Romance Anime: The 30 Best Romance Anime to Watch (Top 10, Movies and 2026 Releases)

A good romance anime is more than a kiss in the final episode. The best ones are about the fear of confessing, life as a couple once the two are together, grief, a friendship that slowly turns into something else, and they take a kind of time that cinema rarely allows itself. You still have to find your way around: the genre includes hundreds of series, from high school to office life, from pure comedy to dramas that leave you speechless.

This selection brings together 30 romance anime: a detailed top 10, then twenty titles sorted by mood (school life, romantic comedy, drama, adult romance, fantasy and historical, movies, new releases of 2025-2026). For each one you will find the episode count, the tone, the intended audience and the community scores from MyAnimeList and AniList, recorded on 13 November 2026. A table sums it all up, with the platform that carries each title in France and the series available with a French dub. For everything coming out this year, all genres combined, our Top Anime 2026 takes over.

At a glance

• Our No. 1: Kaguya-sama: Love is War, the best-rated romantic comedy on this list, up to 8.94 on MyAnimeList for its season 3.
• For a good cry: Your Lie in April and Clannad: After Story (8.93 on MyAnimeList).
• For a gentle start: Horimiya, 13 episodes, a couple that gets together in the very first episodes.
• The movie to watch first: Your Name., by Makoto Shinkai (2016).
• New releases: The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity (2025), You and I Are Polar Opposites (2026) and season 2 of Blue Box, currently airing.
• On Netflix France on 13 November 2026: nine of our thirty titles, including Horimiya, Kimi ni Todoke, The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity, Blue Box and Howl's Moving Castle.

Contents

• How we chose these 30 romance anime
• The top 10 best romance anime
• High school romance and school life: 3 series
• Romantic comedy: 3 series to make you laugh
• Drama: 3 romances that tug at the heart
• Adults and office life: 3 romances beyond high school
• Fantasy and historical: 3 romances from another world
• Movies: 3 animated romances you have to see
• New in 2025-2026: the romances of the moment
• The summary table of the 30 romance anime
• Where to watch romance anime in France: Netflix, Crunchyroll, French dubs
• Where to start: 5 paths depending on your mood
• Which romance anime should you watch as a couple?
• Romance where you least expect it: 6 adventure and action series
• And in manga: 10 romances to read
• Frequently asked questions
• Going further

How we chose these 30 romance anime

Three rules, applied to every title. First, romance has to be the subject, not a backdrop: every series or movie on the list carries the "Romance" genre on AniList, and the love story drives the plot. Second, the selection is meant for a broad audience: no adults-only titles. Finally, we looked for variety: from the classics of 1986 to the series of 2026, from middle school to the workplace, from outright laughter to melodrama.

The scores from MyAnimeList (out of 10) and AniList (as a percentage) were recorded on 13 November 2026. They are a guide, not a verdict: a series can be rated lower because it stops too early and still be essential viewing. The top 10 is ranked; the next twenty titles are grouped by mood, in no order of merit. If the words shōjo, josei and seinen still escape you, our guide to manga genres explains them in detail.

The top 10 best romance anime

Ten series that almost everyone agrees on, ranked from first to tenth. If you do not know where to begin with the genre, it all starts here.

1. Kaguya-sama: Love is War

At Shuchiin Academy, Kaguya Shinomiya and Miyuki Shirogane run the student council, are in love with each other and far too proud to admit it: whoever confesses first loses. Every episode therefore strings together absurd "battles", commented on by an overexcited narrator, to push the other into making the first move. The series begins as a sketch comedy, then lets real emotion rise as the masks come off, carried by unforgettable supporting characters such as Chika Fujiwara and Yu Ishigami. Its third season, Ultra Romantic, stood 17th in MyAnimeList's overall ranking on 13 November 2026.

Episodes: 37 across three seasons (2019-2022), a movie, The First Kiss That Never Ends (2022), and a two-episode special, Stairway to Adulthood (December 2025). Tone: comedy, psychological sparring. For whom: those who want to laugh before being moved. Scores: MyAnimeList 8.40 (season 1) to 8.94 (season 3) · AniList 83 to 89%.

2. Fruits Basket

An orphan, Tohru Honda is living in a tent when the Soma family takes her in. She discovers their secret: several of its members are bound to the animals of the Chinese zodiac and transform whenever someone of the opposite sex hugs them. The 2019 version adapts the whole of Natsuki Takaya's manga (23 volumes), which the first series from 2001 had not done. Beneath its gentle-comedy surface, the story is about families that do damage, about grief and about learning to let yourself be loved. The triangle between Tohru, Yuki and Kyo is resolved honestly, and the final season is an emotional peak.

Episodes: 63 across three seasons (2019-2021). Tone: gentle, then dramatic. For whom: fans of long, heartfelt sagas. Scores: MyAnimeList 8.20 (season 1) to 8.93 (final season) · AniList 82 to 89%.

3. Your Lie in April

Kosei Arima, a piano prodigy, has been unable to hear the sound of his own piano since the death of his mother, who was also his teacher. Two years later he meets Kaori Miyazono, a free-spirited and unpredictable violinist who drags him back on stage. The series turns classical music competitions into great set pieces, and its final act has made a generation of viewers cry. Best watched without reading anything more about the plot.

Episodes: 22 (2014-2015). Tone: musical drama, bittersweet. For whom: those willing to end up in tears. Scores: MyAnimeList 8.64 · AniList 84%.

4. Clannad and Clannad: After Story

Tomoya Okazaki, a disillusioned high schooler on bad terms with his father, crosses paths with Nagisa Furukawa, a frail student repeating a year after a long illness, and helps her revive the drama club. The first season is a high school comedy that takes its time. The second, After Story, follows the couple after their studies: the first job, life together, family. It is the one that made the series' reputation, and it requires having seen the first. Few anime show so directly what becomes of a couple once high school is over.

Episodes: 23, then 24 for After Story (2007-2009). Tone: comedy, then full-blown melodrama. For whom: emotional marathon runners. Scores: MyAnimeList 7.99, then 8.93 for After Story · AniList 77, then 88%.

5. Horimiya

At school, Kyoko Hori is the model student everyone admires; at home, she runs the household and looks after her little brother. Izumi Miyamura comes across as a gloomy, withdrawn boy; outside school, he hides piercings and tattoos. Each discovers the other's hidden side by chance. Horimiya's great strength is that it moves fast: the couple gets together in the early episodes, and the series then tells the story of life as a pair, the friends, the awkward moments. Horimiya: The Missing Pieces (2023) adapts the chapters that were left out.

Episodes: 13 (2021), then 13 for The Missing Pieces (2023). Tone: bright slice of life. For whom: the ideal entry point. Scores: MyAnimeList 8.18 · AniList 81%.

6. Toradora!

Ryuji Takasu has the glare of a thug and a passion for housework. Taiga Aisaka, tiny and explosive, is nicknamed the "Palmtop Tiger". Neighbours, they find out that each is in love with the other's best friend and form an alliance to help one another. You quickly guess where this is going; all the pleasure is in the journey, with a group in which nobody is a mere sidekick and a Christmas episode that has stayed in people's memories. The model for the high school romantic comedy of the 2000s.

Episodes: 25 (2008-2009). Tone: comedy, then drama. For whom: those who want the classic of the genre. Scores: MyAnimeList 8.03 · AniList 77%.

7. Nana

Two young women in their twenties, both named Nana, meet on the train taking them to Tokyo. Nana Komatsu dreams of true love; Nana Osaki, a punk singer, wants to make it with her band. The adaptation of Ai Yazawa's manga is about couples that form and fall apart, emotional dependency and ambition, without ever judging its heroines. It is the most grown-up romance on this list: no high school, no filter. The manga has been on hiatus since 2009, so the series stops partway through the story.

Episodes: 47 (2006-2007). Tone: adult drama. For whom: older teenagers and adults. Scores: MyAnimeList 8.58 · AniList 85%.

8. The Dangers in My Heart

Kyotaro Ichikawa, a withdrawn middle schooler who fancies himself a character from a crime novel, watches Anna Yamada, the class idol, from afar… and discovers a clumsy snack lover who sneaks into the library to nibble in secret. What begins as a dark-edged comedy becomes one of the most finely observed romances of recent years: every glance, every message counts. A movie was released in Japan in February 2026, and AniList lists a season 3 for April 2027.

Episodes: 25 across two seasons (2023-2024), then a movie (2026). Tone: tender comedy. For whom: those who like romances that take their time. Scores: MyAnimeList 8.19, then 8.67 · AniList 81, then 86%.

9. Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You

With her long black hair and gloomy air, Sawako Kuronuma looks like the ghost from the movie Ring: her classmates call her "Sadako" and avoid her. In reality she is disarmingly kind, and Shota Kazehaya, the most well-liked boy in class, is the first to see it. Known in France under the title Sawako, the series is the quintessential high school shōjo: slow, modest, devoted as much to friendship as to love. A third season arrived on Netflix on 1 August 2024, thirteen years after the second.

Episodes: 37 across two seasons (2009-2011), then 5 feature-length episodes for season 3 (2024). Tone: gentle and modest. For whom: those who love first loves. Scores: MyAnimeList 8.01 to 8.40 · AniList 79 to 83%.

10. The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity (Bloom)

Rintaro Tsumugi has a build and a stare that scare people off; he attends Chidori, a low-ranked boys' high school. Kaoruko Waguri goes to Kikyo, the upmarket girls' school next door, whose students look down on those from Chidori. They meet in Rintaro's family pastry shop, without knowing where the other comes from. Aired in the summer of 2025, the series was one of the most-followed romances of the year: two characters who speak frankly to each other, no misunderstanding dragged out over ten episodes, and wonderfully delicate direction. Netflix France carries it under the title "Bloom".

Episodes: 13 (July-September 2025). Tone: tender and bright. For whom: those looking for the recent romance not to miss. Scores: MyAnimeList 8.45 · AniList 84%.

High school romance and school life: 3 series

High school is the genre's natural playground: the classroom, the culture festival, the walk home. These three series prove there is still something new to say there.

11. Skip and Loafer

Mitsumi Iwakura leaves her countryside for a top Tokyo high school with a career plan mapped out to the last detail… and gets lost on the very first day. She runs into Sosuke Shima, a laid-back and popular classmate who becomes her first friend. A luminous series about friendship and first feelings, in which every supporting character is given real depth. AniList lists season 2 for April 2027.

Episodes: 12 (2023). Tone: warm. Scores: MyAnimeList 8.10 · AniList 81%.

12. Blue Spring Ride (Ao Haru Ride)

In middle school, Futaba Yoshioka was never able to tell a boy named Tanaka how she felt. In high school she meets him again: he now goes by Kou Mabuchi and is nothing like the gentle boy she knew. Adapted from Io Sakisaka's manga (13 volumes), known in France as Blue Spring Ride, the anime only covers the beginning of the story: an ideal taster before reading the rest.

Episodes: 12 (2014). Tone: nostalgic. Scores: MyAnimeList 7.63 · AniList 75%.

13. Tsukigakirei

In their last year of middle school, Kotaro, who dreams of becoming a novelist, and Akane, a runner in the track club, end up in the same class and grow closer through text messages. No spectacular misunderstanding, no cartoonish rival: just the awkwardness, the silences and the sincerity of a first love, filmed with rare accuracy. An original creation, with no manga behind it.

Episodes: 12 (2017). Tone: realistic and delicate. Scores: MyAnimeList 8.01 · AniList 78%.

Watch next: Insomniacs After School (13 episodes, 2023), in which two sleepless high schoolers take refuge in their school's abandoned observatory.

Romantic comedy: 3 series to make you laugh

Here you laugh first and melt afterwards. Three comedies that never confuse lightness with laziness.

14. Ouran High School Host Club

A scholarship student at an academy for the children of billionaires, Haruhi Fujioka breaks an 8 million yen vase in the room of the Host Club, where handsome boys entertain the students. To pay it back, she has to pass herself off as one of them. A joyful parody of every shōjo convention, led by the eccentric Tamaki, that has not aged a day.

Episodes: 26 (2006). Tone: sparkling parody. Scores: MyAnimeList 8.16 · AniList 80%.

15. Lovely Complex

Risa Koizumi is 172 cm tall, Atsushi Otani 156 cm: a girl far taller than average and a boy far shorter, whom the whole class treats as a comedy duo. They bicker, help each other win over other classmates… until Risa realises she is in love with him. A comedy played at full tilt, funny and surprisingly accurate about insecurities.

Episodes: 24 (2007). Tone: high-energy comedy. Scores: MyAnimeList 8.03 · AniList 78%.

16. My Love Story!! (Ore Monogatari!!)

Takeo Goda is a giant with a big heart; the girls he likes always fall for his best friend, the handsome Sunakawa. Until the day he saves Rinko Yamato from a harasser on the train. The couple gets together very quickly, and the series has fun with everything that follows: first dates, tiny jealousies, unshakeable friendship. Impossible not to smile.

Episodes: 24 (2015). Tone: sunny comedy. Scores: MyAnimeList 7.88 · AniList 77%.

Watch next: Maid Sama! (26 episodes, 2010) and Romantic Killer (12 episodes, 2022), in which a high schooler who lives for video games, chocolate and her cat stubbornly refuses to fall in love.

Drama: 3 romances that tug at the heart

With Your Lie in April and Clannad, the top 10 has already supplied its share of tissues. These three series complete the picture, each with a strong subject.

17. Orange

Naho, sixteen, receives a letter she wrote to herself as an adult. In it she learns that a new student, Kakeru Naruse, is about to join her class, and that she must watch over him to spare herself regrets. Between romance and the supernatural, the series deals with grief and inner pain with great tact, and with what a group of friends can change. A movie, Orange: Future, continues the story.

Episodes: 13 (2016), then a movie. Tone: melancholy. Scores: MyAnimeList 7.63 · AniList 75%.

18. Given

Mafuyu Sato never lets go of his guitar with its rusted strings, which he cannot play. Ritsuka Uenoyama agrees to repair it, then to teach him, and invites him to listen to his band rehearse. Behind the birth of a rock band, Given tells the story of a bereavement and a first love between two boys, with exemplary restraint. The concert scene alone is worth the detour.

Episodes: 11 (2019), then movies (2020 and 2024). Tone: restrained and musical. Scores: MyAnimeList 8.28 · AniList 83%.

19. Bloom Into You

Yuu Koito is waiting to feel the great thrill promised by love stories, and feels nothing when a friend confesses to her. Touko Nanami, the student council president, then admits that she is falling in love with her. A finely drawn romance between two high school girls that asks a real question: can you love without knowing what loving means?

Episodes: 13 (2018). Tone: introspective. Scores: MyAnimeList 7.88 · AniList 78%.

Adults and office life: 3 romances beyond high school

Past twenty, characters have rent to pay, colleagues and a past. Along with Nana, these three series show that the genre does not belong to teenagers alone.

20. Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku

Narumi Momose starts at a new company, determined to hide the fact that she is an otaku. No luck: there she runs into Hirotaka Nifuji, a friend from middle school and a hardcore gamer, who suggests they date because it would be simpler. Adults who work, go for a drink after the office and play games together: a romantic comedy with no high school in sight, rare and delightful.

Episodes: 11 (2018). Tone: office comedy. Scores: MyAnimeList 7.91 · AniList 78%.

21. A Sign of Affection

Yuki Itose, a deaf university student, is helped on the train by Itsuomi Nagi, an older student who travels the world and speaks several languages. Curious about her world, he starts learning sign language. A romance of great gentleness, attentive to gestures, glances and what it means to communicate.

Episodes: 12 (2024). Tone: gentle and soothing. Scores: MyAnimeList 8.18 · AniList 81%.

22. Maison Ikkoku

Yusaku Godai, a student who keeps failing his entrance exams, lives in a run-down boarding house whose neighbours make his life a misery. He is about to leave when the new manager arrives, a young widow, Kyoko Otonashi, with whom he instantly falls in love. Broadcast in France from 5 September 1988 on the Club Dorothée programme, where it was retitled and the two leads renamed Hugo and Juliette, the adaptation of Rumiko Takahashi's manga (Maison Ikkoku, 15 volumes) remains one of the finest long-running love stories in Japanese animation, made of misunderstandings, rivals and everyday life.

Episodes: 96 (1986-1988). Tone: sentimental comedy. Scores: MyAnimeList 8.22 · AniList 78%.

Watch next: Recovery of an MMO Junkie (10 episodes, 2017), a romance between adults born in an online game.

Fantasy and historical: 3 romances from another world

Imaginary kingdoms, the Japan of long ago, trade routes: a change of scenery alters the whole rhythm of a love story. And if you are looking for romance at the heart of an isekai, Re:Zero and its heroine Emilia are waiting for you further down, among the adventure series.

23. Snow White with the Red Hair

A herbalist with apple-red hair, Shirayuki flees her kingdom when the prince wants to make her his concubine. In the neighbouring country of Clarines she meets Zen, another prince, and decides to earn her place at court on her own. A fairy-tale romance with no great villain, carried by a heroine who chooses her own life.

Episodes: 24 across two seasons (2015-2016). Tone: bright fairy tale. Scores: MyAnimeList 7.76 to 7.96 · AniList 77 to 79%.

24. My Happy Marriage

Mistreated by her stepmother and half-sister, Miyo Saimori is sent to the home of Kiyoka Kudo, a soldier with a reputation so cold that his fiancées flee within days. In a Japan inspired by the Meiji and Taishō eras, where certain families inherit supernatural powers, this fairy tale takes the time to mend its heroine before letting her love.

Episodes: 25 across two seasons (2023-2025). Tone: elegant melodrama. Scores: MyAnimeList 7.67, then 7.42 · AniList 76, then 74%.

25. Spice and Wolf

Kraft Lawrence, a travelling merchant, discovers in his cart a young woman with a wolf's ears and tail: Holo, revered as a harvest deity, who wants to return to the North. They travel together, talk currencies and contracts, and tease each other like an old married couple. A romance built on dialogue, grown-up and mischievous. The 2024 version, Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf, retells the story from the beginning.

Episodes: 25 for the 2024 version (first adaptation in 2008); AniList lists a sequel for 2027. Tone: travel and verbal sparring. Scores: MyAnimeList 8.21 (2008) and 8.13 (2024) · AniList 80 and 79%.

Watch next: Kamisama Kiss and Yona of the Dawn, two fantasy adventures in which romance moves forward in small steps.

Movies: 3 animated romances you have to see

One evening, no season to catch up on: a movie is the best way to get a taste of the genre, or to introduce someone to it.

26. Your Name.

Mitsuha, a high school girl from a mountain village, and Taki, a high school boy in Tokyo, wake up some mornings in each other's bodies. They get organised, leave each other messages, grow attached, until the day the link is cut. Makoto Shinkai's movie, released in August 2016 in Japan and in December 2016 in France, drew nearly 19 million viewers to Japanese cinemas. If you only watch one movie from this list, make it this one.

Runtime: 1 h 47 (2016). Tone: supernatural and romantic. Scores: MyAnimeList 8.82 · AniList 85%.

27. A Silent Voice

As a child, Shoya Ishida bullied Shoko Nishimiya, a deaf classmate, until she changed schools. Now an outcast himself, he finds her years later to ask for forgiveness. Naoko Yamada's movie, based on the manga by Yoshitoki Oima (7 volumes), is more about guilt and making amends than about a couple, but the bond that forms between these two is one of the most moving in animated cinema.

Runtime: 2 h 10 (2016). Tone: drama. Scores: MyAnimeList 8.93 · AniList 88%.

28. Howl's Moving Castle

Sophie, a young hatter, is turned into an old woman by a jealous witch. She finds refuge in the moving castle of the wizard Howl, as charming as he is elusive. Loosely based on Diana Wynne Jones's novel published in 1986, Hayao Miyazaki's movie (2004) is his great love story: two damaged souls who mend each other, against the backdrop of an absurd war. The most family-friendly title on the list.

Runtime: 1 h 59 (2004). Tone: enchanting. Scores: MyAnimeList 8.67 · AniList 85%.

Watch next: Weathering With You (2019), I Want to Eat Your Pancreas (2018) and Whisper of the Heart (1995).

New in 2025-2026: the romances of the moment

The genre is enjoying a fine run. After The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity in 2025, two series stand out in 2026, and several others already deserve a look. All the dates below were recorded on AniList and MyAnimeList on 13 November 2026.

29. You and I Are Polar Opposites

Miyu Suzuki is bubbly, talkative and concerned about what others think; Yusuke Tani is calm, reserved and indifferent to how people see him. She is in love with him and eventually takes the plunge. What follows shows a high school couple learning to talk to each other, surrounded by a group of friends as endearing as they are. Two seasons aired back to back in 2026, from January to March and then from July to October, and the second is rated even higher than the first.

Episodes: 25 across two seasons (2026). Tone: tender comedy. Scores: MyAnimeList 8.26, then 8.51 · AniList 82, then 84%.

30. Blue Box

Taiki Inomata, a badminton player, admires Chinatsu Kano, the star of the school's basketball team, whom he sees every morning in the gym. A twist of fate brings them far closer than he could have imagined. Half romance, half sports anime: they train hard, lose matches, and feelings advance at the pace of their progress. Season 2 has been airing since October 2026, the year the manga ended at 28 volumes.

Episodes: 25 (2024-2025), then a season 2 in progress (12 episodes announced). Tone: sport and first stirrings of love. Scores: MyAnimeList 8.14 and 8.15 · AniList 81%.

Also worth watching

• The Ramparts of Ice (spring 2026, 14 episodes; season 2 in progress since October 2026): four high schoolers, including a loner who keeps everyone at arm's length, based on a manga by Kocha Agasawa, who also created You and I Are Polar Opposites. MyAnimeList 8.25.
• Love Through a Prism (Netflix, January 2026, 20 episodes): a young Japanese woman at a London art school in the early 1900s, from a story by Yoko Kamio. MyAnimeList 8.44.
• Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You (summer 2026, 12 episodes): a worn-out office worker and a cashier meet up to smoke behind the supermarket. A romance between adults. MyAnimeList 8.18.
• Love Unseen Beneath the Clear Night Sky (summer 2026, 12 episodes): a solitary university student meets a blind young woman who dreams of seeing fireworks. MyAnimeList 8.43.
• Firefly Wedding (since 9 October 2026, 12 episodes announced): a young noblewoman doomed by illness proposes marriage to the assassin sent to kill her. MyAnimeList 7.74.

The summary table of the 30 romance anime

The thirty titles at a glance. The last column shows the subscription offers found in France on JustWatch on 13 November 2026; "FR dub" indicates a French audio track. Catalogues change often: check before you subscribe.

Where to watch romance anime in France: Netflix, Crunchyroll, French dubs

According to JustWatch, which we consulted on 13 November 2026, twenty-three of the thirty titles on the list are available in France through at least one subscription. Crunchyroll has twelve of them, Netflix nine and ADN eight, some being present on several platforms.

Romance anime on Netflix

On the same day we opened each title's page on Netflix France. Nine titles from our selection are there: Horimiya, The Dangers in My Heart, Kimi ni Todoke (all three seasons), The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity, Ouran High School Host Club, My Love Story!!, My Happy Marriage, Howl's Moving Castle and Blue Box. Add to these, among the titles mentioned as extras, Romantic Killer, Whisper of the Heart, Love Through a Prism, The Ramparts of Ice, Komi Can't Communicate and the new version of Ranma ½, whose third season is in progress.

Romance anime with a French dub

JustWatch reports a French audio track for Kaguya-sama: Love is War, Fruits Basket, Horimiya, A Sign of Affection, Spice and Wolf (2024 version), A Silent Voice and You and I Are Polar Opposites on Crunchyroll, for Kimi ni Todoke and Ouran High School Host Club on ADN, and for Your Name. and A Sign of Affection on Disney+. On Netflix, the list of available languages appears on each title's page. The other series are watched in Japanese with French subtitles.

The hard-to-find titles

On 13 November 2026, JustWatch showed no subscription offer in France for Clannad, Nana, Blue Spring Ride, Tsukigakirei, Orange and Wotakoi, and did not list Maison Ikkoku. For these titles you have to turn to DVD and Blu-ray editions where they exist, or be patient: catalogues change from one month to the next.

Where to start: 5 paths depending on your mood

Thirty titles is a lot. Here are five ways into the genre without going wrong.

• You have never watched anime: start with the movie Your Name., then move on to Horimiya, short and with no prerequisites.
• You want to laugh: Kaguya-sama: Love is War, then Lovely Complex or Ouran High School Host Club.
• You want to cry: Your Lie in April, then Clannad and its sequel After Story, saving A Silent Voice for an evening when you feel brave.
• You are past high school age: Nana, Wotakoi and A Sign of Affection speak about adults, to adults.
• You are watching as a family: Howl's Moving Castle, then Skip and Loafer or Fruits Basket.

One piece of advice that applies to all of them: give a series three episodes before judging it. The best romances establish their characters before bringing them together.

Which romance anime should you watch as a couple?

Watching a romance together starts with finding common ground. If one of you wants feelings and the other wants action, the best compromise is called Dandadan: ghosts, aliens, wild fights and, in the middle of it all, the most spontaneous romance of the moment between Momo and Okarun.

For a no-commitment evening, a movie is still the simplest option: Your Name. if you like the supernatural, Howl's Moving Castle if you want enchantment. For a series to follow together, pick a couple that gets together early, so you share something other than the wait: Horimiya, My Love Story!! or You and I Are Polar Opposites. Kaguya-sama: Love is War is ideal if you like teasing each other, since the whole series is built on that game. Finally, SPY x FAMILY appeals to almost everyone: a fake couple, an adopted child, plenty of humour and a tenderness that settles in without warning.

Romance where you least expect it: 6 adventure and action series

Some of the most beautiful love stories in animation are hidden in series that are not shelved under romance. They are not among our thirty titles, but they meet a real demand: adventure or action, with a couple you can believe in. The most discreet is also the most poignant: in Frieren, an elf mage only grasps what the hero Himmel meant to her after his death.

Frieren: Frieren and Himmel

Frieren defeated the Demon King alongside Himmel. For an elf who lives for centuries, those ten years of adventure were only a moment; at the hero's funeral she realises she never tried to get to know him. Her whole new journey is a way of finding him again. The first season has 28 episodes (2023-2024), the second 10 episodes (early 2026), and AniList lists the third for October 2027. Our Frieren or Himmel figure, the invitation to dance, gives them the moment together they never had; the rest of the universe is in the Frieren figures collection.

Sailor Moon: Usagi and Mamoru

Before being a monument of the magical girl genre, Sailor Moon is a love story across reincarnations: Usagi Tsukino and Mamoru Chiba already loved each other in a past life, as Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion. Broadcast in France on the Club Dorothée programme from 23 December 1993, where Usagi was called Bunny and Mamoru Bourdu, the series runs to 200 episodes. Our Usagi and Mamoru duo in formal attire brings them together side by side, she in a white dress, he in a pale suit.

Re:Zero: Subaru and Emilia

Thrown into another world, Subaru Natsuki discovers that he goes back in time every time he dies, and uses it to protect Emilia, the half-elf he has fallen in love with. AniList files the series under the Romance genre, and its season 4 (19 episodes) aired in the spring of 2026. Emilia has her figure with ribbons in the wind, Rem her chibi version in a maid outfit, and our guide to isekai places the series within its genre.

SPY x FAMILY: Loid and Yor

A spy needs a family for his mission; a hired killer needs a husband for her cover. Loid and Yor enter into a fake marriage and adopt Anya, a telepathic little girl who knows everything and says nothing. The series is not classified as a romance, but people also watch it to see this couple of convenience become a real family. Yor comes as a figure on her red pouffe.

Dandadan: Momo and Okarun

Momo Ayase believes in ghosts; Ken Takakura, known as Okarun, believes in aliens. They are both right, and their duo quickly becomes the most endearing high school romance of the moment, between two fights that our ranking of battle anime would be proud of. Two seasons of 12 episodes (2024 and 2025), a third listed for 2027 on AniList, and a Momo and Okarun duo in chibi form to bring them together.

The Apothecary Diaries: Maomao and Jinshi

Kidnapped and then sold as a servant to the imperial palace, Maomao, an apothecary with a passion for poisons, solves mysteries at court. Jinshi, a high-ranking official of devastating beauty, takes an interest in her; she looks at him as if he were a pest. This game of cat and mouse is one of the most delightful of the moment. Season 3 has been airing since October 2026. Maomao is waiting for you as a 13.5 cm seated figure.

And in manga: 10 romances to read

Many of these anime stop before the end of the story. The manga lets you find out how it ends, and some titles are first and foremost monuments on paper. Ten series to begin with, with the number of volumes of the Japanese edition as recorded on AniList:

• Fruits Basket, by Natsuki Takaya: 23 volumes, complete.
• Nana, by Ai Yazawa: on hiatus since 2009, and still widely read.
• Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, by Karuho Shiina: 30 volumes, complete.
• Kaguya-sama: Love is War, by Aka Akasaka: 28 volumes, complete.
• Blue Spring Ride, by Io Sakisaka: 13 volumes, complete.
• Horimiya, by HERO and Daisuke Hagiwara: 17 volumes, complete.
• Lovely Complex, by Aya Nakahara: 17 volumes, complete.
• Maison Ikkoku, by Rumiko Takahashi: 15 volumes, complete.
• Blue Box, by Kouji Miura: 28 volumes, completed in 2026.
• The Dangers in My Heart, by Norio Sakurai: 14 volumes, completed in 2026.

The number of volumes may differ in other editions, particularly for reissues in double volumes.

Sources: scores and episode counts recorded on 13 November 2026 on MyAnimeList and AniList; subscription offers in France according to JustWatch, supplemented the same day by reading the title pages on Netflix France.

Frequently asked questions

Going further

Romance makes you want to keep its characters close. The heroines and couples mentioned in this article can be found in our collections: Frieren figures, Frieren wall scrolls, figures from other series (Re:Zero, SPY x FAMILY, Dandadan, Sailor Moon) and chibi figures for the small formats.

To keep reading: our Top Anime 2026 for the year's releases, the guide to the shōnen, seinen and shōjo genres, the portrait of fans' favourite heroines, and our manga gift guide if you are looking for an idea for someone who loves these series.