Hi, everyone! Love is in the air, and nothing gets people more in the mood for the romantic holiday everyone looks forward to each year: Valentine's! I'm a sucker for romance. So, why not celebrate it? Here's some romance recs for everyone, including animation, comics, and LGBTQIA+ and PoC romances!
1. Pride & Prejudice
"How original," You say sarcastically as you read this listicle. "Everyone recommends Pride & Prejudice. Way to shake it up." Well, jaded, imaginary reader, I have news for you: 1) You're right, everyone does, and I fully acknowledge that, and 2) It's because it's just so darn good, okay?
It doesn't matter if it's the original Jane Austen novel, Pride and Prejudice with Zombies, or the Keira Knightley & Matthew McFayden version: This story is timeless, and the hallmark of romantic films. I personally recommend the 2005 version, as that's my favorite.
Watch it at any of the links provided here.
2. Fruits Basket
♪ Let's stay together, いつも。♪
Okay, real talk here. If there's one romance that always gets me weepy, it's Natsuki Takaya's phenomenal manga Fruits Basket, and its charming anime adaptation from 2001. While it isn't without its flaws, this series had a profound effect on me when I first read it as a child, and having reread it last year, I realized it was a formative work in my life.
This series follows Tohru Honda, an optimistic young woman who's down on her luck after her mother died in a tragic car accident, as she works two jobs, goes to high school, and... lives in a tent in the middle of the forest. One day, she is discovered by the most popular boy in school, Yuki "The Prince" Sohma, and his cousin Shigure Sohma, as it turns out she's on their family property (whoops), taking her in (along with cousin Kyo Sohma as well) as Tohru begins to realize that this family has a dark secret...
Fruits Basket is a tearjerker romantic tragicomedy that I'm sure will stay with you for a long while after you close the final volume. I know it did for me.
Watch the anime on Funimation's website or on Hulu, and buy the manga (which I'd recommend over the show) here, or at your local library.
3. Black Mirror's "San Junipero"
Sometimes, you find some gems on Netflix. This episode of the Netflix horror/sci-fi series Black Mirror tugged at my heartstrings and made me sob like a small child. Not only is it well-acted and well-written--it's gorgeously-shot, and LGBTQIA+-friendly to boot. (And, note: The picture source link contains spoilers, so beware!)
Two women, Yorkie and Kelly, meet in a bar in the wild party town of San Junipero. As the two keep on crossing paths over the course of a few weekends, a romance is kindled between them. But, there's more than meets the eye in this city of dreams...
To say more would be to spoil the episode. But, no matter what, the romance between these two women is incredibly heartwarming, relatively realistic (for a sci-fi series), and incredibly moving.
4. Classmates (Doukyuusei)
All right, while we're on the topic of LGBTQIA+ romance, here's another film that will really tug at your heartstrings (in a good way!)--the recently-released Classmates (Doukyuusei). This movie had a tour around US theatres last year, and while it's no longer in theatres (to my knowledge), you can catch the Blu-Ray at the film's official site.
Hikaru Kusakabe is a rocker. Rihito Sajou is a bookworm. The one thing they do have in common is that go to the same all-boys' school, and meet one day when Hikaru notices that Rihito can't read music. As these two classmates become friends, they begin to fall in love.
But, it doesn't end there. Unlike most other cute, fluffy romance films, this film shows the two boys having to do realistic relationship things, like communicate and work out problems in their relationship. In fiction, that's practically unheard of!
While it's not perfect by any means, at an hour, you really ought to check Doukyuusei out.
5. Ouran High School Host Club
♪ Kiss, kiss, fall in love! ♪
Do you like romance, but fully acknowledge that it's kind of ridiculous? Do you like satirical romances? Do you have a soft spot for some adorable comedy writing? Well then, Ouran is for you.
This screwball romantic comedy series follows the misadventures of Haruhi Fujioka, a poorer college student at the prestigious Ouran Academy, a school for the obscenely-rich, attending on scholarship. One day, Haruhi accidentally knocks over the vase of the school's Host Club (read: speed dating club, essentially) while looking for a study room, and is forced into manual labor for them to pay off the exorbitant debt recruited into their ranks as a host. Still, there's more to Haruhi than meets the eye, as these pretty boys are about to find out...!
This series is one of my favorites. It plays with and skewers romantic tropes with glee, both for the cast and the viewers. I don't care if you don't like anime. Watch it. It's hilarious. This deconstruction of the romance genre is uncanny, and the jokes land wonderfully, whether you watch it in English or in Japanese.
Watch it subbed (Japanese audio with English subtitles) here, and dubbed here. Or Hulu, if you prefer.
Either way, I hope you all enjoy these romances, everyone!
