10 anime that will make your heart go doki doki, ba-thump on V-Day

Time to feed your otaku heart this Valentine’s Day for here are ten anime that will make your heart go doki doki and ba-thump ba-thump. (Photo: Bea Kirstein T. Manalaysay/Philippine Canadian Inquirer)

If there is one day where pink and red hues are all over the place and the heart shape is everywhere, it is most likely Valentine’s Day. It is definitely the season of love, where couples, friends, and family members take advantage of the day to be more open on their love.

It cannot be denied that Valentine’s Day makes it a point to present itself as a day to pour your heart out in every little thing.

But if there is one more thing that should not be denied, it is that this day really has a romantic ring on it. While the celebration is not only for couples as love is universal, romance is thickly and heavily pink in the air during this season.

While there is nothing wrong with being single and being inactive in the romance department, sometimes it just feels great to feel your heart pound, feel your cheeks go warm, and to feel your lips curl up because of something too irresistible.

Fret not, for here is a shiny list that will make your heart flutter even without a lover or a date!

Time to feed your otaku heart this Valentine’s Day for here are ten anime that will make your heart go doki doki and ba-thump ba-thump.

Kamisama Hajimemashita/Kamisama Kiss

The perfect way to forget reality even for a bit is to dive into the fantasy world of Kamisama Hajimemashita, where a homeless ordinary student named Nanami Momozono suddenly becomes a deity with a fox familiar named Tomoe.

Combining an honest and hardworking newbie goddess with a cunning high-class familiar with a dark past, what could be the gods trying to play in this set-up? All Nanami wants is a home but meeting Tomoe makes her realize that she has a bigger role to play in his life.

While Kamisama Hajimemashita involves a heavy inclusion of Japanese folklore and its own fictitious universe, this does not take away the aspect of romantic tension and the relationship of Nanami and Tomoe.

Each episode is definitely designed to keep its audiences at the edge of their seats, but also their hearts slightly at a tilt with classic cliffhangers and mysteries in the past of its characters.

Just how will love bloom between this 17-year-old girl-turned-goddess and this 600-year-old fox?

If you want to see fluff every episode in a new world to discover, Kamisama Hajimemashita is definitely a must-watch.

Itsu Datte Bokura no Koi wa 10 Senchi Datta

Honeyworks fans who saw the series in its song form now translated into an anime are surely happy to see a deeper story and characterization rather than the assumptions based on its music video.

With characters Miou Aida and Haruki Serizawa supplied with voices in a storyline, a lot of questions are answered.

However, if you have not seen the musical origins of this series, this does not mean that you will not enjoy this short anime. Especially for people who want to enjoy and appreciate simple storylines, this anime puts your hearts at rest, but not too much that it will bore you.

The really shy and gentle girl and the extremely confident and ambitious man who are in love with each other is perhaps a basic formula for most romantic shows. But this anime strongly revolves on the theme by its title “Our love has always been 10 centimeters apart.

So close yet so far – so will it be the timid Miou who closes their distance? Or will Haruki’s ambition set them more apart? Or will the tables turn that Haruki’s confidence to get close to her will only shatter her remaining courage?

Miou and Haruki’s romance starts and perhaps progresses slow but what brings this anime in this list is that, sometimes, romance is not always about intensity – it can still also be calm.

Kaichou wa Maid-sama

The perfect boyfriend does not exist they say, but perhaps in the world of Kaichou wa Maid-sama, the existence of Takumi Usui who (according to the manga) excels at everything, makes this an exceptional anime that is guaranteed to make your heart jump.

However, perfection could be something that is desired but when attained, it actually spells boredom when there is no more room for improvement. Luckily, Kaichou wa Maid-sama gives Usui-kun a fitting match – Misaki Ayuzawa, the female protagonist of the series.

Having interest and falling in love with their school’s student council president who is a man-hater is perhaps the turning point of Takumi’s life. This brave and strict leader by day is actually a part-time maid in a café at night, and to have him discover her secret is just the start of their crazy yet heartwarming story. These characters’ interactions will make you question how love can change a lot of things between two people and within themselves.

This anime will definitely level up your definition of perfection because once you start episode one, you will realize that these two just cannot exist without each other.

Skip Beat!

Some say that loving comes with sacrifices and giving and this is especially true for Kyoko Mogami as she has perhaps given almost everything to support her childhood friend Sho Fuwa’s dream to be a musician. She traveled with him to Tokyo, abandoning her life as a student and a daughter in Kyoto, only to find out that when Sho started climbing the path of fame, he just wanted her to be his maid.

Shattering her heart, along with her innocence and kindness, Kyoko makes no time for crying as she fills herself with hatred and vengeance. Determined, she swears to get revenge at Sho by becoming more famous than him through the rival agency.

Skip Beat! is indeed a classic in the romance genre, and while the anime was released back in 2008, it remains to be a must-watch. Not only does it focus on romance as a relationship between two people, but Kyoko’s deep hatred remains to be an inner obstacle that she has to face if she wants to succeed in the show business industry.

By shunning the emotion of love to focus on her revenge against Sho, her path to being an idol teaches her its importance.

While Kyoko’s story is fueled by a heartbreak, what she does not know is that this new chapter in her life will bring different kinds of love that will fill her closed heart – especially when Ren Tsuruga enters this new chapter.

This series will warm your heart not only by giving you a well-paced and unique love story, but it will make you appreciate how love plays in humans’ lives.

Tsurezure Children

Love can be about doing your best your someone. Love can be in the form of protecting someone. But love can also mean being unable to face the truth. Indeed, love cannot be defined by one as it is something that one experiences different from the other. And the anime short Tsurezure Children paints different pairs and their triumphs and struggles in their romantic life.

Set in a high school, the series features different couples ranging from a manipulative student council president and a delinquent-like girl (who is actually just shy), to a comedy duo who joke around and find it hard to be serious about their feelings, to an emotional girl who confesses to a stoic and dense boy, and to many more.

The colorful characters of Tsurezure Children will spell out how love is different for everyone, how couples have different paces and stages, how awkwardness plays in relationships, and how honesty can be the real game changer.

What makes this series stand out is that despite the numerous couples, each has its own charm that will definitely suit the different tastes of its audience. It has intense couples, it has slow-paced ones, fast-paced, a bit matured, childish, and even a crazy one – take your pick.

By getting glimpses of their stories in this short series, Tsurezure Children is still a definite heart-warmer that one should not miss.

Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun

In a world where people are situated in different backgrounds and pasts, it is easy to create a little world of your own. Enter Shizuku Mizutani who only needs studying in her life and nothing else. She has no time to care about people when she can use her time to do something that she wants which is to read her books. Call it apathetic but Shizuku is determined to have studying as her life.

However, when her little world collides with Haru Yoshida, a misunderstood troublemaker, who also has his own chaotic one, hers cracks and is suddenly opened to a lot of things that are not written on her beloved books – people and relationships.

Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun is about Shizuku and Haru’s roller-coaster relationship – trying to cover the blurring line between their friendship and love.

For two people who are experiencing a lot of their firsts in their youth, this anime gives its viewers a peek on how these two really different individuals find themselves flocking by their similarities. Even with people creating their very own worlds, people are actually more alike than how they perceive themselves.

While this anime presents its take on relationships, it does not fail to tickle its audience on the blossoming emotions between the really serious Shizuku and the easy-going Haru – not to mention, their friendship circle who have their own worlds to share.

Nijirou Days

When the topic is love, it is mostly associated with women – immediately considered as a “girl talk topic.” So having a series with four main male protagonists’ perspectives and experiences on their love lives is a breathe of fresh air. This is where Nijirou Days enters.

Focusing on the lives of friends Natsuki Hashiba, the hopeless romantic; Tomoya Matsunaga, the lady killer; Keiichi Katakura, the sadistic lover; and Tsuyoshi Naoe, the smart otaku; this series highlights how love found its way for these young men.

Apart from showcasing the perspective of men, what makes the series interesting are the characters themselves and their beaus or to-be partners. Say hello to the awkward first glance, to the courageous confession, and to the shy greetings; but you also have to welcome the ineffective playboy tactics, the constant dislike at first, and the inexplainable concern.

Four men, four love interests, four different stories – intertwined. If you want a story that will make you fall in love not only with these men but be in love with the different hues of relationships, this series is definitely for you.

Nijirou Days translated as Rainbow Days will definitely make you see the different colors of love through the eyes of these four boys.

Toradora

If one is to ask for an anime that will warm your heart with romance, tickle you with comedy, make your chest rise and fall because of the intensity of the scenes, and sting your eyes from the touching backstories and truths, perhaps, Toradora is one answer.

This anime is a classic that is sure to give your heart a roller-coaster ride.

Not only does it start lightly, with two opposites who find themselves working together to pursue their love interests. But the complex reality of emotions and relationships prove to them that it is not as simple as that.

Taiga Aisaka, the palmtop tiger, and Ryuuji Takasu, the senpaku-eyed are polar opposites from their attitude and appearance. Yet, a love letter incident binds them together. This sounds like a typical set-up for different storylines – at least the concept of binding two really different people.

But Toradora’s weaving of its characters’ stories definitely changes the expected path. This anime focuses on the relationship of Taiga and Ryuuji that teaches them to see beyond what they want and to face their challenges head on.

What started to be a simple story about winning the heart of their crushes, rolls to be a more definitive line of realizations and revelations.

For the season of love, Toradora remains an iconic choice that will keep you warm this season.

Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku

For hardcore otaku out there, this is perhaps the anime for you! Not only is this oozing with romance, but its portrayal paves way for relatable characters to touch you.

True to its title, this series expands the thought of how love and relationships can be difficult for otaku – at least the really intense ones. The love for 2D may be a boundary with the real world and not everyone will be able to understand what it is like to have an otaku heart.

Fortunately for the protagonists of this series, they are matches made in heaven. Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku features Narumi Momose, a fujoshi and a doujinshi artist, and her gamer otaku boyfriend, Hirotaka Nifuji. Alongside this pair is another couple, Hanako Koyanagi, a famous (crossdressing) cosplayer, and her boyfriend, Tarou Kabakura, someone who considers himself to be an ‘average’ otaku.

Interestingly, the series’ setting is the corporate world, where identities and profiles are big concerns. The bonds that the couples have before jumping into the adult world are also fascinating points that you should definitely watch out for.

While this anime inputs different elements, references, and otaku culture, it stays true to its promise of bringing a story showing the difficulties the characters encounter in their identities, but with love being their core.

Kimi ni Todoke

Misunderstandings remain afloat when people are fearful. And unfortunately for Sawako Kuronuma, she is a subject of rumors and horror legends because of how she is likened to horror icon Sadako.

Matched with the lack of communication skills, Sawako continues to remain trapped by her dark image despite being a generally positive person. This changes when Shouta Kazehaya enters the picture, after getting seeing her smile, getting glimpse of the real bright Sawako.

Translated as “Reaching You,” this anime is surely going to strike hearts in an instant. It sets a stage for its viewers to see how communication is a vital aspect when dealing with people and relationships.

Kimi ni Todoke gives a piece of positivity every episode that is accompanied by the emotional turmoil of its characters. Despite these problems, it manages to shed light on various issues one may have.

What makes Kimi ni Todoke good for the heart is how pure the relationship of Sawako and Shouta, that other than feeling butterflies in your stomach, it makes you just want to stare at them and watch them let things unfold.

A high amount of fluff and blushing balanced with the heavy anchor of insecurities and doubts – this series is just good for your heart.

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This article is a Philippine Canadian Inquirer (PCI) special for Valentine’s day, aiming to feature romance in media. The selection of the series in this list does not reflect the whole of the company and its management. The list was based on the writers’ perspectives on the subject.