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Drama? Romance? Can it get any better when it’s a Drama/Romance Anime?? If you can’t get enough of love stories in anime, you must watch these heart wrenching series. These series are full of emotional roller coasters. Here is our top 15 list of the best drama/romance anime series!

15. Tasogare otome x amnesia (Dusk Maiden of Amnesia)

Studio: Silver Link

Niiya Teiichi is a first year middle school student who just enrolled at Seikyou Private Academy. The school buildings are maze-like and extensive, so it is not surprising when Teiichi gets lost in one of the old buildings. It is here that Teiichi meets a ghost named Kanoe Yuuko, who has no recollection of her story. Teiichi decides to investigate her death by joining the Paranormal Investigations club (which Yuuko started) and starts by solving the school’s seven mysteries that involve the Yuuko-san ghost. The two work alongside the other members of the club: Okonogi Momoe, the only member of the club that cannot see Yuuko and Kanoe Kirie, Yuuko’s grandniece who closely resembles Yuuko. While working to find out the dark truth, Teiichi and Yuuko eventually grow close to each other. Tasogare otome x amnesia tells the tale of an unconventional romance story.

14. Sakamichi no Apollon (Kids on the Slope)

Studio: Tezuka Productions, MAPPA

Nishimi Kaoru was the top student at his middle school before moving to Kyushu for his first year of high school in the summer of 1966. Kaoru is an introverted classical pianist who is resigned to keeping to himself at yet another high school when he meets the wild Kawabuchi Sentarou. Despite their initial contrasting personalities, the two get along and soon begin practicing jazz together. Sentarou’s strong passion for the genre inspires Kaoru to learn more and join in on their after-school jazz sessions at Sentarou’s childhood friend Muake Ritsuko’s studio at her family’s record shop. Sakamichi no Apollon is a heartwarming story about three friends brought together for their love of jazz music.

13. Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso (Your Lie in April)

Studio: A-1 Pictures

Arima Kousei was a child prodigy pianist; he an inhuman innate ability to keep perfect timing with the music, like a human metronome. This was partly due to his mother’s harsh and abusive instruction that taught him to play piano without emotion. However, when his mother passed away, he suffered a nervous breakdown and became unable to hear the sound of his own piano. After two years, he still hadn’t touched the piano and instead lived a monotonous life with his friends Watari Ryouta and Sawabe Tsubaki. Everything changes when the free-spirited and emotional violinist Miyazono Kawori enters Kousei’s life. She shows him that music can be so much more than just black notes on the page and helps Kousei heal. Your Lie in April is a beautiful anime that showcases the strength of friendship and music in the process of healing.

12. Toradora!

Studio: J.C. Staff

Takasu Ryuji is a second year student in high school who is frequently mistaken as a delinquent because of his gangster-like eyes. His best friend is Kitamura Yusaku, who is the VP of student council, class representative, and captain of the boys’ softball club. Ryuji has a crush on the cheerful girls’ softball club captain, Kushieda Minori. Her best friend is Aisaka Taiga, the petite and feisty girl known as the “Palmtop Tiger”, due to her angry outbursts at those around her. Taiga lives on her own, after living with her father and step-mother and constantly fighting with them. Taiga has a crush on Yusaku, so when Ryuji and Taiga learn of the other’s crushes on their respective best friends, they team up to get their friends together. Toradora! is a classic story about friends growing and developing through the obstacles they must overcome together.

11. Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo (The Pet Girl of Sakurasou)

Studio: J.C. Staff

Kanda Sorata is a second year student at Suimei University of the Arts who was kicked out of the regular dorms after taking in stray cats and is moved into Sakura Dormitory. Sakura Dormitory is the hall that houses the strangest, eccentric, misfit students at the school. This includes students like Kamigusa Misaki, a successful animator; Mitaka Jin, an aspiring playwright; Akasaka Ryuunosuke, a recluse genius computer programmer. At first Sorata feels out of place because he is surrounded by the geniuses of the school and plans on moving back into the regular dorms. However, one day a cute girl named Shiina Mashiro moves into the Sakura Dorm. She is an artistic savant, working towards becoming a manga artist, but is extremely hopeless with day to day living. Shiina cannot carry out basic tasks in life and has no common sense. Because of this, the dorm supervisor assigns Sorata to take care of Shiina, like his pet. Sakurasou is a wonderful story that depicts the growth of several characters. Be sure to watch this anime for one with great character development.

10. Nagi no Asukara (A Lull in the Sea)

Studio: P.A. Works

In a fantasy world where there are humans who live on the land and in the sea, the underwater middle school of Shioshishio closes down and the middle schoolers must to transfer to a school on land. Nagi no Asukara follows four middle schoolers from the sea: Sakishima Hikari, Mukaido Manaka, Hiradaira Chisaki, and Isaki Kaname. They soon befriend Kihara Tsumugu, a boy from land whose grandfather is a fisherman, at their new middle school. Nagi shows their daily struggles to adapt to their new environment and the tense relationships between the people from land and sea. The group of five also discover new feelings between each other as they mature. Watch this anime for the beautiful artwork and complex romance story.

9. Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai: The Flower We Saw That Day

Studio: A-1 Pictures

A group of six sixth graders drifted apart after one friend, Honma “Menma” Meiko, died in an accident.  Ten years later, Yadomi “Jintan” Jinta, is now living as a recluse and has stopped going to school. During one very hot summer, Menma’s ghost suddenly appears and asks him to grant her wish so she can move on to the afterlife. At first, Jintan doesn’t think much of her ghost, thinking he’s just hallucinating from the summer heat and none of the other five friends can see her. However, the estranged friends reluctantly reunite to try and grant Menma’s wish. Through this, the group of friends realize they have all been struggling to move on from her death and that each has blamed themselves for Menma’s death. Anohana is a truly heartfelt series about pain, healing, and friendship.

8. ef: A Tale of Memories

Studio: Shaft

Ef starts out with separate storylines that eventually cross over the course of the series. Hirono Hiro is a high school student and an established manga artist, and tends to skip classes to focus on his job. On Christmas Eve while visiting a church for research, Hiro runs into Miyamura Miyako. Miyako was in pursuit of a purse snatcher and steals Hiro’s bike to catch the thief but ends up destroying Hiro’s bike. Hiro ends up missing his childhood friend, Shindou Kei’s, Christmas party and instead ends up hanging out with Miyako. On that same night, Tsutsumi Kyosuke had been filming in town with his girlfriend when he caught sight of Kei running through the streets. He was captivated with her from the beginning. In another part of town, Asou Renji has fatefully run into Kei’s extremely shy twin, Chihiro, at an abandoned train station. Renji soon learns Chihiro suffers from anterograde amnesia, a disability that prevents her from remembering anything past the last 13 hours. However, they become friends and Renji decides to help Chihiro fulfill her dream of writing a novel. Ef is a beautiful anime series with a unique animation style and a storyline that will make you want to keep watching.

7. Kokoro Connect

Studio: Silver Link

Kokoro Connect is not your typical high school story with a romance. Five high school students decide to form a club for the social outsiders called the Student Cultural Society. The five friends are: Yaegashi Taichi, a pro-wrestling fanatic; Nagase Iori, an indecisive optimist; Inaba Himeko, a cool and collected computer expert; Kiriyama Yui, a skilled karate practitioner; and Aoki Yoshifumi, the class clown with a crush on Yui. Mysteriously, they begin swapping bodies with each other. This strange phenomenon randomly occurs, causing this newly formed group of friends to learn more about each other and themselves. Through these strange body swappings, each of the five learn each other’s darkest secrets and thoughts. It’s up to them to keep their club and their friendship together while uncovering what’s behind the supernatural occurrences.

6. Myself; Yourself

Studio: Doga Kobo

Sana Hidaka returns to his hometown after moving to Tokyo with his parents five years ago. He walks down the streets and realizes most things still look the same. He returns to Sakuranomori by himself to live in his friend Aoi’s family’s apartment building. Sana reunites with his group of five childhood friends: Nanaka Yatsushiro, twins Shusuke and Shuri Wakatsuki, Aoi Oribe, and Asami Hoshino. However, one friend, Nanaka, is completely different from when he saw her as an 11-year-old. Nanaka is now cold and gloomy compared to her sweet and caring self. Sana realizes that there are quite a few things that have changed since he’s been gone. Myself; Yourself is a great dramatic anime series that will leave you wanting to watch more as the mysteries unravel in Sana’s life.

5. Kimi ga Nozomu Eien (Rumbling Hearts)

Studio: Studio Fantasia

Rumbling Hearts starts out with a group of four friends in high school. Narumi Takayuki is set up with the shy and kind hearted Suzumiya Haruka by her best friend Hayase Mitsuki and his best friend Taira Shinji. Their romance quickly develops and things seem to be going smoothly: Takayuki is going to apply to a university closer to Haruka while she makes plans to becoming a picture book artist. Tragically, while Haruki was waiting to meet Takayuki for a date, she is hit by a car at the train station. This puts her in a coma while the other three friends must learn to continue with life. The majority of Rumbling Hearts shows how the four friends must deal with life’s challenges after Haruka suddenly wakes up from her coma after three years. If you’re looking for a serious romance anime without the usual fluff, watch Rumbling Hearts for a tearjerker series.

4. Nana

Studio: Madhouse

Nana Komatsu, a naïve 20 year old who falls in love easily and becomes dependent on the people around her, leaves her small hometown by train after finally saving up enough money to move to Tokyo to reunite with her boyfriend and friends. By chance, she meets another Nana with the same age on this trip, and they develop a bond on the long train ride to Tokyo. Nana Osaki is a punk rock singer whose personality is the complete opposite of Nana Komatsu. Osaki is headstrong, independent, and very ambitious. She left her rural hometown as well in order to become a professional singer, even though she had been the lead vocalist of a popular band and she had been dating the bassist. The two Nanas have another fateful encounter and end up renting an apartment together. Nana is a great anime series that showcases the wonderful friendship between two women with contrasting personalities, but a seemingly inseparable bond, as they go through life with romances, heartbreaks, and challenges.

3. Clannad

Studio: Kyoto Animation

Full of moe, you’ll find yourself swamped with sweet female characters in Clannad. Tomoya Okazaki is a high school junior known for being a delinquent student. A fight with his father resulted in a dislocated shoulder, preventing Tomoya from joining the high school. Ever since Tomoya has distanced himself from others. One day he meets a shy, soft-spoken girl named Nagisa Furukawa. He finds out she was held back a year due to illness and wishes to join the drama club. Despite his reputation for causing trouble, Tomoya decides to help Nagisa revitalize the drama club with the help of four other eccentric girls. While helping each of these girls with their own problems, Tomoya gains new friends that he didn’t have before. Watch this classic anime that is full of cuteness and full of heart.

2. True Tears

Studio: P.A. Works

True Tears depicts a truly heartfelt romance story in the life of Nakagami Shinichiro, a high school student who enjoys drawing and has been working on a picture book. Shinichiro childhood friend, Yuasa Hiromi, moved in with his family a year ago after her father passed away. Shinichiro has always had a crush on her, but has since stopped smiling around him at home, while at school she exhibits a cheerful persona and is popular. One day Shinichiro meets a strange girl named Isurugi Noe who loves the chickens at school. After teasing her, Noe curses Shinichiro with misfortune, but they quickly make up after the next day Shinichiro creates a chicken out of a tissue box. He finds out that she doesn’t cry because she strangely “gave her tears away”. Shinichiro also hangs out with his best friend Nobuse Miyokichi and his girlfriend, Andou Aiko, who secretly has a crush on him. True Tears beautifully reveals these situations in Shinichiro’s life and how he deals with them in such a realistic way. The animation is also beautiful and you won’t want to miss this wonderful series.

1. White Album 2

Studio: Satelight

One of the most emotional series involving a traditional love triangle, dealt with in an unconventional way. Haruki Kitahara manages to save his small Light Music Club in school with the recruitment of a main vocalist and keyboardist, Setsuna Ogiso and Kazusa Touma. The three become close friends, but also develop a devastating love triangle between each other. This may seem like a series with a traditional love conflict, but this series really emphasizes the pain of helping one friend be the happiest they can be at the expense of betraying another. White Album 2 is one story you must watch for the real emotions that are experienced when someone is forced to choose between two friends. The characters have nuances in each of their personalities that makes them more than the usual archetypes.