34 Best Romance Anime of All Time You Should Watch

What could be more beautiful in this world than love? That it is even more beautiful when it can be felt through our favorite anime. These strong feelings can make our heart beat faster, make us sad or even cry, but can also give us a big smile. Countless Japanese animations gained huge popularity on the love theme throughout the past years. Among the countless works created, romance fans are wondering which ones are part of the best romantic anime worth watching. Some great anime offer some romance in one way or another while others choose love as a central theme. Here’s a list of the Best Romance Anime of All Time you need to watch

• My Happy Marriage
• Maid-Sama
• I want to eat your pancreas
• Orange
• Ouran High School Host Club
• Ao Haru Ride
• My Dress-Up Darling
•  Toradora
•  Clannad
•  Weathering with You 
•  Kaguya-Sama : Love is a war
•  Nana 
•  Kimi no Na Wa
•  Your Lie in April
•  Fruits Basket
•  Horimiya
• The Duke Of Death And His Maid Season 2
• Masamune-kun’s Revenge R
• Shikimori’s Not Just A Cutie
• Bakemonogatari
• Tomo-chan is A Girl!
• Wotakoi: Love Is Hard For Otaku
• Romantic Killer
• The Dangers In My Heart
• The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten
• Insomniacs After School
• Kokoro Connect
• Rascal Does Not Dream Of Bunny Girl Senpai
• Welcome To The N.H.K.
• The Pet Girl Of Sakurasou
• Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions!
• Tonikawa: Over The Moon For You
• Sing “Yesterday” For Me
• My Love Story!

My Happy Marriage

My Happy Marriage is currently without a doubt the top romance anime of Summer 2023. The plot, which is based on a series of novels by Akumi Agitogi, is set in a different Meiji Restoration era and includes supernatural aspects.

Despite originating from a very wealthy household, Miyo’s life has been a living misery because of her horrible stepmother, stepsister, and biological father. Aware that a rejection would mean the end for the main character, her family disguises Miyo as a potential wife for a notorious military official who is known for turning women away within days.

However, Kiyoka is fascinated (and outraged) by Miyo’s family’s treatment in addition to developing a fondness for her.

The long-term effects of Miyo’s mistreatment at the hands of her family are not hidden in My Happy Marriage. Even in Kiyoka’s protection, the protagonist requires time to recuperate after losing her feeling of value.

In the latter instance, he is an intriguing character who, despite having apparent ulterior intentions for his initial interest in Miyo, has other goals in mind.

Maid-Sama

Seika High is a low-level establishment where boys make up 80% of the workforce. It is in this very masculine universe that Ayuzawa Misaki, president of the student council, enforces discipline. Through hard work and determination, she has earned respect.

Beautiful, energetic, and intelligent, Misaki commands admiration among the other girls, which she never fails to defend. On the other hand, she spreads a sacred terror among the boys, whom she holds in very little esteem.

This is particularly the case for her male rival, the very calm and respected Usui Takumi. Eternal first in front of Misaki, Usui is much courted by the girls. This daily life is only one facet of Misaki’s life. Coming from a poor family, she works part-time as a maid in a café to support them.

In order not to damage a dearly acquired reputation, she insists on keeping this double life a secret. She fears the worst when Usui surprises her at work. But against all odds, the young boy reveals an interest in Misaki, whom he decides to support. In the shadow of the rivalry will be born a certain complicity and even strong feelings.

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I want to eat your pancreas

One day, a high school student finds in a hospital the diary of one of his classmates, named Sakura Yamauchi, where he discovers that she suffers from a terminal pancreatic disease.

Aside from his family, he is the only one who knows about her condition, which she has long hidden at school and promises the latter to keep this secret. Although Sakura’s days are numbered, the protagonist decides to get to know her despite their completely opposite personalities.

A love story then develops between the two high school students and they both intend to take advantage of it. Sakura then makes him a proposal: to live together a whole life in accelerated, the time of spring.

The movie gives us an important lesson: whether we are battling a disease or are perfectly healthy, it’s important to live your life to the fullest, and live it how you would normally.

Orange

Although Orange is part of the best romantic anime, it also deals with other heavy themes like suicide or mental health. It is a short anime, available in one season of 13 episodes that you can binge over a weekend.

Naho is a sixteen-year-old high school student living in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture. Her daily life is turned upside down when she receives a letter from herself written ten years later!

Through this letter, she intends to prevent Naho from repeating the same mistakes of the past, including the suicide of a new student in her class called Kakeru. Thus, the letter contains material on the events of the coming months and instructions on how to save Kakeru’s life.

Orange is a beautiful, hard-hitting story of love and you will not find some good romance anime with a similar story.

Ouran HighSchool Host Club

Haruhi Fujioka managed to obtain a scholarship in a high-standing private high school: Ōran Gakuen. One day, while looking for a quiet place to study, she walks through the door of Music Room No. 3.

In this room, there is the “host club circle”, a group of six young boys who sell their beauty and provide dreams for super rich and idle students. Trying to escape, Haruhi accidentally breaks a vase worth 8 million yen! To repay her debt, she is forced to join the club as a slave.

Due to her short hair, Haruhi is mistaken for a boy. Surprisingly, she seems to be a “natural host” because she performs this job perfectly without prior training and becomes a member of this extraordinary club. But that’s until they find out she’s a girl. 

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Ao Haru Ride

From middle school, Futaba Yoshioka doesn’t really have good memories. Considered “very cute”, she quickly became jealous of her friends and put aside by all the other girls.

Moreover, the boy she secretly loved, Kô Tanaka, had stood her up when he had invited her and left for another school without her even having time to confess her feelings to him.

Now in high school, Futaba is determined to change her image and start from scratch: new establishment, new friends, until she discovers that Kô is enrolled in the same establishment as her. She sees this opportunity as a godsend, a second chance for her to be with her beloved.

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My Dress-Up Darling

This series is about Wakana Gojo, a young man who is only interested in one thing: making Hina dolls at his grandfather’s workshop. Since no one shares his passion, he struggles to make friends until the day he meets Marin Kitagawa, the most popular girl in school.

Marin, who is an otaku at heart, thinks it’s great to make dolls and wants to help Wakana. After Marin reveals his own secret to him, he finds a new use for his tailoring skills. Together they will make her cosplay dreams come true!

Neither of them judges each other’s hobbies and supports each other no matter what. As the series continues, Marin and Wakana grow closer and eventually develop feelings for each other and the story transforms into one of the best romantic anime ever. 

 Toradora

The story follows Ryuji Yusaku and Taiga Aisaka, two students with crushes on the other’s best friend. Ryuuji Takasu has just entered the second year of high school and lives alone with his mother.

He would like to be just an ordinary student, but he has one flaw: his intimidating eyes. Because of his scary demeanor, people shun him and he has great difficulty in socializing with others; the hardest thing to bear is the absence of a romantic relationship.

He finds a glimmer of hope to make friends when he finds himself in the same class as his best friend Yūsaku Kitamura and his crush, the pretty Minori Kushieda. Short-lived joy since he will literally fall on the local tsundere, Taiga Aisaka, who in turn is secretly in love with his best friend Yusaku.

It is then the beginning of a sulfurous relationship between the two. Taiga will take advantage of him and will make him his cleaning man and incidentally a punching bag, but she keeps him close to her in order to get closer to Kitamura, while Ryuji hopes to do the same with the pretty Kushieda.

 Clannad

The story of Tomoya Okazaki, a high schooler, is a bit depressing. He is left to pick up the pieces after losing his mother and never sees his father since he’s always working. He goes to school, but it’s like he’s on autopilot mode.

Tomoya for this reason prefers to hang around outside his home and begins to be seen as a delinquent although his life is still boring to him. But his meeting with Nagisa will change his life.

He then began to dream of a dark world inhabited only by a young girl capable of creating objects by assembling garbage. This girl makes a body for Tomoya, and they are the only “survivors” in this world. 

The starting scenario seems simple, but the different relationships between the characters are the main interest of Clannad. It also contains many humorous scenes and is equally dramatic. Clannad’s storyline is divided into two seasons: School Life and After Story, which contain both story phases.

Season 2, After Story, handles the drama much better than Season 1 and might even make you cry.

Weathering with You

Young high school student Hodaka Morishima moves from his home on a remote island to Tokyo but quickly runs out of money. He lives in seclusion but eventually finds a job as a writer for an occult magazine.

After Hodaka starts working, the weather remains rainy day after day. One day, in a busy corner of town, he meets a young girl named Hina Amano. Hina also strives to find work to sustain herself and her younger brother.

This cheerful and determined girl has a strange and wonderful power: she seems to be able to manipulate the weather.

Amazed by this power, a crazy idea crosses Hodaka’s mind: he regards Hina as a “sunshine girl” and offers her to do business with her power in order to provide good weather and clear skies to anyone who needs it for an event. Strangely, Hina services are requested by many people and they start to make a lot of money. 

The film ranked #1 in its opening weekend and was the highest-grossing film in Japan in 2019. It won the prize for Animation of the Year award at the 43rd annual Japan Academy Prize ceremony.

Weathering with You also won the Social Impact Award at the 23rd Japan Media Arts Festival. It is therefore logical that it is one of the best romantic anime that exists.

Related: Real-life Locations of Weathering with You in Japan

Kaguya-Sama : Love is a war

Kaguya Shinomiya, vice-president of the student council, doesn’t see love like everyone else. For her, it’s a fight she has to fight with the person she’s madly in love with, Miyuki Shirogane, who is none other than the student council president and who shares a fairly similar vision of love.

Although both have reciprocal feelings, Instead of just showing some vulnerability, Kaguya and Miyuki manage to turn everything into an intense mind game to see who will finally confess.

It is one of the best romantic anime because since its release in 2019, it has continued to gain popularity and has three good seasons and a fourth has already been announced

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Nana

Nana Komatsu, a young student, decides to leave her hometown to join her boyfriend Shôji, who is studying at an art school in Tokyo. On the train to the capital, Nana Komatsu finds herself next to Nana Osaki, a young girl who is also going to Tokyo to fulfill her dream of becoming a professional singer, like her boyfriend Ren, the guitarist of a band of popular music.

The two young girls sharing the same name although completely different but having an almost identical story, will become friends. The series just showcases both the ups and downs of relationships to such a degree that you legitimately feel.

When they arrive in Tokyo, will they be able to live their dreams and have the love they are looking for?

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Kimi no Na Wa (Your Name)

Your Name was a huge success upon its release. It is a real masterpiece made by the famous Makoto Shinkai. Your Name makes us dream through the story of two teenagers with completely opposite lives.

Mitsuha lives in the mountains and dreams of leaving her small village, Itomori, to live her life in the big city of Tokyo. While Taki, the boy, is a young high school student who lives in Tokyo and works at the same time for an Italian restaurant.

Exhausted by his pace of life, he too dreams of a peaceful life in a remote corner of the globe. Everything changes one day when Taki has a dream in which he is in the shoes of a young girl who lives in a town in the mountains. Mitsuha, meanwhile, also has a dream in which she is in the body of a Tokyo boy.

As a comet passes through the sky of Itomori, their fate will change when they realize that they find themselves in each other’s bodies two or three days a week. What mystery is hidden behind these strange dreams that unite the two teenagers?

A heart-warming love story will exist between them even though they came together through bizarre circumstances. Many things keep them apart but they’re determined to make it work.

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Your Lie in April

Being one of the most famous romantic anime, Your Lie in April follows two music prodigies Kousei Arima and Kaori Miyazono. A piano prodigy from an early age, Kousei excels in all the competitions in which he participates by giving a chain of high-level performances.

However, Kousei loses his love for music and sinks into depression when his mother dies suddenly from a serious illness. Two years later he meets Kaori, a violin enthusiast. One day, the boy hears Kaori playing her violin with such a sense of freedom that it reignites his interest in music.

Kousei immediately falls in love with the girl. While he had sworn never to talk of piano again, he could not really separate himself from his musical past. Kaori will need the courage to recreate the link between Kousei and the piano by offering him to become his accompanying pianist for her competitions.

Kousei feels inspired to play again, and the two grow closer through their mutual love and appreciation for playing music.

Fruits Basket

Tohru, a high school student, loses her mother and finds herself living in a tent in the woods. One day, Tohru comes across the house of one of her classmates, Yuki Soma. She is welcomed there and is kept as a cleaning lady.

Very quickly, Tohru discovers a huge secret that this family hides. The limbs are indeed struck with a curse and each time they are intertwined by a person of the opposite sex, they suddenly transform into a Chinese zodiac animal.

Fruits Basket is a classic and one of the best romance anime you can watch. Fruits Basket excels in complicated relationships. The series is a great anime to watch and shows a wide range of love stories: unrequited, broken, toxic, idealistic, and even platonic.

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Horimiya

This is one of the best romantic anime you should not miss because it has a very charming story. Hori is a fashionable and popular high school girl who lives a completely normal school life. However, once back home, Hori has to take care of everything while her parents are away working all day.

She must therefore take care of the household chores and take care of her little brother, so she can’t enjoy her teenage life. Her life changes when she meets Izumi Miyamura, a boy in her class, quiet and shy by nature, with the appearance of an otaku.

Yet, outside of school, he too is a whole different person and it turns out that Izumi is a social young man who loves piercings and getting tattoos. 

What will happen when our two high school students discover each other’s dark side? Horimiya is filled with funny scenes, the characters are super endearing and we also find cool love stories between secondary characters.

The Duke Of Death And His Maid Season 2

Who doesn’t appreciate a little playful teasing? Viktor’s curse to kill anybody he touches is an odd hook for The Duke of Death and His Maid because it does not provide for a happy love relationship.

The duke clearly has affection for his maid, Alice, and she appears to feel the same way. Unfortunately, his circumstances prevent them from moving forward, so they must settle for a friendly conversation.

The Duke of Death and His Maid shares similarities with Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro and Teasing Master Takagi-san, albeit it is undoubtedly more morally upstanding (which is saying something). Season 2 is likely to surpass Season 1 in quality.

Masamune-kun’s Revenge R

Masamune-kun’s Revenge is a little difficult to recommend. The main character’s intention is to humiliate Aki Adagaki, a young woman who teased him as a child. Masamune was motivated by the event to spend years working on his physique in order to carry out a plan of retaliation that would destroy Aki’s heart.

Naturally, Masamune starts out as a very unlikable character for this motivation, which is not exactly noble.

During the majority of Masamune-kun’s Revenge’s first season, Aki is also not the most likeable character, and the interactions between the leads are typically characterized by passive aggression and sarcasm. Each of the remaining characters has a personal devil.

Shikimori’s Not Just A Cutie

Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie, which debuted during the Spring 2022 season to mixed reviews, raises doubts about this choice. Doga Kobo’s series, which was heralded as the “new” My Dress-Up Darling, was promoted to be something it never pretended to be. It is a slice-of-life anime that just so happens to be centered around a couple, and Shikimori and Yuu Izumi make a rather cute couple.

Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie distinguishes out as something unusual straight out of the gate because there are not many anime that begin with the main couple already together.

Even though not much happens in each episode, taken as a whole, they do provide a healthy peek at a youthful romance featuring two endearing people who are still new to love.

Bakemonogatari

Although it would be a stretch to call Bakemonogatari a romance, Koyomi Araragi and Hitagi Senjougahara’s relationship is established and highlighted in this season of Monogatari.

These two meet under “unusual” circumstances, and although their first encounters result in staples to the face, they eventually click because Araragi is determined to assist Senjougahara in dealing with a curse.

Despite all of Monogatari’s peculiarity, the romance feels oddly healthy. Despite the plot introducing many other girls for a prospective harem, Araragi and Senjougahara’s romance does not falter since they were meant to be.

Tomo-chan Is A Girl!

One of Winter 2023’s funniest rom-coms was Tomo-chan Is a Girl!, which was based on a well-liked and finished manga by Fumita Yanagida. Jun and Tomo are such good friends that Jun solely thinks of the former as a friend.

Tomo is keen to move their connection forward, therefore Jun’s unwillingness to consider her as a potential romantic partner is a problem.

Tomo-chan is a Girl! is mostly a comedy, even if its protagonists are driven by romance. Tomo and Jun, who are both likeable, complement each other well, and they are joined by the humorous Misuzu and Carol.

Wotakoi: Love Is Hard For Otaku

There are a few anime outliers, but teen romances frequently take center stage. A workplace comedy called Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku centers on two couples: Tarou Kabakura and Hanako Koyanagi, who have been together for a while, and Hirotaka Nifuji, who just started dating.

While the sitcom focuses more on humor than romance, the former is depicted pretty convincingly because the former pair dominate the show for the most part.

Even though they were childhood friends, Narumi never saw Hirotaka as a prospective romantic partner, and this ambivalence endures throughout the course of the program.

Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku is an enjoyable ride throughout the duration of the anime, despite the fact that it only briefly touches on these relationships due to its short length.

Romantic Killer

The animation from Domerica is primarily a comedy. The majority of sequences are intended to make viewers chuckle, which Romantic Killer frequently does. However, as the anime was adapted from a shonen manga, expect a lot of exaggerated facial expressions in the humor.

The story takes its people and their connections seriously, even though it does not always try to touch the reader’s heartstrings. The men who are introduced as potential spouses for Anzu are excellent actors. Anyone who likes a good love tale and a good laugh should watch Romantic Killer.

The Dangers In My Heart

Ichikawa is a regular guy with few friends who enjoys daydreaming about obscene things. Ichikawa does not have the best first impression due to the anime’s depiction of the latter, although without going into too much depth.

Anna, on the other hand, is a lively but still reserved young woman who enjoys food and works as a model. After unintentionally running into each other at the school library, the two students start hanging out and develop a connection that has the potential to grow.

Ichikawa undergoes a significant amount of transformation over the season as a result of Anna’s efforts to break him out of his shell. Additionally, Anna is a three-dimensional person with her own vulnerabilities and blind spots.

The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten

A few things help The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten make a great first impression. One is that Project No. 9’s animation, especially the character models, is crisp and detailed.

Second, and perhaps more importantly, the main characters click right away. Sparks start to fly as soon as Amane extends his umbrella to a soggy Mahiru.

The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten does a commendable job of examining the leads as people while also fostering their friendship, despite the fact that the majority of the series features the leads together on screen.

Insomniacs After School

Insomniacs After School was the pinnacle of Spring 2023’s unadulterated romance. The animation centers on two students who suffer from the same sleeplessness curse that they had been living alone until they met in their school’s observatory.

It is based on the well-known seinen manga by Makoto Ojiro. Isaki and Ganta bond right once, and as they struggle to revive the Astronomy Club—a project motivated by their desire to keep access to their new hideout—their connection grows stronger over time.

The pace of Insomniacs After School is flawless, and the anime does a great job of portraying both the leads’ feelings of isolation as a result of their insomnia and the quiet solaces they find in one another.

The show stresses developing Ganta and Isaki’s friendship before moving forward, proving there is more to their relationship than just a shared plight, even though it is rife with romantic tension.

Kokoro Connect

A tried-and-true love triangle scenario is given a supernatural spin in Kokoro Connect. Taichi, Iori, Yui, Yoshifumi, and Himeko, students who are all a part of their school’s Student Cultural Research Club, are the main characters of the novel.

Prior to receiving extraordinary abilities from a mysterious creature called Heartseed, the group leads a typical life.

From that point on, they encounter a variety of sensory phenomena that put their relationships to the test and reveal traits of their personalities they’d rather keep hidden. The anime contains a ton of fantastic character development, which makes for a consistently engaging experience.

Rascal Does Not Dream Of Bunny Girl Senpai

In Rascal Does Not Dream Of Bunny Girl Senpai, romance is both the least prominent and best aspect of the story. The main character of the anime is a high school student named Sakuta Azusagawa who merely has a knack for spotting ladies who have Adolescence Syndrome, a condition that results from their fears.

Although the series is divided into several arcs starring several girls, the first one centered on Mai Sakurajima, an actress who develops a deep bond with Sakuta, is the most compelling.

The chemistry between Sakuta and Mai is hot with affection, warmth, and wit. Their love develops smoothly throughout the remaining arcs, despite not frequently being the major emphasis, and culminates in a delightful feature film sequel.

Related: Real-life Locations of Rascal Does Not Dream Of Bunny Girl Senpai in Japan

Welcome To The N.H.K.

Hikikomori is a term used to describe people who are extremely resistant to social contact and has its origins in Japan. The main character of this anime is Tatsuhiro, a hikikomori who thinks that the Nihon Hikikomori Kyokai (NHK) is to blame for his exile.

He struggles with difficulties of self-induced isolation, tries to obtain a job, and starts to open up to this new person he’s interested in after meeting the enigmatic Misaki.

The Pet Girl Of Sakurasou

The Pet Girl of Sakurasou follows a bizarre cast of people on a voyage of personal development. Sorata Kanda is made to relocate to the despised Sakura House after being expelled from the main dorms at his school.
He meets a number of bright but problematic students there. Sorata is tasked with assisting a strange young artist who moves into the dorms in adjusting to her new surroundings. The dorm room dynamics, individual objectives, and interplay of relationships are all explored in the series.

Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions!

Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! is one of many renowned anime that Kyoto Animation has directed. The Chunibyo disease serves as the central theme of the series. Adolescents with exaggerated, unrealized illusions are referred to as having this condition.

Yuta Togashi appears to be living a typical high school life now that he’s moved past his deluded phase. When Rikka Takanashi, a student, reminds him of his past and tries to entice him back into the Chunibyo universe through her own delusions, everything becomes out of wack.

As Yuta learns what led to Rikka’s delusions, the show investigates their connection.

Tonikawa: Over The Moon For You

In contrast to the majority of romance novels, Tonikawa: Over The Moon For You is about a married couple who have previously experienced love at first sight.

As a result, rather than focusing on a typical trip, the anime mostly feels like a slice of life, with each episode focusing on Nasa and Tsukasa’s daily hijinks. Tonikawa chooses pleasantness above the explosive highs typically connected with romance.

Although certainly not to everyone’s liking, this anime is a fantastic palate cleanser before watching some of the more dramatic series in the same genre.

Nasa and Tsukasa are refreshingly honest in how they express their thoughts, despite the fact that the mere mention of physical touch can cause them both to flush uncontrollably. They are also funny and endearing.

Sing “Yesterday” For Me

When compared to other anime, Sing “Yesterday” for Me’s portrayal of romance as a realistic experience is immensely refreshing. At the show’s conclusion, it also takes the traditional love triangle and runs with it in an unexpected route.

The conclusion, which we won’t reveal here, is immensely fulfilling and demonstrates how sometimes shattered romances may still result in lasting friendships.

Yoshiyuki Fujiwara, the director of well-known anime like Attack on Titan and Sword Art Online, even directed it. It’s incredible to watch him transition so deftly to a show that presents itself so differently from his past efforts.

My Love Story!!

The main character, Takeo Gouda, is what makes this love animation so wonderful. It’s endearing to see this large, broad, and downright imposing high schooler fall head over heels for the tiny Rinko.

Then, as he made an effort to play matchmaker for her with his closest buddy despite his feelings, it became clear that Takeo has a pure heart.

Everyone watching will be cheering for the loving connection between Takeo and Rinko. My Story of Love! does not hold back on the juicy details either, which avoids a gradual build-up to a confession because the characters are dating for the majority of the episodes.

You can also check on the Top romance anime to watch on Crunchyroll

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