Crush vs. Love

[Seiryuu]

Basic scenario: He loves her. She likes him. New guy enters picture; she swoons, he fumes, but truth is she's not THAT fickle.

Love can be a complicated thing, especially if it develops slowly from a more platonic relationship. It can be hard to say when exactly a person fell in love with another person, though they can almost always say when they started to suspect or when they realized the truth, because really that's the moment when everything changed. Crushes are simpler, they come up quick from shallow desire and fantasy, and often come with a narrow or inaccurate view of the person's character. This can very well turn into love too of course, and it can be easier in some ways since you start out looking at the person with romance in mind.

I'm looking for series where a girl experiences a crush and real love at the same time, for different people. She's developed feelings for one boy, but takes him for granted or doesn't understand the depth of those feelings. She's in love, but she hasn't realized, or maybe even started to suspect, yet. She's also got a crush on some other boy, your typical dreamy bishounen whose eyes make her weak in the knees. Things can get complicated quickly, and it's hard to say what it'll take to make her finally recognize the difference.

One example of this is Nurse Angel Ririka. I haven't seen much, but the very first episode sets up the triangle. Her childhood friend Seiya is always there for her, and she depends on him. Kano just arrived, and the very mention of her name can make her forget everything, except maybe for Seiya. Seiya's obviously jealous of the guy, but there's not much he can do. Still, he needn't worry. She still depends on him, likes his company and gratefully admires the antics he uses to help her. More importantly, his presence and safety is absolutely vital to her, and the moment he's threatened, she snaps.

Cardcaptor Sakura is a little bit of this too, though the series is longer and she's not really required to choose between the two, since her crush deliberately excludes himself well before she starts to understand what she feels for the other.

I'm not asking for a series spoiler exactly here. I'm looking for series where at some point well before the end, the girl is clearly infatuated with one boy and just as clearly in love with another. Puppy love like the two examples is fine. It doesn't matter if they're really old enough to fully understand and appreciate how they feel. Besides, not understanding the emotions doesn't change what they are.

[Qwey]

I think KimiKiss fits this perfectly.

[DragoZERO]

Originally Posted by Qwey

I think KimiKiss fits this perfectly.

That's the only series I can think of, and it barely meets the criteria. I think a shojo series would fit this better...but I don't watch those, so yeah.

[Seiryuu]

I'm completely fine with anything, anime or manga, shounen, shoujo, seinen, 18+, anything as long as it's got a good plot. I suspect that Shoujo works will have more of this sort of thing, whether it goes mainly from the pov of the girl's love as he tries to win her, or the girl herself as she struggles to figure out how she feels. I've seen a few where the love appears after the crush, but I'm mostly looking for stuff where the love is already there and the boy suddenly finds the girl he's after swooning for some pretty boy, though he (and often even she) doesn't know that despite the shallow crush, her heart ultimately remains with him.

[frubam]

Sounds like Toradora would fit that boat quite nicely. And it's actually a quality production =03.

[Haak]

The only thing I can think of that's close to that is Toradora!, but in that case the girl already has the crush on someone before developing feelings for and falling in love with another guy.

[MamoruUsagi]

Wild Act

Yuniko and Ryu are dating and boyfriend and girlfriened and in a mature, sexual relationship for almost the entire series. However, at the beginning, Yuniko, while dating Ryu, had feelings for a dead actor, Nanae. Yuniko in the beginnign could not commit to Ryu because of this and was torn, but they continued dating. Very early on, they resolved this, when Yuniko and Ryu started having sex and Yuniko got over the infatuation with Nanae, and stayed in her committed, serious relationship with Ryu.

The Devil Does Exist

Kayano and Takeru are boyfriend and girlfriend and dating and in a committed relationship for most of the series. They get married and are serious about each other, lots of dating, kissing, couple moments, a little sex. At the beginning, Kayano liked another guy Yuji, but very soon got over him and started dating Takeru, and that relationship was true love. Amazing, excellent manga.

Paradise Kiss

Yukari and George are in a mature, sexual relationship. Before George, Yukari was into Hiroyuki, but got over him quickly.

High School Debut

Haruna and Yoh are boyfriend and girlfriend, in a relationship and dating for almost the entire series as a committed couple. However, at the beginning, before Haruna and Yoh hooked up, Haruna liked his friend. Most of the series is about Haruna and Yoh dating and being in a committed relationship.

Bokura ga Ita

Nanami and Yano are boyfriend and girlfriend, dating and in love. Yano's friend, Takeuchi, tries to steal Nanami's heart during her hard times with Yano, their break ups and when they are going through hard times. Nanami stays committed to Yano.

Sailor Moon

Usagi and Mamoru are a committed couple, dating and in a serious relationship. They get married, become king and queen, date, have a child and are dating the entire series. At the beginning, before they hook up, Usagi likes his alter ego, Tuxedo Mask as well as his friend, Motoki. Usagi and Mamoru are dating and in a serious relationship most of the series and have real love.

Peach Girl

Momo is dating Touji, her first boyfriend and first love. Kairi is always flirting with her. Touji and Momo break up a couple times and when Sae tries to get Momo date raped in an attempt to make Touji dump her and that doesn't work, Sae blackmails Touji into breaking up with Momo. During the time Touji and Momo are broken up, Momo starts dating Kairi. The two get serious, but because Kairi wasn't honest with Momo, Momo and Kairi break up and Momo gets back together with Touji. Momo loves both Touji and Kairi and dates them both.

Ceres Celestial Legend

Aya and Tooya are dating and in a mature sexual relationship. A guy named Yuui likes Aya and is always kissing her and trying to get her to leave Tooya for him, but Aya stays with Tooya, but is conflicted.

These are sort of like what you want.

[Divini]

Ugh, that kind of character setup actually irritates me greatly


Paradise Kiss - Best example
Vampire Knight - 2nd best example
Touch - sort of
Honey and Clover - in a way
Kashimashi - Girl meets Girl - The manga version. Actually liked it, didn't annoy me.
Fushugi Yugi - kind of resembles Miaka-Tamahome-Hotohori

[barcode120x]

Vampire Knight does count I think, but the 2nd season, I wouldn't think so as the story unfolds more....

[Haak]

I think Cross Game counts, aswell. In this case, the protagonist develops a sort of crush on another girl ages after he's started to fall in love with the main female protagonist.

[Seiryuu]

Are any of these similar relationshipwise to CCS or Nurse Angel Ririka SOS? I'd prefer something where the girl doesn't yet understand what she feels for the boy, even though she is in fact in love with him, but her confusion is made worse by her developing a crush. Ririka is a great example going from ep1. It's made very clear what the boy thinks of the girl, and how precious and important the boy is to her, not to mention how little she understands her feelings for him and how much her crush messed things up. If asked, she'd say she's in love with her crush, and that the other boy's just a friend, but when you really get down to it, it's quite obvious who really has her heart.
I'd definitely want a clear distinction between the girl's "crush" and "love", where ultimately her friends even know who she really wants, rather than the girl being truly "in love" with both boys. The presence of multiple true loves can at times cheapen the feelings, make them less special and unique, whereas the contrast of a crush can make the love stand out.

[Haak]

Originally Posted by Seiryuu

I'd definitely want a clear distinction between the girl's "crush" and "love", where ultimately her friends even know who she really wants, rather than the girl being truly "in love" with both boys. The presence of multiple true loves can at times cheapen the feelings, make them less special and unique, whereas the contrast of a crush can make the love stand out.

That's Toradora right at the start. But her crush on someone else doesn't really confuse her feeling of love for the main protagonist.

[Seiryuu]

Whic character is that? From what I recall, the story started out with a girl and boy who had basically no feelings of any kind toward one another but wound up uniting to help one another get their personal crushes. The characters' crushes existed long before they'd met, and for a good while they were only friends, supporting each other but not close enough to have any real love. This is an interesting story, but one about two people whose attempts to help each other get their crushes winds up bringing them to love each other. The distinctions between the characters' love and crush are quite clear, but the setting of an existing, unnoticed love seeming to be threatened by a crush isn't there.
ToraDora's setup is a good plot as well. I might be interested in eventually looking for other stories about people falling in love while helping one another find love. Or for added drama, and in line with the plot concept I'm aiming for, to have a man try to help a girl get together with her crush, despite the fact that he's in love with her, and she's so blinded by her infatuation that she can't see what he means to her.

Edit: Thought I'd post one show I found that seems to fit this perfectly: Guyver. It's hard to say exactly when the girl truly started to love the guy, but the bonds and the depth and significance their relationship has has been there for a long time. Part of the problem with childhood friend romances is that the pair are too close together to really see clearly. Sometimes you need just a little distance, a few steps back, to take a good look at things.