Romance/Love Story Anime

[Destroyer2000]

I'm looking for some good ones, that are preferably clean. Also, I don't want PURE love stories, but some with some drama or something. Action. Not just two guys fighting over one girl. [spoiler]
Is there a love story in Dual! ? Last episode I saw he(which I guess was Kazuki) was carrying a girl out of the big mech suit thingy.[/spoiler]

Anyway, I want something with a deeper love story than what RK has, but something that isn't like 'One Life To Live' or 'General Hospital'. Those are soap operas, though....anyway, kind of a shonen love story (NO, NOT Shonen-ai). I mean one for guys, where it has stuff that most guys like, and a touching love story in it. Argh, I'm not making any sense...if ANYONE can understand this and translate it, then please suggest something to me.

[Needle Noggin]

Well there is Love Hina,but thats not extremely clean...The original Gundam has some love stories in it but they are sort of small...I have hear Inuasha has a good love story in it,but I've never seen it.

Do you like shoujo?Most shoujo is about romance.

[Destroyer2000]

To me, anime is anime, whether it be shoujo or shonen.

[Technomancer]

It depends on what you consider good, but these are the best in my own opinion.

Whisper of the Heart (Ghibli)
Only Yesterday (Ghibli)
Millenium Actress (I have no idea)

[Destroyer2000]

Can you tell me some more about them?

[Ashley]

the only two that come to mind at the moment that might be suiting are Voices of a Distant Star and Fruits Basket (which, although it doesn't quite tell you who gets the girl, I definately think it has some romance in it). DNAngel, though I haven't seen it so if there's anything bad I apologize for the recommendation, is supposed to be a pretty innocent romance too.

Summaries:
Voices of a distant star- focuses around two friends turned lovers seperated by a gap spanning time and distance impassable. One of them is drafted into a space army, connected to her friend via text messages on their cell phone...yet as she goes further and further in space, the messages take weeks, then months, then years to reach her companion. Very sweet, very poignant, very beautiful. Oh, and very short. Less than an hour.

Fruits Basket- (ripped directly from Gypsy's review) It’s the heartwarming tale of Tohru Honda and her encounter with the mysterious Sohma family. After the recent death of her mother, Tohru is determined to make her own way in life and graduate from high school just like her mother wanted to. Tohru soon finds herself with no where to live except a tent in the woods. Through circumstances, she moves in with Yuki Sohma, a fellow classmate, and his older cousin, Shigure Sohma. They offer her lodging in exchange for housekeeping for them. Hotheaded Kyo Sohma appears and turns Sohma house upside down. This is when Tohru discovers the Sohma secret. When hugged by a member of the opposite gender, the Sohma’s transform into animals from the Chinese zodiac. Tohru’s adventures continue as she meets more members of the Sohma family and changes each of their lives forever.

DNAngel- A young boy, Daisuke, finds out on his 14th birthday that he is cursed, along with the other men of his family. The curse? Whenever he sees his crush, Risa, he transforms into the thief Dark Mousy (? did I get that right?). Problem is, when Dark Mousy sees his crush, Risa's twin sister Riku, he transforms back into Daisuke. The only cure is to get Risa to fall in love with him. Again, haven't seen this one, so I don't know much else about it.

[Bobtheduck]

Ah My Goddess is clean save for the short moment of anatomically incorrect nudity in the last episode. It's "simple" romance. No love triangles or betrayal or anything... Some may consider it too simple; I consider it a break from the soap-operaish type relationships in many other anime.

As for the weirder type, that would be pretty much any other anime (a few exceptions)

If you don't mind children having romantic tension, there's "Kodomo no Omocha" which you can find in Manga form, but sadly not in Anime Form. Despite being a children's show (and manga) it is more complex than most anime/manga made for adults. If the anime, one thing that is hard to adjust to is knowing when Sana is imagining something and when it's really happening... With a few exceptions, pretty much everything that's impossible (such as a tornado forming just around sana, or a kid being bounced around by cars) are her imagination... Get used to that fact, and the show can take on a serious feeling. It's also slapstick silly... It can often be both in the same breath...

If you can get over their weird and immature parents, there's Marmelade boy. Once again, that's only in Manga form in the US, I think. You may be able to find the movie or some of the eps in the US. The movie must not take place long after the first ep, because it is the story of, like, the second TPB.


As for Love hina, there is a romantic aspect to it, but it kinda gets swallowed up in how abusive all the girls are, except the anemic one and Shinobu.

Inu Yasha has some... I'm not sure if it ever picks up, though...

Macross Plus (a movie or an OVA series) has an F2M triangle and it's like a good american action movie, with a very strong love story in it. The movie version has nudity in it; the OVA isn't nearly as emotional as the movie... You need to watch the movie version first, and you can skip the short nude scene if you want (it's when myung calls Isamu after he picks up a girl) It's the only real count of nudity unless you count Sharon Apple, but if you do, you won't be able to watch the movie at all, then watch the OVA to get the full story... I saw watch the movie first because it was scored and edited together much better. Also, watch it subbed first to get the emotion, then watch it dubbed to laugh. So, subbed movie, dubbed ova... If you want to watch it at all.

Onegai Teacher was a different kind of romantic... They were forced to get married, and grew into the feelings. Mizuho has feelings for him early on, but they don't have real feelings until they give it time.

Dual has a definite romantic thing going through the whole thing, as does Nadesico. These are definately shonen anime. It's sorta soap operaish with Nadesico, not so much in dual. Also, Megumi is just a *coughsayswordcough* and whiny... You may end up not wanting Akito with any of the girls that are after him (though I wished he'd go for Ryoko...)

That's all I can think of for now... (Strawberry Eggs has a semi-romantic theme, but it may be too off for most people here... And a certain turn of events would really depend on your interpretation to see if it is one thing or another) I'll post more if I can think of them.

[Technomancer]

Can you tell me some more about them?

Sure, if my descriptions seem lacking, look these titles up on animeondvd. These are all really beautiful films

Only Yesterday- This film focuses on a Tokyo office worker (whose name I can't remember), who spends her vacation time working as a farm hand in the countryside. Arriving at the village train station, she's picked up by a young organic farmer who is also originally from the city. The actual love story between the two develops slowly, but its done extremely well. Mostly however, the film divides its time between her life on the farm (and its rewards) and reminiscences from her childhood.

Millenium actress- In this story, the main character's love interest is a left-wing dissident in Japan during WWII. She never actually spend much time with the fellow, meeting him only once while he was running from the police. She spends the rest of her life trying to find out what happend to the man. The main story is a retrospective of her life and her films which mainly seem to explore the theme of two lovers separated by fate, and their subsequent search for each other.

Whisper of the Heart- A high school romance of sorts. A young, aspiring writer finds that an unknown schoolmate has been checking out all of the same books that she has. At the same time, she becomes entranced with an antiques shop run by a kindly old man with a sad love story of his own. He also happens to be the grandfather of the mystery reader (who is also dreams of becoming a violin maker).

I understand that this last film has sometimes also been sold as "If you Listen Closely" and "I Can Hear the Sea".

[Technomancer]

If you don't mind children having romantic tension, there's "Kodomo no Omocha" which you can find in Manga form, but sadly not in Anime Form.

There is an anime for this (and it's very good). My club played a few episodes about two or three years ago.

[Ashley]

Just as a warning, Destroyer, we have a diverse number of titles being recommended or mentioned here; I highly advise you do a lot of research before getting any of these. I won't mention specific ones unless asked, but some titles here may be offensive to some people due to the more mature content. Just a warning...if you want some help looking up some summaries or content guides, just let me know.

[awsam007]

I've heard Maison Ikkoku is supposed to be a good dramatic (i.e. not simple soap opera) romance. No idea about the actual content though, haven't seen it yet.

[Kisa]

Yea Dual has a love story in it, very funny show too.
I also think of Ah My goddess and Fruits Basket when I think of lovey stories. These are really good too. ^_^ Very touching and all too.

[SwordSkill]

you can always check out Yuu Watase's works. her bigger works always seem to make it a point to merge romantic drama and action together. mind, her stuff are geared for shoujo, so the romance part takes up the majority, but they always come with quite a considerable amount of fighting scenes (and gore too, sometimes). i'd recommend Fushigi Yuugi and Ayashi no Ceres, which are what she's most known for. both have angsty romances, good fighters on the part of the male lead characters, and both work on plotlines that have something to do wit old Asian legends.

[Spiritsword]

Yes, Yuu Watase's works, like Ceres and Fushigi Yugi, combine elements of romance with action and some comedy (at least in Fushigi Yugi). I agree with Ash that Voices of a Distant Star is excellent, but not very long. Also, The Vision of Escaflowne (the series) is a wonderful anime, combining elements of romance, fantasy, action, and mecha along with a deep plot and intriguing characters. It also has top-notch animation and music. That would be my first recommendation, but the others I mentioned are good too.

[SwordSkill]

oh, i forgot...there's also the anime Shinchou Kyouryo / Legend of the Condor Heroes and you can't get more action-y and romantic than that. it's a martial arts anime based on a Chinese wuxia novel revolving around the forbidden romance between a kung fu master and her pupil.

[Kisa]

I love Fushigi Yuugi! Story is excellent and characters are so cool! ^_^

[CDLviking]

Whisper of the Heart- A high school romance of sorts. A young, aspiring writer finds that an unknown schoolmate has been checking out all of the same books that she has. At the same time, she becomes entranced with an antiques shop run by a kindly old man with a sad love story of his own. He also happens to be the grandfather of the mystery reader (who is also dreams of becoming a violin maker).

I understand that this last film has sometimes also been sold as "If you Listen Closely" and "I Can Hear the Sea".

Actually, "I Can Hear the Sea" is a different movie, also by Ghibli. It's also very good, and very clean.

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Ranma 1/2 yet. It's my favorite romance story, and it has lots of martial arts and comedy as well. Read the review for this before watching it though, it could be objectionable.

I also enjoyed Kirugame Orange Road for the most part, though some of the episodes come close to the edge without actually going over. No nudity that I can remember, but many mature situations. I only liked the TV series though, I didn't think that the OVAs or movies added anything to the series and the completely ignored the series' conclusion.

[Benu]

I know it's already been mentioned but you can't go wrong with Voices Of A Distant Star. Brilliant work of anime. Almost made me cry.....almost.

[Kisa]

oooo studio Ghibli animes are always good! ^_^

[shooraijin]

> I've heard Maison Ikkoku is supposed to be a good dramatic (i.e. not simple soap opera) romance.

Maison Ikkoku *is* a very good and very mature romance, particularly looking at the strange love triangle (quadrangle?) between the late Soichiro, Kyoko, Godai and Kozue, but it does deal with themes and issues that come up in adult dating and love (where the lines with physical intimacy are drawn, what truly constitutes a loving relationship) that I think would make it best appropriate for older teens and young adults. I haven't seen the full series (Viz has only released 24 episodes so far), so I reserve commentary until I've seen the entire story. Nevertheless, it is an impressively mature work from Takahashi Rumiko (yes, the one that gave us silly things like Ranma 1/2 and Urusei Yatsura), which is very unlike anything else in her canon.

[Kawaii_Angel]

Well theres 'Onegai Teacher' its quite romantic with some humour, but it has a teacher/student relationship so maybe not....Its not too bad though!^__^

(Yay my first post!)

[HikariChan]

fushigi yuugi is a great one
so is kara kano!

[susuki]

Well, like others have said, Inuyasha is a romance between Inuyasha and kogome.It has a whole lot of action, and yes I do watch it. If you don't care about the demons Inuyasha fights, It is recomended by me. And uh...as for Love Hina, if you are looking for any self control at all, don't read it.Other wise it's very funny.[