10 Upcoming Anime that Should Be On Every Romance Fan’s Radar

With so many anime releasing every season, fans are entirely spoiled for choice when it comes to what to watch. Regardless of genre preferences, it’s almost guaranteed that everyone will have at least one show that fits the bill for their taste. However, with so many options, it also leaves a fair number of amazing anime flying under the radar that get missed, even by fans that would enjoy watching them.

While romance fans in particular have been doing really well in the last year thanks to amazing anime like The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity and My Dress-Up Darling, the upcoming seasons are also brimming with potential series to keep an eye on. Not only will classic romance lovers have their fair share, but the available anime run the gamut from the cozy and villainess options to the shōnen and traditional harem-type series.

Smoking Behind the Supermarket With You Is A Low-Stakes Rom-Com

The manga for Smoking Behind the Supermarket With You seemingly came out of nowhere in 2022. The author of the series, Jinushi, posted the first chapter to Twitter in June, and after receiving a huge number of likes, it was serialized in Monthly Big Gangan by August. The manga follows a 45-year-old man named Sasaki who regularly stops by a supermarket to see the cashier Yamada, who helps him feel relaxed after long days with her friendly customer service. After one particularly late night of work, Sasaki retreats behind the store for a quick smoke break.

He finds himself invited to a specific spot for smoking behind the store by “Tamaya”, who turns out to be the friendly Yamada in her more normal appearance, which includes a leather jacket and several piercings. Of course, Sasaki doesn’t realize who his new smoking friend is, but the two begin taking smoking breaks behind the store together more regularly. The manga has run for seven volumes so far, and has received glowing reviews, and even the 2022 Next Manga Award. While the anime adaptation doesn’t have a specific set date yet, it is slated for 2026.

Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle Hits Many Of The Classic Harem Tropes

Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle follows many of the expected contemporary harem light novel tropes, with a few truly notable exceptions. Perhaps the most standout detail among the current trends is that Saku Chitose, the main character, is the most popular boy in school, and by all accounts a fairly outgoing person. As opposed to the deluge of anti-social outcast male leads that have been showing up in most similar series over the last few years, Chitose stands out for that alone.

The plot revolves around Saku and his gang of friends, dubbed Team Chitose, helping a variety of students around them with their various problems all while within the setting of a romantic comedy. The light novel series has generally been favorably compared to both My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU and Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki-Kun, both of which were popular light novel and anime series featuring the aforementioned outcast loner type main character. The anime is set to premiere on October 7, 2025, and is notably being produced by Studio Feel, the studio behind the SNAFU anime.

Go For It, Nakamura! Will Please BL Lovers

Go For It, Nakamura! is a well-received manga series that debuted in 2014. The series follows the protagonist Okuto Nakamura as he tries to put himself into a situation to talk to his crush Aiki Hirose, although the vast majority of his plans go up in comedic smoke. The manga only ran for eleven chapters and a single volume originally; a sequel series of eight chapters was later produced in 2017. The manga was well received throughout its run, and was particularly noted for the art and style being reminiscent of a 1980s manga series, often being compared to Rumiko Takahashi’s Ranma 1/2.

The anime is scheduled for a 2026 release with no date set yet currently, but has already been licensed by Crunchyroll, and is being produced by Studio Drive, the studio behind To Your Eternity. While Go For It, Nakamura! is a boys’ love series, it stands out as being distinctly a more comedy-focused series, rather than the more common, heavier BL anime. While it may end up a little light on even the romance for some fans, it is still likely to be a great anime worth keeping an eye on.

My Awkward Senpai Treats Viewers To A Cute Office Romance

My Awkward Senpai will focus on a cute office romance focused on the title character, Azusa Kannawa, as she navigates work with a new hire named Yu Kamegawa. While Azusa is usually uptight and no-nonsense at work, she finds the generally easy-going and slightly nerdy Yu to be rather cute. Unfortunately, it hardly matters how nice Yu is, because Azusa struggles to talk nicely with anyone at work, let alone someone who might be a budding crush.

However, to Yu’s credit, he more or less sees through Azusa’s rougher exterior and sees her for what she is: a slightly awkward woman who would like to be nicer to those around her at work. The manga series is a light-hearted romantic comedy with a more relaxed but fun style with shorter chapter lengths for easy, bite-sized reading. While the manga has been well-received, placing fifth in the Next Manga Awards, the anime is being handled by Studio Elle, which has yet to produce any notable anime.

I Want to End This Love Game Has A Brilliantly Cute Set Up

I Want To End This Love Game focuses on two high-school-age childhood friends, Yukiya Asagi and Miku Sakura, who have remained friends since they were little. When they were in sixth grade, they began to play a game in which they each say “I love you” to each other, and whoever gets flustered by it loses. The same game has continued into high school, and both sides have stepped up their game, performing full-blown romantic confessions to one another, trying to get the other to break.

Of course, some minor complications arise when both Yukiya and Miku develop feelings for one another. In the midst of their game, neither believes they have any shot with the other because the game has gone on for so long, and after confessing to one another so many times over the last several years, neither of them can tell that the other is smitten. The anime doesn’t have a release date or even a studio to credit yet, but has been announced for 2026.

Observation Records of My Fiancée Is A Fun Otome-Villainess Comedy

The last several years have seen the rise of the Otome-Game-Villainess genre, in which the main female character is reincarnated into such a game as the villainess. Usually, this leads to hijinks as the main character proceeds to struggle against the villainess’ inevitable death by turning the story around somehow. In Observation Records of My Fiancée: The Misadventures of a Self-Proclaimed Villainess, the titular character is reborn as Bertia Noches, but she doesn’t do much to hide that fact.

Observation Records puts a new spin on the sub-genre by proceeding mostly from Prince Cecil’s perspective, following him as he tries to unravel the nonsense that Bertia typically espouses. The series is a fantastic twist on the typical villainess story, choosing to take the focus away from the reincarnated character while still keeping her central to the story. The series generally feels reminiscent of My Next Life As a Villainess when it comes to the general feel of the series, but still feels original. The anime is scheduled for a 2026 premiere and will be produced by Ashi Productions.

I Made Friends With The Second Prettiest Girl In My Class Fits In With Contemporary Light Novel Romances

For better or worse, one of the most common light novel plots in contemporary romances is focused on the outsider boy ending up with the most popular girl in school through some shared secret. I Made Friends with the Second Cutest Girl in My Class falls pretty squarely in that bin, as Maki Maehara ends up bonding with the titular “second-prettiest girl in class”, Umi Asanagi, over a shared love of movies and video games.

The light novel series has generally been well received, and even won the Next Light Novel Award in 2023. While it may follow many of the current trends, the writing flows well, and the series as a whole falls more in line with cozy, lower-stakes romantic comedies like The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten rather than more dramatic series like Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki-Kun. The anime is scheduled for 2026, handled by Studio Connect, but doesn’t have a release window settled upon yet.

Tamon’s B-Side Is A Hilarious Idol Romantic Comedy

Tamon’s B-Side follows Utage Kinoshita, a high-school girl who is absolutely obsessed with the boy band “F/ACE”, but especially the group’s center, the “Sexy and Wild” Tamon Fukuhara. Utage regularly works as a housekeeper to be able to afford her fan-girling and constant spending on F/ACE merchandise. She ends up taking on a job after a coworker ends up in the hospital that lands her in Tamon’s house as a cleaner, only to realize that the real Tamon Fukuhara is wildly different to his on-stage persona, and he is actually a nervous wreck.

Tamon’s B-Side feels like a classic shojo manga in many ways, but has sharp writing and witty comedy that sets it apart from many of the more traditional, swoon-worthy shojo series. While the story is primarily focused on Utage and Tamon, it also touches on the lives of the other members of F/ACE, as well as some of the idol industry.

Pass The Monster Meat, Milady! Serves Up Premium Fantasy Romance

Fantasy foodies who enjoyed Delicious in Dungeon, but wanted a more romantic spin on the monster food-focused series, will find exactly what they want in Pass the Monster Meat, Milady! The story follows Melphiera Marchalrayd, who has become known as “The Voracious Villainess” because of her tendency to eat monsters. At a large tea party, she meets “The Blood-Mad Duke”, Aristide Roger de Galbraith, who hails from the north.

While the brief synopsis sounds about average, it is the execution of Pass the Monster Meat, Milady! that sets it apart. Aristide, isn’t the typical standoffish duke, but rather a charming man with a great sense of humor, and his relationship with Melphiera is full of teasing and affection, unlike many other series in this sort of genre. In addition, the anime is scheduled to premiere on October 3, 2025, and is being handled by Asahi Production.

You And I Are Polar Opposites Is About The Relationship, Not The Road To It

Few manga get the confession between the two leads out of the way in the very first chapter, but that is exactly how You and I Are Polar Opposites starts. The series focuses on Miyu Suzuki and Yusuke Tani, who really couldn’t be more unlike one another. Miyu is a bright and cheerful gal who is loud and boisterous, while Yusuke is a quiet boy who is often blunt when spoken to. However, Miyu quickly finds herself interested in Yusuke, and the series all but begins with the two of them dating.

You and I Are Polar Opposites is a breath of fresh air when it comes to romances, with low-stakes drama and comedy driving the plot while the main characters are all developed. While the series focused primarily on Miyu and Yusuke, their friends all become well-developed characters as well, and the series has some amazing writing. In addition, it is one of the rare Shōnen Jump series to be a romance without any sort of harem setup, which helps it remain unique among its peers.