In the adult world, romance isn’t always like high school love and it can be quite mature. Having a girl remove articles of clothing—like in Chobits or Love Hina—can be expected and, while it can sometimes happen in a comical manner, the bottom line is that it does happen. Ecchi often utilizes clothing removal for comedic—and other—purposes but as a result, this concept makes that particular scene feel more realistic. Yes, clothes won’t always explode off a person like in some silly anime—we’re looking at you Negima—but when done well it shows a level of reality that more romance needs to be okay with.

Speaking of drama, here’s a fun fact. Most of the mature romance anime out there—like Domestic Girlfriend—are usually given an ecchi tag when it comes to showing what genres to expect from the show. Scenes where a guy walks in on a girl undressing aren’t just meant to create nosebleeds for us otaku but can also propel a moment just a bit further by adding some drama or relationship evolution. What better way to see if a couple can move just a bit further into their relationship than getting them half-naked and ready to see what else they can do before one of them panics and turns beet red.

Alright, we here at Honey’s Anime will admit that ecchi—especially when it involves oppai—often is used to grab a viewer’s attention and keep him/her interested in the scene playing out. Many of us can be quite addicted to the ecchi world and creators/animators are truly aware of our weakness. However, having oppai and pantsu show on screen left and right is what makes many of us otaku want to watch a romance anime in the first place. Just check on MAL and you’ll notice some of the best-rated romance anime isn’t afraid to include ecchi; like the Monogatari series or the more recent Horimiya.

Here’s one of our last arguments for why ecchi needs to be in most romance anime. Unlike most sub-genres, ecchi is like a multi-tool. If you need a scene to be comedic but romantic, why not throw in some oppai reveals? Need that tear-jerking scene to become a bit comical? Make the skirts fly up thanks to that perfectly-timed gust of wind. Ecchi can be used in nearly every genre because it’s versatile and that makes it the perfect companion to the world of romance anime.