Looking for a good Romance Anime

[Takuto19]

Hey folks, I haven't watched much Anime over the past year or 2 and I'm starting to get back into it. I'm looking for a good Romace Anime to get me back into the swing of things.

I've seen a lot of Romance ones, Clannad, Kanon, Suzuka, Kimi ni Todoke, Eden of the East, Love Hina, Nodame, Shakugan no Shana and a few others.

I'm mainly looking for an Anime with these catagories....

BoyXGirl - Don't like Love polygons.

Dont mind the setting. High School is an advantage.

Emotional, bitter sweet, no tragic animes with bad endings.

Would also like the story to be BoyXGirl are friends, both starting to fall in love, with maybe with the Boy/Girl leaving with emotional farewells, but the Boy/Girl tries to change their mind and make them stay due to their feelings. (Something along these lines would be nice)

So as you can see It's not too specific, as I havent seen any of the newer romance Animes in the past couple years, with the exception of Kimi ni Todoke, so I might of missed a few good ones.

Thanks for the help.

[Theowne]

Whisper of the Heart, and Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou (Kare Kano). First is a film, second is a series. I wouldn't say these are similar to most of the list of anime you've seen. But they pretty much exactly match the story elements you say you're looking for. No petty love triangles, both start out as friends, both involve some moments of emotional farewell. IMO they're two of the strongest anime in this genre. They both involve school life too, though the latter more than the former.

I don't how much age matters to you, but if you liked Love Hina, many people (including me) consider it a not-as-good re-imagination of an older anime called Maison Ikkoku which also happens to be a very strong romance series and delivers similar story elements in a better fashion. But, well, it's an older series and I know that doesn't appeal to everyone.

As for recent romantic anime in particular, Cross Game is probably the best in the past 2 years. There's no real overt triangles, melodrama, or anything of that nature, just a very quiet story where the main characters slowly progress from being friends to a relationship. It is technically a "sports" anime, but that's really not the main part of the story.

[Takuto19]

Thanks Theowne, think I'm gonna check out Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou and Cross Game, both look really good.

Thanks a lot for the suggestions

Hopefully I'll enjoy them, heh.

[Guardian Enzo]

Second Cross Game enthusiastically, and would also add True Tears. There is a bit of a triangle, but not a polygon - and it meets most of your other criteria. Plus, it's just generally a great show.

[Theowne]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

There is a bit of a triangle, but not a polygon

A triangle is a polygon

Though "bit of a triangle" is kind of an understatement...IIRC the entire series basically revolves around it.

[0utf0xZer0]

Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora is pretty good, although the couple have a rather cold start rather than starting as friends.

You'd probably enjoy the Renji/Chihiro plot thread in EF: A Tale of Memories but you'd have to put up with the rather intense Hiro/Miyako/Kei triangle too - and I don't think you can really separate them, since the show actually uses alternations between the two to vary the mood.

Most of my other favourites that you haven't seen tend towards sad endings so I won't go into that here.

[Guardian Enzo]

Hey - don't open a can of Euclid on my ass! I guess when I hear polygon in this context, I think more of the harem shows - you know, dodecahedrons or something. And sure, the triangle is pretty central to the show - but it's still a small-scale romance in my eyes.

[Sackett]

I would second Maison Ikkoku and Cross Game for romance. Two of the best around. Whisper of the Heart is also pretty good. I also like the romance in Crest of the Stars and the sequels- although much of the plot is on the adventure.

Although out of all the romances I've seen, I think the one that most closely fits your description is Toradora.

[0utf0xZer0]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

Hey - don't open a can of Euclid on my ass! I guess when I hear polygon in this context, I think more of the harem shows - you know, dodecahedrons or something. And sure, the triangle is pretty central to the show - but it's still a small-scale romance in my eyes.

A pentagonal pyramid is probably the geometric shape that fits most harem shows the best. My opinion, however, is that good harem shows limit the love polygon to only a few characters and use the rest of the girls as side characters - think Clannad, where the only girls who openly expressed a romantic interest in Tomoya were, in my opinion, Nagisa and the twins, so ito me Clannad came across as a tetrahedron than the pentagonal or hexagonal pyramid you might expect. I wish more visual novel to anime adaptations would take this approach, since most VNs limit the number of girls who will take an interest in you in any given plot branch and limit you to discovering one girl's storyline per play, but I guess many directors feel the story is incomplete if they don't try and include every girl's story in one go even if it ends up feeling messy because of it.

The hardest shows to map geometrically are probably things like School Rumble where you have a crapload of interlocking polygons.

Originally Posted by Sackett

Although out of all the romances I've seen, I think the one that most closely fits your description is Toradora.

Toradora is pretty heavy on the love polygon until late in the anime but I must admit that I also enjoyed the progression of the main relationship quite a bit.

[MeoTwister5]

I want to say Cross Game.

[MamoruUsagi]

Bokura ga Ita
Fushigi Yuugi
Paradise Kiss
Ayashi no Ceres
High School Debut
Mars
Kare First Love
The Devil Does Exist
Peach Girl
Kare Kano
Marmalade Boy
Ultra Cute
Sailor Moon
Wild Act
Happy Hustle High
Akuma De Sourou
Absolute Boyfriend
Sand Chronicles
Fushigi Yugi
Missile Happy!
B.O.D.Y
Ceres Celestial Legend

Mars is a great mature romance manga, the couple is boyfriend and girlfriend and dating and in a mature, deep, committed relationship. Rape, engagements, suicide, secret pasts, living together and many more deep secrets. A deep, realistic, mature romance. Most mature romance manga.

These are great manga and anime that show the couple as boyfriend/girlfriend, dating and in committed relationships.

I'll add more descriptions soon.

Bokura ga Ita
Fushigi Yuugi
Ayashi no Ceres
Mars
The Devil Does Exist
Kare Kano
High School Debut
Peach Girl
Sailor Moon
Paradise Kiss
Kare First Love
Wild Act
Happy Hustle High
Absolute Boyfriend
Akuma De Sourou
Fushigi Yugi
Ultra Cute
Sand Chronicles
Ultra Maniac
Ceres Celestial Legend
Marmalade Boy
Missile Happy!
B.O.D.Y

[kingburger]

wow...can't believe no one listed Kimagure Orange Road :/ if you haven't seen it.

[Theowne]

Originally Posted by kingburger

wow...can't believe no one listed Kimagure Orange Road :/ if you haven't seen it.

Well, again, the entire series basically revolves around a love triangle, which the OP said they didn't want.....Though it matches a lot of the other criteria (high school setting, starting as friends).

Edit: Though I guess such a "lopsided" triangle, storywise, shouldn't really be described the same way as, say, True Tears.

[Bonta Kun]

I'll just add to whats been mentioned and say check out Lovely Complex, it's a brilliant romcom.

[Takuto19]

Thanks for all the other suggestions guys, checking out true tears as well, as long as the love triangle isn't too strong, heh.

Will check out a lot of the other ones suggested as I don't think I've heard of many of them.

[physics223]

I'm going to recommend The Tatami Galaxy. It's really good.

[MeoTwister5]

I should just add that Tatami Galaxy is as unconventional as Romance Comedy goes, so it's best to watch without expectations based on other series.

[SaintessHeart]

There's one. Not Hana Yori Dango, but rather, Kimi No Todoke.