Hi guys, in this thread I'm ranking every romcom anime I've ever watched into three tiers:

BAD - I dislike this anime and don't recommend it

SOLID - I enjoyed this anime but don't go out of your way to watch it

GREAT - I love this anime and recommend it

If you liked this thread let me know and maybe I'll do a similar thread for MAL's top 25 most popular anime.

Also I'll edit this thread when I'll watch new romcoms and add them to the ranking. Feel free to recommend me your favorites or anime you think I'll like!

BAD:

Darling in the Franxx

First bad one is Darling, every interesting anime to witness weekly on the anime thread and yet just bad writing and bad plot takes this anime down to the point where the second half was unwatchable to me, that being said the character's romcom dramas and love triangles are the most interesting thing about it which is why it's in the romcom list. Premise is basically a dystopian teen novel about giant s***mechas that the teens have s***in. If you like to see crazy s*** watch it, if you don't like fan service or bad plot then don't.

Golden Time

A lot of people liked this one but I just hated the main couple of this anime, the main girl is just annoying and self centered and never develops except from going from being a stalker to not stalker. The main boy seems like a bland main character until we learn HE HAS AMNESIA which straight up ruins the plot. I'll give the anime credit for being set in college not high school and for having the main couple be together early on, but I just didn't like them so I can't recommend it.

Maid Sama

Disappointed because this was on every "best romcom" list. It misses mostly for having an unlikable love interest, just a rich handsome guy who is perfect at everything and has no flaws, besides following the girl and hitting on her aggressively, made me feel uncomfortable I think just a really dated fantasy wattpad type character. This anime also tries to be episodic comedic when it's really not that funny. I would've preferred it to be more romance focused which the best parts of the anime are. We get a love triangle only in the last few episodes and that's easily the best part. By this point I was already bored and wanted to be over with it. Not a good anime.

I Want to Eat Your Pancreas

This emotional movie doesn't do it for me just because the main couple are again, unlikable to me, it's about a girl with a terminal illness who convinces a guy to spend her last month before a surgery with her, on paper a very emotional concept but since she guilt trips the guy and manipulates him she was unlikable to me and the guy being nihilistic and boring as f*** the entire movie doesn't help it either. One scene made me feel uncomfortable and the ending of the movie sucks. Hate to say it this is my least favorite on this list.

Bunny Girl Senpai

I felt like the writing here was pretentious and it pretends to be very deep and inspirational and the main character is a little corny that’s the main reason I didn’t f*** with it but the main couple is cute and I like their more romantic scenes, out of the “bad” anime this is the best.

Tada Never Falls In Love

I don’t remember this anime much it’s about a guy who likes photography falls in love with a pretty girl and the twist is she’s the price of Sweden or something and has to marry a prince. It’s fine just forgettable.

Wotakoi: Love Is Hard For An Otaku

An anime about two weeb couples falling in love. It's special that it happens in an office setting, but overall unfunny maybe if you watched all the anime referenced you'd laugh but I didn't get it mostly. The romantic parts are the most interesting but there are a few of them. Mostly them hanging out and joking a little. If you think that'll be fun for you try it it's not that bad.

SOLID:

Quintessential Quintuplets

Anime about five quintuplets (identical sisters) and a guy who has to tutor them and get them all to pass and obviously ends up with one of them. I initially liked it for the sister's wholesome relationship and dynamics and they get weirder as the anime continues and they all realize they're in love with the guy, but it's entertaining. The best parts are the dramatic ones usually the final episodes of both seasons. It's light but not that funny or special besides the quintuplets gimmick they're all stereotypical characters in a harem except maybe Ichika who has more depth/spice to her. A question to anyone else who watched the anime: do you think their hair colors are real? Or only for the audience to tell them apart? My ship is Uesugi x Ichika btw.

Horimiya

It's a sweet show because you like the two main characters, Hori and Miyamura and ship them instantly. They're just so good and healthy for each other and mature you can't help but cheer for them. They also have other friend couples who get their own episodes, they're fine. The big problem is that there's no plot it's all mini slice of life stories but the character don't really have a conflict or struggle they have to overcome and that kind of brings it down to solid. The flip side is there's no stupid misunderstanding and they talk things out consistently.

Rent a GF

I'm mixed the most about this anime because I'm so obsessed with it I can b**** about it for hours but at the same time it's just bad, bad characters and writing. Kazuya the main character rents a GF to go on a date with him and then accidentally lies to everyone she's his real GF, things get complicated, a lot of drama. As the fanbase you hate Kazuya because he can't help but manipulate everyone and be cringe but the cringe / awkward moments are the exact reason I watch this anime. Just so much s*** happens between him and the 4 girls in this. Another anime thread classic. Btw Chizuru sucks and the mangaka is a confirmed loser who thinks she's his real life GF, perfect person to write this. My ships are Kazuya and Sumi (it's OK if none of them end up with him) and Chizuru and Mami (will never happen but funny to picture).

Kimi ni Todoke

Anime about the shyest girl in existence Sawako who is also the nicest girl ever, a guy decided he'll sit next to her in class after years of her being socially outcast, and she gets a new friend group. The friend group stuff are so fun and wholesome I really enjoyed them especially her two besties who are both great. The art is also beautiful just soft colors and relaxing. The worst parts are all the misunderstanding the main character has no social intelligence whatsoever so it's really easy to play with her and the main couple takes the longest time to get together. These are really the only flaws as everything else is great, when they eventually get together it's really fun but it takes way too long imo.

Orange

I read the manga for Orange, it's a nice story about a girl getting letters from her future self trying to save her new friend who will commit suicide. It's a good idea that doesn't over-dramatize suicidal thoughts and depression and it's mostly lighthearted like it didn't make me that sad. The ending is a little weird and if anyone else read it I'd love to talk about it lol. Made me look at the love triangle in a different way. Anyway the slice of life and character drama is nice and the art is minimalistic and looks nice.

My Dress Up Darling

It's a nice guilty pleasure anime that I'm surprised I enjoyed so much, about a guy who likes to make hina girls and thinks that's embarrassing and Marin a beautiful girl who asks him to help her make a cosplay costume. He learns about the world of cosplay and accepts that he can be confident about his niche hobby like her, it's wholesome. I like their little moments and "dates" (that they aren't aware are dates) and I like the cosplay theme it sets it apart from other anime where a loser boy is "fixed" by a pretty girl. This anime also has a lot of fan service if you don't like it definitely avoid this anime. In other times it can be wholesome too. Marin is fun. My ship is main boy and her.

My Little Monster

Anime about two opposites getting together, a girl who is very fixed on studying and has no friends, and a boy who is wild and unpredictable and ditches school. He falls in love with her and they start a very dysfunctional relationship where they fall in love with each other but not at the same time (which is dumb). The slice of life and comedy moments are better than the romantic ones (I don't think they have chemistry) and the anime didn't "end" so basically they never really get together sorry for spoiling it but I'm saving you the expectations.

Yuri On Ice

The only romcom I watched featuring a gay couple, a promising young ice skater Yuri and his coach Victor who was previously like the Lebron of ice skating. I think the ice skating scenes are nice and I like the romance between the two. The age difference is a little weird but at least they did a gay anime. My only complaint is they backed out on the gay stuff a little, like not showing them kiss or saying explicitly they're gay, I guess maybe they couldn't show that for Japanese audience?

GREAT:

Ano Hana

A great anime mostly about a friend group reuniting after years of drifting apart, this is because of a ghost of a girl who belonged to the friend group haunting the main character to try to get them together. After she dies they all went their separate ways and changed a lot, it's really sad to see how they don't get along and how he tries to convince them. But eventually very emotional and worth it. It's short and to the point too. Definitely catch this if you haven't. My only complaint is one plot hole, you know what I mean if you watched it. But everything else was good.

Clannad

Favorite anime of all time. Started as a high school romcom and ended up an emotional slice of life drama about a family and the struggles of adult life. The first season is very lighthearted but also emotional. This anime just has an atmosphere you notice it during the first arc and it just goes harder until the final arc After Story which is my favorite arc, it made me cry in real life, just amazing episodes one after the other, you get emotionally attached to the characters but it's not all sad, most of it is just wholesome and pleasant to watch. It made me feel all warm inside, even just watching Clannad clips on YouTube makes me either laugh or feel some type of way. This is like the first romcom I watched but nothing ever came close. It stayed one of my favorite anime and will definitely rewatch it one day. Also the animation and music are amazing and help make the anime what it is! Shout out to Nagisa best girl.

Fruits Basket

Cute anime about a shy kind girl who lives in a tent and gets invited to live with three brothers, but learns they are apart of a family that changes into the animal zodiac signs when hugged by the opposite gender. Weird concept but the calmest and warmest anime I've ever seen. I've only seen the original anime from 2001 and heard the remake is great (and also actually has an ending) but something about the older animation is magic and it just gave me a nice feeling. Not much plot happens but the love triangle between the girl, "cat" and "mouse" was fun (I ship her with the cat boy obviously), and it's more of a vibe anime anyways.

InuYasha

Yes it's an action fantasy anime but arguably the best parts about it are the characters and their dynamics and the different romances in the anime, including the love triangle between InuYasha, Kagome and Kikyo, which is the main conflict in the anime mentioned way more than the actual villain. It's kind of a childhood nostalgia anime but I watched all of it a few years ago and for a 200 episode anime I mostly enjoyed it and didn't get too bored. The characters are great and have funny interactions, if you're a fan of action and used to action anime of today the action and plot would be a little slow for you because they mostly just fight demons and find a shard of jewelry and it repeats. But after watching the ending I have to call it great. Classic anime. I ship InuYasha and Kagome btw.

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War

One of the genuinely funny anime I've ever seen, about Kaguya and Shirogane two members of the student council, both trying to get the other to fall in love with them and confess to them, in some psychological warfare, in the early episodes it's a battle format with a winner and a loser and they use this concept creatively, eventually this anime become more about character arcs as the student council grows and we know the characters better. The writing is great most of the laughs come from the characters' personalities and hit hard. I like all of the group including Chika, Ishigami and Miku, who get a lot of development and I don't mind episodes of them not including the main two. The romance between the main two is cute as they're both obsessed with each other and competitive. I also like Kaguya's assistant Hayasaka who also turned into an important character. This anime is already one of the greats with 3 great seasons. Watch this even if you're not into romcoms.

Your Name

An emotional visually pleasing movie about a boy and girl who change bodies and get to experience each other's very different lives, the boy lives in Tokyo and the girl lives in a rural village. Both contact each other by leaving notes on their phones and solve each other's problems and eventually fall in love. The plot can be predictable and what mostly gets me is the great animation and music. It pushes the boundaries of how good an anime can look so imo that's enough to put it on "great". Will rewatch at winter and Makoto's other films too eventually.

A Silent Voice

I both read the manga and watched the film. I'd say the manga has a better story as it makes more sense and the pacing is better and they had to cut narrative for the film. But the film is beautiful and has great animation is almost as emotional than the manga (maybe even more because you visualize it) and both are amazing to experience. It made me cry (even the manga!). It's about a deaf girl and her former elementary school bully, later becoming a victim to bullying himself and trying to redeem himself in her eyes and reconnecting with her. You hate this boy initially but the story convinces you he deserves redemption and I eventually shipped him with the girl who is just adorable and perfect. A little mixed on the friend group but everything with the little sister and the moms is great.

Lovely Complex

Possibly my favorite couple from any romcom which puts this romcom high above a lot of others. It's about Koizumi and Otani, a tall girl and a short boy (both ginger) who fall in love. Their drama and relationship is interesting they're really good friends and really funny together and they're the comedic relief (their friends are the more normal ones...) but they have a lot of ups and downs and you're not sure they'll end up together, for some reason this anime made me stressed about this! It's also funny and has a lot of nice of life moments. I personally like that they both stan a rapper, in my head canon it's this anime's version of Kanye lol. This is a sleeper I don't hear a lot about it, try it I liked it a lot.

Ouran High School Host Club

One of the funniest anime for me, Haruhi breaks an expensive vase of the host club, they force them to join the host club until they realize she's a girl, but she agrees to join the club because it's fun and pretends she's a boy throughout the anime. The boy group is essentially anime stereotype but they subvert tropes and progress characters during the anime, even though it's an episodic anime for most of it. I think most of the epiodic episodes are great and funny and have creative concepts. Also it has a lot of visual comedy which not enough anime does! I love the main character Haruhi she's the "voice of reason" but never boring, she's clumsy a little oblivious but also the most emotionally intelligent and "anchor" of the group. There's a little love triangle going on but most of the romance comes from the episodes themselves revolving around dates and romantic situations. It's all entertaining and I ship Haruhi x Hikaru but accept Tamaki fans. Very recommended and very progressive for an anime from 2006! The animation and comedy aged well (mostly).

Your Lie In April

Another essential emotional anime about a depressed former piano child prodigy who is too depressed and can't play the piano anymore, but gets inspired by a beautiful violinist to try and she inspires him to play a more emotionally driven way instead of a very accurate way like he used to. The music scene are visually pleasing and have nice music despite me not liking classical music usually. This also has nice character drama between the friend group, love triangles but I ship the main couple. But I also remembered liking the childhood friend while watching she was cute. This anime can be a little emotionally manipulative and "fake" but when I watched it for the first time it did affect me and I did enjoy it and think it looks great so let's say it's great.

Toradora

A nice anime that I think is nice for people who never watched a romcom. It's about two neighbors who are opposite to what they look like - the boy is scary looking but is very kind and quiet and the girl is small and cute but actually violent. They're both helping each other hook up with their crushes and create a weird friend group of 5 with love triangles. It's fun to see the friend group experience life in high school and they all change and develop during the anime, plus I thought it was funny. The romance is not the strongest because they all feel a little immature but that's intentional. Anyway it's a good anime.

And this is it, this is like the middle of the night for me because it took a long time to write, I hope you enjoyed reading!

My top 3 romcoms:

Clannad
A Silent Voice
Kaguya-sama

talking about anything that isnt a shounen

Hi score girl is a 9/10

I didn't know if I should include Hyouka in this thread because it doesn't have much comedy and romance, but it's recommended and reminded me of Clannad, it's similarly a slice of life but with mysteries, great anime

I cried watching your name
I cried watching anohana
I cried watching your lie (still think about that scene where he’s like “reach her”)
I cried watching a silent voice

No nisekoi tho

Since I'm already watching stupid harems I might watch Nisekoi too some day

I also cried during A Silent Voice and Anohana

“Mom why do you always play loves sorrow”

Perfect nothing harem

If you liked Ano Hana you’ll like Waiting in The Summer Better

you’ve only seen 26 rom coms tho jordanlaff

why did i open a thread about romcoms and see darling in the franxx at the top let me read the rest now im sorry

This is a nice list actually. I only really disagree with Bunny Girl. I think a lot of the stuff talked about in that show is deeply rooted in Japanese school culture (and maybe that's why it comes off as pretentious to you? not sure). It was a poor choice of show to localize/sub IMO because it requires more knowledge to completely understand what's going on

Nisekoi has no ending (anime wise) though so keep that in mind before you watch it

Real for Golden Time

every rom com is great :nas:

I’m doing Your Lie In April rn (my first romance focused series) but may need to move Clannad up the watch list

We need more anime threads so I support op

I too was shocked

Toradora should really be place in bad section for the same reasons as golden time and maid Sama.

Terrible main couple, annoying tug and pull for the romance, annoying second girl, and main girl looks like she always stinks.

Maybe it is the sub

It felt like the main character rants in Instagram captions to me and like the anime was pandering to an internet audience

Very nit picky reason if you’re not cynical and just enjoyed the plot

I wasn’t sure where to put Toradora, I don’t have anything too bad to say about it other than characters being immature and me not exactly shipping anyone. But I enjoyed the character drama at the time it wasn’t annoying like the ghost banri s*** in Golden Time. It’s possible that I just watched it earlier than other romcoms and I was less critical.

I considered holding off this list until I watch more but I’m just watching what I want and don’t feel pressure to just binge anime so I decided this is a good start

Yeah I completely get you. I got no beef with that at least you got a good well explained reason lol

watch a real romcom