written, the esper power side story easily gets forgotten.
It’s sad when we have to say goodbye to the seiyu who have been such big parts of our lives. Read my post about the death of Bulma/Ayukawa voice actress Hiromi Tsuru and many other anime greats in this post.
Did you think I’d leave this show off this list? Of course not! The series that united all fandom in support for Marin Kitagawa supremacy, the popularity of My Dress-Up Darling has been astounding, and we’re getting lots of products in stock, from the official Blu-rays to naughty doujinshi.
What Other Romantic Anime Did J-List Customers Recommend?
Hi-Score Girl. I have never wanted resolution for a story more than that one.
Tohru and Kyo from Fruits Basket is a personal favorite of mine.
I think you could toss in Violet Evergarden if you’re looking for stories about love.
Toradora will likely forever be my favorite romance anime because it makes fun of and avoids the usual clichés and tropes normally seen in romance anime while doing a very good job with its own romance story.
I love the relationships in Kokoro Connect a lot.
Thanks for reading this post exploring what the best anime love story is. Got any other touching and relaxing love stories we should know about? Post them below, or tell us on Twitter!
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