Top 10 Romance Anime
Anime is a popular culture nowadays, with multi-million dollar franchises making shows and movies; the term "Anime" is a short form for animation from Japan. Its widespread use and demand in the 21st century have been unprecedented and unseen. After Hollywood, if there is any contender for the entertainment market, it is anime, with many new shows released daily and movies made yearly. After winning an Oscar, the film "Spirited Away" gained near-invincible popularity, and movies like Silent Voice and Your Name are in the same league, making them popular among people even if they don't know much about anime.
The list of the most romantic anime is a very subjective form of a list, and the term "romantic" holds a different meaning for everyone. This list is based on sources from the Internet; the most popular anime shows in the romance category, and the votes of otakus and webs on different forums and sites.
1. Horimiya
The show was released as anime on TV in 2012, and then recently, it was decided to make a live-action film released in 2021. The 13-episode series also had six OVAs. The anime is about the life of protagonist, Kyoko Hori, a high school girl with a very light, lively, and extroverted personality in college. Oher protagonist, the male lead, is Izumi Miyamura, a nerdy, silent, and less introverted classmate of Hori San.
The twist comes when they leave their college social circles and go to their personal lives, where Hori dresses down and looks after her younger brother, Souta. When Souta comes home one day with a nosebleed, Miyamura accompanies him in an unrecognizably altered form with numerous tattoos and piercings. This mirror personality of both was so embarrassing to them that they decided to keep it to themselves. As they learn more secret things about each other's lives, this spark leads them to understand how similar they are and how much closer they have grown to each other.
2. Your Name
Kimi no Na Wa, or Your Name, is a supernatural anime movie released in 2016. It is also the most popular work in the romantic anime movies of 2016. We follow a girl and a boy from completely different lives as they switch consciousness. The girl, who is a villager and lives in the lake town of Tomorrow with her grandmother and sister, becomes a boy living in a rich urban region, going to high school, and working part-time as a waiter in a restaurant.
When they both realize what has been happening, they decide to deal systematically with it and leave notes for each other on their phones. The joys of living a different life and the problems that come with them The story takes a turn when the boy tries to meet the girl and find out more about her, and in the process of searching for Itomori, he learns that the town perished in an asteroid shower many years ago, and he learns that he was not only switching bodies but also skipping through time. Together, they try to save the town's people and meet each other as they fall in love.
3. A Silent Voice
Koe no Katachi, or The Silent Voice, is an exceptional movie about people's lives and struggles, such as growing up, friendships, toxic people, mental health, childhood drama, suicidal thoughts, and parental issues. It was released in 2016. We follow our protagonist Shoya Ishida, who is the troubled kid, causing a commotion and annoying the class for fun, and his friends, who are similarly semi-toxic modern kids studying in a relatively low-level, "economically cheaper" school in their suburban neighborhood.
The movie starts with Shoya preparing to commit suicide but deciding to postpone and put a closure on his life first. We see a part of his past in sixth grade when Shoya meets a new member of their class who joins the class that day, Shoko, who is deaf and mute and uses a notebook to respond to people. She tries to fit in, but Shoya and her classmates see her as an easy target to bully, but Shoya gets caught and is punished by the principal, which makes him the target of everyone's bullying. Shoya blames Shoko for this, and they end up fighting. Consequentially, Shoko transfers to another school later.
Shoya gets bullied and thrown out of the social system of his high school life and ends up depressed; the movie beautifully portrays his view of other people, where he imagines an "X" on their faces. The story shows how Shoya and his friends' behavior led to unfortunate times for everyone. Shoya's former lover could not reach out to him and blamed Shoko, with Shoya's friends blaming each other for the events. We see how they change and again fall in love with each other.
4. Blue Spring Ride
This anime, also known as "Ao Haru Ride," is a critically acclaimed and well-received title in the manga, light novels, and anime series, with its manga being one of the top 5 most selling in 2013 and 2014 consecutively. The anime plot has seen different adaptations of story, but it has done very well among teen and female audiences as its characters are relatable to them.
Our protagonist, sixteen-year-old Futaba, acts unfeminine to fit better with her female friends to stop their jealousy towards her. She feels that her life is not interesting. She reunites with her former love, who moved to Nagasaki. Kou Tanaka, who now goes by the name "Mubachi," Kou or Mubachi has completely changed, and Futaba learns that Kou's mother died when he moved away, which led him down to this change. Futaba tries to help him in this situation and get him better.
An entry by Kou's friend complicates their lives, and Futaba gives up trying to change Kou. Futaba gets into a relationship with someone else during this time. When Kou realizes this problem, he leaves his past behind and starts actively pursuing Futaba, which makes it difficult for her. This complicated love triangle is later resolved at the end of the series.
5. Kamisama Kiss
Kamisama Hajime Mashita is an anime with 13 episodes and an OVA following an imaginary supernatural universe. Nanami, a high school student, and a helpful and kindhearted soul. Mikage's father is shown to be a gambler addicted to the act; unable to control his habits, he has accumulated several debts and ends up evicting Nanami from her home. Even in such a dire situation, Nanami calmly ponders what went wrong in her life, wishing she was a normal girl going to high school and leading an average life, but the anime is the opposite of her wishes.
As Nanami stops a man from chasing dogs, seeing her kindness, the man places a sign on her forehead and gives her his home, but when Nanami gets to the address, she finds a shrine instead of a home. The man is a Land God who lived in this shrine with Yokaii and his familiar and has now given that position for Nanami to fill. The Yokaii in the shrine is friendly and accepts Nanami as the Land God due to the sign placed on her.
Nanami falls in love with the familiar of Mikage named Tomoe, the former land god, but she refuses, as Nanami is a human, and a relationship between Yokaii and humans is considered taboo, but we end up seeing that Tomoe yearns for Nanami too.
6. Maid Sama!
Maid Sama, or "The Class President Is a Maid!" It's about a high school president, as the title suggests. The anime follows an all-boys high school that is unpopular in society because its students are very problematic and loosely behaved and have a bad reputation among teachers. After some years, Misaki Ayuzawa becomes the high school president and a boys-hating dictator but is popular among peers and teachers. This school has been turned into a coed school, and the girls are allowed to join.
Misaki is forced to work in a maid cafe outside of high school due to an economic crisis, assisting her mother and younger sister as her father left a large debt on their family. This fact is discovered by the poster boy of the school, Takumi Usui, who generally aces his high school's athletic and academic areas. After numerous rejections from his female friends, Usui gets interested in Misaki and often visits the cafe. He also decides to keep the secret between them, and through a series of awkward meet-ups and situations, these two soon find themselves in love. Takumi comes from a wealthy English family of noble descent and is forbidden from having a relationship with anyone of lower social standing and status than his family
7. Your Lie in April
This sad, wonderful, and well-executed anime is a musical romance about a music prodigy and burned-out gifted child pianist. The anime is pretty experimental in its art style, and made some bold decisions about how it would design the scenes. The style is hated or loved by people, but the story has no objections.
We start with a violinist girl meeting our male protagonist in a playground, and him being blown away by her personality. Kosei is our pianist, who learned it from his mother. Kosei has a mental breakdown in the middle of a performance, and his psychological damage leads him to be unable to hear the music of his piano for two years, despite his ears being fine and able to hear everything but his music, but you can say his life changes when he meets Kaori Miyazono, a high-spirited and free-spirited girl who loves music and plays the violin exceptionally well. It is as if you can see her chaotic and open personality in her music. This fourteen-year-old befriends our dear Kosei, who slumps in all activities now and prefers to waste time with his friends, Ryota and Tsubaki.
The anime follows these four people and the complicated relationships they fall into, as well as the ultimate tragedy they come to know about Kaori and her life. They fall in love, and Tsubaki confesses to Kosei and the romantic mess they create. This deeply moving and emotional anime series is a must-see for anyone looking for exceptional stories and a true representation of love. It has 22 episodes.
8. Yona of Dawn
Akatsuki no Yona is another anime of the romance genre that has charted itself in the top 10 and was produced back in 2014. The story of the anime predates the main characters by 2000 years. The cultural myth's crimson dragon descended from heaven, just as humans did, to rid Kouka of all evil, but the crimson dragon could not win, and the world was on the brink of destruction. Just before the evil entities were about to destroy the crimson king, four other dragon kings took human form and became allies of the crimson dragon king. With their crucial help, the crimson dragon king and his allies were able to win the war, and with time, they cleared the country of all evil. After some years, the crimson dragon king died, and the other four dragons left Kouka to establish their clans and countries, known as the sky, earth, water, wind, and fire. This was the legend of the formation of the kingdoms.
The characters are born 2000 years later. Yona, the sole princess in the kingdom of Kouka, is soon 16 years old. Yona lives a sheltered life inside the castle walls under the protection of her bodyguard, Hak, in a mirage of peace. Yona has a crush on the son of her uncle, Soo-won, whom she wants to marry, but her father strictly forbids her from precisely marrying Soo-won. This leaves her heart broken, but a bigger shock comes to her right after her birthday when she goes to meet her father but finds her lover brutally killing the king. Following this, Soo-won becomes the ruler and captures Yona and Hak; they must flee the kingdom and take shelter in another. The story follows Yona as he attempts to gather the four dragon kings and unite them to save Kouka as they did 2,000 years ago, based on the myth.
9. Say, "I love you."
This anime, in particular, feels unnecessary and shallow when you first get to know the main characters. Yamato is a well-mannered and caring person, and Mei is the same; she is a kind and generous girl, but the plot is not driven forward by the regular fights and distress people often see in the romance genre; rather, the show avoids that in a way to elaborate on the characters further. Yamato is the poster boy of his high school and is popular among his fellow students and peers. In the female lead, we have Mei, a generic introvert who has been unable to make friends for 16 years, leading her to become overly cautious and paranoid. By fate, she injures Yamato, who falls in love with her at first sight. Yamato is interested in her and follows up. Their interactions develop into a wonderful friendship and eventually more. Through Yamato, Mei learns the art of friendship and how she had been holed up for her whole life, and she opens herself to friendships.
The original show aired at the end of 2012 and had 13 episodes and an OVA. The show also had a movie of 102 minutes that was created in live-action form based on the anime. The other forms of this anime, the manga, and the movie made a name for themselves, selling a total of 5.3 million copies and crossing 1.1 billion yen in revenue, proving their success.
10. Fruit Basket
Fruit Basket is a fairly well-known and popular anime that people enjoy. It is also currently ranked 33rd among the most popular anime. Considering how many anime are currently in production and those that have already been completed is quite an accomplishment. In 2019, the anime TV show aired 63 main episodes, and the show did well on television. It is also officially available on Crunchyroll, licensed for viewing.
The anime revolves around the base of a supernatural family drama of sorts, where viewers follow Tohru Honda, a high school girl whose mother dies when the show starts, and she ends up living on the property of the Sohma family because of renovations on her grandparent's home and a very annoying relative; meanwhile, the Sohma family has problems of their own, meeting the cousins of her classmates, Yuki and Shigure. The family is possessed by Juninshi, or the animals of the Chinese Zodiac, and they transform into these beasts when weak or stressed. Tohru bumps into Kyo, who transforms into a cat right in front of her, revealing the magical curse placed on the 12 members of the Sohma family. Although the curse of the Sohma runs far deeper than she initially sees, Tohru promises to keep their curse a secret, and in return, they let her reside on their property. After seeing how much everyone in the family cares for her, she is positively impacted by this and decides to help them break the curse. The series leads her to eventually meet the leader of the Sohma family, Akito, and how his position as the god in the Chinese myths and the family's leader is eerie and complicated.