13 Best Romance Manga that will make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside!

We used Anime Planet ratings as a way to find the most loved romance manga for those who love a good love story.

Romance manga isn’t a rare nor it is an unexplored genre. However, it can be hard to find the next great manga to read. But, that’s why we are to help you out!

Every romance manga has beautiful and intriguing characters, regardless of whether it’s Shoujo, Yuri, or Yaoi. In this list, we’ll be exploring some of the best romance manga you can read!

13 Best Romance Manga

We have taken a look at the most popular manga according to Anime Planet’s ranking and added a few personal favorites. In this list, we don’t draw hard lines between manhua/manhwa/web novels and that sort. Webtoon offer some of the most loved romance stories, so you can expect to see a variety of drawing styles.

These are some of our top recommendations. We also included a few romance manga for lovers of Yuri and Yaoi. This list contains 13 of the best romance manga. Without any further ado, let’s jump into the listing.

13. Ouran High School Host Club

• Alternative names: Ouran Koukou Host-bu
• Volumes: 18
• Chapters: 83
• Rating: 4.6 / 5 stars
• Year: 2002 – 2010

Oran High School Host Club manga has one of the most popular anime adaptations. The manga is sure to appeal to anime fans who loved it. The manga has all the fun of the anime host club, with no dull moment. But it also adds a deeper storyline. 

Although it does lose some of its humor, the serious nature of the story gives the characters more depth. This manga is one I can recommend, even if it has been seen before.

Synopsis

Haruhi Fujioka, a bright scholarship candidate without any rank or title, is a rare species at Ouran Academy. This elite school for students with high pedigree, therefore a financially poor honor student like Haruhi is a “rare species” for the school. Haruhi, who was looking for a quiet spot to study when she opened Music Room #3’s door, stumbles upon The Host Club. 

The club is led by Tamaki Suou, the princely Tamaki, and includes the mischievous Hitachiin twins Kaoru, Hikaru, and Mitsukuni Haninozuka. They also have strong protector Takashi Morinozuka. Haruhi, in a desperate attempt to get away from the hosts’ attentions, breaks a vase worth eight million yen. 

She is forced to become the group’s general errand “boy” to pay her huge debt. Despite her charming appearance and her natural geniality toward girls, Haruhi is quickly promoted to full-time male host. Haruhi soon finds herself in a glamorous whirlwind full of elaborate cosplays and rich food. This is something that only the wealthy Host Club can do.

12. Maid-Sama!

• Alternative names: Kaichou wa Maid-Sama!
• Volumes: 18
• Chapters: 85
• Rating: 4.6 / 5 stars
• Year: 2016 – 2013

This manga is one of my most favorite romance manga. It would have been great if there were more chapters. This manga is beautiful and has a well-written story. I could explain it in more detail, but this is just a must-read!

Synopsis

Misaki Ayuzawa is the president of the student council at Seika High School. She works hard every day to make it easier for the few co-eds that have enrolled. Although she is a terror to males during school hours, she works secretly after school at Akihabara’s maid cafe. 

But suddenly, campus hottie Usui Takumi walks into the restaurant during her shift and finds her school reputation at his mercy…

11. Villains Are Destined to Die

• Alternative names: Death Is The Only Ending For The Villainess | Agyeogui Ending-eun Jugeumppun
• Chapters: 85+
• Rating: 4.7 / 5 stars
• Year: 2020 – ongoing

Villains are Destined to die is an excellent Otome isekai manga. This is a light novel adaptation that sticks closely to the original story. It isn’t influenced by other stories in the same genre and can stand out in this highly saturated market. So, enough said.

Synopsis

A regular student at university discovers that the latest otome game has been very popular recently and decides to find out if it is worth her time. In no time, she can get out of normal mode and finds herself pitying Penelope Eckhart. Penelope, who is the protagonist of the game, is a fake. She’s a replacement for the missing daughter of the Duke.

The woman initially feels confident that she can clear the hard mode, but then she is overwhelmed by the increase in difficulty and eventually passes out from exhaustion. She wakes up and realizes that she is no longer able to recognize her surroundings and she has become Penelope herself!

Penelope must make smart decisions to avoid the death road in a world that seems to have everyone out for her blood. She will be tempted by a tyrant prince or a suspicious magician. Or one of her evil adoptive brothers.

10. The Reason Why Raeliana Ended up at the Duke’s Mansion

• Alternative names: Geunyeoga Gongjagjeolo Gaya Haessdeon Sajeong
• Chapters: 147
• Rating: 4.6 / 5 stars
• Year: 2017 – 2020

This is a refreshing breath of fresh air in the world of shoujo isekai manhwa. Because she is familiar with the novel she has read, the heroine can take every action to protect herself. But because her character is just a side character and she is destined to die.

The MC is not ignorant of ML’s feelings and isn’t dense about them. She has a semi-cliche reason for why she is avoiding him. Although the story isn’t as original, it’s another Isekai. However, I don’t regret reading it and neither should you.

Synopsis

Eunha is a victim of her own betrothed! She wasn’t a victim of a story’s plot twist. Eunha needs a cover… six months to pretend she is the fake fiancee for Duke Noah Wynknight, the novel’s male protagonist. Will this demon-like, cold-hearted man be able to save her from another tragic ending?!

9. Beware the Villainess!

• Alternative names: Geu Angnyeoreul Josimhaseyo!
• Chapters: 92
• Rating: 4.6 / 5 stars
• Year: 2020 – 2021 (Completed)

In Beware The Villainess! we have a female lead named Melissa. She is strong and rational, but she doesn’t lose sight of the male leads. Although it only has 23 chapters, the delivery and intro hook are excellent. Beware The Villainess! is a South Korean manga. 

Synopsis

Enjoy this romance story about an angelic heroine, and her faithful suitors, as they compete for her love…or not. This story is about to undergo some editing! A college student from today becomes the story’s villain, Melissa Foddebrat, after an accident. 

Although she’s not everyone’s favorite, she is the daughter of the Duke. This new Melissa is determined to live life to the fullest. Prepare to be a fool!

8. Kamisama Kiss

• Alternative names: Kami-sama Hajimemashita
• Volumes: 25
• Chapters: 154
• Rating: 4.6 / 5 stars
• Year: 2017 – Ongoing

This is a wonderful shojo love story. I have read it many times. This book is a must-read! You should also watch the anime while you’re at it. The story is about a 16-year-old homeless girl who meets a stranger in a park. 

She then follows his lead and becomes a shrine god of marriage. She is faced with many difficulties, but her friends help her to overcome them.

Synopsis

Nanami lived in a small, cramped apartment with her father. Her father was a gambler and hid from debt collectors. He lost his daughter to the scoundrel. She meets a stranger in the park, who declares her to be the new goddess of the local shrine. 

Tomoe, a familiar fox who objected to Nanami’s presence, immediately starts bickering with the girl. If she can make a deal with the troublesome man, he will be obliged to help her fulfill her duties. There’s one catch. Nanami has to kiss him first, and who’d want to lock lips with that awful guy?!

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Related: Top 10 Manga Like Kamisama Hajimemashita

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6. Who Made Me a Princess

• Alternative names: Yagate Kimi ni Naru
• Volumes: 8
• Chapters: 45
• Rating: 4.6 / 5 stars
• Year: 2017 – Ongoing

This isekai romance manhwa was adapted from a light novel. The main character, a beautiful princess, is able to recall what happened in her past lives, just like any other isekai story. She reincarnated as the princess who lived a miserable life in the novel that she was reading.

This manhwa is interesting because the MC can alter the story with the knowledge she has of the novel. The readers have the “You’ll never know what will hapen” in the next chapters. 

Synopsis

The secondary character Athanasia De Alger Obelia, in the novel “The Lovely Princess”, is the most pathetic. Her mother died during childbirth, and Emperor Claude, her father, never showed his daughter the slightest bit of love. She longed for the smallest bit of parental love and was eventually framed for a crime, and she was executed at the order of her father.

A modern-day Korean woman falls asleep on sleeping pills and wakes up as Athanasia, in her infant body. She is aware of the terrible fate she will face and resolves to stay out of the reach her dictatorial father so she doesn’t suffer his wrath. But she meets her father at just five years old. 

After her original plan was thrown out the window, she now wants to be so close to her father that he will never hurt her. As everyone works towards their own ends, her plan goes sour. Athanasia’s biological sister Jennette Margarita longs to have a family. High-ranking nobility competes for power and a shadow of Claude threatens everything he holds dear.

5. Soulmate

• Chapters: 40
• Rating: 4.6 / 5 stars
• Year: 2020

This is a sweet and heart-warming GL story. That is, it is a yuri romance manga. The best thing about this story was the realistic portrayal of the characters and their relationships. The plot about the time-travelling and the parallel worlds could have been written a bit better in my opinion. Overal the the troubles the characters face are realistic and enjoyable to read.

Synopsis

Qi closed her eyes, fell asleep in Yuanzi’s warm embrace… and woke up 10 years later! Qi, now in high school sees this as a chance to save her love from being terminally ill. She doesn’t realize that her teenage self is now in her adult body. 

With no knowledge of the life she has built or the time she spent with Yuanzi, she does not know what to do. Their love can conquer any obstacle in their lives, and they have each other to help them.

4. Bloom Into You

• Alternative names: Yagate Kimi ni Naru
• Volumes: 8
• Chapters: 45
• Rating: 4.6 / 5 stars
• Year: 2015 – 2019

Yagate Kimi ni Naru ranks high on the favorite list of many Yuri fans. Even compared to Domestic Girlfriend, this has by far the best story I have ever read. This was so good that I actually went doki doki (>=V<=)!

Synopsis

Yuu loves shoujo manga. She waits for the day when she receives a love confession. But, when a junior high classmate confides his feelings to Yuu…she doesn’t feel anything. Yuu is disillusioned and confused as she enters high school, unsure of how to respond. 

Yuu is shocked to see Nanami, the beautiful president of student councils, turn down a suitor. She’s so inspired to ask Nanami for advice. Nanami, the next person to confide to Yuu, is it time for her shoujo romance to finally begin?

3. Will You Marry Me Again if You Are Reborn?

• Alternative names: Umarekawatte mo mata, Watashi to Kekkon shite kuremasu ka?
• Volumes: 4
• Chapters: 22
• Rating: 4.6 / 5 stars
• Year: 2017 – 2019

The manga has many stories about adulthood and mature romance. It’s funny, and especially Kaoru and her family are so strong. The author did not just stop at romance and comedy but also included sad stories about the characters’ pasts. 

The story is so touching that I wept every chapter. The timeline of the story is during World War II, so some of the sad stories are a result of that war.

Synopsis

Toranosuke fell for his servant Kaoru. They fell in love over twenty years and slowly began to fall for one another.

Thus was born a Showa couple: a clumsy husband, and a muscle-brained wife. They spend a lot together and begin to talk in a nostalgic way in Toranosuke’s hospital room. They share gentle memories of being deeply in love.

2. Sign

• Alternative names: Suhwa
• Chapters: 115
• Rating: 4.6 / 5 stars
• Year: 2017 – 2020

I just finished reading this manhwa and I am so sad. Although I knew it would end eventually, I didn’t expect it to be that soon. This is a great story for those who love Yaoi manga.

Synopsis

Cafe Goyo has some unique things. Their coffee is terrible. Number two, customers don’t order from the menu. Yohan, the cafe’s manager, is also deaf. Soohwa, who is a part-timer at the cafe, is expected to improve his sign language vocabulary. 

However, Yohan offers to teach Soohwa private lessons. He doesn’t refuse to learn, but because Yohan is difficult to please. Like, literally. He gets hard. He gets hard when he hears Yohan’s deep, sensual voice.

1. A Silent Voice

• Alternative names: Koe no Katachi
• Volumes: 7
• Chapters:62
• Rating: 4.6 / 5 stars
• Year: 2013 – 2014

I’m not a fan of romance manga. To be truthful, I’m more into shonen. This may have been the first book I ever finished. It was the bullying and disabilities themes that attracted me to it. It was very realistic and I enjoyed the characters, events, and emotions.

Synopsis

Shoya Ishida, a peer, used to bully Shoko Nishimiya, a hearing-impaired classmate, many years ago. He discovers that he is no longer a bully but a bully and is completely left alone when she moves schools. 

Shoya now struggles to make amends in Shoko’s eyes and to confront his classmates who have turned against him.

Summary

This was our list of the best romance manga with a true love story. Let us know in the comments what’s your favorite. And if you are wondering what’s the best places to read manga, you should check out this post. 

Honorable mentions:

• Here U Are (Manhua)
• Spirit Fingers! (Webtoon)
• Bastard (Webtoon)
• Heesu in Class 2 (Manga)
• Pulse (Webtoon)

Author Bio

Leeroy van der Ploeg is the owner of AnimeTurn, and a seasonal anime watcher. He loved anime for a long time and still enjoys it to this very day. He likes to write about anime and compile anime & manga recommendations.