Confessions in anime are always a big deal. The confessor spends too long overthinking the situation, works up the nerve, and then makes a dramatic show of asking out their love interest. It's a trope as old as the genre itself, and any anime fan has seen it dozens of times before. However, some characters don't get their happily ever after in romantic comedies.

Despite its prevalence within the genre, many shows have come up with unique takes on the confession scene. Some start with confessions right off the bat, while others save them for a later point in the story. As for the result, there can only be one of two answers: an acceptance or a rejection, both of which carry some serious emotional weight.

Updated on November 12, 2023, by Alexandra Locke: Not every anime love confession has a happy ending. More and more characters are finding themselves unlucky in love. CBR is dedicated to keeping up-to-date with changing improvements. Therefore, this article has been updated to reflect the current formatting style.

15 Lily Aquaria Never Accepts Asta's Love

In Lily Aquaria's defense, she's a nun who's taken a vow of chastity and penitence. There is no possible scenario in which she would accept Asta's affections. Unfortunately, that doesn't stop Asta from constantly imagining a potential romance between them.

Asta has several fantasies that revolve around impressing Sister Lily, none of which ever come to fruition. On the contrary, the nun instinctively attacks Asta with her Water Magic whenever he tries proposing to her. Rather than respecting her wishes, Asta continues to pester Sister Lily until she runs out of pacifistic options. Black Clover is one of many anime where the boy gets rejected.

14 Tomoe Initially Rejects Nanami

In Kamisama Kiss, it's taboo for yokai and humans to fall in love. Tomoe used to be a staunch believer in this and was initially against Nanami helping Himemiko, a catfish yokai, confess to the human Kotaro.

Since Tomoe is Nanami's familiar, they spend a lot of time together. The way Tomoe always protects Nanami pulls on her heartstrings, and she eventually falls in love with him. When she confesses, Tomoe furiously grabs her and carries her to the edge of a skyscraper to come to her senses. Sadly, Nanami remains steadfast in her feelings. Nanami's love never entirely disappears and, luckily, Tomoe falls in love with her in return over time.

13 Subaru Tells Rem That He Loves Someone Else

One of anime's most brutal rejection scenes is in Re:Zero, when Subaru responds to Rem's confession by saying that he is in love with someone else. Rem gives him a heartfelt speech that is just as much of a romantic confession as it is a motivational spiel about Subaru's strength as a person.

Unfortunately for Rem, this doesn't make Subaru fall head over heels for her. Instead, he admits his love for Emilia. Luckily, Rem copes with the rejection pretty well and eventually moves on. However, it seems that Rem's emotional bond is never completely severed, and she's still likely in love with Subaru.

12 Hori Rejectes Ishikawa

Horimiya's Tooru Ishikawa has a massive crush on Kyoko Hori. Shortly before telling her, however, he confronts Miyamura, since the two have been spending much more time together than usual. Ishikawa eventually confesses to Hori, but she rejects him.

Crushed by Hori's refusal, Ishikawa doesn't talk to her for a while, and when Hori tries to ask him about Miyamura's first name, Ishikawa can't handle it and starts crying. With time, he learns to accept Hori and Miyamura's relationship, even if his feelings for her never quite fade away. Plus, he begins dating Yuki Yoshikawa, so it seems that fate's red strings have something better in store for him.

11 Tsubasa's Rejection Was Liberating

Tsubasa has loved Koyomi for a long time, but she's never told him the truth about her feelings. Throughout Bakemonogatari, these emotions began weighing her down like shackles because she fears taking that leap of faith. Eventually, she can't take it anymore and finally confesses to him, despite knowing that he is in a stable relationship.

Tsubasa knew she'd get turned down, but the rejection is surprisingly liberating since she no longer has to keep her feelings bottled up. She doesn't have to quibble about what he thinks of her since she knows the answer at last. Expressing her truth is what finally sets her free after so long.

10 Ryuji & Taiga Strike A Deal

In Toradora!, Ryuuji Takasu and Taiga Aisaka agree to help each other get with their respective crushes since Ryuuji likes Taiga's friend Minori Kushieda and Taiga likes Ryuji's friend Yusaku Kitamura. Through a lot of planning and courage, they each get their own opportunities to confess.

Unfortunately for them, both Minori and Yusaku sense feelings between Ryuuji and Taiga and reject their respective confessions. In the end, things do work out well for Ryuuji and Taiga, even though the rejections set them back a bit. Fortunately, the two protagonists discover that Minori and Yusaku are right, and they eventually confess their love to each other instead. As it turns out, Ryuuji and Taiga were just what each of them needed to learn how to love themselves.

9 Hachiman Tries To Make A Friend

At the start of My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU, Hachiman has a very cynical outlook on life, with no interest in girls or even friends. This is a direct result of his traumatic childhood, which forces him to isolate himself from emotional connections.

Upon meeting Yukino Yukinoshita, however, he briefly wonders if maybe they could become friends. Yukino very quickly shuts him down - most likely stemming from her own experiences - and lets him know that they will never be friends. Of course, that changes during the series with both of them becoming much closer — along with their other friend, Yui Yuigahama.

8 Tsubaki Works Up The Courage

One of the best romantic animanga out there, Your Lie in April follows the lives of two child prodigy musicians, Kousei Arima, and the girl he's in love with, Kaori Miyazono. However, Kousei's childhood friend, Tsubaki Sawabe, soon realizes that she has feelings for him.

Eventually, Tsubaki works up the courage to tell Kousei how she feels. Sadly, she immediately runs away, fearing his rejection. Of course, at the time, Kousei is head over heels in love with Kaori despite her being in a relationship with his best friend, Ryota Watari. Tsubaki does not give up though, and she is determined to get what she wants. She eventually confesses to Kosei, and, even though he rejects her, Tsubaki can now feel proud of herself for having the courage to let her love be known.

7 Ed Is Short On Patience

As children, the Elric brothers got into an argument about which of the two might marry their friend Winry when they got older. Alphonse won the argument, but Winry rejected him anyway.

In the present, Edward decides to bring up the topic once again. Winry explains that she's just not into guys who are shorter than her. As any Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood fan knows, Ed takes any comment regarding height very seriously. While it's not a direct rejection, this one especially stings, coming from Winry, since Edward has been in love with her all this time. Luckily, Edward eventually grows taller and they end up married with kids by the end.

6 Mai & Sakuta Almost Kiss

Before they begin dating, Mai Sakurajima and Sakuta Azusagawa of Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Senpai work closely together to try and figure out why people are forgetting who Mai is. During this process, they spend the night together in a hotel as friends.

As they are getting ready to go to sleep, Mai offers to kiss Sakuta, but not necessarily because she wants to. Sakuta politely turns her down, not wanting her to kiss him for the wrong reasons, and instead asks her about her feelings. When Sakuta tries to bring it up again, Mai rejects him with a resounding slap. Mai then challenges Sakuta to demonstrate the depth of his feelings for her, which he eventually does in spectacular fashion in front of the whole school.

5 Masamune Wants His Revenge

The inciting incident that kicks off Masamune-kun's Revenge occurs during the titular character's childhood. Masamune Makabe confesses his feelings to the beautiful Aki Adagaki. She responds by rejecting him and calling him a "pig's foot," even though she's actually in love with him.

Due to this humiliating rejection, Masamune resolves to get in shape and take better care of himself so that when he's older, he'll be more attractive, and he can seduce her and reject her right back. In high school, the two are reunited, and he wastes no time plotting his revenge, hoping to get Aki to fall head over heels in love with him. The two end up falling even more helplessly in love with each other, but Adagaki's rejection of Masamune is so hurtful that it consumes Masamune for most of his life.

4 Tendo Discovers Love Through Rejection

Keita Amano, the main protagonist of Gamers!, is a loner. He loves playing games in his spare time, and his classmate, Karen Tendo, invites him to join her games club after school. After checking it out, he decides it's not for him since he's not a competitive gamer.

Tendo takes the rejection pretty hard and starts weeping profusely. However, she soon becomes obsessed with getting Keita to join the club. As she continues to learn more about him, she also develops a crush on him. Eventually, Karen asks Keita out on a quasi-date, but Keita refuses, thinking that she's just asking him to hang out, and he feels like he doesn't have a chance. The rejection is so devastating that it sends Karen into a tailspin. Karen and Keita eventually start dating, but his initial refusal has the entire school talking about the pair.

3 Nino & Ichika Take The Initiative

The Quintessential Quintuplets is a harem romantic comedy where Futaro Uesugi tutors five identical sisters who are at risk of failing in school. The Nakano sisters all take a liking to him, especially Nino and Ichika. The former confesses to him first but does not allow him to answer because deep down she already knows he does not share her feelings.

Ichika also confesses her feelings later but goes about it in the wrong way. She tries to manipulate Futaro by disguising herself as her sister Miku. This upsets Futaro, and he rejects her rather harshly, leaving her in the rain. Despite their obvious feelings, the two sisters don't trust Futaro enough to allow him to answer them face-to-face, which ends up ending poorly for both of them.

2 Sueharu & Kuroha Are Both Rejected

In Osamake: Romcom Where the Childhood Friend Won't Lose, the main character Sueharu receives a confession from his childhood friend Kuroha. However, he rejects her as he already has feelings for a classmate, Shirokusa. When he confesses to Shirokusa, he finds out she already has a boyfriend.

From there, Sueharu and Kuroha work together to formulate a plan of revenge against Shirokusa. As they become closer, Sueharu realizes his own feelings for Kuroha. He subsequently confesses to her in front of the whole school. Although their initial rejections were painful, both Sueharu and Kuroha had to go through them to come together in the end. Osamake is one of the best anime about rejection.

1 Sakura Finds A New Job Through A Failed Love Confession

The whole premise of Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun revolves around rejection and a big misunderstanding, two common tropes employed in romance anime. As the series begins, the protagonist Sakura works up the courage to confess her feelings to her classmate, Nozaki. However, Nozaki is not the brightest and thinks she is a fan asking for his autograph, to which he obliges.

A confused Sakura decides to try again and tells him that she actually wants to be with him. This time, however, Nozaki thinks she wants to work as his assistant, as he is secretly a popular manga artist. Sakura agrees to their arrangement but continues to be ever determined to tell Nozaki about her feelings until he finally understands.