Since viewers often turn to anime as temporary escapes from the stresses of daily life, little thought or care is extended to how unrealistic these anime can be. While this predominately applies to slice-of-life anime with supernatural elements, this sentiment can also be considered alongside the unbelievable aspects that impact romantic relationships in anime.
Even though this fantastical suspension of disbelief is a major reason why anime romances can be so enthralling, it’s important to separate these ideal twists of fate from reality. This can make getting enveloped in these anime’s absurdly unbelievable plots even more enjoyable.
10/10 Several Eccentric Love Interests Pining After A Mary Sue Protagonist
Reverse harem anime tend to boast multiple incredibly eccentric and charming male leads. While this is primarily done as a means of spicing these series up and keeping viewers on the edge of their seats, romance anime like Amnesia and Diabolik Lovers feature plain Mary Sue protagonists to make her love interests’ personalities shine even brighter.
Even though the heroine’s lacking personality allows viewers to get lost in the anime’s plot and regard it as a visual romance novel of sorts, it can be tiring to see these bland protagonists rarely stand up for themselves. Such Mary Sue protagonists often encourage audiences to question why their love interests are even pursuing them.
9/10 Being Romantically Persistent Is Acceptable If Feelings Are Eventually Reciprocated
Many anime romances are slow burns that eventually end with the couple confessing their feelings for one another. Because of this, plenty of love interests are more persistent than socially acceptable. A perfect example of this is Usui from Maid-sama, who blackmails Misaki into spending time with him after finding out about her secret part-time job at a maid café.
This can also be seen in My Little Monster as Haru ceaselessly pursues Shizuku. In fact, even one of Haru’s friends gets upset with him for refusing to take no for an answer. While everything worked out for these couples in the end, this central message of perseverance is more problematic than it may initially appear.
8/10 The Couple Serendipitously Living Together Before They Develop Feelings
Another common trope that adds to the unbelievable nature of anime romances is when the couple ends up living together due to forces outside their control before they develop feelings for each other. This plays a driving force in the boys’ love series Junjou Romantica, which focuses on a pair that ends up living together because Usami lives near Misaki’s university.
This trope also plays a paramount role in Fruits Basketsince Tohru only meets and falls in love with Kyo after moving in to the Sohma household. Despite how unrealistically lucky such chance encounters are, anime romances that begin with this trope are often immensely satisfying to watch.
7/10 Harem Anime Protagonists Not Realizing They Are Being Pursued
Romance in real life has plenty of grey areas and it can be daunting to act on feelings if it’s unknown whether they will be reciprocated. In fiction, these feelings tend to be painfully obvious in harem and reverse harem anime. However, these series’ protagonists can be quite unobservant and take far too long to realize they are being pursued romantically.
This especially comes across in Brothers Conflict and Uta no Prince-sama. Despite the fact that their love interests embrace them whenever they get the chance, Ema and Haruka solely expound on how close they are with these men as “family” or friends, respectively.
6/10 Small Misunderstandings Driving Entire Plot Lines
While the ability to swiftly work through small misunderstandings is paramount to long-term relationships, it is hard to believe that such misunderstandings can drive a huge wedge between couples in anime. For many anime romances, these misunderstandings either occur shortly before the couple confesses their feelings for one another or drives the anime’s entire plot forward.
A perfect example of the latter is My Love Story!!, a requited yet unconfirmed romance between a young man whose crushes always fall in love with his best friend and a soft-spoken young woman who unexpectedly develops a crush on him. This can also be seen in Blue Spring Rideas male lead Kou breaks the trust of his childhood friend Futuba by moving away without saying a word.
5/10 The Popular Guy Falling In Love With The Shy Girl
Since high school friend groups often consists of clear-cut cliques, it is hard to believe anime romances where the most popular guy in school falls for the shy loner girl. While such romances can be refreshing to watch unfold, they are almost impossible to take seriously because of this lacking believability.
This central trope is prominently featured in anime like From Me to You and Say I Love You. Since these anime showcase the shy heroine gradually letting her guard down around her love interest and his friends and tell quite wholesome love stories, viewers tend to appreciate these series without thinking about them too deeply.
4/10 The Red String Of Fate Motif Being Used In Lieu Of Fully-Rounded Storytelling & Character Arcs
Anime romances are often enhanced by beautiful animation and other visual forms of storytelling that are only possible due to the medium’s animated form. As a result, mythical elements like the red string of fate of Chinese mythology are used as driving plot devices that destine couples to end up together.
In Gakuen Alice and the anime film Your Name, this string of fate can be fleetingly seen adorned by the female lead and essentially informs audiences that she will end up with her one true love: her main love interest. Since such mythology is absent from everyday life, it can be hard to believe such elements play an active role in anime romances.
3/10 Nose Bleeds Being Used To Connote Arousal Or Being Flustered
Anime appeals to an incredibly wide audience, with roughly 75% of Japan’s population being either regular or occasional anime watchers. Because of this, more abstract notions like anger and sexual arousal have been assigned universal symbols of “anger marks” and nose bleeds, respectively, to make them easier to understand.
Despite this, nose bleeds in anime have become an overdone cliché and lack believability. While this trope has been refreshingly subverted in the romantic comedy anime Karin, it can be seen in its more practical use in renowned anime series like One Piece and Naruto.
2/10 The Ultimate, Highly Romanticized Confession Of Love
The ultimate confession of love as the couple pours their hearts out to one another is an undeniable staple of the romance anime genre. While these scenes can be deeply rewarding since audiences have been waiting for this moment throughout the series, it’s safe to say that these moments are anything but believable.
A prime example of this too-perfect confession occurs at the end of Sasaki and Miyano as Sasaki comes to terms with his requited feelings for Miyano and fireworks go off behind them. Since viewers anxiously waited as the couple came to terms with their confusing feelings for one another, this unrealistically perfect moment could be easily overlooked.
1/10 Childhood Friendships Turning Into Full-Fledged, Romantic Relationships
The friends-to-lovers trope has always been immensely popular within the romance genre as a trope that allows audiences to understand what the couple has always loved about one another. However, this doesn’t change the fact that it can be much harder to take a closer look at these budding romances due to the potential risk of losing a long-time friend.
This trope is a driving force in Special A, which follows Hikari’s one-sided rivalry against her childhood friend Kei, who has had feelings for Hikari since they were kids. Childhood friends Edward Elric and Winry Rockbell also end up together in FullMetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, despite growing up alongside one another and having their fair share of heated arguments.