10 anime characters who are afraid of love

For every love story or romance-based story, there's at least one character in an anime that fears love. Whether it's gynophobia (the fear of women), androphobia (the fear of men), or just that the person hates PDA or affection of any sort, there are a lot of reasons why someone would not fall into typically romantic love.

Often, especially in anime, this is used as a comedic trope. It can sometimes be funny seeing a character be tongue-tied or literally deathly allergic to love. Sometimes it's not, and there are plenty of examples to draw from all kinds of anime.

This list will highlight 10 examples of these types of anime characters, from those with literal allergies to those that are afraid of love and commitment.

Disclaimer: The following article contains major spoilers for all the anime involved. These are only the author's opinions. Content warnings for discussions of r*pe and other traumatic events and phobias.

10 anime characters who are allergic to, or deathly afraid of love

1) Junta Momonari (DNA²)

Starting off the list with a lighthearted example is Junta Momonari from the comedy anime DNA². Junta is a typical high school student with an odd destiny and powers. He can seduce literally any woman he comes across, and his destiny is to sire over 100 children. This leads to an overpopulation problem that Karin Aoi is supposed to solve.

So, why is Junta here? Junta has an allergy to women that causes him to vomit whenever he sees girls in the nude that are not his mother. That kinda puts a dampener on any future plans or it would've if Aoi hadn't shot him with a bullet that caused his powers to prematurely awaken. The entire anime and manga plot is trying to course correct this grievous error and prevent that future from happening.

2) Daisuke Niwa (D.N.Angel)

Expand Tweet

Daisuke Niwa is a protagonist with a darker half, a winged demon, and a legendary phantom thief named Dark. Dark is triggered and takes over when Daisuke experiences feelings of love due to a "genetic condition." Much like any darker half-story, D.N.Angel focuses on Daisuke's attempt to deal with Dark and Dark's mission to cleanse cursed pieces of art.

The problem is that this tends to happen a lot. Both of these characters having to learn to live with each other is the thrust of the story which eventually develops into an older sibling dynamic, with Dark being the older sibling.

3) Xellos The Priest (Slayers: NEXT/TRY)

A villainous example, and more straightforward, Xellos the Priest is what's known as a mazoku in Slayers. They reside on astral planes, are technically genderless, and are fed and sustained by negative emotions. Xelloss is otherwise known as the "Trickster Priest, as he lies, misleads, and cheats to get whatever his goal is. To be fair, he did have a respectful relationship with protagonist Lina Inverse.

He prefers manipulation and subtlety over outright violence, though isn't afraid to get his hands dirty when he sees it as necessary. This often means that he cannot stand people with positive emotions, or at least overtly positive emotions.

This often means that when faced with people such as Amelia Wil Tesla Sailune, a sheltered white mage with a tendency to make speeches about the beauty of existence, he gets weak and ill.

4) Nodoka Miyazaki (Negima! Magister Negi Magi)

Expand Tweet

An example of androphobia is Nodoka Miyazaki. In the first Negima anime, she couldn't stand being near men, even physically recoiling at the sight of a Boys' Love manga.

This isn't exactly great considering that it's an all-girls school that she goes to, and half the world is men. She may develop a crush on the main character Negi after a while, but she did all she could to avoid it.

While she does start to get over this fear, it was paralyzing at first. It helped that she learned how to read minds, and is incredibly smart as a bookworm. Of course, the fear was relieved by Negi being a literal kid and getting used to him as well.

5) Ami Mizuno/Sailor Mercury (Sailor Moon/Crystal)

This is another comedic example of love aversion from the magical girl anime Sailor Moon. Ami Mizuno, the brains of the Inner Senshi, is usually seen with her nose in a book or demanding that others study. If she ever got any kind of love letter, she would usually break out in hives or sweat profusely and scream at the top of her lungs.

Now, the hives moment only happens as a side story in manga and anime. But the screaming and sweating is prominent in Crystal. Ami has had multiple suitors, none of which have worked out for one reason or another. Crippling shyness and extreme intelligence definitely mix with her.

6) Guts (Beserk)

Guts from Berserk is a much more serious example of being afraid of love, as being s*xually assaulted as a child really traumatized him. Guts was used by one of his father's own companions and sold into slavery by said father too, developing massive trust issues as a result. When he began to open up to Casca, Griffith, and the Band of the Hawk? The Eclipse happened and tore his friends and loved ones away.

Naturally, this doesn't lend itself to longstanding relationships. Guts has been entrenched in war, slaughter, and death so much that he sucks at socialization. This does, however, change as the story goes on. Casca becomes his lover, and he forms his own mercenary band that's more of a family.

7) Boa Hancock (One Piece)

Boa Hancock's tribe on Amazon Lily in One Piece is an all-female tribe. Several empresses of the Kuja Tribe actually died by contracting "Love Sickness" from falling in love with a man and dying of a condition known as "Love Burn." They die from being unable to pursue the object of their affection since men are forbidden on the island.

Boa herself was a slave of the World Nobles, and consequently had more than a few problems with emotions growing up. This meant being branded among other things. Her Love-Love Fruit can likewise turn anyone attracted to her into stone. So, it's a good thing that she falls for Monkey D. Luffy who has no concept of attraction, and she overcame the love sickness after helping Luffy attempt to rescue Ace.

8) Loid and Yor Forger (Spy X Family)

Loid and Yor's explosive marriage proposal (Image via Witstudio and Cloverworks)

To be as precise as possible, both Yor and Loid from Spy X Family could fit perfectly into this. Yor is a professional killer who has no time, nor real experience in the art of romance. Loid, on the other hand, threw away the idea of marriage or romance after becoming a spy.

They are both ignorant of the ways of love. While Loid has faked love and seduced many women, subsequently dumping them when the assignment was done, Yor was genuinely considered weird for not having any significant other.

It helps they both still have no idea of each other's jobs, and are doing it to get by. As the anime and manga has shown, though, they're falling for each other and Anya is helping!

9) Yukinari Sasaki (Girls Bravo)

Expand Tweet

Yukinari is an accidental harem protagonist that gets hives whenever he makes contact with other girls. It mostly stems from being intimidated, bullied, and pushed around his whole life. It's an extremely allergic reaction too, and unfortunately he's likewise bullied by a good portion of the women in the anime.

He was transported to an alien world where men comprised less than 10% of the population and followed home by one of them named Miharu. The only reason he falls for her is that she doesn't trigger his allergies. Other than that, he suffers quite a few misfortunes at the hands of the girls in his unwanted harem.

10) Shinji Ikari (Neon Genesis Evangelion)

Shinji depressed in the chair (Image via Studio Gainax)

Shinji Ikari is another traumatized individual from the brutally deconstructive mecha anime Neon Genesis Evangelion. While he's not terrified of love, he's afraid to open up to anyone for fear of continued ostracization and abuse. The universe seems to see fit to treat him this way too, as even his colleagues seem to treat him like little more than a world savior and less like a human being.

Shinji goes from person to person just trying to find some kind of love and care, and if he can't then to escape the problems he's going through. But at the end of the day, whether on a beach with Asuka in End of Evangelion or happily racing along with Mari in Rebuild of Evangelion 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon a Time, he faces up to his problems and becomes better.

Which of these anime characters in your opinion is most allergic to love? Do let us know in the comments below.