I’m sure that you have heard of the new trend of romance anime movies. The genre is still new and there is a lot of room to grow, so it is up to us to decide what direction it will take. If you are looking for a list of the best romance anime movies, so you are at the right place. Love is in the air, and it’s time to watch the best romance anime movies.
So without wasting your time, let’s scroll the page and check the list.
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Best Romance Anime Movies
1 – Your Name (2016)
Speaking about the story lineup, the two teenagers convey a profound, mystical relationship upon discovering they are changing bodies. Things tend to become even more complex when the boy and girl decide to meet in person.
- Release date: 26 August 2016 (Japan)
- IMDB Rating: 8.4
- Director: Makoto Shinkai
- Music by: Radwimps
- Distributed by: Toho Co., Ltd.
2 – A Silent Voice (2016)
The Anime movie covers aspects of coming of age and psychological theater, dealing with themes of bullying, disability, forgiveness, cognitive health, suicide, and spiritual love, where it pursues the tale with empathy and involves the former terror turned social outcast, who chooses to reconnect and befriend the deaf girl he had persecuted years prior.
- Release date: 17 September 2016 (Japan)
- IMDB Rating: 8.1
- Director: Naoko Yamada
- Distributed by: Shochiku
- Adapted from: A Silent Voice
3 – Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
In the anime tale, Jealous of Sophie’s closeness to Howl, a wizard, the Witch of Waste transforms her into an elder lady. Sophie must uncover a way to split the spell with the help of Howl’s friends, Calcifer and Markl. One of the best Romance Anime Movies to watch.
- Release date: 20 November 2004 (Japan)
- IMDB Rating: 8.2
- Director: Hayao Miyazaki
- Music by: Joe Hisaishi
- Adapted from: Howl’s Moving Castle
4 – Weathering with You (2019)
Coming to the Anime story, In Tokyo, a runaway high school student facing economic struggles concludes with a job at a small-time publisher. One day, he meets an immature girl who can handle the weather. One of the best Romance Anime Movies of all time.
The film was designated in 2018, and written and directed by Makoto Shinkai. The film won several awards, including being selected as the Japanese entry for Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards.
- Release date: 11 October 2019 (India)
- IMDB Rating: 7.5
- Director: Makoto Shinkai
- Music by: Radwimps
- Distributed by: Toho Co., Ltd., Camera Film
5 – I Want to Eat Your Pancreas (2018)
In the Movie, An aloof boy arrives across a book in a hospital waiting room. He soon realizes that it is a diary kept by his very famous classmate who discloses to him that she is secretly sorrowing from a fatal pancreatic illness.
- Release date: 1 September 2018 (Japan)
- IMDB Rating: 8
- Director: Shin’ichirô Ushijima
- Distributed by: Aniplex
- Adapted from: I Want to Eat Your Pancreas
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6 – 5 Centimeters per Second (2007)
In the romance story, Two people, Takaki and Akari are in elementary school and over time become best friends. Their friendship is put to the test when Akari has to move to another city. The film consists of three parts: “Cherry Blossom”, “Cosmonaut”, and “5 Centimeters per Second”, each following a period in Takaki Tōno’s life and his relationships with the girls around him.
- Release date: 3 March 2007 (Japan)
- IMDB Rating: 7.5
- Director: Makoto Shinkai
- Music by: Tenmon
- Volumes: 2
- Studio: CoMix Wave Inc.
7 – The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)
The story follows A teenage girl who tries to use her newfound ability to travel through time to her advantage. The film is an open sequel to the 1967 book of the same name by Yasutaka Tsutsui. The movie is one of the best Romance Anime Movies to watch. The film won multiple awards, including the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year.
- Release date: 15 July 2006 (Japan)
- IMDB Rating: 7.7
- Director: Mamoru Hosoda
- Distributed by: Kadokawa Daiei Studio
- Adapted from: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
- Music by: Kiyoshi Yoshida
8 – Doukyusei (2016)
When two classmates with different interests meet, they fall in love. Hikaru Kusakabe is a normal, devil-may-care boy in a rock band. During the summer, his whole class is forced to participate in an upcoming chorus festival. By concurrency, he finds his classmate Rihito Sajou who rehearses his singing alone. Sajou just cannot appear to get their class’ song right, and Kusakabe, pleased at catching a new side of his straight-laced classmate, offers to help him prepare for the event.
9 – Whisper of the Heart (1995)
Whisper of the Heart was Kondō’s only film as director before he died in 1998. The Anime stars played in the movie include Yoko Honna, Issei Takahashi, Takashi Tachibana, Shigeru Muroi, Shigeru Tsuyuguchi, and Keiju Kobayashi.
Shizuku, an aspiring writer, meets Seiji, a boy who wants to become a master luthier. The two fall in love and work simultaneously towards achieving their independent goals.
- Release date: 15 July 1995 (Japan)
- IMDB Rating: 7.9
- Director: Yoshifumi Kondō
- Music by: Yuji Nomi
- Distributed by: Walt Disney Pictures, Toho Co., Ltd.
10 – The Wind Rises (2013)
The Wind Rises is a fictionalized biographical film by Jiro Horikoshi (1903–1982). In the movie, a person unable to pursue his dream of becoming a pilot due to his eyesight, Jiro strives hard and draws inspiration from Giovanni Caproni. Soon, he builds two fighter planes that are used in World War II.
- Release date: 20 July 2013 (Japan)
- IMDB Rating: 7.7
- Director: Hayao Miyazaki
- Music by: Joe Hisaishi
- Distributed by: Toho Co., Ltd.
- Adapted from: The Wind Has Risen
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11 – Night Is Short, Walk on Girl (2017)
The film is a spiritual series to The Tatami Galaxy, also based on a novel written by Morimi and directed by Yuasa. A young girl ventures on an insanely long night of partying where she interacts with an increasingly bizarre cast of characters.
- Release date: 7 April 2017 (Japan)
- IMDB Rating: 7.5
- Director: Masaaki Yuasa
- Distributed by: Toho Co., Ltd.
- Adapted from: The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl
- Characters: Girl With Black Hair, Seitarō Higuchi, Senpai, MORE
12 – I’ve Always Liked You (2016)
The film is based on the Kokuhaku Jikkō Iinkai ~Ren’ai Series~ Vocaloid music project by HoneyWorks. The film is centered on a group of high school buddies who struggle to confess their love. The story starts when Natsuki Enomoto admits to her childhood friend Yu Setoguchi. The movie cuts to its opening, Blooming into the Color of Love (“Koi-iro ni Sake”).
- Release date: 23 April 2016 (Japan)
- IMDB Rating: 7.2
- Director: Tetsuya Yanagisawa
- Sequel: The Moment You Fall in Love
- Distributed by: Aniplex
13 – Castle in the Sky (1986)
In the anime movie, Young orphan Sheeta and her kidnapper, Col. Muska, are flying to a military jail when their aircraft is bombarded by a gang of air privateers led by the matronly Dola. Then they escape from a mid-air collision via a magic crystal around her neck, Sheeta meets fellow orphan Pazu, and both team up to find the mystical floating city of Laputa while followed by both Muska and the pirates, who lust for the city’s myriad treasures.
- Release date: 2 August 1986 (Japan)
- IMDB Rating: 8
- Director: Hayao Miyazaki
- Featured song: Carrying You
- Adapted from: Gulliver’s Travels
- Distributed by: Toei Company, Best Hollywood Ltd.
14 – Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl (2019)
Coming to the movie tale, A high school student’s blissful days with his girlfriend are interrupted when his first crush returns in two forms. The film was originally released on June 15, 2019, in Japan, and acquired limited theatrical releases in other regions in late 2019.
- Initial release: 25 May 2019
- IMDB Rating: 8.1
- Director: Sōichi Masui
- Distributed by: Aniplex
- Adapted from: Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai
- Story by: Masahiro Yokotani
15 – Tamako Love Story (2014)
Tamako Kitashirakawa is the eldest daughter of a family that runs the Tama-ya mochi shop in the Usagiyama Shopping District. Tamako’s life is changed forever when her best friend confesses his love for her.
- Initial release: 26 April 2014
- IMDB Rating: 7
- Director: Naoko Yamada
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16 – From Up on Poppy Hill (2011)
The tale follows Umi Matsuzaki, a 16-year-old girl, who delivers for her siblings and grandmother. Her life changes drastically after she meets Shun, and jointly, they try to save their school’s clubhouse.
- Release date: 16 July 2011 (Japan)
- IMDB Rating: 7.4
- Director: Goro Miyazaki
- Music by: Satoshi Takebe
- Adapted from: Coquelicot-zaka kara
- Distributed by: Toho Co., Ltd., Walt Disney Pictures, StudioCanal
17 – Josee, the Tiger, and the Fish (2020)
The story tells the two people, Tsuneo is a university student, and Josee is a young girl who has rarely gone out of the house by herself due to her being unable to walk. The two meet when Tsuneo finds Josee’s grandmother taking her out for a morning walk.
- Release date: 25 December 2020 (Japan)
- IMDB Rating: 7.6
- Director: Kotaro Tamura
- Adapted from: Josee, the Tiger, and the Fish
- Music by: Evan Call
- Characters: Tsuneo Suzukawa, Mai Ninomiya, Chizu Yamamura, Josee, Nishida, Gondo, Yukichi
- Distributed by: Funimation, Shochiku
18 – Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! Take on Me (2018)
Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! Take on Me is a 2018 Japanese anime romantic comedy film, based on Torako’s light novel series of the same name. In the story, A girl’s delusional life is still her reality. But as adulthood looms, fact becomes stranger than fiction.
- Initial release: 6 January 2018
- IMDB Rating: 7.3
- Director: Tatsuya Ishihara
- Distributed by: Shochiku
- Adapted from: Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions
- Box office: ¥193 million
19 – The Anthem of the Heart (2015)
In the movie, A girl who holds the guilt of breaking up her family with poorly uttered words when she was young is abruptly condemned by a mysterious Egg Fairy so that she can never hurt anybody with her words again.
- Release date: 19 September 2015 (Japan)
- IMDB Rating: 7.3
- Director: Tatsuyuki Nagai
- Distributed by: Aniplex
- Music by: Mito; Masaru Yokoyama
20 – The Garden of Words (2013)
The Garden of Words is a 2013 Japanese anime drama film. The film focuses on a lonely teenager who chooses to miss his morning lessons in favor of sitting in a beautiful garden, he meets a spooky older woman who shares his feelings of alienation.
- Release date: 31 May 2013 (Japan)
- IMDB Rating: 7.4
- Director: Makoto Shinkai
- Distributed by: Madman Entertainment
- Music by: Daisuke Kashiwa
- Studio: CoMix Wave Films
Hope you enjoyed our list guys.
