'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Anime romances are often considered to be things that should be rooted for. The fandom enjoys shipping their favorite characters together and envisioning situations in which they wind up as lovers by the end of the series.
While numerous anime series over the years have spawned some wonderfully memorable couples who go perfectly well together; there have frequently been relationships that made no sense and were nothing short of a disaster.
These animes try to force the two characters together in what appears to be a manufactured and hence artificial bond. As a consequence, audiences have found it rather hard to root for them at times, even though they finally end up as couples as the show progresses.
Continuing with this point of view, this article will discuss some of the most disastrous relationships in anime that made no sense, and spectators had a difficult time rooting for and in a similar vein, it will also expand on some of the most perfect couples in anime history in an effort to highlight the contrast between the two.
Disclaimer: Before heading into the list, it’s important to keep in mind that the choices produced below are subjective and the writer’s personal opinions on the matter.
5 Anime romances that were a disaster and made zero sense
1) Keitaro and Naru (Love Hina)
While Keitaro Urashima and Naru Narusegawa eventually ended up together in the anime Love Hina, the series did not exactly portray them as a functional pair. It was quite hard to root for them as the show progressed and the bond that developed between them felt rather forced, and something that could have been done without.
Throughout the entirety of the series, Naru was shown to be a very volatile character who would often resort to hitting, screaming at, and even insulting Keitaro.
Her aggressive nature, in opposition to Keitaro’s more honest, hardworking, and empathetic personality, did not look like something that would result in a good synergy between the pair.
Till the very end, they did not look like an ideal pair, and there was not much of a connection between them other than the promise they made to each other when they were children. Their relationship makes very little sense in the anime.
2) Yuno Gasai and Yukiteru Amano (Future Diary)
Nothing screams toxic more than the relationship that Yuno shares with Yukiteru in Future Diary. It's one of the anime's most important and unforgettable parts, and despite how bloody the rest of the episodes are, their relationship takes the cake when it comes to depicting how dysfunctional and toxic human relationships can become.
The show starts with Yukiteru having feelings for another girl, however, Yuno’s jealousy and machinations act as a barrier between the two, and events eventually lead to them becoming lovers.
Their relationship is something that really cannot be rooted for. The once kind and empathetic Yukiteru slowly evolves into a cold-blooded killer during the series.
While both of their personas eventually ended up complementing one other, the feelings are somewhat warped as a result of very unhealthy and destructive circumstances. Their feeling towards each other were more centered on need and obsession than love, which is why this anime couple will always be doomed.
3) Zuko and Mai (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
Speaking of relationships that were unnecessarily forced, there are times in an anime when two characters are forced into one pod for the sake of plot and narrative progression. One of the biggest examples of this is the relationship between Mai and Zuko in Avatar: The Last Airbender.
After restoring his honor in the third season, Zuko eventually ends up joining Azulo to help her group. The audience are then suddenly made to discover that Zuko is already dating Mai, who sprung on them out of nowhere, with zero character development between the two, to justify that this relationship could have been a big possibility.
While Mai was shown to have a crush on Zuko, there was no build-up from his end, hence, a break-up between them seemed like an inevitability. However, the anime went ahead and forced the pairing further by making them end up together again by the end of the anime, irrespective of the feelings that they harbor for one another.
4) Goku and Chichi (Dragon Ball Z)
Goku and Chichi’s relationship and marriage is one that is founded on some very shaky pillars. Some in the community go as far as to denounce it as a marriage at all. For it to be called matrimony, the couple needs to be present, and Goku is never present.
He is either dead or is off training in a far away planet, and Chichi is left to raise their kids all on their own, with Piccolo filling in the role of the absent father to Gohan.
Apart from his absence, their personalities do not mesh even when Goku is there at home. They are not a good fit, and they only married because Chichi believed it was necessary based on a vow they made as children, with Goku utterly unaware of the entire affair.
Chichi eventually ends up as a frustrated housewife who keeps bickering with Goku, who just blissfully apologizes to her, then ignores, and resumes the same cycle of absence with death and training.
5) Keiichi and Belldandy (Oh My Goddess!)
Keiichi and Belldandy’s relationship in Oh My Goddess! is built entirely on a cliche that favors more plot and narrative progression than character development. Keiichi, in the show is shown to be a very standard and mellow guy, who does not exactly have much of a personality of his own .
Belldandy, on the other hand, is described as an exceptionally gorgeous "Goddess First Class" who falls in love with him solely because she feels drawn to his down-to-earth nature.
There is no additional characterization, build-up, or development between the two, and they are shipped together because that is something which the plot demands and to serve the ecchi theme of the anime.
The series' core ideal is to demonstrate that appearances do not matter, but it performs a terrible job of laying a solid foundation for the two protagonists to develop a relationship on.
5 anime romances that were beyond perfect
1) Meruem and Komugi (Hunter x Hunter)
The Chimera Arc in Hunter x Hunter took fans on an emotional rollercoaster ride. While audiences started out by hating the Chimeras, by the time the series started delving deeper into their lives, and Meruem started to develop a relationship with Komugi, there was a lot of sympathy expressed towards the race.
The arc was one of the most philosophically charged in the series, and is one of the highest rated by fans. While Meruem was the final antagonist that Netero sacrificed his life to take down, he formed an especially perfect bond with the blind Gungi player Komugi.
Their bond was so strong that they slowly withered away from poison while in each other's company, playing one final game of Gungi.
The pair's final scene is extremely emotional, as the anime shows them lying dead clasping each other's hands. The image is quite devastating, and shows the other side of the coin, and how love indeed has no barrier.
2) Edward and Winry (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)
When it comes to end season relationship goals, Edward and Winry from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood tops the list without a question. Shounen animes often under utilize their female protagonists, however, in this series Winry plays an exceptionally crucial role with how the narrative progresses and her own development vis-a-vis Edward.
Neither of the couples get left behind, and both serve as crucial cornerstones for each other as the story progresses. The romantic development between the two is also very well represented, and the build-up is apparent every time Edward goes to Winry to get his metal arm fixed.
Fans can see the amount of affection that the two share during their encounters throughout the show, and they are also labelled by many to be one of the best anime couples in Shounen history.
It made a lot of fans very happy when the anime ended with Edward and Winry being able to start their own family together.
3) Legoshi and Haru (Beastars)
Legoshi and Haru, the most unconventional of couples in the most unlikely of animes, have one of the most complicated and yet wholesome relationships that one rarely sees in an anime.
The anime is an unusually fresh perspective on the beastial side of the human Id, Ego, and Superego. The relationship between Legoshi the wolf and Haru the white rabbit is something that is quite unique.
While there is a fair bit of physical attraction between the two, it’s very unorthodox to see a wolf fall in love with a rabbit. Fans can't help but ship the two together, no matter how strange and complicated their relationship becomes.
The dilemma of a carnivorous' love towards the herbivore is something that was explored in the most uncanny of ways in Beastars, and it’s not a surprise to see why so many thinks it as one of the best animated series to have been released on Netflix.
4) Minato and Kushina (Naruto)
Another extremely popular couple that anime fans adore is Minato and Kushina from Naruto. Like any typical shounen, the series does not exactly utilize the female protagonists to the best of their ability.
While characters like Hinata, Tenten, and Ino did start out strong in the series, by the time Naruto: Shippuden came knocking, most of the female ninjas were sidelined with a just a handful of them taking the centre stage.
While Naruto’s mother, Kushina, shared a similar fate where she too was pushed to the periphery after getting married to Minato, fans did not criticize it much because of the perfect bond she shared with the 4th Hokage. There was a lot of sensitivity, compassion, and understanding, as well as an unmatched synergy that was shown during the flashback episodes, and they both had an incredible amount of build-up towards their inevitable unions.
The final scene where they get killed by the nine-tailed fox while protecting Naruto was also quite heartbreaking, and is not something that will eclipse the consciousness of the fans of the anime anytime soon.
5) Meliodas and Elizabeth (The Seven Deadly Sins)
The love story between Elizabeth and Meliodas is one that spans through multiple generations and reincarnations. It’s quite a strange pairing to be quite honest, but it's also quite wonderful to see how much these two loved each other for eons.
How Meliodas was cursed to live forever, and Elizabeth to die right after she got her memories back from her past lives, and the love that she bore for him throughout the ages evoked a range of emotions in fans of the show.
Meliodas had to watch her die, over and over and over again, while he wandered the earth; an immortal being bereft of the partner that he longs for so much. The love between the son of the demon king and a high-ranking angel does strike an emotional chord, and while the two might have very different personalities, the affection they have for one another is incredibly strong.
There are moments, even with all the harassment that Elizabeth endures, which shows that they are a perfect couple in the anime.
