Romance Anime

Explore the genre of Japanese animation where two characters who meet in unexpected ways fall in love.

What Is It?

Romance is one of the most popular genres in anime. But what exactly makes an anime romance?

For an anime to be romance, four criteria must be met:

  1. In what way do the two characters meet or know each other?
  2. What’s the excuse that keeps them together?
  3. What stops them from being together?
  4. Will the two characters be together at the end?

Every romance anime rinse and repeats the same story structure. Can you recognise it in your favourite romance anime?

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Ratings

Here is a list of some popular romance anime and their ratings on IMDb.

Anime IMDb Ratings as of July 2025
Name Type Writer IMDb Rating
Your Name Movie Makoto Shinkai 8.4/10
Rascal Does Not Dream Show Hajime Kamoshida 8.7/10
My Teen Romantic Comedy Show Wataru Watari 7.9/10
Tonikawa Show Kenjiro Hata 7.7/10

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Pictures

Below are four images, one from each romance anime listed in the table above.

Image from Your Name by Makoto Shinkai
Image from Rascal Does Not Dream by Hajime Kamoshida
Image from My Teen Romantic Comedy by Wataru Watari
Image from Rascal Does Not Dream by Hajime Kamoshida

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Recommendations

Below are the plots of a select few romance anime. If you haven't watched any of them, then you should check them out!

Poster of A Silent Voice
A Silent Voice

A grade-school student with a hearing impairment is bullied and transfers to another school. Years later, the former bully is tormented by his behaviour and sets out to make amends.

Poster of I Want to Eat Your Pancreas
I Want to Eat Your Pancreas

An aloof boy comes across a book in a hospital waiting room. He soon discovers that it is a diary kept by his very popular classmate who reveals to him that she is secretly suffering from a fatal pancreatic illness.

Poster of The Day I Became a God
The Day I Became a God

A high schooler focused on his studies in his final summer break is disrupted by a girl claiming to be a god who predicts the world will end in 30 days.

Poster of Weathering With You
Weathering With You

Set during a period of exceptionally rainy weather, high-school boy Hodaka Morishima runs away from his troubled rural home to Tokyo and befriends an orphan girl who can manipulate the weather.

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Summary

Due to its rise in popularity over the last decade, there are now hundreds of romance anime to watch with new ones coming out every season. Check them out now on Crunchyroll and Netflix!

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