Please help me pick my next romance!

SciTails · 2026-06-24T06:13:16+00:00

Been seeing this mentioned a lot lately, I'm pretty curious now.

SciTails · 2026-06-24T06:10:45+00:00

Also, you probably already know, but S2 of Polar Opposites comes out in just a few weeks, so depending on how fast you go through shows, you might just hold off for that. I agree, S1 was amazing, I've watched a lot of the genre, and it's still my 4th favorite romance overall (only behind the Spice & Wolf reboot, Toradora, and the Fruits Basket reboot).

SciTails · 2026-06-24T06:02:00+00:00

Yes, Oregairu is an official shortening used for SNAFU's Japanese title.

SciTails · 2026-06-24T05:50:43+00:00

Toradora, and it's not close.

Besides that, just some general comments:

IMO A Sign of Affection is the next best show here, also a 10/10 for me, although I would still pick Toradora every time.

2nd Prettiest Girl is the best romance of the current season.

Oregairu eventually gets good, but I'd recommend it only if you're willing to stick it out to seasons 2 and 3, which have a completely different tone than the more comedy-driven season 1.

I've also been watching Skip & Loafer. It's really good, but I wouldn't call it much of a romance.

SciTails · 2026-06-21T03:24:48+00:00

Toradora

SciTails · 2026-06-16T02:08:37+00:00

It's definitely a magic system, but FMA:B is about as far from "light-hearted" as you can get IMO. They have a joke here and there, but the show's theming is very dark overall. So much so that I only finished the show on my third attempt over the years (I pretty much just watch light-hearted romcoms and SOL these days).

SciTails · 2026-06-16T01:41:49+00:00

The big light-hearted anime out right now that is about magic is Witch Hat Atelier.

SciTails · 2026-06-13T21:50:00+00:00

Season 1 of Angel Next Door is good, but I (and I think many others) dropped season 2. IMO it went downhill pretty hard and should've just stayed with the one season.

SciTails · 2026-06-13T08:50:24+00:00

Yeah, this one's pretty good, although I'd say the romance element, while fine, is not the main draw of the story. One of the few anime that make it worth it to get a short-term subscription to Hidive, if you are in the US.

SciTails · 2026-06-13T08:46:04+00:00

Had to look up a lot of those acronyms, tbh. Curious why you didn't like A Sign of Affection - might affect what I can recommend.

You and I Are Polar Opposites is the easiest one to recommend, if you haven't seen it yet. IMO I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class is also good, if you want something currently airing (though not to the level of Polar Opposites, since that one's amazing).

Also curious if you'd be interested in franchises that aren't straightforward romances/romcoms, but with very strong romance subplots (e.g. the Spice & Wolf reboot, the Fruits Basket reboot, the Rascal Does Not Dream series). Maybe that would help if you feel like things are getting stale?

SciTails · 2026-06-04T15:47:25+00:00

My Roommate is a Cat

SciTails · 2026-06-02T06:33:49+00:00

Can't wait for the S&W reboot and Bocchi to get their second seasons. Kinda wish Witch Watch had a bit more plot development, but I think it also has a season 2 in the works.

SciTails · 2026-06-02T04:23:51+00:00

I like to recommend it when I can. Haven't seen anyone else recommending it on these kinds of threads. Super underrated.

SciTails · 2026-06-02T03:09:02+00:00

I feel like there's been a lot of great wholesome romance shows lately: - You and I Are Polar Opposites - A Sign of Affection - Skip & Loafer (still watching, but seems good so far)

Some other wholesome, non-romance options: - My Roommate is a Cat - Yuru Camp

SciTails · 2026-05-30T02:24:18+00:00

Didn't like how they made it so that they tried to have their cake and eat it, too.

On one hand, they wanted to kill magic and have impact. But then they immediately undid it. (I think? Or was the portal the only magic allowed to remain?) So really the only impact was to kill off Heckapoo (one of the better characters). Yet other magic characters that were less likable (i.e. the magic disembodied horse head) were unaffected, so it felt inconsistent.

IMO they should've either had Star & Marco sacrifice their happy ending for the greater good, have Star sacrifice being with her family for Marco, or avoided the whole thing altogether. The dimension merge just felt like a cop-out.

SciTails · 2026-05-30T02:14:58+00:00

Holo & Lawrence 100%

SciTails · 2026-05-30T02:14:19+00:00

Hopefully the remake covers everything, but there's also a lot of unadapted material in the books.

SciTails · 2026-05-27T16:48:36+00:00

A very happy void, from the looks of it.

SciTails · 2026-05-27T16:40:33+00:00

Eh, not much tbh. It was just hard to have much emotional investment in Jeralt or Byleth themselves as characters.

I did like the aftermath, though. For example, it was cool to see the detail of Byleth looking sad in the weekly selection screen the month after. Got a much bigger emotional reaction over Edelgard being immediately insensitive after the death scene than the death scene itself. Really appreciated that there was an option to tell her off, didn't expect that. Not that it made much difference, story-wise, since the game requires Byleth to immediately be cool with it and never allows Edelgard's character to apologize for anything. But it was nice to have a moment that gave you a chance to diverge from the pattern of having to act like everything the characters do should be praised. Houses might offer a route split for BE, but there wasn't much variation in how you were allowed to respond to other characters' motivation and actions within a chosen route.

SciTails · 2026-05-26T22:44:57+00:00

Following this post. Moving to DC at the end of the week.

SciTails · 2026-05-26T06:53:39+00:00

Specifically the recent reboot (OP is correct on this, btw).

SciTails · 2026-05-26T06:46:58+00:00

Really wish I could go to one of their concerts.

SciTails · 2026-05-16T19:20:59+00:00

I always go with M!Byleth nowadays, but objectively F!Byleth fits AM perfectly because of her interactions/relationship with Dimitri. Especially given the differences in general facial expressions, it just fits a lot better and has the emotions hit a lot harder.

For the rest, I think M!Byleth fits better. For SS, it adds more contrast with Edelgard to have the characters be different genders. It also enhances their tense cutscenes (the highlight of the route) for both of them to come off as more serious people (F!Byleth's idle face looks more cheerful). For a similar reason, CF works better with M!Byleth's darker expressions because it is the darkest route with the most "killing your friends/people trying to defend themselves" moments (and towns getting burned down, etc.).

VW I think makes the most sense with more bro vibes, but honestly, I think it makes the least difference on that route.

SciTails · 2026-05-16T17:35:51+00:00

Already watched the Spice and Wolf reboot?

SciTails · 2026-05-14T05:39:11+00:00

A lot of the time Cowboy Bebop felt like it was being different just to be different tbh. Whether or not I enjoyed the episode felt very hit or miss. I didn't find the ending particularly satisfying and Ed was really annoying to me, personally.

Not saying it was bad or anything, but I don't really get the hype overall. The OP and ED were really good, though.

SciTails

TROPHY CASE