It’s the month of lurve! The month for both 3d and anime couples! And advertising! February is a rough month here. It’s dark, it’s super cold and we still have like 3 and a half months of winter. Yes, we have June winter. So what???
As such, let’s add a bit of light to the month by talking about anime characters in love! Let’s be clear, I’m only talking about canon couples here. No shipping or implied couples. And I’m talking about these couples as a unit. I find that I often like both individuals in a couple but I don’t think that the couple itself is that interesting or adds anything to either character.
It should say something about my genre tastes that I found it super difficult to even come up with 5 anime couples I like. But I did! And here they are.
5. Beastars – Legoshi & Haru
Even though it’s only 5, I already kind of cheated since Legoshi and Haru have a pretty one-sided relationship. I did really like that there was at least an attempt to explore the complexities of class biases when it comes to romantic relationships with a more realistic take. It’s not all rosy and love won’t necessarily conquer all. The more different two people are, the more work it takes for a relationship to flourish.
Season 1 didn’t go too deep into it but season 2 might! Also, neither Haru nor Legoshi has the upper hand or the moral high ground in this relationship. They both screw up, they both misunderstand, so on. I really enjoy equal power dynamics and they are rare!
4. Given – Mafuyu and Ritsuka
I’m not sure how much I like Mafuyu and Uenoyama together and how much I just liked seeing them get together. But in any case, Given is one of the few romance anime that actually ends up with a canon couple that I really like (both the anime and the couple).
These two are still sort of young and I’m not sure just how long they will last but they share a passion which is a good start. And neither got instantly infatuated with the other so that’s a positive as well. They took the time to get to know each other as friends with no one putting the other on a pedestal. Hero worship is real bad news in romance.
3. Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid – Kobayashi & Tohru
Ok so part of me really wanted to put a Yuri couple on the list. And then I realized that most of them are pretty toxic. I loved Sweet Blue Flowers but who exactly am I supposed to pick? And then I remember that Kobayashi and Tohru are a canon couple. They even have a little family.
Sure, Kobayashi needs to relax a bit and just enjoy the ride a little more but you know, I think these two actually really suit each other well. Kobayashi gives Tohru the structure and security she needs while Tohru reminds Kobayashi to have fun and appreciate the little moments in life. Just from a couples standpoint, these two are pretty perfect for each other!
Also, Kobayashi is a lot like me on many levels and I really want a sexy dragon maid to fall in love with me and try to feed me her tail all the time. That sounded dirtier than I meant it to.
2. Natsume’s Book of Friends – Touko & Shigeru
Honestly, no 1 and 2 on this list are pretty interchangeable. Touko and Shigeru are couple goals all the way. I would be infinitely lucky to end up with a partner as understanding and that completes me as well as these two do for each other.
I one of my many favourite Natsume episodes, Touko muses that love, the long-term calm and solid type, built on respect and shared experience, not the infatuation kind, makes you really weak in a tender and comfortable sort of way. I want to be with someone who makes me glad for my weakness like these two are!
1. Durarara – Shinra & Celty
I’ve said it before, these guys are my OTP. At first glance it may just look like Shinra is the one that is blindly and eternally infatuated by the mysterious and powerful Celty. She does seem much more impressive after all. But when you get to know them, you soon realize that Celty is just as smitten!
These two are both eccentric and morally dubious characters which are very interesting in their own right but they bring out the best in each other. And by best I mean that Shinra is sort of ruthless and uncaring but melts into a puddle of lovesick goo whenever anything involves Celty in any way. While she’s literally a mythological monster that becomes a huge dork when her sweety is around. It’s super cute.
These two don’t need to be together and even as far as the story goes, both are rounded and developed enough characters to hold their own even if the other didn’t exist, but they just want to be together. That’s adorable!
There you have it. As you can see, I tend to enjoy couples that are on even ground and have long-standing relationships. Either they started out as friends or they have been together for a long time.
But that’s me. And I fail at romance a lot.
So who is your favourite anime couples and why. What are the traits that make you think it’s a healthy relationship? Do you have couples where you like both people, and even like the couple, but don’t think it’s very healthy. For me that’s Yuri and Victor, I can’t really see those two lasting. Please don’t hate me, it’s just my intuition and I hope I’m wrong.
I don’t normally comment on older blogs but I remember you posted this and I never read it. However, I was thinking of my favourite anime couples and I have to say I always find it funny how people’s lists change depending on the anime they watch. For instance, I agree with Beastars because I’ve seen it yet haven’t seen any of the others. Yet, I could never make such a list and exclude Guts and Casca after watching Berserk or even Naruto and Hinata because I grew up on that love story(well Hinata atleast loved him for time)
I gotta say the Berserk manga kinda destroyed Gutz and Casca for me.
Oh yeah, people definitely go with what they’ve watched and usually what they’ve watched recently. I love Naruto and Berserk is possibly my favourite anime but they would never have occurred to me for this list possibly because I had seen them way before putting it together.
I love that Shinra and Celty are #1. It was hard leaving them off of my list.
I thought this post was sweet and very thought out. I actually been meaning to watch some of the anime that you mentioned. I think the only couple I can think of who stands out is Kazuya Aoi and Satellizer L. Bridget. He helps her overcome her dark past and she protects him though she felt uncomfortable by him in the beginning.
I have never seen freezing, sounds cute
I’m only familiar with Tohru/Kobayashi out of this group, but they definitely make a great couple.
Some of my favorites:
Yuugo & Aki, Silver Spoon. Life circumstances dictate that they can’t get together as quickly as they’d like, but watching their relationship take root and grow is one of the most rewarding long-term story developments in the series. They’re already a couple in all-but name long before they ever make it official, and a great one too: trusting, mutually supportive, willing to listen to each other, basically everything you want from life partners. Even when they have their disagreements, working through them together just seems to make their relationship stronger afterwards.
Nanoha & Fate, Lyrical Nanoha. Amazing how we get to see this one evolve over years in the various installments, from their first meeting as children to eventually raising their own child together. That much progression is rare enough in anime for any couple, let alone a same-sex couple.
Ikki & Stella, Chivalry of a Failed Knight. My favorite battle couple of the anime world. These two are all about fiery passion and sexual chemistry, but underneath that there’s also a solid foundation of mutual respect here, and they’re similar enough personalities that they understand one another remarkably well once they start opening up to each other. That what makes me think they have a chance to make this one last even after the hormones settle down.
And my own OTP if it’s anyone at all is Oreki and Chitanda from Hyouka. There’s a lot to like here, but two things have always stood out to me. The first is how much they obviously enjoy each other’s company. Episode 19 for instance, which is 20 minutes of nothing but the two of them passing a quiet afternoon in the clubroom, is one of my favorites in the whole series just because it’s so enjoyable to see how they act when nobody else is around, with all the fun they’re having in their easy playfulness and banter despite the simmering sexual tension bubbling just under the surface. Second is the growth, and the way their friendship and budding relationship gradually changes both of them for the better. This is a couple with great chemistry, they’re incredibly cute together, and they’re genuinely good for each other. All adds up to a winner in my book.
Interesting. I’m not familiar with any of these although I am definitely planning on watching Hyouka
I really like the couple of Nahoko Satomi and Jirô Horikoshi in The Wind Rises. They are so content and happy just to be together – there is no pressure on each from the other, and they have a knowing understanding where they just being present for the other is enough to communicate. So beautiful 🙂
I should watch that
Would be excited to hear your thoughts on it!
I like how you got the full range of relationship types on this post 🙂
The Celtic headless fairy and Asian evil genius demographic is very underrepresented!
It seriously is.
I melted watching that Touko and Shigeru episode in season 5 – they really a wonderful couple.
They really are. There something so powerful in a love that is only concerned with the people in it.
Love, love, love, some of these couples! Shinra x Celty, Legosi x Haru, and Koboyashi x Tohru are such cute pairings. I’m not familair with the other two couples, sadly.
They are just as awesome! And because I have to suggest Natsume to everyone, if you get a chance, you could try Natsume’s Book of Friends!
I do want to! The sheer amount of episodes is a little intimidating to step into though.
Just start with one season. That’s 12 episodes. It’s SoL so you don’t really need to watch them all
Ooh, that’s such a nice list. I can get behind every single couple on this list. (Also, I’m reminded that the Given movie has finally come out, and I wonder when I will get to watch it.)
Two couples that stand out for me (and I’m sure I’m forgetting others):
Haimura Kiri and Mushanokoji Iwai from Crime Edge: Aren’t they just adorable together? It’s one weird show, about cursed hair and cursed scissors and how fetishes can channel your inner darkness… They have no business to be so adorable together, but they just are. Sadly the anime ended in a rather tumultous spot and they tried to have some sort of concilliatory ending, but it just felt rushed and not up to the show’s standards. If there was a prize for the greates gap between wanting a sequel and the likelihood of getting it, this show is it. I especially love their private little dance at the end of episode 10, all battered and patched up in their jerseys, to the special ending, followed by a movie type credits roll.
Aihara Kazuki and Futami Eriko from Kimikiss Pure Rouge: The straightforward soccer-playing redhead gets wound up in the genius weirdo’s experiment on why people fall in love. The side-romance to the more involved main-story. They have so little in common but they complement each other so well. The boy’s being challenged to think things through he would normally never even notice, while the girl actually gets to open up to others because the boy provides this uncomplicated and steady island of security. As so often in romances, I find the girl more relatable.
I haven’t seen either but they both sound intriguing now.
If we’re just talking anime, I always quite liked Takeo and Rinko from Ore Monogatari. It’s like they both exude so much awkwardness that they cancel each other out. And as an added benefit, they start dating immediately, and you don’t have to sit through 23 episodes of ‘will they, won’t they’
If we include manga, nothing beats Love so Life when it comes to romance in my opinion. I’m continuously disappointed that there are no English volumes of that available, nor is there an anime adaptation.
Bonus points for Celty and Shinra in Durarara, they are great together.
I’ve been meaning to watch Ore Monogatari forever! This year I will! Maybe
The hijinks of Tohru and Kobyashi never cease to amuse me.
Glad to hear it. The St-Valentine’s day episode was unfortuante but I’m really looking forward to the next season
Yes to Mafuyu and Ritsuka! I listen to Fuyu No Hanashi everyday🙈 Also where are Viktor and Yuuri?🥺 How could you abandon them?🥺
I’m sorry, I’ve spoken of it before and although I enjoyed their story, I don’t think they make a very good couple in the long run. It’s only my opinion of course but I find that their relationship is based too much on hero worship and the disbalance of power is not that conductive for happy, stress free long term relationships. I see them more as a romance story couple, all intense and passionate.
Wait a minute. Did you just make me reconsider Victuuri?👀 On a serious note tho, I totally get you, I’m sometimes like they’re too ideal, the kind that probably breaks up, and breaks up bad. But then I’m like it’s an anime and imma ship because they’re cute😂 Also, they’re one of the lesser toxic same sex couples in Japanese anime. I swear I’m kind of traumatised by a few of the shounen ai and Yaoi animes. My favourite couple still has to be WangXian from Mo Dao Zu Shi, and Xie Lian and Hua Cheng from Tian Guan Ci Fu, but they’re a donghua, and I feel like I talk about them too much and I’m trying to change.😂
Yaoi anime does have way too many unfortunate tropes but it does seem to be slowly changing. YAY!
That’s true! I enjoyed that one about the Gangster and his bodyguard, if you know what I mean👀 But Given must’ve been the latest one I’ve seen before that and it was refreshing, I’m very excited for the sequel movie🙈