Do you feel it? I do. Even in my darkest and single-est of moments, I am kept warm by the bright fires of anime passion. And so, to celebrate the love that smolders across the anime annals of history, I’m ranking the top anime couples of all time (who aren’t totally codependent, tsudere-ish, and generally unhealthy).
15. Vegeta and Bulma
What’s this? Love in the world of Dragon Ball? Impossible! The Dragon Ball universe is about people who love nothing but punching things, right? Wrong. While the antagonist-turned-deuteragonist Vegeta starts Dragon Ball Z as a total dick, he soon becomes a heroic and self-sacrificing character, earning him the romantic attention of the scientific genius inventor Bulma. It’s quite a feat, considering that Vegeta killed one of her ex-boyfriends Yamcha. But hey! Yamcha came back to life!
But ask yourself this… what is more adorable than watching the stoic, battle-hardened Vegeta blush redder than a barrel of apples when Bulma is around? Nothing. Nothing at all.
14. Loid and Yor Forger
While Spy x Family‘s Loid and Yor Forger’s relationship starts off as a marriage of convenience, the pair quickly learn to love one another. Loid is an international super spy who needs a cover as a family man, and Yor is a top assassin who needs a cover as a mild-mannered housewife. They’re perfect for each other. Why? Because they are capable of understanding one another. Well, they would be if they ever found out about each other’s secret identities. However, a fan theory exists that they actually DO know about each other’s secret lives and pretend to keep it a secret from each other, making their relationship all the more adorable.
13. Taiga Aisaka and Ryuuji Takasu
I said I wouldn’t be including any toxic tsundere relationships on this list… but Toradora‘s Taiga and Ryuuji are the exception. Besides, they only START their relationship as a toxic pair, but slowly learn to treat each other with love and tenderness. Both characters are essentially outsiders, Ryuuji is shunned for his intimidating appearance, just as Taiga is ostracized for her fiery personality. Because of this, the pair can deeply understand each other’s emotional struggles and their complementary “fire and ice” personalities allow them to bridge the gap between each other. So cute!
12. Takeo Gouda and Rinko Yamato
Just LOOK at how adorable this pair from My Love Story!! are. Takeo is a giant of a boy whose towering appearance is off-putting to many of his classmates, but does the pint-sized Rinko Yamato care? No, she does not. She immediately falls for Takeo after he saves her from an attacker on the train, attracted to his strength and strong sense of justice. What makes them such a couple-goals-worthy couple? Their emotional honesty.
In many romance anime, the plot centers around hidden emotions and misunderstandings in order to create drama. My Love Story!! doesn’t fall for this trap, and instead centers around two characters that always choose to tell it like it is to one another. After all, the best relationships are based on a couple’s ability to communicate.
11. Isaac Dian and Miria Harvent
Like Yor and Loid Forger, Isaac and Miria’s relationship in Baccano! is rooted in their questionable relationship with the law. Unlike Loid and Yor, Isaac and Miria are partners in every sense of the word. Including crime! Like an adorable Bonny and Clyde, Isaac and Miria are always heisting and scheming and ripping people off. Is that what makes them couple goals? Not exactly. The most positive aspect of their relationship is that they are always gassing each other up. All they do is praise and admire each other’s abilities! Does it matter that neither of them are very good at crime? No! Because they make each other BELIEVE that they are! What is romance if not catering to each other’s delusions?
10. Holo and Kraft
Holo and Kraft from Spice and Wolf burn with a love as splendid as 1,000 suns. It warms me like a cup of tea in my hands. Holo and Kraft are one of the most romantic (and adult) couples on this list because they are able to bond with each other intellectually. They are both the smartest person that the other has ever met, and their love is chock-full of sexy, Oscar Wilde-ian dialogue that stokes the coals in each other’s hearts and minds. No sloppy emotions here. Only wit, charm, and subtle appreciation for one another.
9. Celty and Shinra
Celty and Shinra have the cutest little domestic relationship of Durarara. You can tell they have so much in common with one another. They don’t love each other because of shared anime trauma that came from having to save the world together. They love each other because they both love to watch TV and play video games, and it’s adorable. It says a lot that they get along so well, considering that only one of them is human. The other one is a Dullahan, an Irish spirit that rides a black horse and has no head. I’m just pissed that they can’t kiss. But that’s okay. I’m sure there’s a lot of necking going on.
8. Winry and Edward
Winy and Edward do have a tsudere relationship at the beginning of Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, which doesn’t exactly make them the best couple to start out. However, as they mature over the series they both settle into becoming adults and are able to better show each other love. I personally love them because they didn’t need each other in order to grow as people, as couples in many other anime do. They work out their issues on their own, which is really the only way to do it. Loving someone else doesn’t turn you into a better person, but rather reflects the person you already are. And who are they are by the end of the series are two kids with hearts of solid gold.
7. Ryuko and Mako
This one, from Kill la Kill, is a big ol’ win for the gays! And another perfect example of two characters who love and accept one another as they are. While their romantic love takes a back seat in the series (until they literally kiss) their friendship burns with the light of at least 10,000 suns. Mako is always there to cheer for Ryuko, even in her darkest moments. And Ryuko is able to remind Mako of the sweet and good-hearted girl she is when the latter momentarily falls to the dark side. If you want to be lovers, you’ve gotta be friends first. Most animes skip this step, but Kill La Kill is better than that.
6. Victor and Yuri
Another win for the gays! Yuri On Ice has a relationship as steamy as the hot springs these boys find each other in. It’s a coach/athlete relationship between two professional ice skaters, but this relationship is all fire. The sweetest part about watching these two bond over the sport that they mutually love. There’s also such a sweetness in watching Victor and Yuri fall more and more in love as Yuri is able to find more and more success in his training. The thrill of victory commingles with the thrill of romance, and it’s a thrill to watch.
5. Utena and Anthy
Revolutionary Girl Utena has the ULTIMATE adorable queer relationship in anime. For one, these girls were trendsetters and were giving us girl love since the ’90s. Hell yes. And they start the series by getting literally married to each other after Utena saves Anthy from a nasty rich boy and Anthy becomes her Rose Bride. One needs to look no further than their iconic moment at the school dance in Season 1, when Utena makes Anthy a gorgeous dress out of a table cloth and they blind the entire student body in the brilliant light of their lesbian love.
4. Howl and Sophie
I mean… c’mon. It’s Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle. The hottest animated man in the history of animated men, and the lovely Sophie Hatter. How could they not be on this list? They just look so good together. And talk about being accepted for who you are, as Sophie accepts Howl for being a freaky-deaky bird-man, feathers and all. The only thing that burns hotter than Sophie and Howl in this film is Calcifer, and that’s only because he’s a literal fire demon. He’s also kind of the reason they get together anyway, but I’m not gonna spoil nuthin’.
3. San and Ashitaka
Ohhhhhh my god Princess Mononoke is one of the few anime romances to ever make me cry. Listen, it starts out a little rocky. San does try to kill Ashitaka after all. But it’s less because San is an immature tsundere and more because she was literally raised by wolves so honestly she turned out way better than she could have. But the sexiest part about their romance? When she chews his food for him. On internet paper, it doesn’t sound sexy at all, but my god it is.
After being injured, Ashitaka is so weak that he can’t eat. San tries to feed him dried meat, but he isn’t strong enough to chew it. She bites off a chunk and momma birds it into his mouth. You know, animal stuff. She doesn’t think much of it, but our boy Ashitaka is moved to tears and so was I. I’m pissed I didn’t get to see them kiss for real, but I guess their lips touched so it still counts?
2. Shoko and Shoya
A Silent Voice is another perfect example of characters maturing on their own before they are able to love each other. It’s also a realistic portrayal of an enemies-to-lovers relationship, as Shoya used to bully Shoko when they were in middle school. Shoya eventually realizes that he was a total dick, and tracks down Shoko in an effort to apologize to her. The two strike up a friendship, which blossoms into something more. There’s still a little anime high drama, as Shoya prevents Shoko from committing suicide at one point, but it is a beautiful example of how two people can grow to love one another by first learning to love and accept themselves.
1. Taki and Mitsuha
The ultimate tearjerker anime relationship. Your Name has it all. The anime starts with two teenagers switching bodies, and then quickly goes off the rails into a science fiction/fantasy romance for the ages. Literally. There’s time travel. But not in the way you think. These two kids burn for each other and have never even physically met. Yet they know each other so intimately because they’ve quite literally been in each other’s shoes. This anime couple loves each other so much that they straight-up drink each other’s spit, which I SWEAR is a major plot point and not a kink thing. And even if it is a kink thing, maybe you should ask yourself if you’ve ever burned for someone so much that you would drink their spit. If you haven’t, you’ve probably never been in love. And you should work on yourself and fix that.
Published: Jun 4, 2024 09:44 pm