Confession time... I used to be an otaku. For those of you who don't know what that means, it is another word for a really big fan of Japanese anime. I didn't have channels on my television back in the day so I had to settle for watching things on my computer. One day I went over my god father's house and a relative of his was there watching an anime. I sat in on it and this was my first experience watch anime. It was Peach Girl. Now I know those of you who are familiar with Peach Girl know that it wasn't the best anime and are probably wondering why I continued with anime all. To be honest I know Peach Girl wasn't the best but it opened my eyes to the possibilities of anime. Let me apologize in advance, but most, if not all, of these, are going to be romance anime. Here are ten of my favorite series which you guys should check out.

1. Lovely Complex

While Peach Girl was the first anime I saw, Lovely Complex was the first anime I chose to watch of my own volition, and it is honestly my favorite. I feel like the plot is very easy to relate t. The show centers around a girl who is taller than average and a guy who is shorter than average who are best friends. Along the way they are able to overcome the insecurities they have about their height and fall in love.

2. Itazura Na Kiss

This was such a cute and annoying anime. It was about a girl who was very smart having a crush on aa very intelligent boy who wanted nothing to do with her. Through weird circumstances, they ended up living in the same house, and eventually, he starts to return her feelings, with much persuasion from her. I love this anime because it shows that perseverance can pay off eventually.

3. Special A

This anime drove me crazy. You know when you have a couple that is perfect for each other but they are both just so dense that it seems like they will never get together? Well, that is this Special A couple in a nutshell. The anime is about this group of seven high school students who have really good grades which put them in the Special A category of their school. The guy who comes 1st place and the girl who comes 2nd place are always duking it out to see who would be the winner so much that they don't even realize that they're in love with each other.

4. Vampire Knight

When I tell you that this anime had the most beautifully drawn guys... Anyway. This anime had great art and an amazing plot. It was about this school which was divided into two, the day class consisting of humans and the night class consisting of good vampires. The girl main character was one of the guardians within the school whose job was to protect the students. The leader of the vampire night class falls in love with her which her other guardian counterpart, who happens to be her adopted brother, does not like because he too falls in love with her. This story has so many twists and turns and is just great overall.

5. Ouran High School Host Club

This is one of the classics honestly. Almost every romance anime person I know has seen this at least once before. The story is about a poor girl who comes to a rich school on scholarship and runs into the school's host club. She ends up owing them some money and is forced to pretend that she is male and work for them. Along the way she makes some really good friends among the club members while the leader of the club falls in love with her. It's super funny.

6. Naruto

When I say Naruto, I'm including both Naruto and Naruto Shippuden because one is a continuation of the other. You would think with the other anime on this list that Naruto seems out of place among all the romance, but I truly do love this anime, even though I have not completed it yet because let's face it, Naruto has a ton of episodes. Anyway, the story is about a ninja who wants to be Hokage (leader of his village) one day. His goals are to live by his ninja way and to rescue his best friends from being evil.

7. Skip Beat!

Skip Beat! was a hilarious revenge anime. The main girl was a push over who got used by a famous idol. She realizes he was using her and decided to stop being a push over and get into a media company where the guy's main rival worked in order to become an even bigger star than him. It's about her journey to becoming an idol and discovering herself again. There's also the two hot guys who fall for her so that's a plus.

8. Boys Over Flowers (Hana Yori Dango)

There are so many adaptations of this anime and I love them all. This story is about a poor girl who gets a scholarship to go to this super rich school that is ruled by these four elite guys, the "Flower Four, who control the other students by bullying. She is a very strong character who refuses to let them push her around. The leader of the "Flower Four" falls in love with her but they have to go through many obstacles to be together including the first one of getting her to like him back. This anime is another one with tons of funny plot twists.

9. Fruits Basket

I loved Fruits Basket because it was a very original idea and it had a great plot. The main girl character had lost both of her parents and was basically living in a tent when she was found by one of her classmates and invited to stay with him and his relatives. The girl accidently found out the families' secret which is that every time they touch someone of the opposite sex, they turn into their Chinese zodiac animal. So not only does she get to stay with them because they need her to keep their secret, but she ends up in a love triangle with the cat and the rat characters.

10. InuYasha

InuYasha is also a favorite of mine even though it has much more action and adventure than my other favorites. The girl main character is from the modern world of Japan and she ends up falling down a well and time traveling to Feudal Japan. There she ends up shattering a very important jewel and having to embark on an adventure with the main guy to recover the pieces of the jewel. The two end up falling in love but it's complicated because she is the splitting image of her deceased ancestor who the guy was in love with but who betrayed him.

So those were my favorite anime series. As you can see it was mostly romance but that's just what I like. Actually writing this made me want to go and re-watch, not for the first time, some of these series. But I can't because it's the middle of the semester, but if those of you out there are braver than me, how about you give one of them a try.