A romantic relationship, at least for most of us, develops very slowly especially when we don’t have a lot of experience. At some point the world decides you need to meet someone and the wheels go in motion to bring you together. A romance doesn’t have to burn with a fiery passion from the get-go and that is true of 9th graders Akane Mizuno and Kotarou Azumi. Akane is an anxiety-prone girl who tries not to let her worries overwhelm her. Kotarou is a quiet and introverted boy who does traditional dance as a member of the neighborhood association and dreams of becoming a writer. The two don’t really travel in the same circles in school yet find themselves coming together at random times. And each time they part they each have a feeling of yearning to have spent more time. The relationship develops like a lot of young love in the modern age over texting late at night in bed. We get to watch and relate as these young lovers agonize over the wording of each message as they try to say the most benign things and the most important things at the same time.

We love these two because despite each of them having suitors that balance their introverted natures with the enthusiasm of an extravert, they each realize that no one can understands them like the other. The chance to take a slow look at a relationship as it develops and watch their feelings grow, get hurt, heal and be rekindled is one of the reasons we love this adorable couple. Akane and Kotarou are so careful about expressing their feelings that they can be frustrating at times but in the end, it pays off, especially in the scene after the end credits in the final episode; it will fill your heart with warmth.

We’ve all seen the story of the bad boy and the quiet girl falling in love. The tale of Yamada and Shirashi is pretty much that, with the exception of witchcraft being added to the mix. Yamada, the school tough guy, is walking on the stairs when he collides with quiet, intelligent, beautiful Shirashi and they fall down the steps and accidentally kiss. The kiss in this case isn’t the important part. The important part is Yamada and Shirashi switch bodies. A story begins where the emotional Yamada and stoic Shirashi begin investigating the supernatural phenomena at their school and discover they are the only ones with a power.

We love this couple because from almost the moment they meet you can tell that they each fill a role in the other’s life. Yamada is struck by Shirashi’s stoic matter-of-fact nature and that she is not intimidated by him at all. She simply accepts him for who he is. We even get a glimpse that she likes him early on when she refuses to kiss anyone else during an experiment on her body-swapping ability. Shirashi is lonely, she lacks close friends or any intimate bond, and Yamada fills that role. You really can’t get more intimate than body swapping. We also get a sense early on that he likes her too, as one the first things he does is stick up for her when she is bullied by other girls. We like a couple that complements each other and these two definitely do. Yamada wants someone to protect and gets not only that but someone that motivates him to be more than just a tough guy. Shirashi gets someone that not only cares for her but motivates her as well by giving her someone to cheer her on and be proud of her. The story has been told before, but you can’t help but be happy for the two when they finally kiss, not just to swap bodies but for love.

We’ve all seen that couple, the beautiful one, the one that makes you think they’re so gorgeous and pretty and so lovey-dovey that they make you jealous and sick to your stomach. Shirayuki and Zen are just that couple, only in anime. Shirayuki (Snow White) has apple-red hair. Her vibrant red hair is a very rare thing in the medieval world she lives in; it’s so rare that men are entranced by it to the point of wanting her as a prize. She flees from the kingdom she grew up in only to be kidnapped by a group of bandits. Shirayuki is fortunate to be rescued by Prince Zen of Clarines and his companions. Right from the beginning the sparks start to fly. Zen is head over heels for the commoner, which can cause problems later, and offers her refuge and protection in his kingdom. She begins a job as a court apothecary and the adventures and courtship begin.

We can’t help but love watching Zen wrestle with his feelings for Shirayuki as he balances his responsibilities to the kingdom and his love for the truly uncommon commoner he rescued. Zen is the classic white knight always charging to the rescue yet he is always tentative when it comes to expressing his feelings for Shirayuki, even though everyone in their orbit knows exactly how they feel for each other. Shirayuki is also cautious, especially when it comes to dealing with men. She has the right to be cautious considering men have attempted to kidnap and possess her most of her life. We get to watch her overcome her insecurities and build the bonds of trust with Zen. She and Zen both realize they have to figure themselves out first and understand their own hopes and dreams before committing to each other. The story is quite sweet and you (along with the rest of the people in their orbit) often find yourself shouting JUST KISS ALREADY!

Who says love is for the young? We know there are many of us who never had that high school relationship, who never had the college one either, who just never made a connection with anyone until one day when we’ve just about given up, we find them and it changes our lives. The story of Moriko and Yuuta is just that kind of story. The 30-year-old Moriko has willfully become a NEET (Not in Employment Education or Training). She got burned out, quit her job and is now unemployed after 12 years of office work. Moriko decides to dive back into the world of MMOs she enjoyed when she was younger. She decided to join a MMO guild and make new online friends. Yuuta is an up-and-coming young man who works an office job by day and is an MMO player by night. The two meet online and decide to partner up; the catch is their avatars’ genders are the reverse of the players. A wonderful romantic comedy begins as the two fall in love online. The only question is will that translate to a real-world romance?

Moriko and Yuuta are an adorable couple and begin in the best way possible: they talk. They become friends online, they don’t know if the person on the other end is male or female, gay or straight, married or single, a student or pensioner, they just know that the burden of life feels easier when they have the chance to talk. We watch the relationship grow beyond the game and that makes us feel wonderful. We get joy from watching Moriko realize that she is in love and not understanding what exactly to do with the feelings she has. Then we become overjoyed when we see her happiness fulfilled. We think in a world of anime that is dominated by overpowered high school teens it is quite refreshing to see a couple of adults find love.

The tale of two dragons and an office worker living in an apartment in Tokyo where one of the dragons is a maid and the other is an elementary schooler is the kind of thing you’d only see in anime and manga. Kobayashi is an office worker that goes out drinking one night and on the way home stumbles across a wounded dragon in the woods. She saves the dragon’s life and the next day answers the door of her apartment to see the dragon standing there and transforming into a young woman. The dragon, Tooru, announces that she will repay Kobayashi by becoming her maid. We also find out that Tooru is in love with Kobayashi, though the plan-spoken office worker doesn’t seem intent on returning her romantic feelings. The two are eventually joined by Kanna, a dragon child, whom the two take care of as if they were her mothers. The story is absolutely sweet as we watch the three form the bonds of family in a world that may not understand their genuine love for each other.

You don’t need to look further than the fourth episode of the series, titled Kanna Goes to School, to understand all the warm and fuzzies it has to offer. The story details Kanna’s jealousy of the other elementary aged kids; she wants to go to school. She goes shopping with Tooru and Kobayashi and like any elementary student is excited to get school supplies. You smile as Kobayashi notices that the little dragon wants a cute pen and notebook but is afraid to ask for it only to be indulged by her surrogate mother. We are treated to Kanna playing and getting to know the human world better after a rainy day and Kobayashi and Tooru just smiling and watching like the loving parents they are. The idea that we can love each other whether male or female, dragon or human is the moral of this story. The relationship is filled with so much love and cuteness it has to the be the cutest anime relationship in recent years.