Recommendation : Love Triangle Story

[cheesie]

Does anyone know a good love triangle anime or manga?

Note that a love triangle is different from a harem series. I hate harem because it's so superficial and strokes the average otaku's ego. I'd like to read a story about a love triangle where there's drama and development.

Specifications:

- Girl x Boy x Girl only (because in most Boy x Girl x Boy, the annoying heroine whines 90% of the time, unless you can show me good ones.)
- There needs to be real drama and development where all three gets equal time, as it's exciting!
- Hero must not be a total idiot
- Chosen winner must not be a total moronic moe-loli blob / smartass "childhood friend" girl / annoying "ONII-CHAN!!!" fake sister <- I hate these archtypes the most.
- Something like Macross Frontier's love triangle, damn that thing got me on the edge there, best love triangle in ten years.
- It can be a subplot, not necessarily the main focus, the best love stories are the ones that lurk in the background.

I've watched:

- Kimi ga Nozomu Eien
- Shuffle (Ending turned out blergh harem)
- Honey and Clover
- Naruto (The thing's a mess and I'm a yaoi fan. )
- Bleach (Ichigo x Rukia x Orihime, but Orihime is one-sided love, can't deny it spiced things up though)
- True Tears (*hisses at Hiromi*)
- Canvas 2 (I'll make an exception on the Onii-chan sister thing, because Elis is wonderful here.)
- School Days

[Westlo]

Seen ef a tale of memories? If not watch it... and oh yeah Hiromi ftw XD

[FLCL]

oh boo i was going to suggest school rumble

LOL

HARRY MACKENZIE!!!!

[cheesie]

Originally Posted by Westlo

Seen ef a tale of memories? If not watch it... and oh yeah Hiromi ftw XD

EF is sitting on my drive, I heard a lot of things about it so I'll give it a try sometime.

oh boo i was going to suggest school rumble

I did watch a few episodes of it a long time ago, but SR doesn't really feed the craving for a good dramatic love triangle.

[Westlo]

You should definitely watch ef than since it's stellar and the sequel is coming out this October, love triangle part of the show is pretty awesome, short but sweet.. I guess if you like the winning pair.

[cerrian]

Well the classics are Maison Ikkoku and Kimagure Orange Road. I prefer Maison Ikkoku.

Some of the more modern triangles, or squares, are NANA, Rental Magic, Strawberry Panic, and ummm..... Kanokon . NANA and Strawberry Panic have the more serious triangles though. I prefer the triangles in Strawberry Panic and Rental Magic, but unfortunately with Rental Magic the triangle is no where close to being resolved.

[Bou]

Love Triangles..

Gift Eternal Rainbow
Strawberry panic
Ef~ A Tale of Memories

[Rednanaki]

Well, there IS a love triangle in Kanon 2006, but it's not really a main focus in the series. Although you are introduced to all the characters in this "triangle" pretty much from the beginning. However, during the love triangle arc, it's really one sided and doesn't bring much for that aspect. Regardless, the series is amazing, so I'd recommend that.

Also, I third/fourth or whatever ef~, since that was fantastic.

[SeedFreedom]

Thirded ef.

You might also want to check out Suzuka. Its a mix of sports and romance. For manga i've started to read Ichigo 100%. I've only started so i have no clue how it turns out or what any of the characters are like.

[Phlaw]

8 Suggestions and no Da Capo what are these forums coming too...

Imo one of the best Love Triangles ever, Even in the Second Season, same characters, different third wheel, but still Freaking amazing.

(although there the first season there were a few girls that loved Jun'ichi, The biggest were Between Sakura and Nemu) OMG i'm gonna ahve to watch this again now...

[kk2extreme]

evangelion, the whole rei, shinji and asuka thing is complicated, if you dont mind shinji being emo, that is.

[Phlaw]

Gift Eternal Rainbow is also a direct rip off of Da capo, (In the middle of episode 9 atm) But really i mean, The Sakura Tree = The "gift" , The Witch = Sakura, Unrequited Love from Sakura = Unrequited love from Kirino, The "not-blood brother & sister) and even tho im only half way through it, its really following the same plot, im sure

Spoiler for Da Capo:

there is gonna be something bad happen that Kirino causes and then eventually it all works out.

I just spoiled that in case you havent seen Da capo, but im sure its the same, Don't get me wrong im hooked to it, but its wayyyyyy to similar.

On the Evan Series, wasn't there only one kiss, and even it wasn't very good, Although it probably had a lot of meaning, if u want something a little sappier i don't think it would fit.

[Autumn Demon]

da capo is a horrible suggestion based on OP's specifications on what he doesn't want.

that said, with specifications that specific, there's really nothing to suggest.

[Nervous Venus]

Other girl x boy x girl LT's can be found in:

DN Angel
Maison Ikkoku
Kimagure Orange Road
Victorian Romance Emma

[Kovensky]

Code Geass might count. It used to be a love dodecahedon; but now the only plausible endings IMO are Lelouch x C.C. or Lelouch x Kallen.

[Phlaw]

While I didn't read the specifics, i did read the other post, i was just upset to see Gift Mentioned before Da Capo honestly, Gift has the fake sister, and so does Da Capo, But I feel Da capo was such a better series, and even tho he may hate that architype, its still a really good show.

[qtipbrit]

Originally Posted by crisis

- Chosen winner must not be a total moronic moe-loli blob / smartass "childhood friend" girl / annoying "ONII-CHAN!!!" fake sister <- I hate these archtypes the most.
- Something like Macross Frontier's love triangle, damn that thing got me on the edge there, best love triangle in ten years.

You're royally screwed. Osana-najimi is the chosen girl roughly 85% of the time in love triangles/harems.
hmm, we must be watching the same Macross F, since its love triangle is the epitome of typical shounen romance.

@kovensky: Code Geass? Romance? Surely you jest.

I'd say no to Da Capo, it's more of a harem series for the most part; think Shuffle!.
Gift would actually probably be the better suggestion, but keep in mind it's not really a love triangle because the male lead doesn't fail.
ef was definitely your best bet; it brings new ideas to cliche themes, and only one side of the story is a love triangle. It's also one where the male lead isn't at fault for all of the events.

There's not really many good recent love triangle series; none can really measure up to True Tears and ef.

[Kovensky]

It may be a bad suggestion, but he said it could be a side story. It is a neglected side story, but the fans still divide into factions that hope for some romantic outcome and now they're figting over a love triangle. :P

Also, there are some episodes that are mainly about the romance part, like "Love Attack" (R2E12).

I didn't watch any animes specifically of the romance genre, but the closest ones I've seen are Macross F and CG.

[cheesie]

Originally Posted by qtipbrit92

You're royally screwed. Osana-najimi is the chosen girl roughly 85% of the time in love triangles/harems.
hmm, we must be watching the same Macross F, since its love triangle is the epitome of typical shounen romance.

Macross F is an awesome love triangle in that there is no clear winner (in that both women are given equal development. None of them are "evil", all of them are good friends, etc.) It's rare to see this kind of triangle given a lot of development. Most love triangles in typical shounen romance has a "clear winner" while the other is clearly to mess things up / third wheel.

And please don't recommend D.C.Capo to me. Thanks for the recommendation, but I bloody hate the series.

[cerrian]

Well if you're looking for something along the lines of Macross F, then your options narrow down to:

DNAngel
Kimagure Orange Road
Rental Magic

Rental Magic being the closest to Macross F, but the girls in KOR more closely resemble Ranka and Sheryl.