Romance animes never get old, but some recommendations do. Here’s an up-to-date list of romance animes from classics like Clanned to new releases in 2023 like Skip and Loafer. You can watch all these anime for free or with a subscription on Crunchyroll. If you can’t decide where to start take our quiz below.
Quiz: Which romance anime should you watch?
Kamisama Kiss
Kamisama Kiss is a shojo anime about an average schoolgirl named Nanami, who accidentally becomes a god. Being a god she must live in and take care of this shrine. Soon after moving there, she discovers that she is now bound to this fox familiar, name Tomoe. The love between Yokai and humans is taboo, therefore Tomoe dislikes Nanami and tries to keep his distance from her.
As the two go through trial and tribulations and the shrine they begin to rely on and trust one another. Tomoe must protect Nanami from constant threats since she is still physically a weak human and others are eager to take her power from her.
This anime follows their story of growing to care for one another despite their somewhat forbidden romance. If you love fantasy romance and have a taste for shiros (white-haired characters), then this anime will be right up your alley.
Toradora
Ryuji Takasu is a high school student who has a rugged outward appearance which gets him labeled as a delinquent. Because of this many of his classmates avoid him, even though he is a sweet, gentle guy. He and his best friend, Yusaku Kitamura, find out they are in class with Minori Kushieda, Ryuji Takasu’s crush. It is not long before he runs into the school’s most feared girl, a tiny but ferocious Taiga Aisaka.
When he discovers that Taiga and his crush are best friends and that Taiga also has a crush on his best friend, they work together to help each other have a shot with their crushes. All the time they spend together makes them closer, and they learn that despite everything they might not hate one another.
This anime is an adorable example of opposites attract. They address some tough real-life subjects but also have lighthearted feel-good episodes. Plus it features the queen of Tsundere herself, Taiga.
Horimiya
Kyouko Hori is a very popular high school girl, unlike her nerdy classmate Izumi Miyamura, but she has a secret. At home, Hori isn’t a pretty popular girl, but rather a tomboy who loves spending time with her younger brother. One day her little brother, Souta, comes home with a nosebleed escorted by an edgy guy with tattoos and piercings who she recognizes as Miyamura.
They are both embarrassed and agree to keep their real identities a secret. Once the two of them begin spending more time together they realize that they actually have a ton in common and become closer and closer.
This anime is also a great example of opposites attract, except they aren’t as opposite as they may think. If you love high school romances that are deeper than a surface level of attraction, this is a great romance anime for you.
My Dress Up Darling
Wakana Gojo is a high school student who spends most of his time alone, but when he is home with his elderly grandfather, loves learning the art of crafting Hina dolls from him. Ashamed of his passion for hina dolls, he keeps to himself until he stumbles upon Marin, the school’s most popular pretty girl.
Marin also has a secret, and that is that she loves to cosplay (dressing up as fictional characters). Lacking the skills to create her own cosplays, Marin is ecstatic to find that Gojo has all the fabricating skills that she lacks. Together they begin to create cosplays, and as their friendship grows, so does Gojo’s confidence.
This anime is a lovely story about how two people who are passionate about something can help one another grow. If the array of cool and elaborate outfits doesn’t draw you in, then the personalities of these two certainly will.
Your Lie In April
Kosei Arima is an award-winning piano prodigy at the age of 14, but when his mother dies, he stops being able to hear his piano. For two years his view of the world has become dull and he has given up his passion, playing music. He spends all of his time with his two friends, but one day meets Kaori.
Kaori is a wild, free-spirited violinist, whose music reflects her carefree personality. Kaori is able to convince Kosei to return to music, with a new playing style. After a while, Kosei realizes that he may be in love with Kaori.
During one of her performances, Kaori collapses and Kosei learns that she has serious health issues that cause her to have routine hospitalizations. When they are scheduled to perform together Kaori doesn’t show up and Kosei is informed that she is undergoing major surgery. This anime digs deep into how we inspire and affect one another without even realizing it.
Skip and Loafer
Mitsumi is from a rural area of Japan and has grown up with the same 8 students in her class, but her big dreams of becoming a government official take her to Tokyo for a prestigious high school. Mitsumi always has everything planned out so when she gets lost on the way to her first day of school, she becomes panicky about being late. Luckily for her, Shima an attractive stranger from her same class helps her find her way.
Mitsumi is unparalleled in academics and in drive, but growing up in a small town has left her lacking the socialization that is standard in a large city like Tokyo. When everything from making new friends to karaoke is new to her, she finds comfort in the kindness of Shima’s carefree and lighthearted personality. As it turns out things are not always sunshine and rainbows for Shima either.
This anime is fun and easy to watch, with two extremely likable main characters. It is really great at helping the viewer feel a little better about awkward moments they may have had or stressful social situations.
Golden Time
When Banri Tada loses his memory right after getting into a prestigious private school, he needs all the help he can get. He quickly makes a friend, Mitsuo Yanagisawa, but they are both left confused when a seemingly random girl shows up to congratulate him but instead slaps him.
We come to learn that she is his childhood friend whom he promised to marry and obsessively applies to attend the same college as him. Banri Tada also learns that his high school best friend attends the same college and feels personally responsible for his memory loss. As the series progresses Banri gains some of his memories and struggles to face the challenges they present.
This anime is great if you’re looking for more mature relationships with older characters. If you’re ready to move past the high school romances, check this one out!
A Silent Voice
Trigger Warning: Suicide, Bullying
Shoya Ishida was an elementary school bully, along with his friends, but when he takes the fault for them all he gets labeled as a bully permanently. Depressed and alone, he deices that he would rather not be alive anymore, but before he can do that he wants to make amends with all of the people he’s wronged, mainly a deaf girl named Shoko.
Shoya attempts to make up for his past in various ways such as befriending the quiet girl in class, and another friendless classmate. In his attempt to find Shoko, his past is brought up again and again making it hard for him to move past it. When the movie comes to a climax we are left wondering if Shoya will ever feel he can make up for what he has done.
This anime film deals with severe issues such as mental health and trauma. It is a beautiful story about how our past doesn’t make us who we are today and how a good support system can change everything.
Clanned
Tomoya has lost his purpose with two absent parents and no social life to motivate him. One day he meets a girl, Nagisa, who has to repeat her third year because her father was too sick for her to attend previously. She is determined to make the best of her last year and restarts the drama club. Tomoya gets roped into helping her put up posters around the school, only for the posters to get defaced by the school council president. Tomoya and his only friend Youhei stand up for Nagisa, but the only way to save the club is if the two of them join themselves.
As the club is formed Nagisa promises they won’t have to perform, and when the time for her to perform the play herself, she confesses that the script isn’t done and that her main motivation was to do it for her parents since they were both actors who had to give up her career due to her birth. During this time Tomoya realizes that he has feelings for her.
The anime progresses with more drama and events unfolding testing the newly formed relationships that have been made. This anime deals with deep themes that can be really sad, but worth it!
Angel Beats
Yuxuru Otonashi wakes up stuck in a battle royale high school afterlife. Yes, you read that correctly, in this purgatory, the students in this group called the SSS are in a war against Angel, a highly powerful character assumed to be God’s representative. Other than the students battling to escape, the world is filled with NPCs that the students interact with. In order to pass on from this realm you must overcome the trauma from your past life and reach a level of satisfaction in this one. When that happens to one of the other students in their group Yuxuru questions the morality of their battle against Angel.
The leader of the SSS is Yuri, the first girl to meet him when he appears in the afterlife, and his closes companion. Yuri is the most opposed to Angel of all of the students there. Yuxuru begins to help others move on from the afterlife by assisting them in overcoming their past lives, which dwindles their fighting numbers.
Yuri and Yuxuru have a complicated relationship where they both want the same goal but have different ways of getting there. This anime is about overcoming really hard issues and isn’t for a light watch despite the premise. However, if you love a deep story that might make you cry this is the perfect fit for you!
Darling In The Franxx
Darling in the Franxx is a post-apocalyptic world, where people have all but lost their humanity. Children only exist in this world to serve one purpose and that is to pilot the Franxx, giant Mecha units, in boy-girl pairs that fight off the alien species, klaxosaurs.
Hiro, the male protagonist, can no longer pair with his partnered female. Failing his graduation ceremony he goes off to reflect and stumbles into Zero Two one of the top Franxx pilots who also happens to have Franxx blood in her, giving her a unique appearance, two small red horns. Zero Two is so powerful that all of her partners seem to die after just a couple of rides. Hiro left without a partner decides to take the risk and the two begin to work together.
This Si-Fi anime is great for those who love plot twists and mysteries. Darling in the Franxx can be enjoyed for a light watch or you can read into the morals of the story and enjoy deep thought about it as well.
Ouran Host Club
Ouran Academy is only for the prestigious and wealthy, but every year they open up a few spots to scholarship students. That’s how Haruhi Fujioka, a poor but bright student is let into the academy. Haru, focused on their studies, tries to escape into an abandoned room to read only to find out that it is used by the school’s host club, a group of the 6 most popular boys at school. During the madness, Haru clumsily knocks over an antique vase worth thousands of dollars.
In order to pay off the vase the group forces Haru to work at the host club with them, entertaining the women at the school, the only thing is, that Haru has been mistaken for a boy because of her short haircut. Haru is then forced to hide her gender in order to make a profit at the host club, but the club members who know seem to also be enchanted by her charming personality.
This is a light anime that give you all the good feelings to uplift your mood. If you love harem animes this one is considered a classic and you should 100% add it to your list.
Say I Love You
Mei Tachibana doesn’t have many friends since she believes that all friendships end poorly. She also has never been in a serious relationship with a boy. One day when spending time alone, Mei stumbles into the school’s most desired boy, Yamato Kurosawa, and accidentally injures him when she kicks his hand. Yamato becomes interested in Mei though, and begins a quest to get to know her more deeply.
As the two get closer they begin to form a bond a start dating. This opens up a new chapter of Mei’s life where she starts to socialize and gain friends. She also has to overcome the challenges of being social as jealousy causes others to spread rumors and be nasty towards her.
This anime is a great one if you want to get right into the romance. They don’t spend a lot of time on the build-up but instead, focus on overcoming challenges within a relationship.
My Love Story With Yamada-kun at Lv999
Akane is a college student who started gaming just to spend time with her boyfriend. When he dumps her for a gamer girl, she is left heartbroken. She goes and gets a makeover to attend an event for the game they used to play together where she knows her ex will be. While there she bumps into pro gamer, Akito Yamada. Yamada appears to be emotionless but agrees to pretend to be Akane’s boyfriend in exchange for a rare in-game item to make her ex-boyfriend jealous.
After the event, Akane drags Yamada out to eat with her, where she gets drunk and ends up staying the night at his place since she is too wasted to get home herself. From that point on Akane and Yamada seem to keep bumping into one another, and Yamada begins to show some emotions after all.
This anime is geared toward a young adult audience and therefore has some adult content in it. If you are a gamer this is the romance anime for you with cute gamer references and an adorable storyline to go with it.
Vampire Knight
Yuki is a student at Cross Academy, a private boarding school with both a night and day class. Not only is she a student there, but her adoptive father is the headmaster and is also tasked with protecting a group of prestigious vampires there. The headmaster also cares for Zero, a childhood friend that despises vampires. Yuki and Zero assist him by helping guard the vampires and keeping other students from them at night.
The head of the vampire school is none other than Kaname, a handsome vampire who Yuki has known since childhood. It was him that found her and saved her from a rouge vampire that was out to kill her and her family. In a school full of mystery and intrigue, Yuki comes to find that the two men she’s the closest to are not everyone is being honest.
Vampire Knight is perfect for people who want to experience a dark fantasy setting with their romance. Also if you like plot twists and unexpected twists in the story then Vampire Knight will keep you interested until the very end.
