Most of the romance anime I’ve seen are based on a high school setting or something similar.
They were good and all but all have this typical format with the usual shenanigans like Love triangle, beach and fireworks festival episodes, useless love interests that have a shelf life of a hamburger… Etc.
And the memorable ones have me feeling nostalgia for memories I’ve never even had. And in some cases its almost like waking up after a fever dream but with chest pain.
P.S - From the top of my head- the only grown up romance setting I can think of is Wotakoi. Maybe it’s time I venture more into K-dramas for the romance, I remember seeing one named “Twentyfive twentyone” which was absolutely amazing.
I think Bloom Into You is good. However, you’ll need to switch to the manga halfway through since the anime is incomplete (and will probably never be finished).
The Ancient Magus’s Bride is a nice slow-burn romance/adventure series that skips a lot of tropes and isn’t in any kind of rush. The setup is pretty uncomfortable, though.
The first few episodes were so uncomfortable I couldn’t get through them. :(
- Re: Life
- Spice and Wolf
- Gosick
- Tsuki ga Kirei
- Seishun Buta Yarou wa Bunny Girl Senpai no Yume wo Minai
- Sakura-sou no Pet na Kanojo
- High Score Girl
- Kaichou wa Maid-sama!
- Boku no Kokoro no Yabai Yatsu
- Kimi no Na wa
Re: Life and Spice and Wolf are my top recommendations the other are less of what I think your looking for but still want to mention them since I felt they did something different to warrant them being on this list.
I would like to put some more experimental titles, but I’ll abstain for now.
So many good ones here. I’ve watched a few from the ones you mentioned. All of them I pretty much enjoyed a ton.
- Re Life
- Bunny girl senpai
- Sakura-sou no pet na Kanojo
- Boku no kokoro no yabai yatsu
- Kimi no nawa
Re life, kmi no nawa and bunny girl senapi gave me depression for a short while back in the day. Boko no Kokoro no yabai yatsu was probably one of the better ones to come out in recent times.
I also think I watched the first 2 episodes of Kaicho wa Maid Sama a long time ago… I almost forgot it existed.
Hiscore girl, tsuki ga kirei and Spice & wolf are in my never ending watch list, thanks for reminding me again. As for gosik, it’s my first time hearing about it… Will check it out tho.
Also please go ahead and comment the experimental ones you mentioned, I think I’ll find something interesting
Also my apologies for not mentioning the ones I already watched in my post.
Also my apologies for not mentioning the ones I already watched in my post. No problem.
Sorry for the late replay. I forgot to say but Gosick might be sad. If you have any question about a title don’t be afraid to ask. I personally don’t like to know a single thing before watching a show so I didn’t write much or anything at all for that reason and also sorry for the lack of spell check.
My personal top two anime’s.
- Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan - Tsuioku-hen (Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal)
- Clanned
Both of these shows are sad without getting to into it and also have some issues Clanned is very slow until either the second half the first season or the second season (Clanned: After Stories). Its also the only show that has made me cry. I was personally hated it for two weeks after I watched it but then it started to grow on me for some reason.
Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal main issue (as a recommendation) is that its that its also sad but also the drama with the Author. Its Action and rated R so I don’t know how you feel about that. And there has been some debate whether can watch it without watching the original show.
Romance
- Tasogare Otome x Amnesia (Dusk Maiden of Amnesia)
- Isshuukan Friends (One Week Friends)
- Tada-kun wa Koi wo Shinai (Tada Never Falls in Love)
- Otonari no Tenshi-sama ni Itsunomanika Dame Ningen ni Sareteita Ken (Otonari no Tenshi-sama ni Itsunomanika Dame Ningen ni Sareteita Ken)
- Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha (Inari Konkon)
I personally don’t like these but still everyone has different taste
- Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou (His and Her Circumstances) [sound mixing was my only issue]
- Tonikaku Kawaii (Tonikawa: Over The Moon For You)
- Horimiya
- Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! (Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions!)
Anime that has romance elements
- Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun (Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun)
- Hyouka
- Kotoura-san (The Troubled Life of Miss Kotoura)
- School Rumble
Anime that I haven’t seen but people seem to like.
- Bakuman
- Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii (Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku)
- Mahoutsukai no Yome (The Ancient Magus’ Bride)
- Yofukashi no Uta (Call of the Night)
- Yamada-kun to Lv999 no Koi wo Suru (My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999)
- Watashi no Shiawase na Kekkon (My Happy Marriage) [might be depressing]
- Kimi wa Houkago Insomnia (Insomniacs After School)
Anime that isn’t romance but I still want to recommended
Saiki Kusuo no Ψ-nan (The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.)
Nanais about a typical ‘head filled with romance’ type of protagonist but with a more mature take. It also has amazing music too.Plastic Memories is a personal favourite.
- It’s a work/office setting, so “grown up”
- It explores some sci-fi, human condition themes and as the name suggests, about “memories” which funny you should mention about nostalgia etc.
- I thought it was a real tearjerker (or maybe I’m a softie)
- It’s released 2015, so you might find it dated?
Oh nice. Sounds like it’s the kind of show I’m looking for. Thank you.
Oregairu could be something you could like. While it’s setting is typical, it is much more atypical in how it deals with the romance.
Oregairu was really well executed. I really liked it. I kinda feel bad for the second girl with the pink hair ( I think her name was Yuigahama? ).
Oh man I feel old now… Its been what? 4 or 5 years since it got it’s final season anime adaptation huh… I was watching it while it was still airing.
On a completely unrelated note, I think it was last year when I watched an anime called “The terrors in my heart” it was one of the memorable ones I’ve seen as of late. I just remembered it when you mentioned Oregairu for some reason.
Other than Wotakoi, the only ones I can think of, and are worthwhile imo, are ‘Science Fell In Love, So I Tried To Prove It’, ‘Astro Note’ and ‘Recovery Of An MMO Junkie’ though the latter 2 aren’t really full on romances.
I can think of a few manga though, if that’s okay with you:
- Manga by Yamada Kintetsu (Sweat and Soap, Telework Yotabanashi, Kasane to Subaru)
- More Than Lovers, Less Than Friends
- She Loves To Cook, She Loves To Eat
- I Have A Crush At Work (currently also being adapted into an anime, but only 1 ep is out, so…)
Hey thanks for all these suggestions. I’ll check out all of them. I’ll add those manga to my reading list.
No worries. Have fun.
You made me check out Telework Yotabanashi again and I found out that there apparently was an official translation released, so thanks to you too haha
You might like Servant x Service, it’s not explicitly a romance anime, more of a comedy but it has some romance sprinkled in from what I remember. It focuses on a a few employees working for the local government at a DMV style office where they deal with customers all day. Light hearted and definitely relatable if you’ve ever worked a service job.
Golden Time was pretty good when I saw it 12 years ago. It’s a college setting so a lot of high school tropes are gone and the characters act more like young adults. I wouldn’t say you need to watch it, but it’s not bad.
Ore Monogatari or “My Love Story” is a favorite for me and my partner. It is a high school setting, but the characters and the pacing make it worth it. If you give it a shot just make it to episode 3 before writing it off.
You probably wouldn’t like Toradora but it’s highly regarded. High school setting again with a lot of clichés, but the clichés are used really well, and make up for the fact that you’ve probably already seen the stereotypes play out before.
From the ones you’ve mentioned, I’ve watched Golden time. It was pretty good.
Ore monogatati and Torodora were in my watchlist for a long time, I almost forgot about them until I read your comment.
The Garden of Words. It a a short movie but, as far as anime goes it is what best fits your description.
Its a Makoto Shinkai movie right? I’ve seen it a few years ago, I liked it.
Watch Itazura na Kiss
And Strawberry Panic, which has a more mature story (but still plays in highschool)
I’ve not heard about both of them before. I’ll check these out. Thanks
Ahh, and maybe also Saekano, which is one of my favorite animes of all times (make sure to watch the movie at the end)
Is that the one where the main character tries to develop a girl into an ideal heroine for his novel or something along those lines ?
I didn’t completely watch that show, so I’ll check it out some time. Thanks for reminding me tho.
Yeah, a bunch of young talents try to develop tthe perfect visual novel. It can feel slow at times but the payoff when watching the final movie at the end is amazing.
[off topic]
The Thin Man movies. Classic Hollywood B+W with a pair of adults having a great time solving a murder mystery.
Nick and Nora Charles are mine and my wife’s relationship goals.
May I suggest more stable and mature role models.
Morticia and Gomez.
