2023 Romance Anime

Romance is a broad genre. There can be romance in everything, from the grittiest horror to the most magical fantasy. For those perhaps looking for a break from an often harsh reality, however, anime that focuses on the sweeter side of life can be a soothing balm, a guilty please, or even a comfort show. Rooting for a romance to succeed can be more exciting than even the most action-packed thriller.

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Romance anime can often provide unique premises too. If it didn't, every romance anime would be the same - and that's just not true. Take Fruits Basket, Toradora!, Ouran High School Host Club - they all have a unique premise with the main couple in a central role. In 2023, a lot of romance anime tends to land in the spring and summer anime seasons, a time when something light-hearted and pure most suits the season. Here are some of the best romance anime series' to fall for in 2023 (so far).

Updated July 2, 2023, by Rain Egan: Six months into the year and the summer anime season just around the corner, this article is due an update thanks to the number of exciting romance anime that have been announced. The year might be half over, but there is still a ton to look forward to in the world of romance anime.

New announcements for 2023 include incredibly promising adaptations of successful Manga, webseries', light novels, and brand new original works. This update includes adds three of these titles to the list of the best romance anime series coming out in 2023.

Temple (No One Can Live On Loneliness)

Set to air in July 2023 and licensed by Crunchyroll, Temple follows protagonist Akemitsu Akegami, a man determined not to follow in the footsteps of the perverted men in his family. In fact, he goes so far as to say that women are 'the root of all evil', and when a chance encounter with a woman leads him to have impure thoughts, he takes the drastic measure of becoming a Buddhist Monk.

Unfortunately for him, the temple he joins is full of beautiful girls that do nothing to assuage his temptations. Fans might recognize the voice of the female lead Yuzuki Aoba as Aimi Terakawa, known for her role as BanG Dream!'S main character Kasumi Toyama

The Girl I Like Can't Find Her Glasses

The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses is a charming reminder that sometimes the simple premises can be the most special. Kaede Komura is a middle-school boy with a huge crush on his seatmate Ai Mie, an absentminded and short-sighted girl with a tendency to forget her glasses and use Komura as her eyes.

Ryohei Kimura makes an appearance as side character Ren Izuma. If the name isn't familiar, the voice most likely is - Kimura is a prolific voice actor known for voicing Childe in Genshin Impact, Bokuto Koutarou in Haikyuu!!, and Ryouta Kise in Kuroko No Basket, to name a few.

I'm In Love With The Villainess

I'm In Love With the Villainess is one of the most highly-anticipated romance anime of 2023. Based on the light novel and Manga series by Inori, the story follows Oohashi Rei, an office worker who is literally over-worked to death and suddenly finds herself reincarnated as the protagonist of her favorite Otome game.

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Far from satisfied with the games' three male love interests, Rei sets her sights on the main antagonist Claire François, determined to give her a happy ending before the games clock runs out. Fans of Yuri anime will not want to miss this one.

Tomo-chan Is A Girl!

In-Tomo-chan is a Girl!, Tomo Aizawa (left) and Junichirou Kubota (right) are the best of friends, with one slight problem. Tomo is in love with Jun, and Jun is too muscle-brained to see it, even when Tomo explicitly confesses her love. To make things worse, Jun only just released that Tomo is even a girl.

Fans of Haikyuu!! And One Punch Man might recognize Jun as Kaito Ishikawa, the voice of Kageyama and Genos respectively, as well as from hundreds of other iconic roles.

Sacrificial Princess And The King Of Beasts

Enjoy a different kind of Beauty and the Beast. From JC.Staff (Toradora!, Bakuman, Food Wars) comes shojo anime Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts, a fantasy romance anime set in a beast-filled world that has long reviled humans.

When 15-year-old Sariphi is taken from her village to the kingdom of Ozmargo as a sacrifice to the king, something happens that will change history forever. Kana Hanazawa, who voices Sariphi, is an extremely prolific voice actress known for her roles as Akane Tsunemori in Psycho-Pass, Kanade Tachibana in Angel Beats, and Chiaki Nanami in Danganronpa 3.

A Galaxy Next Door

Struggling mangaka Ichirou Kuga is tasked with raising his younger siblings after the death of their father. With deadlines looming and his responsibilities growing, he hires startlingly competent Shiori Goshiki to assist him with his manga. As beautiful and talented as Goshiki is, she has a strange quality about her - one that only grows as she declares they are engaged to marry.

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Based on the original manga by Gido Amagakure, A Galaxy Next Door was slightly overshadowed due to Spring 2023 having a lot of romance shows; however, the anime improved following a rough start.

Insomniacs After School

This cute and charming slice-of-life anime follows the awkward friendship of Ganta Nakami and Isata Magari, two high schoolers with insomnia that revive their school's defunct astronomy club. Airing in Spring 2023, Insomniacs After School is an Iyashikei (calming, healing) anime based on the manga by Makoto Ojiro.

No stranger to the slice-of-life/romance genre, Seiichirou Yamashita is in the cast as Tao Ukegawa, Nakami's friend. Yamashita is best known for his main role in Orange, a slice-of-life anime with dark undertones and a time travel twist.

Opus.COLORs

Opus.COLORs is an original anime series that focuses on the relationship between 'artist' Kazuya Yamanashi, and 'grader' Jun Tsuzuki, in an immersive field of digital art known as "perception art", developed by Yamanashi's parents only ten years ago.

This unique romance anime from Studio C-Station started airing in April of 2023 and is directed by Shunsuke Tada, who also worked on Kuroko's Basketball, Hunter x Hunter, and countless other iconic anime series. With an all-star cast and crew and a truly original concept, Opus.COLORs was not particularly well received, although the show has its positives.

The Dangers In My Heart

The Dangers In My Heart is a comedy romance anime with a twist. Middle-schooler Kyoutaro Ichikawa dreams of murder and committing the perfect crime. The one he wants to kill the most is class idol Anna Yamada, who he bumps into in the school library where she comes to eat sweets in peace.

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Through flustered encounters and heartwarming daily interactions, the unlikely pair become close friends. Soon, Ichikawa finds that his murderous desires have turned into something much sweeter.

The Ice Guy And His Cool Female Colleague

The Ice Guy and His Female Colleague is a fantasy rom-com series perfect for winter. Based on an original manga by Miyuki Tonogaya, the show follows Himuro, the descendant of a snow spirit, whose strong emotions lead to blasts of snow.

As a newbie office worker, Himuro has to keep his nerves in check. Unfortunately for him, he quickly develops feelings for his cute and cool coworker Fuyutsuki and has to work even harder to control his emotions, lest his new coworkers get frozen. And while everyone sees her as the cool mysterious type, Fuyutsuki is also pretty curious about her mysterious coworker, too.

Kubo Won't Let Me Be Invisible

Kubo Won't Let Me Be Invisible was a Winter 2023 anime from Studio Pine Jam (Do It Yourself!) that suffered a significant delay, causing the show to air half its episodes in Spring 2023. Junta Shiraishi is an average, unnoticeable high-school freshman - and he likes it that way. Nobody notices when he's around, except for Nagisa Kubo, the popular class idol that won't stop teasing him.

Due to an extensive mid-season hiatus, the anime lost quite a bit of momentum. However, Nagisa and Junta's rapport is endearing and more than succeeds in carrying the show.

The Cafe Terrace And Its Goddesses

The Cafe Terrace and its Goddesses is a classic harem anime adapted from a comedy romance Manga by Kouji Seo. The series follows Hayato, a young boy who plans on selling the café left to him by his recently-deceased grandmother. On arrival, however, he finds out that the café is home to five young women.

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Animated by Tezuka Productions (Astro Boy, Samurai Warriors, The Dawn of the Witch), The Cafe Terrace and its Goddesses aired during Spring 2023. The anime proved to be among the season's best harems, and a sequel season has been announced.

My Love Story With Yamada-kun At Lv999

Animated by the prestigious Studio MADHOUSE (Death Note, Chihayafuru, Parasyte), My Love Story With Yamada-kun at Lv999 is a well-regarded modern shojo anime that was adapted in Spring 2023.

The story follows Akane Kinoshita, a young girl who discovers her boyfriend has been cheating on her through an online game. Venting her frustrations through video games herself, Akane meets the unsociable and curt Akito Yamada. Inexperienced with love and blatantly rude, Yamada is hardly her type, but she still finds herself inexplicably moved by him.

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