| I have a really hard time getting involved in purely romance shows - not counting ecchi and drama. I've tried a couple of times but maybe I'm going into it wrong? What if, I'm going in with the expectations of an action fan perhaps. Or maybe I'm watching the wrong shows. What is to be expected from a good romance shows? Like, what to look for in a romance to know if it's good or not? Bonus question: how do you prefer your romance? Slow and steady? Fast and dramatic? Explicit or implicit? Straight, GL or BL? |
BakchosAug 24, 2019 6:20 PM
 Leading biologist Scott Pitnick said: The bigger your 'nads, the smaller your brains |
| It's kinda like comedy in the sense that it matters on how you personally view it. With romance, it has to do mostly with how well you ship the characters involved (i.e., how well you think they are for each other). There's no real concrete formula for a 'good' romance just like there isn't one for a good comedy, even if one seems to hit all the high notes, it may still end up being bad Like Kanojo, Okarishimasu manga has some nice development between the main male and female leads, yet not a lot of people I've seen actually want the pairing to happen cause there are so many better girls in the series As for the bonus question, I prefer fast romances, but not too fast. Hetero as well, I can do ok with BL but GL not at all |
 'On-Hold' is another way for a completionist to say 'Dropped' |
| This is an easy one for me as it's very evident. Incest, plain and simple. Age gap. Transgressive love. Anything but standard milquetoast guy plus standard milquetoast girl from equivalent life stations and socio-economic strata. It doesn't have to be incestuous, but anything which portrays a transgressive/non-normative connection between people. I wouldn't cite romance as either my favorite genre or even in my top five (romantic comedy films, for example, are just about the only subgenre I actively refuse to watch), but one of my favorite shows in existence is a romance and without this aspect it wouldn't be. |
WatchTillTandava said: I really really enjoyed DomeKano and given what some people ranted about its degeneracy, I think it fits your description so I can really agree with you. But isn't that more drama than romance though?This is an easy one for me as it's very evident. Incest, plain and simple. Age gap. Transgressive love. Anything but standard milquetoast guy plus standard milquetoast girl from equivalent life stations and socio-economic strata. It doesn't have to be incestuous, but anything which portrays a transgressive/non-normative connection between people. |
Leading biologist Scott Pitnick said: The bigger your 'nads, the smaller your brains |
| I can't say I'm the biggest romance person, but like another person said it comes down to preferences. Personally my favorite 'romance' you can say is from Recovery of an MMO Junkie. I liked how the main couple in that show started as friends, you know venting to each other and stuff, and then eventually developing feelings. Basically, a romance is interesting to me when I see how the couple interacts with each other. I just prefer things on the sweet side, rather than spicy. |
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| I've come to realize in the past few years that romance is my favorite genre of anime, and consequently the one I'm most critical about. Very few anime treat the theme of love with the maturity or respect it deserves. Shows like Wotakoi, for example, have love in name only, while others like Kimi ni Todoke and Toradora just blue ball you until you give up. It's hard to know if a romance show will be good or not without actually watching it, but if it is "Josei" and not "Shoujo" that's a start (don't trust MAL though, tags here make no sense). Extra points if it's not set in highschool or if there's no harem in it. The ones I've liked the most were Nana (possibly the "realest" anime I've ever watched) and Maison Ikokku (long-running romance, currently watching and loving it so far). Working, Servant x Service and Tsurezure Children are very good but more comedy than romance (finding good 100% romance shows out there is kind of hard). Ore Monogatari and MMO Junkie are ok. I'm also watching Araburu Kisetsu right now and so far it's been really good (minus a few creepy moments). EDIT: Almost forgot. If one or more characters seem kind of "rapey" just drop it. Don't even waste your time. |
AnotherGuyAug 24, 2019 7:26 PM
Bakchos said: WatchTillTandava said: I really really enjoyed DomeKano and given what some people ranted about its degeneracy, I think it fits your description so I can really agree with you. But isn't that more drama than romance though?This is an easy one for me as it's very evident. Incest, plain and simple. Age gap. Transgressive love. Anything but standard milquetoast guy plus standard milquetoast girl from equivalent life stations and socio-economic strata. It doesn't have to be incestuous, but anything which portrays a transgressive/non-normative connection between people. I haven't seen it so can't comment on which genre I think is most prominent, but don't romance and drama often go hand in hand? Drama can go seamlessly with anything be it romance, adventure, action/war, etc., so I wouldn't say they're mutually exclusive. Transgressive love stories though tend to have equal parts from the Drama and often Psychological genres. |
| As with every other story, it's how good the conflict is, how well-written the characters and what are the stakes. Every story needs a good conflict, but with romance it usually is 'they don't realize their feelings', which isn't very engaging for too long. I prefer watching a relationship develop than to watch someone be a pussy for 12 episodes. Two of my favorites are romances: Yagate Kimi ni Naru and Kuzu no Honkai (the latter arguably not being a traditional romance for breaking the mold a bit). They are both great but for different reasons. YagaKimi is great because 1) Yuu and Touko are great characters, well-developed, realistic and incredibly easy to like; 2) it's a great twist on the 'they don't realize their feelings' ; and 3) love is built and not borne. All of this makes for a compelling story (much due to Nakatani's amazing writing), therefore it's a great romance. I like Kuzu no Honkai (not a very popular opinion) because 1) Hanabi's conflicts are a great character study, bringing the watcher together on a experience through a tormented girl's journey through sexuality and figuring what love is; 2) ; and 3) also 'love' is built and not borne. |
KosmonautAug 24, 2019 7:12 PM
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| Drama. I LOVE drama in romance shows, the way it spices shit up never fails to captivate me. |
Once you realize that what others think about what you enjoy doesn't matter, you will finally be free |
| Foe me, it's drama plot which makes an anime more romantic like your lie in April,your name, a silent voice, relife, dome X kano, Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo,Darling in the franxx, Oregairu S2. And one main part,either male falls for female or female falls for male, they should just just confess it,or else it makes the story pretty bad and boring in many anime like-Ao haru ride, gekkan Shoujo, Kimi no todoke these are all romance anime in which female protagonist falls for male Mc in 1st episode but never confess till to the last. It kinda irrites that me that it's a romantic anime but there is really no real romance. I usually excitedly start to watch a romantic anime thinking about that there should be some quick development in their love so that I can watch how the story further moves but in either anime they do not confess even they love together or even if they confess then in the last moments of last episode. And I never got to see how relationship moves after love. |
_aLiez_LINAug 24, 2019 7:19 PM
| "When they're alive, you can enjoy watching them struggle. When they're dead, you can enjoy tearing out their guts. Tales are things you get to enjoy twice." |
| I don’t feel like answering this right now, but I’ll probably edit something in later. For now, I’ll just say this: 2 characters that are in a romantic relationship must never be defined by that relationship alone. |
| To judge others by your own standard is the height of folly. |
WatchTillTandava said: If you like non-normative transgressive romance, I highly recommend DomeKano. I think it gets a bad rep but it's actually quite good.Bakchos said: I really really enjoyed DomeKano and given what some people ranted about its degeneracy, I think it fits your description so I can really agree with you. But isn't that more drama than romance though? I haven't seen it so can't comment on which genre I think is most prominent, but don't romance and drama often go hand in hand? Drama can go seamlessly with anything be it romance, adventure, action/war, etc., so I wouldn't say they're mutually exclusive. Transgressive love stories though tend to have equal parts from the Drama and often Psychological genres. |
Leading biologist Scott Pitnick said: The bigger your 'nads, the smaller your brains |
| Anything that seems natural and develops over the series and isn't instant gratification randomly in one episode. |
Bakchos said: I have a really hard time getting involved in purely romance shows - not counting ecchi and drama. Could be they just aren't for you. I've given up with certain types of very shounen action shows myself. Bakchos said: I've tried a couple of times but maybe I'm going into it wrong? What if, I'm going in with the expectations of an action fan perhaps. Or maybe I'm watching the wrong shows. Could be any of those things I guess. But I don't think one can "fix" taste. You can't just say "I'm going to have different expectations" or anything like that. When you start anything you want to be a blank slate, free of expectations of preconceptions. Just let the narrative kind of be absorbed by yourself. That's a weird way to phrase it but I think it's the way to be. People are different though and maybe none of what I say applies to you. Maybe you best experience anime by taking on a certain mindset and trying to view stuff through certain lenses. Seems strange to me, but whatever works for people so they enjoy anime as much as possible is cool, I guess. I'm not sure I really believe that, but whatever, could be wrong. Bakchos said: Or maybe I'm watching the wrong shows. Could definitely be. I was thinking of giving you some recommendations, but... thinking about how you phrased your OP, I don't understand something. How can you have a "pure" romance show without drama? A romance show without drama is just two people getting together and everything works out fine. Nothing happens. Romance cannot exist without drama or comedy. I guess you could have a romance SOL? But I don't think that's good romance. Most good romance stories have a hefty helping of drama. Here are a couple quick recs anyway: Clannad and the second season Clannad: After Story. A classic of anime. First season is harem school dramedy and not bad, about a third of the way through the second season it goes balls deep heavy drama and it's really really good. Bloom in to You is a yuri romance. Very... how to put it? Very tender feeling. It really takes its romance seriously. Bakchos said: What is to be expected from a good romance shows? Like, what to look for in a romance to know if it's good or not? There's not really something to "look for" and I disagree with the mentality that you should analyze a show while watching it. If it's good, you will like it. The experience of watching it will be pleasurable. There are things to look for in terms of your own reactions though, I guess. If a romance show is good, you will like both sides of the ship and will want to see them get together. The idea of them doing the hand-holdy kissy-kissy maybe more naughty stuff winkwink... yeah, the idea of that stuff will make you feel excited. Bakchos said: Bonus question: how do you prefer your romance? Slow and steady? Fast and dramatic? Explicit or implicit? Straight, GL or BL? Slow, with payoff is best. Fast and dramatic can be good too. Excplicit is best when done right, which is almost never. Implicit can be frustrating if the physical element is ignored completely, which is all too often. I'm good with straight or yuri. Not in to dudes. |
| “In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.” -Friedrich Nietzsche Aggregate scoring is bad for the anime fandom |
| comedy bruh, it makes characters much more likeable |
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| Simple less "who gets the girl" or "who gets the boy", better chemistry between characters, love triangles taken lightly and less soapy romance. |
Chhotyu said: Foe me, it's drama plot which makes an anime more romantic like your lie in April,your name, a silent voice, relife, dome X kano, Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo,Darling in the franxx, Oregairu S2. And one main part,either male falls for female or female falls for male, they should just just confess it,or else it makes the story pretty bad and boring in many anime like-Ao haru ride, gekkan Shoujo, Kimi no todoke these are all romance anime in which female protagonist falls for male Mc in 1st episode but never confess till to the last. It kinda irrites that me that it's a romantic anime but there is really no real romance. I usually excitedly start to watch a romantic anime thinking about that there should be some quick development in their love so that I can watch how the story further moves but in either anime they do not confess even they love together or even if they confess then in the last moments of last episode. And I never got to see how relationship moves after love. tbf Gekkan Shoujo was never really gonna have a proper romance in it considering it's a gag series meant to parody shoujo romances (and the shoujo genre as a whole) lol |
'On-Hold' is another way for a completionist to say 'Dropped' |
Short_Circut said: Chhotyu said: Foe me, it's drama plot which makes an anime more romantic like your lie in April,your name, a silent voice, relife, dome X kano, Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo,Darling in the franxx, Oregairu S2. And one main part,either male falls for female or female falls for male, they should just just confess it,or else it makes the story pretty bad and boring in many anime like-Ao haru ride, gekkan Shoujo, Kimi no todoke these are all romance anime in which female protagonist falls for male Mc in 1st episode but never confess till to the last. It kinda irrites that me that it's a romantic anime but there is really no real romance. I usually excitedly start to watch a romantic anime thinking about that there should be some quick development in their love so that I can watch how the story further moves but in either anime they do not confess even they love together or even if they confess then in the last moments of last episode. And I never got to see how relationship moves after love. tbf Gekkan Shoujo was never really gonna have a proper romance in it considering it's a gag series meant to parody shoujo romances (and the shoujo genre as a whole) lol Hey! If Gekkan Shoujo is your favourite then sorry about that. |
| "When they're alive, you can enjoy watching them struggle. When they're dead, you can enjoy tearing out their guts. Tales are things you get to enjoy twice." |
Chhotyu said: Short_Circut said: tbf Gekkan Shoujo was never really gonna have a proper romance in it considering it's a gag series meant to parody shoujo romances (and the shoujo genre as a whole) lol Hey! If Gekkan Shoujo is your favourite then sorry about that. oh, no I didn't mean it like that lmao I'm just saying that Gekkan Shoujo was never really a 'romantic anime' like you said in that post since it's a gag series xd |
'On-Hold' is another way for a completionist to say 'Dropped' |
Short_Circut said: oh, no I didn't mean it like that lmao I'm just saying that Gekkan Shoujo was never really a 'romantic anime' like you said in that post since it's a gag series xd I just write it coz it was under romance genre.You can see Darling in the Franxx is even not a romance genre anime but it has well developed proper romance so I thought if Gekkan Shoujo is under romance genre then there may should some. |
| "When they're alive, you can enjoy watching them struggle. When they're dead, you can enjoy tearing out their guts. Tales are things you get to enjoy twice." |
Chhotyu said: Short_Circut said: oh, no I didn't mean it like that lmao I'm just saying that Gekkan Shoujo was never really a 'romantic anime' like you said in that post since it's a gag series xd I just write it coz it was under romance genre.You can see Darling in the Franxx is even not a romance genre anime but it has well developed proper romance so I thought if Gekkan Shoujo is under romance genre then there may should some. They already added the romance tag to Darling in the Franxx though? But yeah, MAL tags are weird especially with the romance genre, there are lots of shows that have good amounts of romance that aren't tagged as such, and shows that have absolutely fuk all romance that are tagged |
'On-Hold' is another way for a completionist to say 'Dropped' |
| For me personally, I think it's the development between the characters that make a romance show interesting. I don't like those shows where they obviously have feelings for each other from the very start and it takes a long time for them to even say anything, but I do understand how scary love can be. It's just a show focused on confessing love kind of gets boring and frustrating after some time. But I am semi-picky with the development of feelings as well. If it's the cliche "Holy shit I'm in love" trope that tends to come out of the blue then that's usually not my cup of tea. I love it when the character(s) know from the start or when the protagonist knows they're in love, but tend to deny it and not accept reality. Another thing is romance shows avoiding the fantasy land kind of love, or anything one sees in Disney films. The magical feeling of falling in love doesn't happen, or at least from what I know. Love is messy. It can end or change you. There will always be a conflict. I like shows that acknowledge that. |
| That's absolutely subjective. I like extremely innocent and cute, almost naive romances with a main cast of adorable and likeable personalities that just make me feel fluffy all the time, even when there's some drama, because it is concluded in reasonable ways (for example Nodame Cantabile or Kimi ni Todoke, they both have drama, but they are just as fluffy as something like Ore Monogatari which largely avoids drama). Some people might call these unrealistic, but I prefer to just see them as idealistic, as the type of relationship and people that is worth idealizing and striving for, rather than glorifying the ugliness and bad aspects of people and relationships by dismissing any romance that isn't depressing as 'unrealistic' and therefore 'bad'. I can also appreciate some of the edgier, more depressing or dramatic takes, but I find those to be a LOT more hit and miss for me, and mostly miss tbh. Nana was fantastic, but other stuff like Kuzu no Honkai just made me cringe and cringe and not enjoy watching them at all. I like anime romance because, unlike a lot of western romance, it doesn't make everything hinge on sex, treating the 'rest' (the emotions, the longing, the bonding etc...) as baggage attached to horniness. Anime romance often doesn't need sex to make you feel the love betwene the characters, their chemistry and deep connection. It makes these things stand on its own, and that's what I like about it. And a lot of the edgy romance anime just kinda do the same thing western romance does, except in very 'puberty' ways that are even cringier to me than western romances who do the same with adults. At least for me it is very rare to encounter a romance story that involves a lot of sex where it doesn't feel that aspect is overshadowing the others. They definitely exist, but the way I personally weigh them is just pretty different than how society or the average person seems to weigh them which is why most of the time I don't get along with those types of stories and it's just more reliable to stick with the 'innocent' type of romance that only focuses on the parts of romance that I'm interested in. Basically, and you might not like hearing this, even after decades of watching and thousands of titles romance is still a genre where I can't really make an educated guess in terms of whether I'll like it or not before I actually watch it. It might just be me, but I get more annoyed and frustrated with characters that don't make sense to me when it is in a romantic context, and you never know when something like that will happen until you watch the show. And you can't rely on public opinion either. Both Just Because and especially Tsuki ga Kirei have been pretty well received, but I pretty much hated them and found them to be terrible romances with frustrating and annoying characters. In the end the only thing I can tell you to look out for is the main characters and their chemistry. Watch a few eps, if you're intrigued or entertained or amused or get your heart warmed by the main characters, then you should be able to enjoy it almost no matter what comes. If you're meh about them, move on to the next one. Whenever I stick with a romance show despite being meh about it early on, it just gets worse (see Tsuki ga Kirei and Just Because). Only exception to that was Maison Ikkoku, and even there I'm not sure it's worth sitting through a lot of the earlier, frustrating episodes even tho there is a great conclusion at the end. |
| I probably regret this post by now. |
Bakchos said: WatchTillTandava said: If you like non-normative transgressive romance, I highly recommend DomeKano. I think it gets a bad rep but it's actually quite good.I haven't seen it so can't comment on which genre I think is most prominent, but don't romance and drama often go hand in hand? Drama can go seamlessly with anything be it romance, adventure, action/war, etc., so I wouldn't say they're mutually exclusive. Transgressive love stories though tend to have equal parts from the Drama and often Psychological genres. thats like the worst "romance" you can recommend, straight up garbage |
Bakchos said: What is to be expected from a good romance shows? Like, what to look for in a romance to know if it's good or not? What makes the Romance genre good is because of the Character development between the MC and the Heroine. Almost always 90% of the time there's a substantial development that happens when there's Romance. (Most people seem to think that I or most people loves romance because we're hopeless romantics, but that isn't always the case.) I dislike most harems, even if it is romance, because there's no development, only fanservice. = Development > Plot. I'm a fan of all Romance sub-genre except GL/BL. I'm a huge fan of Romance, so if you need some recs, I can give you some. |
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| I'm so glad I came across this thread as I've been looking for deeper more meaningful romance anime shows recently. I've watched Spice and Wolf, which I really enjoyed for the mature way it deals with the blossoming feelings the characters feel for each other. As someone above mentioned already, I too dislike it when the MC is oblivious to the feelings of love and we get a tortuous ride as they stumble onwards until eventually something happens to shove it in their face (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzimiya is a good example). I'm tired of MC's who act like a pussy & don't do anything even when they have strong feelings. My favourite romance shows atm would be Domestic Girlfriend, Fairy Tail (the development of the relationships between Natsu/Lucy and Gray/Juvia, plus Levy/Gajeel have been fun to watch) Spice & Wolf and Chuunybiou, but all for different reasons. I've got some good shows to watch from reading the above comments, so looking forward to watching these ^_^ |
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deltablu said: 23feanor said: I'm tired of MC's who act like a pussy & don't do anything even when they have strong feelings. ^This. Also MC's (mostly male, but some females too) who act like 10 year olds afraid to get cooties when touched or kissed. Or the indirect kiss thing, like it's some taboo. And most of these are characters that are supposed to be highschool (so 14-18 ish), not toddlers. I just don't get that behaviour & it winds me up. |
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| i like romances when both leads have qualities that their counterpart would be realistically attracted to. that's the main reason why i've never been big on harem shows, as it's pretty standard that the protagonist isn't much more than "nice" |
| For me, it's the age gap (young male/female with older male/female), the issue of a siscon or brocon. The is it love or lost (potential ntr experiment to figure out if you feel guilty towards your partner after commuting the deed), which takes precedent, fetishes. I prefer my romance controversial, so fast and dramatic I guess. I choose Explicit, since all other feelings of affection can take a more implicit form (lust, friendship, rivalry and hostility). In this case I would prefer either straight and GL(I assume yuri/Shoujo ai). I do like my BL(yaoi/shounen ai) however since I am looking for a more dramatic, messy, twisted plot, I think yaoi is a little to pure and innocent (clean) to provide me what I crave. |
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| Interesting and well-written characters, a really obvious answer but most romance anime seem to have forgotten it |
| Characters with realistic chemistry between them, like their relationship seems real. They start off as strangers/friends and slowly become closer, not a lot of romance I see does this. I also like romances that deal with problems during the relationship (Conflict) as this can also be seen as realistic |
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| comedy bruh, comedy is best way to bond two people. No comedy then show just feels a lil bland and you dont care for characters as much |
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| To me I think it would be the characters. Mainly the one's in love. |
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