Top 10 Rom-Com Anime to Get You Hooked

I first discovered the world of anime in middle school when I stayed over at a friend's house and she and I decided to start something called Ouran High School Host Club. That was it. I was hooked. I still remember us binge-watching it and crying because we were laughing so hard while watching the anime. Since then I haven't stopped watching and my world of anime has grown much bigger.

I'd have to say though that my favorite genre of anime to watch is romantic comedies as it was the first type of anime that I started with. Since middle school, I have watched so many that I can't keep track of them all anymore, but here is a list of my top 10 favorites that hopefully get you as hooked as it did for me.

'Lovely Complex'

By far my favorite anime of all time. I have watched this over and over again I don't know how many times as it never gets old. It's also the anime I recommend the most if someone asks what anime to start off watching. (I also have red hair myself, so I felt like I really connected to Risa, the main female character).

Best friends and the class clowns, Koizumi Risa and Ootani Atsushi, are both striving to find their true loves in high school. Risa is much taller than the average girl and Atsushi is much shorter than the average guy, leaving both of them at a bigger disadvantage at finding love. Unfortunately for them, both of their crushes end up falling in love with each other, leaving them both heartbroken. As they try to help each other find love, they begin to grow closer as friends, learning that they have a lot more in common than they thought. The idea that maybe they could be more than friends begins to become more of a reality than an after thought as they spend more time together, causing some hardships to arise.

If anything just watch this anime, you can thank me later.

'Ouran High School Host Club'

Being the first anime I ever watched, this one sits close to my heart. This is definitely another anime I could probably watch again and think that it is just as great as watching it the first time.

The story revolves around Haruhi Fujioka who is a bright young scholarship student who unfortunately sticks out at her new school as it is filled with young prestigious students who all have wealth or status to their names. As she is looking for a quiet place to study she just so happens to open the door to the infamous Host Club, a club designed by boys who have too much time on their hands so they spend it entertaining the girls of the school. All of the hosts are known throughout the school, such as the prince Tamaki, or the mischievous Hitachiin twins. It's just Haruhi's luck that she so happens to knock over a vase in the host club while trying to escape, costing over eight million yen. With her being poor and looking like a boy, the host club then forces her to join to repay her debt. Haruhi's days are then filled with entertaining the girls at school, keeping her gender a secret, and going along with all the shenanigans that only the Host Club can pull off.

'Skip Beat!'

This is an anime where I refused to accept the sub-par ending that they provided and have continued to read the manga to this day, hoping for the ending I very much deserve.

The story follows 16 year old Kyouko Mogami, who is hopelessly devoted to her childhood friend and crush, Shoutarou Fuwa. As he is working towards becoming an idol, she works tirelessly at her job along with doing anything necessary to help her friend and crush achieve his career dreams. Unbeknownst to her, all Fuwa thinks of her is his servant who will do anything he asks. She finds this out and vows to take revenge on him by also pursuing a career in the entertainment industry so that she can surpass him. Mogami then starts learning how hard it is to actually make it in the entertainment industry but also discovers that she is more talented than she thinks. It's a story with multiple love interests and a young girl working hard to achieve her own dreams and not anyone else's.

'Itazura Na Kiss'

This is one of the few anime that have actually provided me with an ending I was actually satisfied with and made me cry multiple times while watching.

Kotoko Aihara is not the brightest student, is incredibly clumsy, and has set her sights on Naoki Irie, the smartest student at their high school. She happens to confess her love in the form of a love note, which Irie immediately disregards. Crushed after her attempt completely failed, her house then is destroyed by an earthquake, leaving her and her father homeless. Family friends of her father's take them in while their house gets rebuilt and it just so happens it is Irie's family that they are now staying with. Kotoko believes this is her second chance on being able to win his heart, even though her first attempt pretty much sealed her fate. Surrounded by quirky friends and meddling parents, it makes Kotoko's attempts at winning Irie's heart much harder.

'Masamune-kun's Revenge'

This one is a more recent anime actually just recently finished airing. The concept of this one reminds me of a lot of American films where the girl tends to be no-so-good looking when they are young and then transforms into a beautiful young woman that finally gets noticed by her childhood crush. Except in this anime, the genders have swapped.

Masamune Makabe as a child was a very chubby kid and was teased about his weight by other kids his age. The most damaging of those kids who teased him happened to be at the hands of a wealthy girl named Aki Adagaki who nicknamed him 'Piggy' due to how chubby he was as a child. Wanting revenge on those who called him 'Piggy', Masamune begins to workout and eat healthy to which he grows up to be a handsome, narcissistic high school teenager. Masamune then uses his good looks to befriend Aki Adagaki, hoping that she will fall in love with him, only for him to take revenge by breaking her heart. With the help of her maid, Masamune works to grow closer to Aki Adagaki, but growing closer to her may make it harder for him to get his revenge if he starts falling for her as well.

'Toradora!'

This was definitely a fun watch. The pairing of these two characters was perfect and kept the story flowing and the comedy nonstop.

The anime revolves around two characters, Ryuuji Takasu and Taiga Aisaka. Ryuuji has the face of a delinquent, but is gentle and kind and has a love for housework. Taiga, on the other hand, looks small and doll-like but has a feisty personality causing her to get the nickname of "Palmtop Tiger." Due to some circumstances, these two end up coming together to help each other with their respective crushes. Both of them have crushes on each other's best friends so it works for them to work together.

'Kimi Ni Todoke'

Great watch. I would call this a classic rom-com anime where the boy who befriends the quiet girl realizes how special she really is.

Kuronuma Sawako's demeanor and looks don't help when she tries to make friends at school. With her quiet personality, she tends to get labeled as 'creepy' or ghost-like like that girl from The Ring. Being so timid and shy, she hopes to finally make friends and have a fun school life, just like the guy she admires, Kazehaya Shouta, who is one of the more popular guys of her class. Being as friendly as he is he befriends Sawako which starts a new friendship and allows her to open up and make more friends. Their growing friendship may also grow into something more as Kazehaya realizes how great a girl Sawako really is.

'Shugo Chara'

This anime tends to relate to other magical school girl anime as it follows the 'transformation' sequence and magical abilities that those anime tend to have. Still a very good anime to watch.

Amu Hinamori, a student at Seiyo Elementary, is known for being the cool girl, but in reality she is actually very shy and timid. One night she wishes to become her 'would be self' and in the morning wakes up with three different colored eggs on her bed. These eggs hatch into Guardian Characters: Ran, Miki, and Su. These each help enhance parts of her personality to help her grow into her would be person while also granting her special powers. With these new characters in her life, school life becomes more interesting as she has to deal with others who also have Guardian Characters and stopping the X eggs from corrupting peoples' dreams.

'Fruits Basket'

One of the older anime I have watched, but still just as good. With an abundance of characters and an interesting story, it's a great anime to watch if you are just starting to watch. Also, I was not very happy with the ending of the anime, so I strongly suggest reading the manga after finishing the anime as it provides much more to the story.

Not wanting to be a burden to anyone after her mother dies and after she can't live with her grandfather since his home is being renovated, Tooru says she has a place to stay when in reality she is camping out in a small tent in the forest on her own. Unfortunately, she comes home to her tent one day only to find it is buried after a landslide occurred. One of her classmates, Yuki Souma and his cousin, Shigure Souma, happen to stumble upon Tooru's situation and offer her to stay with them until she can move back in with her grandfather.

Living with the Souma family, Tooru happens to discover the family secret. Whenever a Souma gets hugged by a member of the opposite sex they transform into one of the zodiac animals. This then starts her journey on finding out how this curse can be broken and the craziness of living with a family constantly turning into animals.

'Kamisama Kiss'

And finally we have Kamisama Kiss, a wild story mixed with high school and the spiritual world.

Nanami Momozono is just your normal high school student, except for the fact that her father is never home and apparently his debt has left her homeless. Not knowing what to do, Nanami wanders around and happens to spot a man being harassed by a dog. She saves the man, explains her situation, and the man offers her his home to live in. He brings her to his home, which happens to be a shrine and then mysteriously disappears. She tries to leave only to be stopped by the fox familiar and shrine spirits. Apparently, the god of the shrine was the man she saved, and he stuck her with the responsibility of being the god of his shrine. Thus starts her working as a god, doing godlike duties so that she has a roof over her head, working with the fox familiar, Tomoe (who doesn't like having to work with a human girl), and stopping youkai from attacking.

The romantic comedy genre of anime is definitely a good way to start off watching anime if you are just starting out. They aren't too hard to follow along and the stories are fantastic. Try out one of these on this list and get ready to be sucked into the world of anime.