5 ROMANTIC ANIME to Distract You from Your (Crushing) Loneliness

well it's Valentine's Day unless I really [ __ ] up in the production of this video and you know what that means crying in your basement binging on ice cream and wondering if you're going to be alone forever spoiler alert you are I say you because I have a girlfriend now I don't know if any of you have noticed I mean I've been pretty subtle about announcing it my girlfriend my girlfriend my girlfriends my amazing girlfriend but I have indeed escaped from the bottomless pit of loneliness that is the fate of all weeb kind but that doesn't mean that I've forgotten the plight of my fellow basement dwellers and fortunately I know one thing that can cure the cold emptiness of a lonely Valentine's Day living vicariously through anime that's right you may not be able to build real human connections of your own but you can sure as hell simulate them with Chinese cartoons so with that in mind I've come up with a list of five anime love stories that'll help you make it through this horrible horrible day and I guess if by some miracle you do have a significant other you can enjoy these shows with them or something as per the usual rules I want to give you guys something new to watch so I'm going to avoid recommending the obvious stuff like Toradora or a monogatari Spice and Wolf and kimini Toto as well as stuff that I've talked up that's somewhat popular like plastic memories even though I really really want to talk about that show obviously I recommend all of those shows too these ones are just old or obscure enough that there's a good chance that most of you haven't seen them yet first up is a show that hides its heartwarming romance in a deep pit of human Misery natsuyuki rendevu the show focuses on a young man named Rios hazuki Who falls in love with an older woman who owns a local flower shop Roa Shima he takes on a part-time job at her store in the hopes of getting closer to her but he runs into one tiny complication her husband o sui it's not all bad news though fortunately her husband is dead unfortunately he has stuck around as a ghost and hazuki is the only one who can see him as you can imagine that makes things just a little bit awkward for everyone the last thing atushi wants is for hazuki to end up with Roka but since hazuki is the only person who can see him he kind of needs his help to do anything including finish his unfinished business and for roa's part her burgeoning romance with hazuki is made Difficult by her lingering feelings for her husband even before you take the haunting into account and make no mistake this is a haunting yes the tone of the series skews closer to anohana than Poltergeist but atsushi is no Casper he has some legit spooky powers and without going into spoilers toward the end of the series he starts messing with huki and roa's lives in decidedly unfriendly and day ruining ways the plot is mature and in a lot of ways emotionally draining but the heartwarming moments it does have coupled with its lighter tone help to balance that out and the cast is very likable its romantic leads have strong unconventional chemistry as do the Romantic Rivals hazuki and atsi natu Yuki randevu is at its core a show about loss and the grieving process about the conflict between dwelling on your past and moving toward an uncertain future and as you'd expect it's both touching and bit sweet but while misery can be cathartic sometimes when you're feeling down all you want to do is laugh and if that's the mood you're in few series will do you better than RMA 1 half there's a good chance that you've heard of this series from Inuyasha Creator riko Takahashi perhaps you've even read the Manga but considering its age and length I doubt that many of you have committed to watching the show and that's a shame because it's one of the finest romantic comedies on television at least the first three and last two seasons of are it gets pretty rough in the middle there in case you haven't heard of it though aan tendo is a young and gifted martial artist who hates boys which makes it pretty awkward when her father son arranges her marriage to ronas Salto the heir to his old training partner genma making things even more awkward it turns out RMA is a girl sometimes see while training in China RMA fell into the cursed spring of the drowned Maiden where as a racist caricature of a Chinese man explains spring of drowned girl they very tragic Legend of young girl who drowned in Spring 1,500 year ago now whoever fall in the spring take a body of a young girl whenever rma's head is doused with cold water he turns into a girl and whenever he's hit with warm water he turns back into a boy likewise his dad turns into a panda it seems that sonendo is pretty open-minded though because this doesn't dissuade him from the whole arranged marriage idea at all so now RMA and akane have to go to school together and deal with the fact that they have to get married even though they hate each other's guts and it turns out that every other boy in the school has a big crush on aane which means that they both have to constantly fend off their advances which are very very violent not to mention those of the lerus self-styled poet and Samurai tatewaki Kuno who also falls in love with the female version of RMA while rma's male half is pursued by Kuno psychotic sister kodachi now brace yourself because here's where things get complicated akane is secretly in love with her family physician Dr tofu who is in turn in love with her eldest sister Kumi there's also a will they won't they thing going on between akane's con artist older sister nabiki and tatewaki Kuno also nabiki becomes rma's fiance for a while but that's not really important akane is also pursued by Roga hiiki a frighteningly strong martial artist with a horrible sense of direction who in trying to get revenge on RMA for ditching him 12 years ago in a fight over school lunches accidentally fell in the spring of drowned pig when he's not trying to kill RMA he takes up residen a Nintendo home as a Kane's pet while training in China RMA and his father got on the bad side of a tribe of Amazons all named after bath products whose Champion shampoo RMA defeated in a tournament according to her Customs this means that shampoo now has to kill RMA at least until she finds out he's a boy at which point she realizes that in fact that makes him her fiance but she's not rma's only other fiance see rma's Dad GMA has this bad habit of getting himself into debt and one of his favorite Solutions which he's used on at least two occasions is to trade his son's hand in marriage for food most importantly he did this with the father of ukio kongji an okonomiyaki Chef who is best girl and all of these girls have their own unwanted stalkers who cause problems throughout the series and those are just the important recurring complications RMA and aane have to deal with dozens of unwanted suitors ancient demons and ghosts all while trying to find a way to rid RMA of his curse and figure out if maybe there is something between them after all in writing this story riko Takahashi wanted to send up the Ridiculousness of certain anime and manga love stories in particular their overly complex love triangles other anime and manga writers not getting the joke would later go on to play her love DOA hedron structure straight As would she though to a less ridiculous extent in Inu Yasha but in this original series godamn is the joke funny as is all the martial arts slapstick and Supernatural hoodoo that the characters have to deal with everyone in the the cast of this show is varying degrees of insane including the two leads and most problems stem from their own selfishness and stupidity which makes it fun to watch them suffer but RMA and aane also have genuinely strong chemistry and the cast despite being comprised of psychotic [ __ ] is surprisingly likable so you do end up rooting for everyone to have a happy ending and for the romance at the core of the story to turn out well unfortunately this is a rumo Takahashi story we're talking about so that romance never really goes anywhere even when it feels like it might but that's acceptable because it's a big part of the joke rather than just a manipulative Ploy like it is in in uasa and it's a really funny joke that gets a lot of mileage over the 100 or so actually good episodes of the series now some might argue that takahashi's other romantic series the lovely Maison ikoku or the zi Urus yatsura would be better suited for scratching your romantic itch but neither of those is readily available in North America outside of the secondhand DVD Market whereas RMA can be purchased on Blu-ray or streamed through Hulu which makes it a lot easier to recommend this next series is also available streaming this time on Crunchyroll which means you can watch it with a 30-day free trial at crunchyroll.com basement but you already knew that and it has something else in common with RMA 2 Love Stage tells the story of actor/ heartthrob Roma ich Jo who despite enjoying an increasingly successful career in film and television as well as having a bevy of fan girls chasing after him has spent his entire life in love with just one girl when he was younger he played opposite a beautiful little girl in a wedding themed commercial and he's been smitten ever since one day he gets a chance to act opposite That Girl Again he finds out her name is Senna isumi and she's just as beautiful as he remembers there's just one small problem she is a he and not in the magical cursed spring kind of way see Senna isumi comes from a show business family and since he has very feminine features he was drafted at the last minute to take part in a commercial that his parents were filming many years ago now in college he's pulled back into the world of Showbiz yet again which sucks because all he wants to do is draw manga very very poorly and now on top of that he's got to deal with all of these blossoming confusing feelings for this really handsome guy who is in turn coming to terms with the fact that maybe there's more to his crush on eomi than how pretty he looks in a wedding dress yeah love Stage is one of those BL shows you've heard so much about and I know that for some of you that's going to be an immediate turnoff but if you can look past your initial oo yoi reaction maybe with the help of some desensitization courtesy of yurian ice you'll find a really sweet love story that also has some very meaningful themes about finding your place in life even if it's not where you expected it to be which is a story that you really couldn't tell nearly this effectively without the confusing fluidity of sexuality being a prominent plot point the unexpected romance between the two leads mirrors and guides the unexpected direction that their lives end up taking strong thematic writing aside what elevates this show along with a lot of other ones on this list is its great cast of characters eami is not the kind of lead that you'd expect in this kind of story he's a quiet introverted magical girl otaku who is passionately obsessed with his 2D waifu not the first guy that you Peg to be confirmed for gay isi's family pressures him into show business but they don't do it just to be overbearing they do it because they care about him and they see that he has the talent to succeed in show business so even as their actions create conf ICT they still come across as likable as does Roma whose resistance to an eventual acceptance of his feelings for eomi is very believable and natural especially considering the tremendous effect that those feelings have on how he perceives his own identity he sometimes acts rashly but rarely irrationally which is a very important distinction now the show's not perfect for the sake of fan service it can be a little overly molesty at times and that might make you uncomfortable which is totally understandable but if you're looking for a strong unconventional love story they don't get much sweeter or more uplifting than this one Speaking of unconventional love stories don't get much less conventional than madori days did you ever watch parasite and think to yourself golly it sure would be nice if migi was more [ __ ] no just me well either way Midori days has you covered high schooler SII SA goes to bed one night and wakes up the next morning to find that his right hand has been possessed by a sentient being one that has very different plans for the rest of his life the key difference is that instead of a horrifying emotionless monster s's hand has been replaced by a sweet loving topshelf waifu named madori also instead of being a Meek loner sagei is an Infamous Street Punk whose signature attack is his demoned right- hand punch and obviously the addition of a small fragile girl to the end of his arm makes it a little difficult to throw punches so I guess another difference is that madori takes SII out of fights rather than getting him into them you know the more that I talk about it the more that I think that maybe madori days isn't much like parasite at all if anything it has more in common with RMA it's a sweet but zany romantic comedy that revolves around weird curses awkward love triangles and more than a little bit of cartoony violence it's been said by other critics but one of the nicest things about this show is that while it acknowledges the obvious implications of its premise it doesn't dwell on them SII basically introduces himself to us by lamenting about his girl troubles and the fact that he may die with his only girlfriend being his right hand but then the show largely leaves that joke by the wayside once the universe makes a joke at his expense which is not to say that the show is afraid of lwd humor only that it tends to not go for the obvious easy jokes or otherwise rest on its Laurels which makes it something of an oasis in the vast vast desert of boring unimaginative horm comedies that it counts as contemporaries initially SII is Thoroughly disinterested in having any kind of relationship with madori let alone a romantic one which really sucks for her since she's been in love with him since long before she became his right hand it's never explained how or why that happened by the way one day madori is just watching SII from afar and the next day she wakes up attached to him and after some expected trepidation they both just kind of run with it the show is downright surreal in its humor and plot which I appreciate it makes it that much easier for the show to break from tired cliches not that it always manages mind you there are some episodes where the girl on my hand thing is just a gimmick in a typical romcom but even then the wonderful characters mostly manage to keep the show afloat if nothing else even the weakest episodes have some great gags going for them putting aside the weird premise and often sidesplitting humor madori days is surprisingly sweet not only is s's budding relationship with madori adorable he also has this strong believable if obviously doomed romantic tension with his classmate ayas even if it's very obvious who SEI will ultimately end up with it's still fun to see them compete for his affections and to top it all off the show has one hell of a heartwarming ending though I won't spoil what that is here madori days is purpose-built to get you smiling from ear to ear and if you're in the mood for a short light romantic comedy you'd be hard pressed to do better than this one the last show that I'm recommending today is unfortunately without an ending which is a real shame but from a romantic standpoint it picks a great place in the manga story to wrap up so you'll at least be satisfied on that front baby steps tells the tale of beginner tennis player maruo Hiro AKA aan as he learns the game improves his skills and eventually pursues going pro in contrast to a lot of other sports anime this show is extremely downto Earth and realistic and places a very strong emphasis on romance now don't let that fool you into thinking this show is devoid of hype some of the matches in baby steps have actually gotten me to shout out loud at my computer screen at pivotal moments and on the whole I'd say the anime is even more exciting than haq but I've already talked at length about how great the show's Sports aspects are in other videos so I'll leave that out of here that said it is a wise choice for the show to focus on romance because it's really good at it the way that its Central love story unfolds is gripping and impressively believable as the series begins aan who got his name for his straight A grades is studious and not much of an athlete at all to the point that he passes out doing warm-up laps the first time he tries tennis however when the school idol takasaki natu asks to borrow his notes it changes the course of his life forever Aon starts doing weekly tennis lessons as a fun way to get in shape but he discovers that Natsu practices at the same school as him tennis isn't just a hobby for her either she has planned her life around becoming a pro player and for Aon whose studious nature is born of societal obligation more than anything else the intensity of her passion for the sport is intriguing it draws him to her as their friendship deepens her love for the sport rubs off on him eventually Aon realizes that tennis is the only thing that he's ever really cared about and like natu he'll only really be happy in life if he becomes a pro player he also realizes that he's head over heels in love with her and the desire to impress her motivates him to become even better and by all appearances those growing feelings seem to be mutual one of the nice things about having strong romance in a show about something other than romance is that the series can derive conflict from something other than relationship struggles which allows baby steps to present something quite rare in the anime World a healthy happy relationship where people understand each other and there's no big drama you root for aan and Natsu not because they've been through so much drama or because it would solve so many problems but because they're cute together and they make each other happy like how you would feel about two friends who were perfect for each other finally hooking up it's a lot closer to what real relationships are like and unlike orona goturi where the lack of complications is the joke here it's played straight the romance in baby steps has a similar appeal to what you see in Silver Spoon space brothers and to a lesser extent Beck Mongolian chop Squad and as much as I enjoy the emotional roller coaster that you ride with a good shjo drama or the amusing awkwardness of a good romcom I think that kind of story where love serves as a relief from all of the other problems that the heroes face is what I like best it's certainly what I look for in a real relationship and I feel really lucky to be able to say that I've found that with Yazi I love you babe ah shoot I'm sorry I'm supposed to be distracting all of you from how lonely you are well hopefully at least one of these anime will do that job for you or at least keep you entertained really that's the least that you can hope for and of course these are all just things that I like so if you have any suggestions for great romantic series that you think that people should check out then please leave them in the comments below and by the way thank you for leaving that comment and for watching the video and engaging with it in any way that you do everything helps out the channel and thank you obviously especially to the people who support me on patreon because they make it possible for me to hire editors like the wonderful flip anime to make videos like this you guys rock if you want to hear some more recommendations for great relatively obscure anime then you should check out these five fantastic fantasy anime or if you want to hear me gush about baby steps some more then you should check out this video right over here and if you want to see everything I make of course remember that you need to subscribe and turn on notifications for now I'm Jeff th professional [ __ ] I love all of you platonically and I'm signing out from my mother's basement

Channel: Mother's Basement

Views: 546,451

Keywords: Mother's Basement, Anime, Anime Analysis, Romantic Comedy, Romance Anime, Shoujo, Sports, Ranma 1/2, Baby Steps, Midori Days, Natsuyuki Rendezvous, Love Stage, Valentine's Day, Weaaboo, Forever Alone, Girlfriend, Love Story, Shoujo Anime, Top 5 Anime, Top 5, Anime Recommendation, romance, what's in an op?, not, SAO

Id: 8ImphNh4wQY

Length: 20min 26sec (1226 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 14 2017