A good romantic tale needs twists, turns, and the drama of competition! A Couple of Cuckoos have taken this line of logic to the extreme, with a love square between our protagonist Nagi Umino, his high school crush Hiro Segawa, the brash social media star Erika Amano, and his no longer sister by birth Sachi Umino, in possibly the most anime sounding love situations possible. See, Nagi and Erika were swapped at birth by accident and upon their meeting they find out Erika has had a marriage arranged by her parents so she uses Nagi as a fake boyfriend to try and get out of it, only to find out their parents had conspired for the two to marry to cancel out the issues of being raised by their non-biological parents. Not the simplest plot to follow but it makes for a complicated romance story with lots of misunderstandings and dramatic twists.

Romance anime are often about the journey our main couples go on to get into a relationship, but sometimes the fans want to watch an already established pair navigating life together. That is exactly what Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie brought for us this year, shaking up the typical romance anime formula for something more stable, seeing Yuu Izumi and Shikimori going through their high school lives as a couple from the start. Shikimori is cool, calm, and collected, perfectly complimenting the clumsiness of Izumi, tackling all of his bad luck in the most badass fashion, proving that she is more than meets the eye.

Instead of using high school to explore relationships organically, More than a married couple, but not lovers, take a look into what life would be like if your love life was predetermined by a school matching system. Forced to live like a married couple together, Jirou Yakujin is paired with the top gal of the school, Akan Watanabe instead of his childhood crush Shiori Sakurazaka meaning the two keep losing points as they struggle to get along. In typical anime fashion, the two butt-heads but slowly warm up to each other making the pairing perfect romance anime material.

Trying to keep things fresh we have limited the number of follow-up seasons on this list, but how could we avoid the sequel to one of the best romance anime of the last decade? Kaguya-sama Love is War continued with the big school festival arc that brought about a fantastic finale for romance fans of this wild tug-of-war between our iconic president and vice-president of the student council. Getting to see more between such a fierce couple is exactly what romance fans need, and the added side bonus of great characters like Chika and Ishigami puts Kaguya-sama Love is War up high as always.

My Dress-Up Darling was one of the most anticipated manga adaptations for 2022, especially amongst romance fans who have long touted it as an excellent love story, and it definitely delivered! The animation turned out fantastic from CloverWorks studio, bringing to life all of Marin Kitagawa’s amazing cosplays and Gojou’s fantastic costumes that have excellent attention to detail. This anime hit all the right points for a romance anime with a wholesome love story, the right amount of fan service, and a look into the world of cosplay. What more could a romance fan want?