One genre of anime that has seen a steady increase in its fanbase — especially among male fans — is the romance genre. Many fans enjoy seeing complete strangers (or sometimes casual friends) turn into lovers, with the frenemies-to-lovers trope being one of their all-time favorite tropes.
However, not every romance in anime has a happy ending, and understandably so. This happens a lot more when the said romance involves the main and the side characters, or when the anime fails to explore all chapters of its source material (the manga). Whatever the reason may be, there are many romances that ended even before they began.
10 Erika & Yuu (Wolf Girl & Black Prince): Erika Realized She Still Had Feelings For Kyouya
Yuu was a shy boy whose confidence got a boost from Erika’s kindness toward him. When he saw she’d broken up with Kyouya, he confessed his feelings to her and Erika accepted them.
However, after her best friend told her that she (Erika) was simply dragging Yuu along because of his feelings for her, Erika saw her mistake. She bravely went up to Yuu and apologized to him for going out with him, despite still having feelings for Kyouya.
9 Andou & Mirei (When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace): Mirei Misunderstood A Letter From Andou As A Love Letter
Andou wrote a letter to Mirei, but due to the characters and words he had used, she ended up confusing his intentions and assumed it was a love letter for her. Elated, she instantly started acting as his girlfriend, thus, confusing Andou.
Eventually, he realized what he had done, and apologized to Mirei for misleading her due to his own ineptitude. Despite being heartbroken, Mirei accepts his decisions and is exceptionally mature about the entire breakup.
8 Yuuichiri & Shinoa (Seraph Of The End): Shinoa Never Confessed Her Feelings To Yuu
Shinoa seemed to have a crush on Yuuichiro, something that even Guren commented on. However, being the tsundere that she was, Shinoa never admitted to having romantic feelings for Yuu.
She never confessed her feelings for him (in the anime) due to two reasons. The first is Yuuichiro was completely oblivious to her feelings. The second was that Shinoa, her squad, and all of that remained of humanity, were too busy fighting with vampires to be thinking about romance.
7 Favaro & Amira (Shingeki No Bahamut): Little To No Emotional Build Up Results In Just One Kiss
Despite the duo getting a lot of screen time in the first season of the anime, there was very little romantic interaction between them. Both were too busy saving each other’s lives to be thinking of anything more.
Towards the end of the series, Amira is absorbed by the God Key and before vanishing completely, she appears and gives Favaro a kiss on his lips. With that, their relationship with each other ended completely.
6 Rimuru & Shizu (That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime): Rimuru Consumed The One He Loved
Rimuru was told that Shizue was going to be The One for her, but throughout the few episodes they interacted with each other, it was only Rimuru who thought of her as a romantic interest. Shizue simply trusted him as a strong ally of hers.
In the end, Rimuru consumed Shizue at her own request so that she would not be taken over by the Greater Fire Elemental Ifrit.
5 Rem & Subaru (Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World): Subaru Rejected Rem’s Confession Because He Loved Emilia
After being shown kindness by Subaru, Rem instantly falls in love with him. She eventually confesses her feelings to him but he rejects her since he only has eyes for Emilia.
Before the white whale battle occurred, she also made Subaru agree to make her his second wife. She said she would convince Emilia of the same, but that never came to fruition as due to an incident she was involved in, she ended up losing all of her memories.
4 Yukari & Takao (Garden Of Words): Takao Did Not Want To Be With A Boy Half Her Age, Who Also Happened To Be Her Student
Takao was a 15-year-old schoolboy who pursued a 27-year-old Takao, a teacher from his school. Expectedly, his confession was shot down by her, despite being visibly moved by it.
It also ended in an extremely emotional (and iconic) hug between the two, where Yukari confessed that the time she had spent talking to him, was the time that had helped “save her” from her inner demons.
3 Taki & Miki (Your Name): Taki’s Crush Ends When She Realizes Miki Loved Someone Else
Taki is shown to have a crush on his beautiful senior, Okudera, who only starts truly noticing him after witnessing his feminine side. Unbeknownst to her, she was actually interacting with Mitsuha’s soul.
She then eventually developed a crush on Taki herself, and they even went out on a date. However, the date didn’t go well and Okudera was able to tell that Taki was interested in another girl.
2 Sadao Maou & Chifuyu (The Devil Is A Part-Timer): Maou Accepts It’s Unfair To Chifuyu If He Did Not Respond To Her Feelings
Chifuyu liked Sadao Maou because of his kind but assertive nature, and even after knowing that he used to be a fierce demon lord, she continued having a crush on him.
Maou was aware of her feelings but continued to ignore them, even going on a date with her. However, at the behest of Alciel, he eventually agreed that it would be unfair to Chifuyu if he kept on going without telling her he only saw her as a colleague.
1 Shion & Nezumi (No. 6): Despite Two Kisses, There Is No Relationship & An Open-Ended Ending
Throughout the anime, it is the kindness of Shion that helped cut through the ice in Nezumi’s heart, who eventually ended up falling hard for Shion. Despite that, he still maintained an emotional distance for him, for both of their sakes.
In the very last episode, Nezumi kissed Shion and left, promising to return one day. This was seen as an open-ended (and very confusing) "end" to their romance, with fans still debating whether or not that was a goodbye kiss.