Romance is one of the most popular genres inanime. People love seeing two people meet and fall in love, overcoming emotional turmoil and outside forces to end up together. A tale of two people beating the odds and ending up with their soulmates. It gives people hope that love is real.
Oftentimes, romance anime are set in high school. It paints a picture of youth and experiencing your first love. When you witness two people growing up, finding their own identity, and experiencing the thrill of falling in love for the first time, it gives the audience a feel-good wave of nostalgia. While there are dozens (maybe even hundreds) of romance anime set in high school, some stand out above the rest and deserve to be watched by anime fans at least once.
10More Than A Married Couple, But Not Lovers
A Unique Spin On The Enemies To Lovers Trope
More Than A Married Couple, But Not Lovers is set in a high school that implemented a couples training program, which aims to teach students to develop social skills on interacting by making them live with a partner as if they are married. They are scored based on how well they work together.
Introvert Jiro Yakuin hopes to be paired with his childhood friend Shiori Sakurazaka, who he has unrequited feelings for. However, he is instead paired with Akari Watanabe, a gyaru who wanted to be paired with the school hunk Minami Tenjin. Initially, they are repulsed by each other but agree to set their differences aside and work together. As they get to know each other, their feelings shift. Will they end up working through their issues and unearthing new emotions?
9Skip And Loafer
From New Friends To Lovers
Skip and Loafer is an easy-to-watch wholesome romance anime that is perfect for a night of unwinding. Mitsumi Iwakura is a high school student who moves from Ishikawa Prefecture to Tokyo for senior high. Poised as a “country bumpkin,” MItsumi gets caught in a commuter rush on her first day of school and feels her life falling apart. This is all new to the girl who grew up in a rural area with only eight students in her junior high class.
As she breaks down, a tall handsome boy named Sosuke Shima calls out to Mitsumi. As a student of the same high school, Sosuke helps Mitsumi get to school. Thus begins the start of their close friendships. As the two get closer, their feelings deepen, leading their relationship to develop further.
8Komi Can’t Communicate
Helping The Beauty Make 100 Friends
Komi Can’t Communicate tells a tale some people may know all too well. When Shoko Komi enters Itan Private High School, she is immediately the center of attention thanks to her stoic beauty and her elegant aura. She is a woman of few words, but it just adds to her mysterious vibe. Little do these people know why Komi is so quiet.
An average high school student, Hitohito Tadano, who sits next to Komi, discovers she has a severe communication disorder. After learning of Komi’s goal to make 100 friends, he decides to dedicate his high school life to helping Komi achieve her wish.
7Toradora!
An OG Slice-Of-Life Romance Anime
For most anime fans, Toradora! is one of the first anime about high school romance they have seen. Despite premiering in 2008, the anime is still relevant today. Toradora! follows the love story of Taiga Aisaka, a cute girl with a fierce, violent attitude, and Ryuji Takasu, a man with a tiger-like face and a soft heart.
When they discover they like each other’s best friends, Taiga and Ryuji form an alliance to help the other get with their crush. When rumors start swirling that Taiga and Ryuji are dating due to how much time they spend together, they initially deny it. However, they soon grow fond of each other’s presence. Will they acknowledge their new feelings or continue to pursue the people they initially wanted?
6Twilight Out Of Focus
A Visually Stunning Romance Anime
Twilight Out Of Focus is one of the most popular BL anime that has come out recently. Airing in 2024, the anime centers around three different couples whose relationship blossoms thanks to the Film Club.
Mao and Otomo are high school students who have found a system to live harmoniously in their dorm room for another year. While it was easy to follow these rules at first, the Film Club’s new project shakes up their orderly life. Otomo stars in the club’s boys' love story and Mao serves as the photographer that oversees all of Otomo’s intimate scenes. Soon, the latter’s growing attraction for the former starts affecting the movie’s production. As the situation between the cast and crew starts to intensify, will Mao be able to handle his complex emotions?
5Ouran High School Host Club
A Wholesome Take On The Reverse Harem Trope
Hearing the words “reverse harem” might make you think negatively about an anime, but Ouran High School Host Club features a whole new take on the trope. Haruhi Fujioka is awarded a scholarship to attend the elite Ouran Academy, a private school for rich kids from affluent families. In a school full of elites, Haruhi sticks out like a sore thumb: all she wants to do is study, and she can’t even afford the school uniform.
While finding a quiet room to study, Haruhi enters an abandoned music room that is taken over by the Host Club, a group of six handsome male students who gather to entertain female students. While attempting to leave, Haruhi breaks a vase worth 8,000,000 Japanese yen. Now accumulating debt, Haruhi is forced to become the Club’s errand boy. Her short hair and androgynous look has the students convinced Haruhi is a boy, and she soon becomes a full-fledged host. However, when the Club discovers Haruhi is biologically a girl, they must hide her secret and protect her identity so that she can work off her debt before she graduates.
4My Love Story!!
Beauty Is In The Eyes Of The Beholder
In romance anime, usually both the male and female leads are beauties. Slim, with attractive yet striking features, and colored hair that sets them apart from characters outside the main cast. My Love Story!! is different, as it features a love story between two unlikely people.
Takeo Goda is not your typical leading man and doesn’t possess the usual Japanese standard of beauty. Because of that, he’s been unlucky with love, with most women falling for his handsome best friend Makoto Sunakawa instead. However, this changes when he meets Rinko Yamato - a beautiful girl who is the epitome of an anime beauty. He saves her from a pervert on the train, and Rinko immediately falls head over heels for Takeo. But will their love story last?
3Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War
A Psychological Romantic Comedy
Kaguya-sama: Love Is War shows that love can be logical and that using psychological mind tricksmightjust be the way to get the person you want. Miyuki Shirogane and Kaguya Shinomiya are the student council president and vice-president of Shichiin Academy, respectively. At first glance, they both appear cool and collected.
However, they harbor a secret: they both like each other but are too proud to confess. Instead of being honest with their emotions, they develop schemes to make the other person confess or show their true affections. Will they ever be able to confess, or will they be stuck in this cycle for the rest of their high school lives?
2Fruits Basket
Can They Break The Zodiac Curse?
Fruits Basket is a beloved supernatural romantic comedy. High school orphan Tohru Honda gets herself involved with the Sohma family after moving in with Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure. There, she learns the family’s secret - 13 members of the family are afflicted with the Chinese zodiac curse and are possessed by a certain animal. When stressed or hugged by the opposite gender, they are forced to transform into their respective animal against their will.
With Tohru’s pure heart, she is able to heal the emotional wounds of the family. As she learns more and more about them, she vows to help the family break free of the Zodiac curse. However, the head of the family, Akito, will do anything she can to stop Tohru. Will she be able to achieve her dream, or will the Sohma’s remain cursed forever?
1Horimiya
From Strangers To Lovers
Horimiya tells a realistic tale of two students who barely know each other and their love story. Kyouko Hori is a bright, popular student who is actually a homebody and loving sister to her younger brother, Souta. Izumi Miyamura, on the other hand, is a gloomy introvert at school with an edgier look during his free time. Though classmates, the two barely knew each other and hardly spoke.
One day, Souta comes home with a nosebleed and is accompanied by a boy with piercings and tattoos. Well, who could this be other than Miyamura, the gloomy classmate? Initially, Hori is unaware of the boy’s identity due to his appearance, but when they both acknowledge the other person, they agree to keep their true personas a secret from their peers and develop a close friendship. However, as time goes on, the two get closer, leading their feelings to develop.
