ROMANCE animes can be lovely and pure but they also have a tendency of focusing on unhealthy and even problematic relationships that age badly.Romance is such a widely loved genre of anime, but not all of the series are diamonds. Many romance anime, old and new, tend to dabble in rather problematic tropes in order to keep up with current romance tropes. But these can often lead to the anime showing its age shortly after being released as the audience realizes that these tropes were unhealthy.
Though is more common with old anime, as times have changed since they were released, but more recent romance anime can also fall victim to aging poorly as time goes on. Though these anime are rather recent, it is hard to imagine a time when some of these tropes were ever seen as acceptable, let alone romantic.
The Most Popular Romance Anime, According To MyAnimeList
#My Teen Romantic Comedy Snafu Played On The "Jerk" Love Interest Angle
My Teen Romantic Comedy Snafu was actually a fan favorite anime that had a pretty rough ending that left many fans extremely unsatisfied. The entire series continued to build on the relationship between the main two characters and to show how they both would grow as people as their feelings did. But the show didn't really give that character growth that fans were expecting.
Instead, the male protagonist stays kind of a jerk while the female leads stays problematic. This show had amazing reviews before the final season, but the moment it aired its ratings dropped incredibly. Modern audiences have grown tired of the "love interest is a jerk" trope.
#Rent-A-Girlfriend Implies That One Needs A Romantic Partner In Order To Feel Whole
While Rent-A-Girlfriend is still an extremely new anime with only one season out, it is already a mess. Kazuya Kinoshita is a college student who seemingly can't do anything for himself. His girlfriend breaks up with him and in order to try to make himself feel better, he hires himself a girlfriend. The problem with this show isn't its plot but rather its main character.
Kazuya is unsympathetic and doesn't grow at all throughout the season. He mopes around over his ex as his feelings begin to grow for his rented girlfriend. Kazuya makes the series hard to watch and even as it aired, its viewership dropped episode by episode. The idea that someone needs a romantic partner in order to be whole does not sit well with modern audiences.
#Eromanga Sensei Romanticizes Relationships Between Step-Siblings
Eromanga Sensei is known for its absurd plotline and themes of this ecchi rom-com series. This anime takes the step-siblings falling in love to a new level as a pair unknowingly works on a light novel together. Masamune is trying to support what remains of his small family, including his step-sister Sagiri after their parents died by writing and selling a light novel. He works with the mysterious and lewd illustrator, Eromanga Sensei, only to discover that it's been Sagiri the whole time.
The whole plot is incredibly messy and lewd and even fans of this genre were vastly disappointed in the mess it has created as the two step-siblings fall for one another as they try to sell their novel.
#In Another World With My Smartphone Features Problematic Depictions Of Women
This anime is known to be one of the most generic isekai anime there is and is a big part of the reason why the genre is often frowned upon. Many fans of anime feel like the whole isekai thing has been way too overdone already and this anime was just another addition to the already-played out genre.
On top of being a standard isekai, it's also a harem series where the main character attracts a plethora of girls that all crave his attention endlessly. The characters are incredibly weak many anime fans just didn't really care about this series. The harem genre has grown controversial with modern fans as they feel like it paints a negative image of women and "their roles" in society.
#Kiss Him, Not Me! Supports Unhealthy Body Image And Disordered Eating
Kiss Him, Not Me! was a newer shojo series about a girl absolutely obsessed with a yaoi manga. This series is funny and relatable but it does some pretty questionable things like promoting unhealthy body image and ways to achieve it. Kae Serinuma fantasizes about her male classmates being together just as if they were in a BL series, though none of them pay her any mind due to the fact that she is overweight.
After watching one of her favorite characters die in a show, Kae gets utterly depressed and doesn't eat for an entire week. Somehow in that time she miraculously becomes a skinny shojo protagonist and just as suddenly all the boys she fantasized about kissing each other now want to kiss her.
#Happy-Go-Lucky Days Does A Bad Job At Expressing Realistic Relationships
Happy-Go-Lucky Days is an anime movie that didn't really do so well. On MyAnimeList it only received a 5.51 user rating and has some pretty negative reviews that ultimately seem like fans were just very unsatisfied. The movie follows a few different couples and, though it tries to portray realistic relationships, it does a really bad job.
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There are also a number of weird romances that have horribly done yuri, teacher-student relations, and implied inappropriate relations between family members. All of these ideas are super problematic and with the slow story-telling, it feels like each of the characters' stories were left unresolved, as though there should be a sequel.
#ReLIFE Romanticizes Large And Inappropriate Age Gaps
ReLIFE is an amazing anime, super well done, and definitely worth the watch for a slice of life sci-fi series. But as a romance, it may raise a few eyebrows. Anime constantly establishes that it doesn't really care about age between couples. So many times there are older characters with younger highschoolers in anime, even in popular series such as Fruits Basket (with Arisa Uotani and Kureno Soma). But it still makes many western audiences feel a bit weird, and the romance in ReLIFE is no exception.
27-year-old Arata Kaizaki gets the opportunity to take a pill that makes his body physically 17 again, and because he is down on his luck, he warmly takes it. So when he starts to fall for his high-school classmate, it gets a little strange.
#Citrus Romanticizes Abuse And Step-Sibling Relationships
Citrus is a yuri anime that many fans were incredibly excited for as it was a mainstream GL anime that was getting a ton of attention. But just after the first episode, it was clear to see that this would be just as problematic as other messy romance anime.
Citrus features two girls who end up becoming step-sisters and turns siblings bickering into strange sexual assault. Not only does this anime fall under the "step-sibling" trope it also features the two leading girls in a horribly toxic relationship with one another and features poorly executed romance.
About The Author
Eniroj Selvan
(184 Articles Published)
Eniroj Selvan is a writer for CBR, Screen Rant, and the Sartorial Geek. She is a writer and podcaster and has been published in the Spring 2019 and the Summer 2020 editions of the Sartorial Geek Quarterly Magazine.
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