Fan Fiction ❯ Anime History 101 ❯ Anime History 102: The History of Romance Animes ( Chapter 2 )

Anime History 102 - History of the Romance Anime

Hello, I'm your professor, AnimeGamer. If you are reading this, this is assuming you have already read or at least skimmed though "Anime History 101" and are now ready to learn a little bit more. If anyone whom reads this feels I'm wrong, feel free to speak up. It's better to be accurate with what I say so what I say isn't correct.

So, in so forth, since this subject is about romance anime, quite a bit of anime fit under this banner. The first known romance anime in terms of at least one of the main characters are in love with another character, is the anime called Macross (Robotech). Yep, the first really true romance anime first began under the Mecha era of anime. This is simply because it is the first anime to actually feature a plot about love in it. In this case, it is a love triangle between the main character and two of the sub-characters. Yes, this also qualifies for the first anime to feature a love triangle.

However, it wouldn't really be until K.O.R., or Kimarage Orange Road (sp?) of which it features almost solely a love story. Unfortunately, I haven't seen much of Orange Road, nor when I first saw it I really wasn't really into it. However, this is the first anime to feature a the main character living amongst other characters of the opposite sex, a theme played out in many other animes later on, namely Ranma, Ah! My Goddesss, and Love Hina just to name a few. All four animes previously mentioned also fall under the comedy romance anime section.

The first anime to truly be based on a love storyline in terms of being realistic is an anime that doesn't receive much attention. This anime is called Marmalade Boy; an anime involving a eccentric girl named Miki Koishkawa and her thoughts and feelings about her on-and-off again boyfriend, Yuu Matsurra. (yes, you can kill me if I get names spelled wrong.) This anime is set during the beginning of twelve grade, which describes the relationship of not only Miki and Yuu, but of almost every character around them (of which almost every single one of them at one time or another loved one of the two) and their relationships between each other. This is also the first true high school romance anime, and what I personally truly call the first drama anime in the history of Japanese Animation. It wouldn't be until Gainax's Kare Kano (His or Her Circumstances) that another drama anime would come into the scene. As it stands to my knowledge, only Marmalade Boy and Kare Kano are the only drama animes out there. The only two animes that come pretty close is Fruit Basket and Chobits.

Then there are the action-romance animes, which would include Ranma, Fushigi Yugi, Macross (Robotech), and even Card Captor Sakura (though very remotely) would be in this category. Essentially, this anime has a main character whom is a warrior, wizard, or something of the sort who fights but also loves someone dearly.

The Formula

Yes, there is a formula to make most animes these days, even though every anime has a variation to each formula. For an action-romance anime, it would require the main character end up loving another character in the midst of battle. It is also well known that something tragic happens in the end of these series involving the couple, which usually kills them or makes their love stronger then it has ever been before. It could also be as an added little thing of the girl being left in a safe place as the guy leaves, promising to come back even though he might be killed. For a High School drama, such as Marmalade Boy or Kare Kano, it usually involves a very (more like extremely) eccentric and energetic girl as the lead character (Miki/Yukino respectively) whom falls in love with a cool, collective, and very mysterious guy (Yuu/Arimi respectively). It is also usual that the guy will confess his love first, usually in the third episode. (Yuu kisses Miki in that episode, Arimi very slyly as Yukino tries to run off tells her he loves her.) From that episode on, if they haven't gotten together at that point, a number of factors appear to nullify the relationship of the main two characters, via sub-characters (too many to name here), long-distance, or even an internal problem. However, the couple, whether they have split or not, still persevere and still end up being a couple at the end of the series.

Animes Recommended to Watch:

Macross (Robotech) 1st Season - The first anime to truly feature love in it, they used to show this anime on Cartoon Network before they pulled it after airing the 1st Season twice. Im pretty sure if looked hard enough, you can find this anime at literally almost any anime store. If not, try online.

Marmalade Boy - First off, I wish you luck in finding this anime. Just kidding, I hear that someone picked up Marmalade Boy and will be releasing the series on DVD sometime in the near future. There are seventy-six episodes in all, and even I haven't really watched the entire series (I never got to see much of second season, I skipped to the last ten.) but it is a great series to pick up and watch. If you have seen Kare Kano, I suggest picking up Marmalade Boy, as both series have A LOT of similarities (making me wonder if those Gainax guys actually have seen Marmalade Boy).

Kare Kano (His or Her Circumstances) - This very cute anime by the guys from Gainax. For those who don't know, it's basically from the guys who made Neon Genesis Evangelion, so expect a lot of similarities in terms of directing and how each scene and line is presented in this anime (especially the Shinji-like thought scenes). However, each of these simularies make this anime a lot better then even Marmalade Boy (that's saying a lot considering I've only seen 11 episodes, compared to about 40 some odd episodes of Marmalade Boy). So far, only the first two DVD's containing the first eleven episodes have been released, though expect volume three to be released on January 28th, 2003.