Romance in an anime is one of the key factors of its popularity. Any anime that is even half good must have a few ships sailing no matter if they are canon or not. The hope and anxiety of the audience of whether their favorite couple will become official or not make them support the anime even more. And romance in anime is no doubt extra cute!

We live for the cute nosebleed moments of the guy seeing the girl in a beautiful dress, the first date, the first time hand holding to the first kiss, every moment is precious and cute and sometimes downright emotional enough to move us to tears.  

So, today we are going to talk about 25 best anime couples. Just a heads up this list consists of couples from romance and slice-of-life anime and therefore shounen anime couples have not been included, so don’t start a riot about why Naruto-Hinata or Ichigo-Orihime are not on the list.

( If it helps we promise to do an article on shounen couples soon). Alright, let us begin:

25. Megumi and Shinichi (Nodame Cantabil)

Kicking off our best anime couples list is Megumi and Shinchi. Megumi and Shinichi are music school students. Megumi is a 2nd year piano player while Shinchi is a 3rd year piano player and conductor.

At first, Shinchi found Megumi annoying but she grew up with him with her erratic personality, and finally, he realizes he can’t move forward in life without Megumi being on his side. Shinichi chases Megumi to her hometown to confess his love and even finds a job in the city she was leaving for to continue her studies.

24. Otonashi Kyoko and Yuusaku Godai (Maison Ikkoku)

This anime couple is different in the sense that unlike the usual love at first sight or high school love story, this love story is between a young man Yusaku Godai, an older woman  Otonashi Kyoko who is a widow.

When Yusaku expresses his feelings for Kyoko she struggles with her feelings as while she likes Yusaku she also misses her late husband and is also insecure about her being a widow and two years older than Yusaku. Finally, she accepts his feelings leading the two to get engaged and later married. 

23. Legoshi and Haru (Beastars)

A relationship between prey and predator. This is an anime couple that goes against nature itself. Haru is a fluffy cute bunny, while Legoshi is a wolf. Despite the bad rep associated with wolves, Legoshi is actually extremely kind and tries to help his friends in every way possible.

When these two realize their feelings, the foremost obstacle they face is the predatory nature of Legoshi towards Haru. Yet thankfully love conquers all in the end.

22. Hitagi Senjougahara and Kiyomi Araragi (Bakemonogatari)

Coming in at number 22 in our list of best anime couples is this quirky pair from Bakemonogatari. Hitagi, a high school student, suffered from an “incurable disease’ that left her weak and frail-looking.

While Hitagi seemed like a quiet girl she was actually quite a loud girl with a scary temper. Kiyomi finds out her secret and decides to help her find a cure despite her many protests.

The start of their friendship was rocky however, eventually, Hitagi confesses her love for Kiomi and they start a relationship.

21. Violet and Major Gilbert (Violet Evergarden)

Violet Evergarden was raised as a military weapon. In a world where everyone treated her only like a tool, her handler, Major Gilbert was the only one who showed her kindness. At the end of the war, he leaves her with the words “I love you”.

As Violet was raised to completely block her emotions she did not understand what he meant. Later in the anime, Violet undergoes many experiences in search of understanding the meaning of these words. 

20. Tsukasa and Nasa (Tonikaku Kawaii)

Tsukasa and Nasa are the go-to couple for newbie romcom anime fans. The best thing about this anime couple is that they save you from the anxiety of whether they will get together in the end or not.

They start their relationship with the marriage proposal; Nasa confesses to Tsukasa in their first meeting and Tsukasa accepts on the condition that they get married ( Yes somewhere Elsa is screaming “ you can’t get married to someone you just met” but hey it’s anime, weirder stuff happens every second so don’t overthink it Elsa honey, ok?).

Rest, the anime is full of sweet lighthearted moments between the couple as they get to know each other more.

19.  Takagi and Nishikata (Teasing Master Takagi San)

Teasing Master Takagi san is as good as it gets when it comes to the pranking couple. This anime couple is again is one of THE cutest couple ever.

Takagi and Nishikata are middle school students who sit next to each other in class. Takagi enjoys teasing Nishikata with embarrassing pranks and jokes. Nishikata keeps trying to think of ways to win one over Takagi but even if he wins, Takagi seems to be the winner still.

In reality, Takagi loves Nishikata and does all these pranks to keep his attention on herself only. 

18. Haru and Shizuku (My Little Monster)

High school student Shizuku is only focused on her studies and is not good at interacting with others. Haru who sits next to her in class declares they are friends. As Shizuku is not too good at making friends she is initially pretty confused by Haru’s behavior.

However, as they spend time with each other they begin to understand each other better, and love blossoms.

17.  Tomoe And Nanami ( Kami Sama Kiss)

Another forbidden romance, this time between a Diety and her familiar. Nanami was a human who was turned into a god when an earth deity, Mikage, transfers his powers to her. Now as the famous line goes, with the powers of a deity also came the responsibilities.

In case of this anime couple, it included taking care of the shrine, listening and granting wishes, and taking care of her familiar, a cursed fox demon, Tomoe, who was tamed into becoming a familiar by the former god.

Despite their initial bickering Nanami soon falls in love with Tomoe. Tomoe knows it is forbidden for humans to be in love with a demon but soon he finds he is in love with Nanami too.

16. Risa and Atsushi (Lovely complex)

At number 14 of this list, I introduce you to another anime couple, which I can heartily call cute. Risa is a tall girl while Atsushi is rather short for boys his age. They both are insecure about their heights. They both are famous in the school for their banter with each other so much that their teacher dubs them a comedy duo.

To add to their problems, their crushes fall in love with each other, leaving Koizumi and Ootani flustered and heartbroken. However, these two bond over their love of hip-hop group, Umibouzu, and from then on their friendship begins which gradually blossoms into something more meaningful.

15. Emma and William (Emma: A victorian romance)

Aaand, the next in our list of forbidden romance is Emma and William from Emma: A Victorian Romance! It is as the title suggests; this anime couple is from a true 19th-century Victorian romance.

The beautiful, well-mannered, kindhearted maid Emma has captured the heart of the handsome and good-natured ward of the family she serves, William Jones. Emma is obviously taken by William’s earnest charms as well.  Both are madly in love.

However, if ‘Pride and prejudice’ and ‘Titanic’ have taught us anything it’s that the class divide runs deep in British society. Still, you keep rooting for the couple as try to overcome the obstacles in the way of their happily ever after.  

14. Viktor and Yuri (Yuri!!! On Ice)

Who doesn’t remember the hype ‘Yuri!!! On Ice’ created back in 2016. The beautiful animation, the complex characters, and obviously the relationship between the protagonist Yuri Katsuki and his Idol-turned Coach Victor Nikiforov, kept the viewers on the edge till the end.

Obviously, being a mainstream sports anime the romance between the couple was kept to a minimum but the tension between the couple, the determination of Yuri’s emotions towards victor shown through his ice-skating performance was undoubtedly one of the best depicted in an anime.

Every scene with these two was a treat. Also, it gained a lot of popularity for being one of the better representations of LGBTQ romance in anime in recent times.

13.  Kou & Futaba (Ao Haru Ride)

Another high school love story and another anime couple that takes you on a roller coaster of emotions. Kou and Futaba liked each other in middle school and were growing closer when suddenly Kou leaves school in the middle of the year.

In high school, Futaba has changed her personality to be liked by her peers but one day he sees Kou who now has a different surname and does not act like the Kou she remembered. To get over her feelings for Kou, Futaba starts dating another classmate Touma who had confessed to her despite knowing her feelings for Kou.

Once Kou realizes he can’t love anyone other than Futaba, he tries to get her back. Futaba is also unable to let go of her feelings for Kou and breaks up with Touma. After clearing up the misunderstandings between them, they finally get together.

12.  Kyo and Tohru (Fruits Basket)

Fruits Basket has a lot of ships sailing due to the nature of the story. However, for this list, we are going with the official anime couple, and often regarded as one of the best anime couples, Kyo and Tohru.

Tohru, a homeless orphan teenager, who was surviving by living in a tent, is invited to live with the Soma family where she discovers their curse. Each Soma family member turns into a Chinese zodiac animal when hugged by a person of the opposite gender.

Kyo is the usual good-looking, angry young man. The curse of the Soma family transforms him into a cat, which is not an “official” Chinese zodiac animal. Due to this he is usually not respected by his family which adds to his rude arrogant behavior.

When he meets Tohru and she accepts his curse and also cat as one of the Chinese Zodiac animals, he slowly starts to warm up to her and they both end up falling in love with each other. 

11.  Rika and Yuta (Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions)

Chunibyo refers to the delusions, usually in early teens, when people think they are different from the rest. Each Chunibyo has their own delusions in which they think they have unique and mystical powers etc. And from this anime that deals with one such Chunibyou comes a very peculiar pair.

Yuuta Togashi considered himself the “ Dark Flame Master” in his middle school ( I know right?? Felt the 2nd hand embarrassment across the screen). He is now over the delusion and goes to a high school where no one knows him, and he can forget about that embarrassing phase of his life. However, Rikka Takanashi, Yuuta’s new classmate and self-declared vessel of the “Wicked Eye has other ideas!

At first, Yuta finds Rika annoying, but he is still drawn to her. Eventually, they start to bond and develop feelings for each other.

Rika and Yuta are one of the most unique and peculiar anime couple that I have come across in recent times, and rightly deserves a place in this best anime couples list.

10. Arata and Chizuru (Re:Life)

Phew, so we finally reach the top 10 anime couples in this list. Enter Arata and Chizuru from Re:Life.

Relife is a great slice-of-life anime where the main characters get to live one year as their 17-year-old selves learning the important lessons of youth once again. While the romance is subtle in the anime which focuses more on the friendships and lessons of youth and how to change your life, viewers do not fail to notice Arata’s growing feelings for Chizuru.

Arata keeps checking himself from acknowledging those feeling as he thinks Chizuru is 17. In the end, it is revealed that Chizuru was also a re-life experiment subject and was in love with Arata as well.

9. Akane and Kotaro (Tsuki ga kirei)

Tsuki ga Kirei is a slow-paced simple slice-of-life anime with a sweet romance between Akane Mizuno and Kotaro Azumi. Katoro is a shy new guy in Akane’s class. They grow closer to each other after texting on Line messenger. However, as always with love comes the fear of heartache and anxiety.

Unsure of each other’s feelings or even their own, they try to figure out how to proceed in their friendship. After a lot of misunderstandings, they finally confess their feelings that they want to spend their future together.

8. Sawako and Shouta (Kimi ni Todoke)

Sawako was a shy introverted high school girl. She was usually bullied by others for her resemblance to Sadako from the horror movie series. Still Shouta, the most popular guy in the class. falls in love with her.

He constantly gets jealous and overthinks everything until he figures out that Sawako’s coldness towards him is not due to her dislike for him, she is just shy! Once they are together they both changes bring positive changes to each other’s lives.

7. Taro and Hanaka (Wotakoi: Love is hard for otaku)

Wotakoi is undoubtedly one of the best romantic comedy anime. While the story is more focused on the lead main couple for this list we are going with the 2^nd lead couple of the anime Taro Kabakura and Hanako Koyanagi.

Taro and Hanaka studied in the same high school and were volleyball captains of male and female teams respectively. Due to this, they were often fighting with each other about who will get the court for practice. Hanka even threatened Taro to release his otaku pictures if he didn’t let her team use the court.

Later they form a friendship as Taro helps Hanako in her practice. At the graduation ceremony, they confessed to each other but who went first they can’t remember and ends up fighting about it ( Cute!). 10 years later they are married and still going strong!

6. Takeo And Yamato (My Love Story: Oremonogatari)

This anime couple is one of my personal favorites (and yet they missed out on the top 5 in this list). Yamato is a big guy with an even bigger heart. He helps everyone, he laughs easily, and overall he is the nicest guy ever. However, due to his large size and loud demeanor, he is usually labeled scary and an ‘old guy’ by strangers, especially girls. He thinks no girl would ever find him attractive.

So, when Takeo falls in love with him due to his kind heart and warm nature, Yamato thinks she is actually trying to woo his best friend who is the heartthrob of the school.  (yes facepalm moment of the century I tell you). However, finally, they get together after Yamato realized Takeo had been in love with HIM all along (and I breathed a sigh of relief).

5. Taiga And Ryuuji (Toradora)

This just might be the cutest anime couple on the list. Taiga is a small short-tempered girl who is always getting into fights with others, famously known as “the palmtop tiger” in her school.

Ryuuji has sanpaku eyes which makes him look angry all the time often creating awkward situations due to misunderstanding. At first, Taiga and Ryuuji were interested in each other’s best friends and vowed to help each other, but over the time they fall for each other without even realizing it.

4. Misaki And Tamaki (Maid Sama)

And here we have the couple from one of the most famous shoujo-romance anime of all time.

Misaki and Tamaki’s relationship starts a little rocky.  Misaki hated men due to her experiences with her abusive father. Tamaki seemed like just another jerk to her, to put it lightly.

However, when Tamaki finds out she works in a maid café, he swears not to tell anyone, and this is where their story starts. While Misaki tries hard to keep hating Tamaki, she finds herself inevitably falling for him as he repeatedly proves to her that.. well that he is not a jerk and actually a kind caring person, even if he likes teasing her.

3.  Hori and Miyamura (Horimiya)

I know you have been waiting for them. And if you are disappointed that Hori and Miyamura have only managed to bag the third place in this list of best anime couples, then fret not. We have more interesting ones in the line up next.

At the first glance, Hori and Miyamura are the last people you would guess to be friends. Miyamura seems a quiet introverted nerd and Hori is an energetic extrovert. However, they both have their own secrets. And when they unexpectedly become friends outside the school,  they open up their vulnerable sides to each other.

Both of them help each other grow and overcome their own troubles, all the while deepening their feelings for one another.

2. Sakuta and Mai ( Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai)

No best anime couple list is complete without Mai and Sakuta. This ship sailed the moment Sakuta saw Mai in a bunny girl costume ( which was pretty early on in the anime) and has been going on strong since. Mai and Sakuta have special bond.

While Mai pretends to be annoyed by Sakuta’s shameless flirting softens ups to he eventually. And obviously, the fact that when the whole world had forgotten Mai Saurajima’s existence Sakuta alone remembered her and brought her back into the reality is a definite plus for the guy.

1.Tomoya and Nagisa (Clannad) 

When it comes to Romance animes Clannad is undoubtedly one of the best ones despite its sad ending.

Nagisa is a sweet high school girl who has gone through a lot in life. She has been fighting a life-threatening illness which even caused her to repeat a school year. And she still struggles with health issues.

As the series progress, we see the aloof and rude Tomoya warming up to her. Tomoya even tries his best to fulfill her wish of reviving the drama club. The more he learns about her the more he falls in love. The story of Tomoya and Nagisa moves your heart throughout the anime for sure.

This concludes our list for the best anime couples. If you have any suggestions for an anime couple that you’d like to see in this list, mention them in the comments below!