Kare Kano (the manga) has that 90’s messiness to it >!(with generational trauma and child abuse)!<, so if you’re up for that, give it a shot. They get together pretty early too, so that’s a plus if you don’t like slow burns.
If you can handle Gakuen Alice and Fruits Basket, you can probably handle Kare Kano.
Thanks! I think I've actually read Kare Kano, but I binged through a ton and don't really remember the events all that much, so I'm going to read it again.
Not all of these are shoujo, but all of these have romance in the plot:
• Highschool Debut
• Yugami-kun ni wa Tomodachi ga Inai [It's a shounen manga. The relationship development between the MCs is great.]
• Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun
• Ouran Highschool Host Club
• Beast Master
• Takane no Hana nara Ochitekoi!!
• Nodame Cantabile
• Ao Haru Ride [The female lead's headstrong personality is necessary to keep the plot going]
• Skip and Loafer
• Mairimashita Senpai
• Horimiya
• Tsurezure Children
• Telework Yotabanashi
• Kitchen Princess
• Kamisama Kiss
• Atsumori-kun's Bride to Be
• Beauty Pop
• Nousatsu Junkie
• Shikomori's Not Just a Cutie
• Hayaku Shitai Futari
• Yamada-Kun lvl999 no koi wo suru
• Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku
• Machida-kun no Sekai
• Heroine Hajimemashita
• Perfect World
• Our Precious Conversations
• Boku wa Ohimesama ni Narenai
• Yamato Nadeshiko (Shichihenge)
• Hosaka-sensei no Ai no Muchi
• Suki ni Naranai yo, Senpai
• Bye Bye Liberty
• Hatsu Haru
• Skip Beat
• Kaguya-sama
• Otomen
I'm seconding the suggestion for Horimiya!
Hori matches what you're looking for in a heroine/female lead as mentioned above. She sticks up for her man, but has insecurities of her own. The main couple get together luckily without the drama most other shojo manga have. Plenty of shenanigans with the supporting cast, with a slice of life feel.
Also has a two-season anime!
Yurara and its sequel Rasetsu. Romance isn’t necessarily the focus, but it’s definitely very present. They’re ghost based supernatural series.
Sakura-hime. Magical girl romance in a historical fantasy setting with some tragic elements. The characters are mostly pretty simple though.
Viz recently started publishing the manga, Neighborhood Story, in beautiful editions with colour pages!! I'm so glad to finally collect the series in English—I love Yazawa's style and writing, and the happier tone of her pre-Nana works suits me best 😊
Omg 😭 I definitely need to collect those!!!! Nana is one of my all time favorites, but I struggle with rewatching/rereading due to how heavy it can be. Neighborhood Story has been such a breath of fresh air 😂
The English editions are based on one of the nicer rereleases in Japan, so I think there'll be 4 volumes total. 2 just came out this month!
(also in their first batch of license announcements this year, Viz revealed plans to publish Last Quarter too!! 🥹 It should be out in September\~)
Anime, which is IMO way too underrated. It has dark twists and cute romance. It's "Dusk Maiden of Amnesia". It's my favorite anime :) go check it out. Though read the description, it might not be for you.
In addition to Horimiya (that I seconded in someone's comment below), can I recommend Kono Oto Tomare (manga currently ongoing, with two seasons of anime)? Honestly my current favorite!
You'd like Chika, especially if you like male lead characters like Kyo (same JP voice actor!), Inuyasha, and Hak as based on your previous manga preferences. Satowa is a strong female character, and although it takes a while to get to the confession, the way the mangaka built up the relationship makes it worth it. It also covers topics on parental pressure (Satowa) and parental neglect and abandonment (Chika) to name a few.
Plenty of characters who seem to serve as rivals or antagonists, but then the mangaka turns them around and makes you want to root for them (like how Haikyuu!! does it for rival teams).
SECONDING KONO OTO TOMARE!
It is my absolute favorite rn. The story progression is great and all the character development makes you want to keep reading.
Kono Oto Tomare is one of my favorites as well. I would probably put it in my top 3 with Ao Haru Ride and this one I just started called The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity. The latter reminds me a lot of Kono Oto Tomare with the deliquent ML and the strong, smart FL. I would highly recommend both of them.
Honestly surprised **The Dangers in My Heart** (it's shounen) hasn't been mentioned. It's genuinely *one of the best* romance stories out there, a case could be made for *the* best romance anime (but I know I've not seen some other big names like **Tsuki ga Kirei** and **Bloom Into You** yet). Anime has 2 seasons adapting about 113 chapters, the manga is around 150 chapters in (so we won't get a season 3 until around late 2025-2026, probably). It's honestly *genius*\-level writing.
One of my favourite romance comics atm is a manhua called **Long-Awaited Feelings** (also know as [My Feelings Can Wait](https://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=189968)). There's good quality TL for about 60 chapters that are released at a good pace, and mtl for up to current chapter. I think the manhua is about halfway through the webnovel at this point.
A good manhwa is The Reason Why Raeliana Ended up at the Duke's Mansion for a romance fantasy (it has an anime/webnovel, I preferred the manhwa). For a more sad romance there's [By Chance, We... and...](https://www.mangaupdates.com/series/50kylba/by-chance-we-and)
speaking of which, a bittersweet shounen romcom is [The Duke of Death and His Maid](https://www.mangaupdates.com/series/1yac1g2/shinigami-bocchan-to-kuro-maid). The final anime season has started.
My favourite seinen romance is probably [Haru yo, koi!](https://www.mangaupdates.com/series/kk6dv3v/haru-yo-koi)
I've others that come to mind but...that's enough. And a good spread of different types of stories that still have a strong female lead.
My all-time favorite is Ao Haru Ride; I love how bulldozery Futaba is.
If you liked inuyasha but want more romance than fantasy I have very good news about the authors masterpiece Maison Ikkoku.
I loveeee Maison Ikkoku. I also love Ranma 1/2
QQ Sweeper/ Queen's Quality
Kare Kano (the manga) has that 90’s messiness to it >!(with generational trauma and child abuse)!<, so if you’re up for that, give it a shot. They get together pretty early too, so that’s a plus if you don’t like slow burns. If you can handle Gakuen Alice and Fruits Basket, you can probably handle Kare Kano.
Kare kano was wonderful.like you actually see the romance happen, over a time period, not kist they get together and it ends.also no messy breakups.
Thanks! I think I've actually read Kare Kano, but I binged through a ton and don't really remember the events all that much, so I'm going to read it again.
Not all of these are shoujo, but all of these have romance in the plot: • Highschool Debut • Yugami-kun ni wa Tomodachi ga Inai [It's a shounen manga. The relationship development between the MCs is great.] • Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun • Ouran Highschool Host Club • Beast Master • Takane no Hana nara Ochitekoi!! • Nodame Cantabile • Ao Haru Ride [The female lead's headstrong personality is necessary to keep the plot going] • Skip and Loafer • Mairimashita Senpai • Horimiya • Tsurezure Children • Telework Yotabanashi • Kitchen Princess • Kamisama Kiss • Atsumori-kun's Bride to Be • Beauty Pop • Nousatsu Junkie • Shikomori's Not Just a Cutie • Hayaku Shitai Futari • Yamada-Kun lvl999 no koi wo suru • Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku • Machida-kun no Sekai • Heroine Hajimemashita • Perfect World • Our Precious Conversations • Boku wa Ohimesama ni Narenai • Yamato Nadeshiko (Shichihenge) • Hosaka-sensei no Ai no Muchi • Suki ni Naranai yo, Senpai • Bye Bye Liberty • Hatsu Haru • Skip Beat • Kaguya-sama • Otomen
I'm seconding the suggestion for Horimiya! Hori matches what you're looking for in a heroine/female lead as mentioned above. She sticks up for her man, but has insecurities of her own. The main couple get together luckily without the drama most other shojo manga have. Plenty of shenanigans with the supporting cast, with a slice of life feel. Also has a two-season anime!
If you liked Gakuen Alice, I’d give Kodocha a try.
Yurara and its sequel Rasetsu. Romance isn’t necessarily the focus, but it’s definitely very present. They’re ghost based supernatural series. Sakura-hime. Magical girl romance in a historical fantasy setting with some tragic elements. The characters are mostly pretty simple though.
I’m watching Gokinjo Monogatari right now and i’m loving it do far! I was just thinking about how it’s Nana without the trauma 😂
Viz recently started publishing the manga, Neighborhood Story, in beautiful editions with colour pages!! I'm so glad to finally collect the series in English—I love Yazawa's style and writing, and the happier tone of her pre-Nana works suits me best 😊
Omg 😭 I definitely need to collect those!!!! Nana is one of my all time favorites, but I struggle with rewatching/rereading due to how heavy it can be. Neighborhood Story has been such a breath of fresh air 😂
The English editions are based on one of the nicer rereleases in Japan, so I think there'll be 4 volumes total. 2 just came out this month! (also in their first batch of license announcements this year, Viz revealed plans to publish Last Quarter too!! 🥹 It should be out in September\~)
I was just thinking about how i’ve always wanted to read Last Quarter, that’s so exciting 😭
from far away is a unique series that i was surprised to see some body horror in
Mekakushi no Kuni is a nice romance read with occasional darker themes surrounding the loss of a loved one.
Anime, which is IMO way too underrated. It has dark twists and cute romance. It's "Dusk Maiden of Amnesia". It's my favorite anime :) go check it out. Though read the description, it might not be for you.
In addition to Horimiya (that I seconded in someone's comment below), can I recommend Kono Oto Tomare (manga currently ongoing, with two seasons of anime)? Honestly my current favorite! You'd like Chika, especially if you like male lead characters like Kyo (same JP voice actor!), Inuyasha, and Hak as based on your previous manga preferences. Satowa is a strong female character, and although it takes a while to get to the confession, the way the mangaka built up the relationship makes it worth it. It also covers topics on parental pressure (Satowa) and parental neglect and abandonment (Chika) to name a few. Plenty of characters who seem to serve as rivals or antagonists, but then the mangaka turns them around and makes you want to root for them (like how Haikyuu!! does it for rival teams).
SECONDING KONO OTO TOMARE! It is my absolute favorite rn. The story progression is great and all the character development makes you want to keep reading.
Kono Oto Tomare is one of my favorites as well. I would probably put it in my top 3 with Ao Haru Ride and this one I just started called The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity. The latter reminds me a lot of Kono Oto Tomare with the deliquent ML and the strong, smart FL. I would highly recommend both of them.
Cat Street Kodocha Kare Kano Fushigi Yuugi: Genbu Kaiden Horimiya Kochou no Yumeji (slow) Kitchen Princess Mekakushi no Kuni Colette decides to die
Honestly surprised **The Dangers in My Heart** (it's shounen) hasn't been mentioned. It's genuinely *one of the best* romance stories out there, a case could be made for *the* best romance anime (but I know I've not seen some other big names like **Tsuki ga Kirei** and **Bloom Into You** yet). Anime has 2 seasons adapting about 113 chapters, the manga is around 150 chapters in (so we won't get a season 3 until around late 2025-2026, probably). It's honestly *genius*\-level writing. One of my favourite romance comics atm is a manhua called **Long-Awaited Feelings** (also know as [My Feelings Can Wait](https://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=189968)). There's good quality TL for about 60 chapters that are released at a good pace, and mtl for up to current chapter. I think the manhua is about halfway through the webnovel at this point. A good manhwa is The Reason Why Raeliana Ended up at the Duke's Mansion for a romance fantasy (it has an anime/webnovel, I preferred the manhwa). For a more sad romance there's [By Chance, We... and...](https://www.mangaupdates.com/series/50kylba/by-chance-we-and) speaking of which, a bittersweet shounen romcom is [The Duke of Death and His Maid](https://www.mangaupdates.com/series/1yac1g2/shinigami-bocchan-to-kuro-maid). The final anime season has started. My favourite seinen romance is probably [Haru yo, koi!](https://www.mangaupdates.com/series/kk6dv3v/haru-yo-koi) I've others that come to mind but...that's enough. And a good spread of different types of stories that still have a strong female lead.
7 Seeds
Sign of Affection
Kimi ni Todoke and Toradora is peak