16 Romance Anime Where The Couple Gets Together Early
Vote up the best romance anime that focus on the couple's dating life.
Most romance anime focus on the build-up to a relationship. While the question of whether or not a couple will get together can be a great source of suspense, these shows leave out something important - what the romantic relationship is actually like.
For this list, we're celebrating romance anime where the couple starts dating early. From older series like Golden Time and Itazura na Kiss to newer shows like Tonikawa: Over the Moon for You and Horimiya, there are plenty of great shows that depict what it's like for the lovebirds to actually date each other.
- 12,341 VOTESPhoto: Horimiya / CloverWorks
Though Kyoko Hori and Izumi Miyamura seem like complete opposites, they have one important thing in common - both of them are hiding something important about themselves from their friends.
Hori can't live the carefree life of a regular high schooler because she's responsible for watching her younger brother, while Miyamura has a bunch of tattoos and piercings despite seeming like the quintessential nerd. The two quickly bond over this shared trait, and become a couple early in the series.
- 21,281 VOTESPhoto: Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku / A-1 Pictures
After a painful breakup with a guy who thought her interests were weird, Narumi Momose wants to make sure the co-workers at her new job don’t find out that she’s an otaku.
This goal turns out to be easier said than done, because her childhood friend Hirotaka Nifuji is one of her new co-workers. She ends up deciding to date him instead of trying to hide her true self from someone else. Most of the series follows the ins and outs of their relationship, plus the relationship between two co-workers who are also already dating.
- 31,442 VOTESPhoto: Tonikawa: Over the Moon for You / Seven Arcs
Not only does the main couple in Tonikawa: Over the Moon for You get together right away, they get married right away.
After Tsukasa saves Nasa from getting hit by a truck, Nasa is so struck by her beauty that he asks her out on the spot. Tsukasa agrees, on the condition that Nasa marry her immediately. Despite this being totally unexpected, Nasa agrees, and the two begin their married life together.
- 41,151 VOTESPhoto: Snow White with the Red Hair / Bones
Shirayuki is living a peaceful life as an herbalist in Tamburan when the nation's prince tries to force her into becoming his concubine. She's rescued by Zen Wistalia, the second prince of Clarines. She soon ends up moving to Clarines and taking an exam to be a palace herbalist.
The two would probably have started dating immediately, but Zen is under a lot of pressure not to date a ‘commoner’ and Shirayuki doesn't want to be seen as a gold digger. But they can't help being attracted to each other, and by the middle of Season 1 it's obvious that they're meant to be together. By Season 2, they're an item - whether the rest of the royal family likes it or not.
- 51,250 VOTESPhoto: Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai / CloverWorks
After a painful and socially devastating bout with a mysterious supernatural illness called Puberty Syndrome, Sakuta Azusagawa has dedicated himself to helping others with the same condition.
Mai Sakurajima, the first person he helps, has become completely invisible to just about everyone except Sakuta. This is due to how hyper-visible she's been in the past as a child actress. Sakuta helps her work through her feelings about this, and eventually helps her become visible again. In the process, the two start dating, and Mai teams up with Sakuta to cure more victims of Puberty Syndrome.
- 6961 VOTESPhoto: Say "I Love You" / Zexcs
After a bad experience with grade school bullying, Mei Tachibana doesn't even want to have friends, let alone a romantic relationship. Most people leave her alone for this reason - except for popular boy Yamato Kurosawa, who finds her fascinating. At first, Mei tries to avoid Yamato, but when he rescues her from a stalker by kissing her, her feelings change. The two start dating, and Mei starts talking to Yamato's friends, expanding her social circle significantly.
But it's not easy for a loner like Mei to get used to being in a relationship. She's never expressed her feelings effectively, and now she has to try. Luckily, Yamato is patient, kind, and understanding.
- 7160 VOTESPhoto: A Sign of Affection / Aija-do
A Sign of Affection tells the story of Yuki Itose, a deaf college student excited to break out of her shell. A meet cute on the subway has her crossing paths with the handsome and adventurous Itsuomi Nagi. Itsuomi is immediately captivated by Yuki - who feels the same way about him - and they begin to learn more about each other as time passes.
It turns out that time passes a bit quickly, because by the sixth episode, the two are pretty certain about their feelings for one another. Itsuomi confesses in a romantic gesture and the two become a wholesome, heartwarming couple.
- 8578 VOTES
Boarding School Juliet
Photo: Boarding School Juliet / LIDENFILMSLoosely inspired by Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, Boarding School Juliet tells the story of Romio Inuzuka and Juliet Persia, who hail from the "Black Doggies" of the Eastern Nation of Touwa and "White Cats" of the Principality of West, two rival nations. The two of them attend Dahlia Academy, where they lead their respective dorms.
To onlookers, they seem to be mortal enemies - but in reality, they're madly in love. To keep their positions, they try to hide their relationship - but they soon realize that this may not be possible in the long run.
- 9812 VOTESPhoto: Golden Time / J.C.Staff
After an accident gives him amnesia, Banri Tada decides to try and create a new life in law school. He soon falls in love with a brash and intense young woman named Kouko Kaga, and the two begin dating. But there's one problem - Kouko isn't the only woman in Banri's life.
Just before his accident, he confessed to Nana “Linda” Hayashida. While she couldn't give him her answer at the time, she's still very much in love with him. Caught between his current feelings and those of his former self, Banri must decide how to move forward.
- 10560 VOTES
3D Kanojo: Real Girl
Photo: 3D Kanojo: Real Girl / Hoods EntertainmentIroha Igarashi and Hikari Tsutsui are both social outcasts, but for completely different reasons. Hikari is a gamer and anime fan who is too afraid to interact with real women and prefers 2D ones. Meanwhile, Iroha has an unearned reputation for sleeping around, and a tendency to flirt with guys before rejecting them because they only care about her looks and not who she is as a person.
Their relationship seems unlikely at first, but Iroha pursues it because she thinks that Hikari will actually treat her well - that is, if she can get him to give a real person a chance. The two start dating, but there are plenty of challenges after that.
- 11815 VOTESPhoto: My Love Story!! / Madhouse
After Takeo Gouda saves Rinko Yamato from being manhandled on the train, he falls in love with her. She falls for him too, but he thinks that she's actually in love with his conventionally attractive best friend.
He tries to set them up, sacrificing his own dreams of romance in the process. But it turns out that Yamato has no interest in Takeo's friend - she's been in love with Takeo the whole time! The two soon start dating and have just about the most adorable relationship imaginable.
- 12599 VOTESPhoto: Tsurezure Children / Studio Gokumi
Tsurezure Children is all about young love. Rather than focusing on one relationship, it gives equal attention to several of them.
Some of the couples get together right away, while others take a while to make it happen. A few don't even get together at all. So if you're looking for a wide range of romantic stories, including a few about those who start dating soon after they meet, you've found it here.
- 13383 VOTESPhoto: Tsuki ga Kirei / feel.
If you're looking for a realistic take on middle school romance, watch Tsuki ga Kirei. Kotarou Azumi and Akane Mizuno don't really notice each other at first, but after a few encounters in their middle school class, they start connecting in ways they've never experienced before.
They soon start dating, but with their new relationship comes unforeseen complications. Neither of them know how to communicate their feelings effectively, and they begin to doubt each other. What's more, each of them have complex lives at school and at home that sometimes get in the way of their love. Can their relationship survive, or will it fall apart?
- 14284 VOTESPhoto: His & Her Circumstances / Gainax, J.C.Staff
Souichirou Arima and Yukino Miyazawa are both at the top of their class - which is exactly why Yukino hates Souichirou. She works her butt off to not only get perfect grades but to be sweet, kind, elegant, and athletic. This is nothing like her actual personality, so she resents Souichirou for achieving this with seemingly no effort.
When Souichirou finds out about Yukino's real personality, he blackmails her into doing his student council duty. It turns out that Yukino isn't the only one keeping secrets - and that Yukino has more in common with Souichirou than she thought.
- 15260 VOTESPhoto: Paradise Kiss / Madhouse
Yukari Hayasaka is an unhappy high school student who resents the monotony of daily life. Despite those feelings, she's reluctant to make a change, even when she gets an opportunity to become a model for a group of fashion designers. But George Koizumi won't take no for an answer, and ends up roping Yukari into becoming a model whether she likes it or not.
This turns out to be great for Yukari, since she not only finds something to be excited about, but she also falls in love with George, and the two soon start dating.
- 16340 VOTES
Itazura na Kiss
Photo: Itazura na Kiss / TMS EntertainmentItazura na Kiss is one of those delightfully complicated old school shojo romances that just don't seem to exist anymore. When Kotoko Aihara's home is destroyed in an earthquake, she ends up living with her brilliant but aloof classmate and crush Naoki Irie. While the fact that they live together gives Kotoko a chance, the fact that she's not nearly as smart as him combined with the fact that he's already seen an embarrassing love letter she wrote and reacted poorly make that chance seem meaningless. Oh, and both of them are being pursued by other would-be lovers.
Despite all these complications, the two do manage to get together by the middle of the series.
