The 1990s was the golden age of romantic comedies, with classics like 10 Things I Hate About You, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, and Clueless. Certain character types and relationship dynamics are popular in the rom-com genre. Characters like "the girl next door" and "the slacker with the heart of gold" get reinvented and sometimes subverted over and over in these films.
Romantic comedies also explore the foibles of relationships, with popular tropes like love triangles, fake courtship, and opposites attracts. Some of these tropes are popular in anime, too, and certain characters, regardless of the anime genre they belong to, would fit in very well in a '90s rom-com setting.
10 Olivier Armstrong Fits The Complicated Hardass Trope
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Olivier Armstrong of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood has a severe countenance and takes no nonsense. Dubbed as the "Ice Queen," she's a mix of competent and unapproachable. There's a reason Alchemist fans love her character so much.
Oftentimes in romantic comedies, the harsh woman softens by the end of the movie, but not to the point where her whole personality changes. It would be interesting to imagine a romance arc where Olivier meets her match in a person who both complements her capabilities, and is not intimidated by her strength.
9 Howl Is The Naive Himbo, Sophie Is His Jaded Love Interest
Howl's Moving Castle
A good romantic pairing has love interests that bring out the best in each other, which is partly why Howl's Moving Castle fans enjoy the movie's main romance. Howl and Sophie are a delightful pairing with opposite qualities. Howl isn't very brave most of the time, but he has his moments where he steps up and does the right thing despite his vanity and penchant for stealing women's hearts.
Sophie is a jaded character from the very beginning, and being around Howl sometimes makes her feel even more down about herself and her role in life. But Sophie pushes Howl to be more of his noble self while Howl helps Sophie see that she's deserving of love, and how beautiful she is to him.
8 Reedus Jonah Makes Art And Has A Lighthearted Personality
Fairy Tail
Fairy Tail's Reedus Jonah is a shy, artistic character whose best trait is his kindness. He doesn't eagerly rush into battle but does so when it's necessary. '90s Rom-coms are full of struggling artists with earnest personalities, like Adam Sandler's character Robbie Hart in The Wedding Singer.
Reedus is a unique individual who savors the happier moments in his life. He's a shy and emotionally intelligent person who looks out for others, especially his artist models. He would make for a lovely, affable main character in his own romantic comedy.
7 Nana Komatsu Has A Girl Next Door Kind Of Personality
NANA
NANA explores difficult themes, like childhood trauma and how it shapes people going into adulthood. Of the two main characters, Nana Komatsu is more naive, open-hearted. She comes from a small mountain town and is a hopeless romantic. She has a sweet, almost childlike way of dressing, often wearing ruffly dresses in pastel colors.
She's the foil to Nana Osaki, who prefers the punk scene both in style and artistic expression. Nana Komatsu is unfailingly cheerful and a little immature, especially in the beginning of the series. Her main wish is to find love, and she cleaves to traditional social norms.
6 Cinderella-Type Tohru Honda Works Hard And Gets Rewarded
Fruits Basket
Tohru Honda embodies the Cinderella trope so well that the newest rendition of Fruits Basket spends a lot of time featuring a school play called Cinderella-ish, though Tohru plays a cruel stepsister in the play, subverting the obvious. Cinderella-type characters were very popular in '90s movies like Ever After, which is more of a historical romantic comedy, and Never Been Kissed.
Tohru has an unflappable sense of optimism and makes the best of every difficult thing that happens in her life. Fruits Basket is a cross-genre story, with elements of family drama, romance, and some slapstick humor.
5 Chizuru and Kazuya Are In A Fake Dating Situationship
Rent-A-Girlfriend
Kazuya Kinoshita is the closest family member to his grandmother Rent-A-Girlfriend, and her joy at meeting his fake girlfriend, Chizuru Mizuhara, puts pressure on Kazuya to keep up the fake dating charade.
Chizuru and Kazuya's personalities clash at first, but they learn to appreciate each other and fall in love as they continue to fake date. Movies like 10 Things I Hate About You and She's All That embrace the fake dating trope unabashedly, often justifying the situation with outlandish circumstances, like bets between friends and elaborate plans to avoid the strictures of overbearing parents.
4 Yona, Soo-Won, And Hak Are Stuck In A Love Triangle
Yona Of The Dawn
Yona of the Dawn has a love triangle between three childhood friends. Yona cares for both Soo-Won and Hak, both of whom she's known since her youth. Rom-coms in the '90s and early 2000s had a more lighthearted tone to their love triangles, but they nevertheless served to raise the stakes of the plot.
Like in Yona of the Dawn, the love triangle often occurs between the main character, a childhood love interest, and a new rival. Circumstances grow more complicated and darker when Yona discovers that Soo-Won killed her father, whereas Hak genuinely loves her from a distance as her bodyguard.
3 Sango Has Sworn Off Love
Inuyasha
While InuYasha's main genre isn't romance, it has its fair share of pining hearts, including Sango and Miroku. Sango resists his advances because he's lecherous and she doesn't appreciate his thoughtless behavior. A common theme in many rom-coms is the woman who spurns the idea of love, then eventually finds her perfect partner.
As with some movies in the '90s, Miroku's inappropriate attempts to grope her were played off as a running gag, though thankfully Sango had no problem putting him in his place. Sango does fall in love with Miroku, but remains distant to guard her heart. It isn't until Miroku's feelings and behavior become sincerer that they become a couple.
2 Tomoe Is A Hot Mess
Kamisama Kiss
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Kamisama Kiss' Tomoe has some dumpster fire habits, like shirking his responsibilities to go to the red-light district, drinking in excess, and having a terrible temper. Like the main character in Billy Madison, he needs a wake-up call and a goal to work toward.
Like with many rom-com protagonists, Tomoe does much better when he's given direction in life. Tomoe may be belligerent and make a big fuss when things are asked of him, but he never fails to rise to the occasion – even if it's while kicking and screaming.
1 Sheele Is The Attractive Yet Clumsy Girl
Akame Ga Kill!
Sheele's primary personality traits are clumsiness and kindness in Akame ga Kill! Sheele makes silly mistakes like losing her glasses, but she protects those who need it and is capable when it matters.
These characters are very popular in comedies where the main character's clumsiness is fodder for laughs and sometimes used as shorthand for denoting social awkwardness. Sheele is clumsy and forgetful, but kind and caring. These traits are complicated, of course, by her talent for killing and vigilante ideologies.