[Top 10] Best Romance Anime to Watch in 2021

Background: Favorite ship. Foreground: The viewer


10. I Can’t Understand What My Husband is Saying

What is marriage like for a down-to-Earth office worker and a total otaku? A better relationship than yours, for sure! Kaoru and her husband Hajime don’t expect anything extreme from their new life. The simplest things are the best: friends, family, new hobbies, and just hanging out together. 

That is a LONGASS title. But gives me the perfect results when I Google it! 

Marriages like Kaoru and Hajime’s definitely exist today. Except both spouses are total otakus! 

Each episode is slightly short but compact a lot to make you keep watching. 

The daily lives of a newly married couple. Separate routines (like one works in an office and the other works in front of a computer at home). And the little pleasures that make this marriage so sweet. Like trying a new ramen place. 

The one thing I mostly enjoy here is the transgender “broster” of Hajime. He’s a boy. But is he a boy that has the personality of a loli girl? Or is he just a girl with a penis? 

Dating Hajime’s totally male boss doesn’t really answer much. But they are a cute couple! 

9. Beastars 

 

The murder of a student shakes up a school. And all eyes fall on Legosi, who was a friend of the victim. A wolf who’s trying to live in a predator-fearing world, he tries to stay away from people and succumb to loneliness. Well, sh*t hits the fan when he meets a dwarf rabbit named Haru. She’s got a reputation of her own being the school’s most “active” female bunny. Can these two survive in a pessimistic society? Especially when they start falling for each other. 

Romance of nonhuman characters is more my cup of tea. Beastars may not be my number one go-to furry anime, but Legosi and Haru are sort of cute. 

This anime is like Zootopia. Except there is a LOT of blood. 

8. Science Fell In Love, So I Tried to Prove It

Two brilliant college scientists discover one day they are in love with each other. How is it possible? And is it a theory that can be proven true? While their friends find the whole idea ridiculous, they play along with this research of romance. Can they scientifically prove their love was meant to be? 

Again, longass title. But it is a very interesting concept! 

First off, yes, they are in a school setting. But it’s college, not the typical high school getup like most anime do. 

The two main characters are geniuses, and yet they prove to be the dumbest characters in the entire series and I love it!

Each episode consists of an equation added to the research of proving their love. And after every episode ends, your brain is gonna hurt. Seriously, it had to take hardcore mathmagicians to make this anime work!

And it’s not just a focus on romantic love. Love is proven ambiguous in this anime. Like the difference between seeing someone as a soulmate and a sibling. 

Every character in this anime is simply adorable. Except for the manga artist. Screw that bitch! (SPOILER)

7. Snow White with the Red Hair 

Shirayuki is a beautiful herbalist whose most distinctive feature is her red hair. It results in the attraction of Prince Raji, who orders her to become his concubine. Refusing his proposal, Shirayuki cuts her hair and flees the country. While traveling, she meets Zen, a boy whose injury she cures through her herbs. Meanwhile, the prince sends henchmen to retrieve her, still determined to make her his bride. 

Snow White has to be my least favorite Disney princess movie. Snow didn’t have much to go on. Most of the action sequences focused on the dwarves. And what exactly do we know about her “true love” that just shows up at the end? 

As a certain snow queen once told her sister, “You can’t marry someone you just met”.  

This anime takes a bold, fresher approach to the fairytale. Like what if Snow White (or Red Hair) had been a stronger, more active character. What if the prince was not the kind fellow he’s depicted as? 

I’m not saying that Shirayuki is a “strong, independent woman who don’t need no man”. But she can really hold her own, even when threatened. 

6. Robotics; Notes 

The high school’s Robotics Research club has had one goal that many students have tried to fulfill: making their long-constructed robot function. For years, members have given their time and efforts up until graduation. This time, the club might finally make it happen. However, in the midst of miracles and discovered feelings for the club, there lies a conspiracy that threatens their home. 

I didn’t even know this was based off a game. I just liked that it had a robot. And cute romance. 

I’m usually weary of the whole best-friends-falling-in-love trope (and I’m still bitter over how Starco basically ruined Star Vs. the Forces of Evil). But I actually do like Kaito and Akiho slowly developing feelings for one another over the course of the series. 

The attempt at shipping triangles is actually pretty funny. It does make up the personalities of each of the club’s members. And you start to notice that Kaito and Akiho are in love, but weren’t able to show it until near the finale.  

And the characters who “got in the way” of their budding romance actually show support when they officially become a couple!   

5. The Helpful Fox Senko-San 

Nakano was an average man whose life is constantly work and the stress that comes with it. However, that suddenly changes when he discovers what appears to be a little girl with fox ears inside his own apartment. Apparently, she is a fox demigod who took sympathy on Nakano. Thus she wants to pamper him and take the sadness away!

Knowing Japan is famous (or infamous) for its loli anime characters, this one hits right out of the park.  

Yes, Senko-san looks like a little girl, but is actually hundreds of years old. So she’s a loli grandma.  

And being a grandma is what her role practically is when she comes into Nakano’s life.  

I have no idea if I want to ship them together or not. On one hand, it feels almost wrong because we keep forgetting that she’s not an underage girl. On the other, they really are cute together. And they are a better match than most anime couples (F*CK TORADORA).  

I will say that anime could do better without Nakano’s easily irritated and somewhat nosey next-door neighbor. She just had to make us feel more uncomfortable over Senko’s child-like appearance.  

And speaking of uncomfortable, there are other fox demigods like her. But sluttier.

I won’t go into detail, but one of the characters constantly makes her body her most significant feature (like almost every anime does).  

It’s a cute anime though. Definitely a good watch if you want to cure depression!  

4. In/Spectre

I. LOVE. KOTOKO.

Unlike most lovesick female anime characters, she doesn’t hide her feelings from the male lead. She just comes out of the open and makes it clear she likes Kurou and wants to date him. And right after learning he just got dumped, that’s pretty ballsy. 

She’s not an overly serious character. She will hold a rather intimidating composure at first. But then start gushing and being sweet the next. Which is why her position as a aid to yokai is pretty interesting. 

They are creatures who serve and seek her advice. And she aids them without a second thought. She really loves her job. 

But not as much as she loves Kurou. 

When she ends up meeting his ex while battling a yokai, Kotoko does not shy away from the fact that Kurou is hers. I’m not saying she’s a SIMP, but she has used yokai to intimidate the ex. And it’s hilarious. 

There is a great balance of fantasy. Mild horror. Romance. And especially comedy.  

3. The Ancient Magus’ Bride 

Chise has neither friends nor family to turn to. Her mother committed suicide. Her family members have seen her as a burden. And she is practically an outcast in her community. She decides to sell herself to slavery, wanting nothing more than a home to go to. She ends up being bought by Elias, a man with a dead animal’s skull for a head. He takes her to his land where he tells her she is not a slave, but rather an apprentice. And hopefully one day his bride. 

Interspecies romance between a human and nonhuman rarely occurs in the media. Call it weird, but some of us actually prefer that to the typical human-human-Hallmark cliche.  

That’s why Beauty and the Beast is so popular. Everybody preferred he remained a beast. 

This anime has three things that have me going “YES, DUDE!”:

Nonhuman-human romance. Fantasy creatures. Moments of humor to even it out. 

Beauty and the Beast does not hold a candle to how amazing this anime is! 

2. Jingai-san No Yome 

Tomari was just an average high school student. Until one day he’s chosen to become the bride of a mysterious creature called Kaneogi. While shocked by this, Tomari goes through with it. And he realizes just how much more beautiful life is because of his soulmate. And he meets other “wives” at school whom he and Kaneogi immediately befriend. 

I am pissed to infinity and beyond that not only did this series last only a measly season. Every episode is no larger than 3 minutes. 

It’s basically a romantic slice-of-life. And high school students marrying creatures is normal. 

What is the reason behind this? Are there any negative responses to this kind of thing? What happens when a student turns down marriage? 

One episode did mention that false marriages did exist. But they never went further on that.

I would rather have more episodes of this anime than freaking Simp Art Online! Unlike that anime, this one has pure, wholesome romantic potential!  

1. Fruits Basket 

Ever since she lost her mother, Tohru chose to temporarily live in the forest until her grandfather’s house has finished renovations. She doesn’t want to be a burden to her friends, and strongly believes she can handle herself for the next few months. She meets her school’s most handsome boy Somha while heading to class. They encounter each other again when he and his cousin discover her tent. Knowing how dangerous the woods are, they offer her space in their home. As she adjusts to her new living, she discovers a long-held family secret. And suddenly the story of the 12 Zodiac signs has become more fascinating now.  

18 years. It took 18 f*cking years before this finally got a second season. 

If that’s the case, then there just might be hope for How to Keep a Mummy and Endro! 

I like this anime because it’s the first harem anime I’ve discovered where the genders are reversed. If a guy ends up getting into all sorts of craziness because he’s surrounded by women that obviously like him. Then why not a girl with men who are just the same? 

And believe me when I say Somha and his family are NUTS.  

Some people will say Tohru doesn’t have much character besides being the girl who gets all the guys (unintentionally, BTW). But she’s more of the mediator. She keeps their Zodiac secret and their relationships from going out of control. 

And with how hot the guys in this anime are, female watchers most definitely envy her for living their fantasy!  

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Shirley 2 years 9 months ago

What about Toradora?