From ‘Candy Candy’ to ‘The Family Grows’, passing through ‘Fruits Basket’ and ‘Kare Kano’
The love It is a genre that has given us and continues to give us great manga and anime titles (although it seems that there are those who invest a lot of effort in ignoring it). There are many titles that have become great classics and, in fact, are responsible for hooking more than one generation on manganime and otaku culture.
Unfortunately, many of these anime are not being rescued in streaming (and not just the oldest ones), so it is always necessary to vindicate them and give them the place they deserve in the history of Japanese animation. Therefore, we bring you this list of the best romance anime in history.
Clarify that the criterion that I have valued most to make the list is the historical importance that these animes have had and its influence on later titles, so you will forgive me if there are not too many recent series. Not because there aren’t recent notable romantic anime (there are, and many!), but I’ve preferred to give priority to the classic titles, because they often remain a bit in the shadows.
Also clarify that I have included titles in which romance is the main theme or one of the most important. That is to say, I am not going to include ‘Sailor Moon’, ‘Sakura, the Card Hunter’ or others in which it seems to me to be something more secondary, since it is a thematic list, not based on demographics (in case there is still someone who thinks that shojo is anything about romance, ahem).
‘Candy Candy’ (1976)
The mother of all romantic animes, which also established the foundations for all those animes that followed very similar plots to Candy White dramas, an orphan with a good heart who had a hard time to achieve happiness. The original novel is by Keiko Nagita (under the pseudonym Kyoko Mizuki) and the manga was drawn by Yumiko Igarashi.
‘Tokimeki Tonight’ (1982)
This adaptation of Koi Ikeno’s shojo manga also caused a sensation at the time. A supernatural romantic comedy starring a girl who had to deal with first love at the same time as the awakening of her powers, since she comes from a very peculiar family (her mother is a werewolf and her father is a vampire).
‘Georgie’ (‘Lady Georgie’, 1983)
The culebron a little incestuous of our childhood he starred the love triangle of Georgie and her two “brothers”. Another of those intense dramas based on a manga drawn by Yumiko Igarashi, in this case with the script by Mann Izawa.
‘Kiss me, Licia’ (‘Aishite Knight’, 1984)
Obviously, this classic not only deserves to be remembered for the meme of when Marika is lost, but also for being one of the romantic animes that They managed to hook hundreds of otakus during its broadcast in the 90s on Telecinco. The story adapts the manga by Kaoru Tada and begins with the unlikely meeting between a teenager and the leader of a rock band.
‘Glass no Kamen’ (1984 and 2005)
Just this once, I make an exception and include both animes. While I think 80s anime was pioneering at the time, The remake knew how to better adapt the story of the original manga by Suzue Miuchi. A young woman with innate talent for acting decides to pursue her dream, on a path full of rivalry and romance.
‘Maison Ikkoku’ (1986)
I absolutely had to include a romantic comedy by Rumiko Takahashi and, although we fondly remember the love affairs of ‘Ranma 1/2’ and ‘Inuyasha’, the truth is that they were series in which in the end the romance was something more secondary. For this reason, I have opted for this seinen, which seems to me to be follows more the conventions of a romantic comedy as such and that dazzled and despaired us in equal measure with the experiences of Godai and Kyoko in this crazy house.
‘Kimagure Orange Road’ (1987)
I have also had doubts regarding several romance shonens (almost all of them tended more towards the harem, like ‘Love Hina’) and I have opted for the adaptation of Izumi Matsumoto’s manga, which had eThe most iconic love triangle of the romantic comedies of the 80s and 90s. Madoka always in our hearts.
‘Kaze to ki no uta’ (1987)
Diving in the first BL animes (romance between boys), one of the pioneers is this series inspired by the mythical manga ‘The Ballad of the Wind and the Trees’ by Keiko Takemiya. The stormy romance between Serge and the histrionic Gilbert was adapted as an almost hour-long OVA.
‘Oniisama e…’ (1991)
Although without a doubt the most relevant shojo of the legendary Riyoko Ikeda is ‘The Rose of Versailles’, again, I preferred not to include it because I think that the romance does not have as much prominence in the plot. Instead, I preferred to highlight this yuri classic (romance between girls), which told us about the dramas of the students of a girls’ boarding school.
‘The family grows’ (‘Marmalade boy’, 1994)
The romantic comedy par excellence (although it also had more than considerable doses of drama), it definitively paved the way for shojo works in Spain. Wataru Yoshizumi’s manga was expanded in its TV adaptation, and Thousands of first-time otakus got hooked on the salsas of Miki, Yuu and company.
‘Fushigi Yuugi, the Mysterious Game’ (1995)
Before the term isekai was coined, we already had Miaka traveling from her world to that of the Four Gods. In both Yuu Watase’s manga and anime, romance was as important or more important than fantasy, and the betrayals and unexpected twists in the love story kept us on the edge of our seats while it aired.
‘Kodomo no omocha’ (1996)
The manga ‘The Children’s Toy’ by Mihi Obana It also went a long way in the more than 100 episodes of the animated version. Here we had the incomparable Sana, a child TV star, having to deal with a troublesome classmate who, however, is the one who understands her best.
‘Kare Kano’ (1998)
Although I have tried not to put series with open endings, here are two cups. On the one hand, one of the animes that has known best transfer the most psychological part of their characters to animation. Hideaki Anno (‘Evangelion’) knew how to delve into Masami Tsuda’s fantastic manga and give us a memorable romance about appearances and the weight of expectations.
‘Nana’ (2006)
For an open ending, this one, although it must be said that Ai Yazawa’s manga did not reach any ending either. Even with that obstacle, it is still the best anime about adult lifestarring these two women with the same nametheir friendship, their dreams, their disappointments, their evolution in love… not to mention its Soundtrack, simply spectacular.
- Available on Netflix Latin America
‘Ouran Host Club’ (2006)
Although I have had doubts about whether romance or comedy weighs more in this series, in the end I think that feelings (reciprocated or not) have a sufficiently important weight in the story. This peculiar comedy about Haruhi joining the hosts club of a rich high school It was the entrance of many people to manganime, when the internet was beginning to emerge.
‘Itazura na kiss’ (2008)
Speaking of the time when we began to watch anime beyond what was on TV, this other adaptation of the late Kaoru Tada also succeeded along with titles like ‘Kaichou wa maid-sama’. A very classic romantic comedy (and a closed ending, for a change!) with a protagonist who is very clumsy but with incurable optimism.
‘Kamisama Hajimemashita’ (2012)
Among series that triumphed when the internet was already established in our otaku habits, I have opted for this one over ‘Yona’ or ‘Kimi ni Todoke’ because it has a more conclusive ending, between its two seasons and the OVAs. Based on the work of Julietta Suzuki, it presented us a charming mix of romance, comedy and Japanese folklore.
‘Fruits Basket’ (2019)
Without disparaging the 2001 version (which also started more than one person in otaku fever), I think there is no better way to close the circle than with the remake of the original by Natsuki Takaya, which did cover the entire story of Tooru and the members of the Souma family who transformed into the animals of the Chinese Zodiac. An essential and timeless classic.
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