Romance anime has been rather hit-or-miss among fans this year. Some rom-com series, such as Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie and My Stepmom’s Daughter Is My Ex, were hyped up before their debuts but ended up being a letdown for fans. These titles unfortunately felt too much of a repetition of archetypes and standard rom-com storylines.
However, there are a few new romance anime that have stood out from the pack, including a December film release playing in theaters through the 2022 holiday season. Here are some of the best RomCom anime for 2022 that aren’t returning titles like Rent-a-Girlfriend.
Call of the Night: Falling in Love to Become a Vampire
A supernatural rom-com anime, Call of the Night follows Ko Yamori, a junior high school student who finds his daily life boring. While sneaking out of the house at night, he encounters a vampire named Nazuna Nanakusa. Soon realizing how fun it is to be a vampire, Ko wishes to become one too -- but first he must fall in love with the vampire, Nazuna.
The primary female protagonist, Nazuna is similar to Marin Kitagawa of My Dress-Up Darling; both enjoy lewd jokes but are inexperienced when it comes to love. Yet aside from the humor and quirky antics, Call of the Night proposes a realistic question that audiences can relate to: “How do you fall in love with someone?” Ko is inexperienced with any form of relationship; hence, the audience can relate to his internal dilemma. As the story progresses, viewers see his character develop as he learns to socialize and befriend Nazuna and his junior high friend, Akira Asai.
My Dress-Up Darling: Cosplay Brings People Together
Shinichi Fukuda’s My Dress-Up Darling combines traditional Hina doll craftsmanship with modern cosplay. Wakana Gojo dreams of becoming a craftsman of Hina Dolls just like his grandfather, but is insecure about his dream career path since many of his peers find it weird that he plays with dolls. When his classmate Marin Kitagawa learns that he can use a sewing machine, she ecstatically asks if he can help create her cosplay outfits. Gojo agrees to her proposal, resulting in the start of their cosplay adventures.
Similar to Raido and Reina in Aharen-san Is Indecipherable, Gojo and Marin start as friends spending time together doing their cosplay hobby -- but eventually, Marin develops feelings for Gojo after he tells her how beautiful she is cosplaying. It’s adorable to see the two bond over cosplay, but viewers also see how their relationship develops. The two respect one another’s hobbies and are communicative when it comes to boundaries, something far too rarely seen in anime.
Sasaki and Miyano: A Bond Over BL Manga
Sasaki and Miyano is a BL (boys' love) series based on the manga by Shō Harusono. Yoshikazu Miyano and Shūmei Sasaki are high school friends who share the same interest: reading BL manga. However, Sasaki secretly has a huge crush on Miyano and subtly confesses his feelings to him, saying he will wait for Miyano’s answer. Not long after, Miyano slowly starts to reciprocate Sasaki's feelings.
This BL anime is refreshing and light-hearted with its story of a friendship that develops into romance. Unlike other romance series, Sasaki and Miyano doesn’t exaggerate the romantic moments, and the characters are wholesome rather than archetypes from standard rom-com series. Viewers get to see realistic high school boys just trying to understand their internal feelings when it comes to love.
Aharen-san Is Indecipherable: Whispers of Love
Aharen-san Is Indecipherable is a slice-of-life romantic comedy by Asato Mizu. Raido, a first-year-high school student who struggles to make friends with his intimidating appearance, becomes desk partners with a quiet and timid young lady named Reina Aharen, and they soon become fast friends. The resulting story focuses on episodic high school moments between the two and their fun interactions with their classmates.
Raido and Reina started as friends, which eventually led them to have feelings for one another. Rather than straightforward words, though, they show their feelings in subtle acts of kindness and by spending time together. Their connection is so strong that even their teacher, Ms. Tōbaru, is shipping them together.
Furthermore, they stand by being an odd and quirky couple. Reina always clings to Raido for him to hear her since she talks in whispers. Raido is very protective of Reina in return, but he goes into these wild fantasies when he notices her acting peculiar. For example, when Raido sees Reina awkwardly dancing in front of a camera, he assumes she wants to become a U-Tube idol. He eventually realizes she is just doing practical everyday things, but his wild dreams show how observant and supportive he is to her.
The Quintessential Quintuplets Movie Reaches An Epic Conclusion
In the grand finale of The Quintessential Quintuplets anime/manga series, five sisters and the one tutor they're in all in love must finally face their feelings. They've had years to fall in love, and plenty of hilarious antics among them along the way. At long last the story reaches an epic conclusion.
The Quintessential Quintuplets Movie released December 2nd in select theaters across the US and Canada for the 2022 holiday season. The Nakano Quintuplets enter their third year of high school with the tutor they've all been crushing on, Futuro. As the school festival approaches, Futuro confesses to the sisters that he's in love with them and asks them each to wait until the end of the festival to find out which one of them he will choose.
With five sisters all in love with the same guy, there's drama and heartbreak galore in this anime RomCom. But the story explores something far deeper: the bond between Ichika, Miku, Yatsuba, Nino and Itsuki Nakano. Love and heartbreak test the sisters' bond, but they won't be so easily torn apart. When it's time to start planning the perfect wedding and honeymoon, they remember who they are and what they mean to one another. They even pull one of their famous pranks on Futuro before the wedding, asking him to guess which one of them is actually his bride. Futuro suprises them all by identifying each of them perfectly.