by Came back from an exhausting day of work? Bored from the constant hassle of life? Or had a bad breakup! Come along watch some anime. Here are a few selected to lift your mood no matter the situation and also some reality check that you require.
5. HORIMIYA
What happens when you highlight every happy moment of a love story & compile them into one single show?
The answer is obviously Horimiya (but still merely half of it). A beautiful show that captures the everyday Highschool romance of some Ordinary High School students each so different from the other and also subtly exclaiming why they are not perfect.
Hitting every chord right. It has everything; beautiful couples, some broken hearts, some sensual friendships some friendships that don’t rise to the new level, and even insecurities that people carry on from the past and how they face it.
Better to say it’s a job extremely well done when considering it is packed into just 13 episodes which are awesomely paced thus very well adapted. If you carefully look into it, it’s basically that same old Love-Comedy and it would even be correct to call it “too fictional” but what makes it different is how simple it is to the heart, and how much you want to delve into each episode.
Every time Hori and Miyamura (Hori-Miya) the lead characters meet their joy seeps into your heart. Their dependence on each other makes you feel their Love. Their desire to change for each other makes you giggle with joy. You desire yourself into that moment and that’s the moment of bliss. Giving you an emotional ecstasy with each episode, keeping you wanting for more.
4.CHYUNIBYO
How hard was it to handle that one childhood email account you made with a really funny and weird sound to it. And by the time you realized it, you can’t bring yourself to discard it.
It’s quite similar to how this anime plays going forward, and how much Love can be poured into innocent lives while dealing with a certain serious issue of what is the ‘Self’ you know. It is again that same High School rom-com at the base as the plot also has some really cute loveable characters and a Pure love story between the leads Rikka and Yuuta.
Yuuta who has discarded his past of the “Eighth Grade syndrome” out of embarrassment and hopes for a more normal school life encounters a girl: Rikka who still lives in her fictional world. And thus begins their fated relation of Yuuta always being reminded of his past and helping Rikka getting out of her current state.
But in the midst of all these funny and cute episodes you suddenly realize the anime is actually calling out to your young naive self that you often reminisce but are too afraid to call forward, making you question what is “my true self”. Every time Yuuta tries to stop Rikka from behaving ‘chyuuni’ he has to go into her world ( the animation is superb within those imaginary worlds) and in-process again losing a bit of shame that he felt. It signifies that we ourselves are just characters we sought to play, with or without considering the consequence. The often found need, to be special just makes us different some manage to accept it while some don’t.
All in all, it’s not just cute but asks you so much of your childhood self that you can’t help but be joyful about it.
3.NISEKOI
How many friendships did it destroy? how many wars have been fought! All of it has led to just one conclusion and that is to actually have no conclusion (pun intended).
Creating an anime of the ‘Harem‘ genre is always prone to disaster-level discussions where fans are split into choosing the best pair/couple, and the same thing has happened when Nisekoi came into being.
It had everything a harem anime deserves that Childhood crush, that transfer student, that one girl you know has no hope with the MC(Main Character), that one girl you desperately want to win the race of Hearts, and that MC that is not actually dumb but is confused. Nisekoi appeals to everyone who watches it either through comedy or bits of romance or the entire harem itself.
The funny and simple way these characters are set to interact creates that general light-hearted feeling of joy, in which you can’t help but be indulged. Nisekoi like any other harem anime garners that hope where every other encounter with a girl is a romantically fated one. The plot actually has no typical romance in it and yet there are moments to savor as a romance anime fan.
But among all these how can we miss to feel Studio Shaft doing what it does, picturesque scenes that burn bring for almost every special moment the background music even though falls behind to pick a few scenic moments still does quite good and doesn’t leave a bad taste in the end.
Apart from the main characters, the side characters do their bit and give the show a healthy push of comic scenes.
Even though not based on a great love story Nisekoi still brings joy and that alone should be enough to make you watch it and love it even more.
2. KUZU NO HONKAI
Do you believe Fairy tales are true?
Do you expect your Prince charming to come glowing in a White Horse? or your dream girl to be just what you ever pictured her in your mind? Well, then this anime is just the one for you (the devil on my shoulder giggles hysterically).
No, I’ll be honest this is just the opposite of your typical fairy tale and it does it so well you’re compelled to believe this is happening around you.
Then why is it on a list of “animes that heal your broken heart” because sometimes you need a tight slap to take you from a bad dream (consider this one to be so)? Because though the story appears anti-cupid it is basically focused on young teens who are desperate to find their partners and in search, breaking others and even themselves.
The series does justice to its title as in how Love makes you a ‘scum’ how it forces you to do delirious things normally you wouldn’t even consider in the first place. Manipulation, desperation, ghosting, cheating, sex, it has all and ultimately degrades your view of humanity as a whole just because you know how true it is. The narration keeps a slow and consistent tempo and that makes it even more hurtful to people who are yet to be corrupted, thus you find the vast difference in opinions or reviews across the Internet and various forums.
A very intricate point that strikes is, it shows love is not born out of either possession or compassion alone, and in comparison to how normal ‘romance‘ as a genre is depicted on the screen, almost all of it appears fictional and then only then you understand how good of a story this anime presents. It, not just any love story, it’s a love story about hate, failure, revenge, desperation, and what not but not just love.
1. NODAME CANTABILE
Gyabo!! Mukyaa!! Kyaa!! And some awesome music. A crazy girl along with a mature boy, some fateful encounters, and more of Piano classics. Yes these are the ingredients that make this show.
Nodame Cantabile comes under this list being criminally under-watched, when considering contemporaries like “Kaguya Sama” “Rental Kanojo” and many more, I actually thought of putting “Tonikaku Kawai” but Nodame Cantabile takes the edge being a Music anime too ( we all know how music heals).
It’s a story about a weird girl Nodame who appears as a mess of a human but has an innate talent in music which even she is unaware of. She meets a young handsome extremely talented hardworking senior student Chiaki, and thus beings her story.
Chiaki on one hand is losing his interest in music because of being held down to become just a pianist, on the other hand, Nodame just plays piano just for fun. But each salvages themselves from the music the other creates. Sometimes Nodame is dragged by Chiaki, sometimes Chiaki is pulled up by Nodame thus completing a mesmerizing story of love. But each time they do so it is done by their love for Music each time Music comes not only in between but beside them too.
Nodame Cantabile isn’t a love story that you always dream about it’s a love story everyone should try to attain (a mature kind) since even with those weird characters and the simple story it shows how when you truly love someone you push them towards betterment and prosperity and you help each other to be suitable for the each other, it shows even if a sacrifice is required it doesn’t come at the cost of others tears. It shows how we can make someone our beacon of hope and still move hand in hand with them. Nodame Cantabile thus differs from our fairy tale world but shines as brightly as it is.
There you go our Top 5 Picks For Romance Anime That Heals And Lifts You Up. What do you feel about this list? Want to recommend one? Be sure to let us know in the comments below.
