Best Romance Anime About First Love

There’s just something about first love that makes the heart race. It usually comes when one is at a young age, is not yet jaded, and is as honest as one could ever imagine.

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Best School Anime Everyone Should Watch

Exams, crushes, after-school hijinks — these school anime explore all the ups and downs of life as a student — in ordinary or extraordinary worlds.

Some of the best anime romance shows are about first love, and the purity on display is usually something that makes the audience feel refreshed, longing for the main characters’ love to make it to the end. Sometimes it ends in tragedy, but everyone’s happy that the love has at least been found.

10

Horimiya

Hori is Happy To Find Someone Who Understands Her

Horimiya is a show about looking beneath the surface and appreciating the layers of a person. Kyouko Hori might have seemed like a perfect student, but she was not without her struggles.

After meeting Miyamura, they realized that the two of them shared in common the idea that their school persona was different from the face they showed to the other sides of their life. For Hori, it was the first time she had felt that way, and nurturing this young love had people rooting for their success.

9

Kimi Ni Todoke: From Me To You

Sawako Only Wanted Friendship — She Gets A Lot More

In Kimi Ni Todoke: From Me To You, Sawako Kuronuma is a cute high school student who, unfortunately, gets called names by her classmates. They tease her for her passing resemblance to the horror icon, Sadako. Meanwhile, Sawako only wants to connect with her classmates.

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She is eventually able to make friends with Chizuru and Ayane, and most importantly, Kazehaya. While she mostly only respects Kazehaya, her feelings begin to deepen as she spends more time with him. Kazehaya also likes Sawako, but struggles to get her to understand him.

8

Your Lie In April

Arima’s World Becomes Colorful When He Meets Kaori

Arima Kousei was known as a human metronome who can play any score perfectly. However, coupled with his mother’s illness, and his lack of desire to play, his world becomes a dull, monotone with nothing in it.

But upon meeting the bubbly Kaori Miyazono, something changes with Arima. While Kaori claims she wanted Arima’s friend, she actually only has eyes for him. The development of their feelings, and their unquestionable chemistry on stage when playing together makes Your Lie in April really tug at the heartstrings.

7

Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War

Kaguya And Shirogane Want To Get Each Other To Confess

The hilarious Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War was a great hit from 2019 that follows Kaguya Shinomiya and Miyuki Shirogane, two of the top students at their school who have also fallen in love with one another. The problem is — neither wants to admit it.

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While a lot of the comedy of the anime comes from the stunts each party pulls to get the other to confess, it also features a lot of heart in some scenes that show the beauty of the first love between the two leads. This is clear in some of the episodes where the two let their masks fall off and show some of their sincere feelings.

6

The Ancient Magus Bride

Chise Teaches Ainsworth How To Be Human

The premise of The Ancient Magus Bride does seem a bit sketchy — a down-on-her-luck girl sells herself to a mage who takes her as his wife. The mage in question, known as Ainsworth, is neither human nor anything anyone really understands.

As Chise and Ainsworth grow closer, she begins to open up and teaches the stoic Ainsworth what it means to be human. It is a lot of fun to see Ainsworth discover what fear, anger, and jealousy are.

5

My Love Story!!

Takeo Just Wants To Be Accepted For Who He Is

My Love Story!! follows Takeo, a freakishly huge highschooler who wants a girlfriend so bad, but he keeps getting rejected because of his size. One day, he saves a cute girl from some ruffians, and she ends up falling for him.

A lot of My Love Story’s time is taken up by the fact that Takeo cannot believe that Yamato, the cute girl he saved, wants him rather than his hot best friend, Makoto. But, he does indeed accept Yamato’s feelings, and Takeo must now navigate his very first relationship with a girl that finally feels the same way as he does.

4

The Dangers In My Heart

Ichikawa And Yamada’s Feelings Grow As They Know Each Other More

The Dangers In My Heart set the anime world on fire when it came out in 2023, and the second season from 2024 was even better received. The show follows Ichikawa, a middle schooler who is a loner and fantasizes about killing the most popular girl in class, Anna Yamada.

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The two become close as they start to know each other, and over the course of the show, fans watch as the two slowly fall in love. Unlike some shows, this story focuses a lot on the steady descent into love between the two major characters. Yamada accepts Ichikawa as he is, and the protagonist fights off his many insecurities.

3

Blue Spring Ride

Futaba And Kou Struggle To Find Who They Are

Futaba Yoshioka is a very popular girl in middle school, but this only gets her ostracized by the girls of the school who were jealous. Her only good memories are of a boy called Kou who then suddenly stops coming to school.

The two reunite in high school, but they are both different people now. Futaba still likes Kou, and he seems to have some feelings for her too, but breaking out of the people they have become to give their relationship a chance proves difficult.

2

Snow White With The Red Hair

Zen And Shirayuki Help Each Other Grow

In Snow White With The Red Hair, Shirayuki is a talented apothecary who has unique red hair that catches the eye of the prince of her country, Raji. Unwilling to become a concubine, Shirayuki flees and winds up with Zen, another prince, but from a different country.

The two grow a close relationship and help each other out. The fantasy setting makes this show a little different from the litany of high school romance anime that usually fill up the seasonal slots. Shirayuki is a strong character who doesn’t feel like many of the fairy tale princesses. It becomes clear that the playful and sometimes unserious Zen and the typically hyper-focused Shirayuki really respect each other and that something more might be developing.

1

Into The Forest Of Fireflies’ Light

Hotaru And Gin Experience Love Under Difficult Circumstances

Into The Forest Of Fireflies’ Light starts with Hotaru meeting Gin, a forest spirit, who is unable to touch humans unless he disappears, and the two begin to slowly foster a relationship. Starting out with a huge age gap between the two, the pair begin to grow closer in age due to the fact that Gin ages slowly. But, no matter how their relationship develops, they cannot touch each other.

Gin is Horatu’s first love, the one who saved her and has been a companion that she always knows where to find, while in Hotaru, Gin has found the possibility of human connection. While the story has some heavy themes, it is ultimately a beautiful examination of human connection, love, and tragedy.

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19 Best Forbidden Love Romances In Anime

Nothing ups the drama in an anime like the forbidden aspect of these romances.