Love triangles—romance fans either love or hate them. Although they add to the story's drama, they also tend to make the other party made if their best girl—or boy—don't win. This has happened numerous times, whether in an older anime like Shuffle or a newer anime and manga like The Quintessential Quintuplets.
However, there comes the rare camaraderie among fandoms where almost all the fans agree with the winner at the end was the correct choice—or it simply just ended exactly how they expected it.
10 Futaba Yoshioka → Kou Mabuchi ← Yuri Makita — Futaba And Kou Admit Their Old Feelings For Each Other
When they were in middle school, Futaba Yoshioka and Kou Tanaka—now Kou Mabuchi—used to be best friends in high school. However, now in high school, he has become much more pessimistic and distances himself from her.
Futaba is quick to fall in love with him again, and so is her newest best friend, Yuri Makita. In this love triangle, the winner was never truly doubted to be Futaba as Yuri confesses, and Kou quickly shuts her down. In the end, Futaba and Kou reconcile, and Yuri instead dates someone else.
9 Kikyo → Inuyasha ← Kagome Higurashi — Inuyasha Stops Getting Caught Up By Kikyo And Falls In Love With Kagome
Fans either love or hate the romance in the classic anime Inuyasha—and that's mainly because of how easily he seems to be tricked into thinking Kikyo is either alive or well or simply in danger. Kagome Higurashi is the reincarnation of his first love, but they're completely different people.
Despite Kikyo placing him under a curse, it has become one of the main frustrations among early fans with how easily deceived he was by her. As he and Kagome spend more time together, they eventually fall in love, leaving Kikyo where she should be—buried in the past.
8 Ren Tsuruga → Kyouko Mogami ← Shoutarou Fuwa — Kyouko Falls Out Of Love With Shoutarou And Slowly Accepts Ren Into Her Heart
Skip Beat follows the strong-willed Kyoko Mogami after discovering her childhood friend and first love, Shoutarou Fuwa, who has only used her as a maid and had no romantic feelings for her. To get revenge, she decides to beat him at his own game—and dream—by becoming a top idol.
However, after she gets into show biz, she meets Ren Tsuruga, who doesn't like her at first because of the ridiculous reason she got into acting. After he realizes she truly has an interest in acting, he is drawn to her, and so is she. In this long-running shojo manga, it is confirmed that she has feelings for Ren, and the long-lasting love triangle has finally dissolved.
7 Yona Of The Dawn: Hak Son → Yona ← Su-Won — After Being Betrayed, Yona's Heart Sways Towards Hak Son
Yona of the Dawn was supposed to follow a spoiled princess as she greeted her 16th birthday and planned to confess to her first love and cousin, Su-Won. However, a week beforehand, he instead kills her pacifistic father and attempts to overthrow the kingdom of Kouka.
After this betrayal, her feelings for him run cold as she resolves to take back her kingdom and become stronger so she can defeat any enemy that stands in her way. Her feelings then grow stronger for Hak Son, her bodyguard and childhood friend, as she learns from him as they travel together to gather the four Dragon Guardians to help take back her kingdom.
6 Kouko Kaga → Banri Tada ← Nana Hayashida — Banri Stops Being Stuck In The Past And Kouko Falls In Love With Someone Who Truly Treasures Her
Golden Time is a completely different kind of love story, and that is because of how the differences between the characters' initial appearances and how they actually progress throughout the series. Kouko Kaga is at first enamored with her childhood friend, Mitsuo Yanagisawa, and even stalks him, to which he flat-out tells her he doesn't love her.
After her heartbreak, she spends more time with Banri Tada—a young man who has retrograde amnesia who used to be in love with Nana "Linda" Hayashida. Banri and Kouko begin as friends and eventually date—although Banri's spirit and memories sometimes get in the way.
5 Nagi-Asu: A Lull In The Sea: Hikari Sakishima → Manaka Mukaido ← Tsugumu Kihara — Hikari And Manaka Both Had Mutual Feelings For One Another
Nagi-Asu: A Lull in the Sea features not only a love triangle but a love hexagon, as everyone in the series has unrequited feelings for someone. One of the most prominent ones features three of the five main protagonists—Hikari Sakishima, Manaka Mukaido, and Tsumugu Kihara. It is evident that Hikari loves Manaka, but he frequently bullies her.
On the other hand, after Tsugumu meets Manaka, it is left ambiguous if Manaka likes him. Thankfully, near the middle of the series, it is revealed that Manaka has been in love with Hikari the entire time, and Tsugumu was actually in love with Chisaki Hiradaira, who was in love with Hikari.
4 Sakura Kinomoto → Yukito Tsukishiro ← Syaoran Li — Sakura Begins To Grow Feelings For Syaoran After Realizing Yukito Is In Love With Her Brother
Perhaps one of the most unique love triangles in a magical girl anime is how both Sakura Kinomoto and Syaoran Li had crushes on Yukito Tsukishiro, the kind friend to Touya Kinomoto. Although Sakura has liked him for a while, it was proven that Syaoran felt this way because he received his power from the moon, and so did he.
Afterward, it became Syaoran hiding his feelings for Sakura while she still liked Yukito. After Sakura was rejected because Yukito loved Touya, Sakura realizes she reincorporates Syaoran's feelings. They begin to date at the end and in the sequel, Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card.
3 Tadase Hotori → Amu Hinamori ← Ikuto Tsukiyomi — Amu Realizes She Has Fallen In Love With Ikuto Even After Dating Tadase
Shugo Chara features a complicated love triangle amidst a magical girl story. Amu Hinamori has a crush on Tadase Hotori, the prince of the school—and she promptly ends up confessing to him accidentally after she wishes she can be true to herself. To make matters worse, Tadase is only interested in one of her Shugo Chara personalities, Amulet Heart.
He eventually breaks this habit and begins to like her—but unfortunately, Ikuto Tsukiyomi, the anti-villain of the series, has already made his way into Amu's heart even after she tries dating him. It is heavily implied that Amu and Ikuto get together in the last chapter of the manga after he leaves after kissing her on the nose.
2 School Days: Kotonoha Katsura → Makoto Itou ← Sekai Saionji — Makoto Is Murdered Because Of His Playboy Ways
School Days is at times painfully slow and too fast all at once. Makoto Itou enlists the help of Sekai Sainoji so he can confess his love to the most beautiful and popular girl in school, Kotonoha Katsura. However, after they begin to date, he finds her too boring.
Sekai proposes he practice intimacy with her—such as kissing and holding hands—which brings Makoto down the path of constantly cheating on Kotonoha with Sekai and everyone in the anime. In the end, Sekai stabs Makoto to death, Kotonoha kills Sekai, and she ends up on a boat, cradling Makoto'ss detached head.
1 Fruits Basket: Yuki Sohma → Tohru Honda ← Kyo Sohma — Kyo And Tohru Slowly Fall In Love With Each Other, And It's Revealed That Yuki Only Loved Tohru In A Motherly Way
Fans of the original Fruits Basket may have noticed the difference between the supposed love triangle that features Tohru Honda, Yuki Sohma, and Kyo Sohma. Although Tohru and Kyo got off to a rocky start, Tohru and Yuki were friendly with each other since the beginning.
However, it turns out that Yuki's feelings only extended to that of liking her for her motherly ways and were not at all romantic. On the other hand, Kyo fell in love with her, and so did Tohru—although it takes her longer to notice this than Kyo, as he has a cruel fate awaiting him. Yuki instead begins to like Machi Kuragi, his best friend Kakeru Manabe's younger sister, as he realizes they are quite alike.