Romanceis a broad genre. There can be romance in everything,from the grittiest horrorto 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 animecan often provide unique premises too. If it didn’t, every romance anime would be the same - and that’s just not true. TakeFruits 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 thebest romance anime series' to fall for in 2023(so far).
Updated June 22, 2025, 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 ofexciting romance animethat 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 promisingadaptations of successful Manga, webseries', light novels, and brand new original works. This update includes adds three of these titles to the list of thebest romance anime series coming out in 2023.
Season
Summer 2023
Set to air in July 2023 andlicensed by Crunchyroll,Templefollows 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 asBanG Dream!’s main character Kasumi Toyama
The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glassesis 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 voicingChilde in Genshin Impact, Bokuto Koutarou inHaikyuu!!, and Ryouta Kise inKuroko No Basket, to name a few.
Fall 2023
I’m In Love With the Villainessis 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 protagonistof 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.
Winter 2023
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 ofHaikyuu!!andOne Punch Manmight recognizeJun as Kaito Ishikawa, the voice of Kageyama and Genos respectively, as well as from hundreds of other iconic roles.
Spring & Summer 2023
Enjoy a different kind of Beauty and the Beast. From JC.Staff (Toradora!, Bakuman, Food Wars)comes shojo animeSacrificial 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 inPsycho-Pass, Kanade Tachibana inAngel Beats, and Chiaki Nanami inDanganronpa 3.
Spring 2023
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 Goshikito 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 Doorwas slightly overshadowed due to Spring 2023 having a lot of romance shows; however, the anime improved following a rough start.
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 Schoolis 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 forhis main role inOrange, a slice-of-life anime with dark undertones and a time travel twist.
Opus.COLORsis 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 onKuroko’s Basketball,Hunter x Hunter, and countless other iconic anime series. With an all-star cast and crew and a truly original concept,Opus.COLORswas not particularly well received, although the show has its positives.
The Dangers In My Heartis 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 Female Colleagueis 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 seesheras the cool mysterious type, Fuyutsuki is also pretty curious about her mysterious coworker, too.
Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisiblewas aWinter 2023 animefrom 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 Goddessesis 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.
Animated by the prestigious Studio MADHOUSE (Death Note, Chihayafuru, Parasyte),My Love Story With Yamada-kun at Lv999is 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.
