Brianna Fox-Priest
February 20, 2023 Ah, the month of February, a month filled with love and gestures of gratitude. Of course, Valentine’s Day gets most of the attention, but there’s no reason not to celebrate on the other days on the calendar. As far as we’re concerned, the more love the merrier.
There must be hundreds if not thousands of sweet anime couple pairings, but a few special ones stay with us for life. Get ready to feel the warm fuzzies — here are the anime couples we’ve loved throughout the years.
Kimi ni Todoke
For slow (really slow) burn fans, Kimi ni Todoke is calling your name. Even after wrapping up the anime 12 years ago, Sawako and Shota’s budding romance is unforgettable.
Sawako, a well-meaning shy girl, has no one to talk with at school thanks to a rumor from junior high comparing her to the Ring’s infamous Sadako. She tries her best to make friends and get close to her classmates, but she is avoided like the plague. That is until her classmate Shota makes an effort to speak to her. Not in the pursuit of romance, each interaction brings the two closer.
The series is a true gem of a shojo. The shyness, misunderstandings, deepening feelings, and confusion captures realistic high school romance beautifully. Things get a little muddy as the two discover their true feelings for one another, but it all feels worth the wait during the school festival episode.
Fruits Basket
Where to start with Fruits Basket?! The obvious choice would be Tohru and Kyo, but ignoring the other pairings in the series would be a disservice to the story and characters. What’s special about this series is witnessing many different types of relationships at different stages.
As the plot digs deeper into the traumatic history and family dynamic of the Soumas, we see love as an extremely difficult topic to approach and pursue. It isn’t until the turning point of the series we discover love comes in many forms for the Soumas even if they cannot act upon them publicly. Besides Kyo and Tohru finally free to show their love, the couple who understood the wrath of Akito’s plight the best, was Hatsuharu and Rin (Isuzu). It’s true they had the most heartbreaking trials of love, but each time they find each other again is a highlight of this story.
Naruto: Shippuden
Whether you watched the entire series or not, you know how this pair’s relationship ends up. For many years we watched young Hinata hold back her true feelings from Naruto. Though on the sideline most of the time, her love for the Knucklehead Ninjagrew.
This is another case of feelings of love not always growing at the same time. In Naruto: Shippuden during the Fourth Shinobi World War, Hinata finds her courage to not only profess her love for Naruto, but to stave off the attacks of Pain long enough so he doesn’t get the chance to kill Naruto. It may have taken years for Naruto to convey his feelings, but once he does, their time together is that much more special.
Which anime couple do you love the most?
