Aw. Anime couples. I just love them.

They come in all shapes and colors, from the disturbing and unhealthy relationships to the very comical ones that can make you laugh. I honestly believe that in the anime world there is a couple for just about anyone’s likes.

Let’s focus on couples that I consider to be adorable in some way, shape or form. I am pretty sure people who know these anime couples will agree with me. And those who are unfamiliar with them I implore to check them out. If you like romance anime or just feel good anime, then these couples are right for you.

1.Haruka Takayama and Yuu Sonoda from Sakura Trick

Genre: Slice of Life, Comedy, Romance, School, Seinen, Shoujo Ai

The first couple is Haruka and Yuu from Sakura Trick. I learned of this couple from my good friend, Chris. Hi Chris! (Chris Note: Yo) This anime tends to be one of those that can make you feel like it’s going nowhere, but not in a bad way. There is no major drama going on about finding out they are in love with their best friend, or being a total social outcast and learning how to be friends with everyone.

No, in this anime both Haruka and Yuu are already good friends that upon entering high school decide to be more special to each other and do something that they won’t do with anyone else. Can you guess what that is? For those of you who guessed it, you are right, they kissed. And they liked it.

Throughout the anime, they deal more with defining their new relationship, which they keep a secret from others. Most of the anime is pretty easygoing, divided into a series of short stories in each episode that slowly brings the series to a sweet end.

Even though they aren’t my favorite couple, I still really like them. Their romance doesn’t feel forced and they genuinely like each other. There are moments of jealousy that are relatable and you end up rooting for them along the way.

Like most characters on this list, they are very different from one another and that ends up complimenting them. Haruka is a more forward in her advances and is quick to jealousy while Yuu is more reserved and lazy, except when it comes to sports. Even though Yuu is quick to embarrassment at Haruka’s forwardness she still usually gives in to Haruka’s request, even initiating some of their “moments.”

Having them be so different and Haruka constantly teasing Yuu since she finds her reactions cute is simply adorable, which is why they are on this list. Haruka’s fits of jealousy and Yuu’s methods of handling them also help make this list. You just can’t watch an episode without acknowledging their cuteness and even wishing to find someone to be adorable with.

2.Takeo Gouda and Rinko Yamato from Ore Monogatari!!

Genre: Comedy, Romance, Shoujo

Let me just say I love this couple. It was a great way to change or fight stereotypes. Usually, it’s the girl who is the outcast or insecure or just bad with boys. She can be “ugly” or “unattractive” and then, thanks to her falling in love, her inner beauty comes out. Or the romantic interest starts seeing her in a new light and this makes everyone around them to reevaluate the girl and a new love rival will appear, yadda, yadda. While I do like those type of stories to an extent, this anime is very refreshing. (Chris Note: Get ready to for her to use this term. A lot.)

The protagonist, Takeo, is well liked by his male peers. He is actually admired and very physically strong and very nice to his friends and family. And girls. He longs to be in a relationship but no matter how many times he confesses, girls just seem to not be attracted to him.

They prefer his best friend, who honestly doesn’t care about having a girlfriend. But after saving Rinko from a pervert on the train, Rinko falls in love with him. After a few misunderstandings where Takeo believes that like all other girls Rinko is actually interested in his friend, they start dating.

The way their relationship progresses is very sweet and again it kind of challenges stereotypes. Since Takeo has always wanted to have a girlfriend, he is very respectful towards her, while Rinko just wants to get closer to him. Rinko is usually the one that longs for their relationship to progress on a physical level, but she also doesn’t push him. They learn new things about each other and themselves.

This anime makes it really hard to dislike most of the characters and makes it fun to watch them go through most of the familiar tropes. These being them dealing with love rivals, misunderstanding and helping their friends with their own love lives. Like all the other characters on this list, the way they treat each other with respect, love, and kindness makes them adorable. Their relationship is sweet, seeing them like each other and honestly being eager to learn more about one another. And having them think the other is attractive and cute at almost every moment just makes your own heart melt. If it doesn’t, then what is wrong with you?

3.Koizumi Risa and Ootani Atsushi from Lovely Complex

Genre: Comedy, Romance, Shoujo

I honestly feel like I am just going to keep repeating how much I love every one of these couples. (Chris Note: Nah…) Risa and Ootani are a bit different from the other couples on this list. While the previous ones and the ones to come had a good relationship from the start, these two couldn’t stand each other. People would usually call them a comedy duo since they were always fighting and made everyone laugh because Risa was way taller than Ootani. But both were, to an extent, self-conscious about their height. Like Takeo from Ore Monogatari, Risa and Ootani want to be in a relationship, but can’t find someone who is height compatible with them.

Until Ootani confesses he is interested in Risa’s short and single friend and Risa gets interested in a new boy who is a bit taller than her. They each decide to help each other to conquer their love interest but unfortunately, Risa’s friend and the new boy fall for each other, leaving Risa and Ootani single. But that’s the start of their new friendship.

As they start to interact more they realize they share some interests – they love the same music, find the same things fun, like slides in the water parks and much more. It’s all fun and games until Risa realizes she has fallen for Ootani, despite their height difference. After a while and many trials and tribulations, Risa finally confesses, only to get rejected. But as the series progresses and their friendship keeps growing, Ootani starts to fall for her and they finally get together.

What’s great about this series is that the characters learn to not judge a book by its cover and that liking someone has to be beyond their physical appearance if they want their relationship to work. Also, like Sakura Trick, they start out as friends.

One of their reasons I find them adorable is because of their height difference. I just like the fact that Risa is taller than Ootani. Usually, the guy is taller and it just makes for a nice change. It also allows seeing a new way that the main couple helps one another to accept themselves for who and how they are. Learning they don’t have to try and change to get someone to like them.

Also having them go through many challenges before getting together and seeing how they learn to be in a relationship with each other is pretty great. Some romance anime end after they get together and it just sucks a bit. A lot can and does happen once you start a relationship and not everyone handles the situations the same way.

Having them share so many interests is pretty fun. It feels pretty natural seeing them grow as friends and while opposites do attract, it’s a nice refresh having them be so similar.

4.Kuronuma Sawako and Kazehaya Shouta from Kimi ni Todoke

Genre: Slice of Life, Romance, Shoujo, School, Drama

Kimi ni Todoke! This is probably my favorite romance anime because it ends with a happy ending, unlike Nana. While Kimi ni Todoke only has two seasons, the manga is still going strong to this day. I still have hope they’ll one day make a third season.

This anime is about a girl named Kuronuma Sawako. Actually, almost everyone at school believes her real name is Sadako. You know. Like the girl from The Ring. Since Kuronoma has a hard time speaking up, she never really cleared this misunderstanding. While she is academically smart, she has a hard time understanding when people are being serious about something or if they are simply joking. In high school she met a boy named Kazehaya Shota who is “refreshing” and started looking up at him, unaware that he had already fallen in love with her.

Kuronuma has a hard time talking to others because of her scary expressions. She doesn’t have any friends and many believe she will curse them if they anger her, which she can’t really do. Because of this misunderstanding, she was always alone. But after finally being able to talk to Kazehaya, he starts encouraging her to speak her mind and clear up the misunderstandings. Thanks to that she starts interacting more with other girls, especially Yano and Yoshida, and they later become friends.

Some people don’t like anime where the guy is the one who “fixes” the protagonist, and I get that, but I don’t feel that way about this couple. He helps her be the person she always wanted to be. He isn’t perfect, even though Kuronuma tends to think so. He can be selfish and very jealous when it comes to her, but he is also very loving and worries about her.

They each bring out different sides in the other that no one had been able to. Kuronuma is growing more in confidence and experiencing the power of friendship while Kazehaya is learning to be a bit more about patient and understanding.

It’s really adorable how before Kuronuma fell in love with Kazehaya there would be situations where Kazehaya would end up blushing and embarrassed. I felt it was a nice break from always having the female protagonist blushing and freaking out. And even though at one point in the second season Kazehaya gets really depressed because he thinks she doesn’t like him, he still thinks about her and defends her.

All in all, Kazehaya helped bring Kuronuma out of her shell and gain good friends while Kazehaya is learning to share her with others.

5.Yuuri Katsuki and Victor Nikiforov from Yuri!!! on ICE

Genre: Comedy, Sports

Yuri on Ice!!!! I am having a really hard time deciding which is my favorite couple on this list, even though I already claimed it to be Sawako and Kazehaya. The anime as a whole is amazing. How it deals with anxiety and depression; it made it feel relatable and real. And the fact that this is a same-sex sports couple is one of the reasons why I really enjoyed them.

A lot of the times when presenting a gay anime character who is into sports, they don’t really do them justice, or barely cover it. It’s usually because the focus of the story is the romance and not the sport itself, but this anime is a sports anime, meaning the romance comes second.

One of the protagonists, Yuuri Katsuki, is a 23-year-old certified Japanese figure skater. After a crushing defeat, Yuuri decides to put his career on hold until further notice. But after a video of him skating a difficult routine by five times skating champion, Victor Nikiforov is posted online, Victor packs his bags and decides to become Yuuri’s coach.

Things don’t go all smoothly, having a younger Russian skating rival fighting to have Victor as his coach and all, but they persevere. Yuuri proves himself to be an amazing skater and with Victor by his side his confidence starts to grow and it shows in his skating.

Both characters, Yuuri and Victor, are great opposites that compliment each other. Yuuri tends to easily freak out or fall into depression while Victor tends to be more silly and outgoing, and as the series progress, Victor helps Yuuri open up to others – even his own skater-fan.

This couple is adorable and amazing because it’s not that common in anime. Especially when it comes to same-sex couples. Usually in anime, at least from what I have seen, in same-sex couples one of them tends to be manipulative, a bit – if not a lot – abusive, and a disturbing in some of the main topics. But like the previous couples mentioned, this is a positive couple that brings out the best in each other. The viewer can clearly see the way they care about each other in how they interact and treat one another. And during the last few episodes when Yuuri buys them matching gold rings, it cements the strength of their feelings for each other.

Some viewers believe their relationship doesn’t go beyond coach/trainee, but I believe it’s pretty obvious it does. Victor cries when Yuuri tells him he is quitting the sport so Victor can keep skating, hurting Victor to the point they decide to figure out what they will do after the Grand Prix.

While this anime’s focus is the sport, it doesn’t mean it isn’t able to focus on relationships between characters outside of it. Most sports anime have great friendships and some also have their own focus on romance, even if the characters aren’t all that lucky in love overall. Thankfully with Yuri on Ice!!!! that isn’t the case, and adding the romance didn’t distract if from the main storyline.

All these couples made the list because they all have one thing in common; they help each other in one-way or another. They usually help each other be more honest or go after what they want. Like with Kazehaya helping Sawako speak up and clear up misunderstandings in Kimi ni Todoke.

None of these characters are perfect. Takeo from Ore Monogatari is pretty great, athletic, kind and good-hearted, but he can be a bit dense and easy to trick at times. But that for me is what makes them perfect. When you have a god-like character sometimes it can be hard to like them since they aren’t easy to relate to, but on this list, they are all imperfect in their own perfect way.

If anyone has another couple that should be on this list, please let me know since I’m already looking forward to doing a part two.

Thanks for reading this and I hope everyone’s all right after hurricane Maria!

Remember to have fun and don’t eat guinea pigs!

Sharlenne