Valentine’s Day is here, and anime fans have an abundance of shows to watch to get them into the romantic spirit. Whether it be a sweeping narrative that covers the entire timeline of a relationship, a comedy that shows the adorable awkwardness of falling for someone, or a silly harem anime that’s just a fun time, there’s plenty to watch. So much, in fact, that it might be difficult to decide where to start. Well, have no fear. Here are a handful of anime to watch this V-Day to get you in the mood for love.
School Rumble
Talk about a series of misunderstandings! School Rumble is an anime about a group of high school students who can’t seem to agree. Everyone either has a crush on someone who’s crushing on someone else or they have mutual crushes and can’t communicate about it effectively. The biggest tangled web of this hilarious anime is the one between Harima and Tenma. Harima is in love with Tenma, Tenma is in love with Karasuma, and Karasuma is a bit of an enigma.
What is clear is that between two 24-episode seasons and two OVAs, there are plenty of romance-fueled hijinks to keep you laughing and remind us all just how funny it is to be young and in love. You can watch Harima struggle through love over on Crunchyroll.
Clannad
Buckle up, this one is a tearjerker. Based on the visual novel of the same name, Clannad tells the story of young apathetic delinquent Tomoya Okazaki as he navigates high school and his first love with fellow classmate Nagisa Furukawa. It’s through Nagisa and the colorful cast of characters around the two that Tomoya comes into himself and learns how to care about life again.
Though this is classified as both a romance anime and a slice-of-life, this is also an anime about the tragedies in life that shape us. It focuses on how we can’t let the bad things that happen to us make us numb. It’s also unique in that there are two parts to Clannad. There’s Clannad, which is about the blossoming of Tomoya and Nagisa’s relationship in high school. And there’s Clannad: After Story, which is Tomoya and Nagisa exploring their relationship as adults and all the ups and downs that come with that.
The show is also book-ended beautifully by its opening and ending themes. For Part 1, there’s Mag Mell/Dango Daikazoku. For Part 2, it’s the stand-out and iconic duo of Toki o Kizamu Uta/TORCH. This anime will rip your heart out and then gift wrap it and hand it back to you with a hug and a cup of hot tea. But that’s what fans love about it! You can watch Clannad on Sling TV.
Fruits Basket
Whether you choose to watch the 2001 version or the recent manga-faithful adaption, Fruits Basket is always a good watch. The story follows loving and sometimes airheaded Tohru Honda after the passing of her mother. She’s not doing so well in the housing department but she’s got her optimizing to fall back on, which seems enough for her. However, one day she comes across writer Shigure Sohma, who just so happens to be the cousin of two of Tohru’s classmates, Yuki and Kyo. The two bond over their shared interest in the zodiac and its animal members, Tohru’s makeshift home is caught in a rockslide, and now she has nowhere to go. Or so she thinks!
Shigure offers for Tohru to live with him along with Kyo and Yuki for the time being. This sets off a chain of events in which Tohru builds a place for herself with the Sohmas and even helps heal many of the wounds and family trauma that plague them. It’s a story of loving others and learning to accept love. Both for Tohru and for the Sohmas. You can follow Tohru and the Sohma family over on Crunchyroll.
Ouran High School Host Club
As it says in the theme song, “Kiss Kiss Fall in Love!” Ouran is one of those iconic 2000s anime that should be on every anime fan’s watch list. It’s funny, it’s sincere, it talks about social and wealth class, and it follows a main character who has a progressive outlook on gender roles and gender presentation.
We follow Haruhi Fujioka, who one days stumbles into the aforementioned host club while looking for somewhere to study. The host club are a rambunctious bunch who have made it their mission to entertain the female students, who, according to them have too much time on their hands. They do this because, once again, the hot club members themselves have way too much time on their hands.
Needless to say Haruhi isn’t too thrilled to be tied up with this crowd at first, but she comes around eventually, even building a bond with host club leader Tamaki Suoh. But wait, there’s more! It just so happens that all of the host club members grow to have affections for Haruhi. It’s just that they all have their reasons for not pursuing them or ignoring them outright. Making for many scenes of mature, and not so mature, introspection. You can make a visit to the host club on Crunchyroll.
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